Thanks from a haunter.

[TheUnknownCat 0]

I thought I'd better log in and thank you guys for all of your help.

I have been gardening about 5000 sf of ground and outgrew my mid-'70's Troy-Bilt Horse restoration and managed to find a 1974 C160 with a clock showing 350 hours and a 42" deck and a 252 tiller (w/o the mid-mount tensioner pulleys, of course,) for about three hundred bucks. I have been tearing up this site and learned everything I needed to know here to catch up on the twenty years worth of maintenance that it has needed, and to pretty well know the machine and where to get the info not available here. (Still don't have a C160 service manual.)

I knew nothing about Wheel Horses when I bought mine, but I quickly learned that the guy that sold it to me got the absolute last start that the starter had in it when he unloaded it at my house, (yeah -he even delivered!) Armature is shot, burnt wires from the starter drive having been stuck in the "out position" and the starter being driven by the engine. I knew that the Kohler was a runner and that the tractor would move under it's own power without any bad noises and that was good enough. I've fixed junk my whole life, so I wasn't scared, but have since learned that I got lucky. All of the major components are good. The Kohler is good, went through the carb, new points and filter, and some general clean up. I put a rope pulley on the engine, rather than invest in a starter for an unknown machine -but I will be buying a starter soon, because even a one pull start on a K341 is tough on my 200 pound behind.

The bottom steering bracket had both ears broken off of it. I baked it in the wife's oven at 350 for an hour to get the oil out of it, ground a nice groove around the breaks and brazed it back up. After a healthy coat of red paint and a lube to the steering parts -it's good to go.

It has a bad axle seal, and I have read that if left too long this condition can damage the axle and hub. Fortunately, this is not the case and all I need to do is the seal.

Other than the general "going over" that you always have to do to old equipment, checking and tightening and straightening and filters and fluids and tune-ups -I scored!

Thanks so much for all of your help.

Here's a Troy-Bilt Horse for ya to look at while I get you some C160 pics:

[Rideawaysenior 25]

B)

[KeithB 6]

Welcome aboard

[Brrly1 1,146]

Welcome to the Square See Ya, Bye Burly

B)

[rydogg 186]

B)

[Indy w h 5]

B)

Indy

[802heath 0]

B) and and post pics of your tractor!!

[Roger from southern Iowa 1]

:clap:

Very good intro...for you to Wheel Horse. and for is to get to know you.

I can tell you are a "make it work" kind of guy.

Lots of good info here (as you know) and very good people.

Glad to have you. :party:

[chazm 413]

Hello Cat &

Good story & good luck with your new horse

Chaz :party:

[420lse 18]

Nice tiller and B)

[TheUnknownCat 0]

Thanks for the kind words on the Troy-Bilt, I'm kind of proud of it. I dragged it out of a junk pile and it was a complete disassemble and rebuild -but worth it.

Anyway -here's the promised C160 pics:

Here it is as it sits at the moment. I have to hammer a few wrinkles out of the fender pan, because you know people always had to run their Wheel Horse into imovable objects. I also have the proper seat, with arm rests, in good condition.

Under hood from the left:

Under hood from the right:

The fixed steering bracket, in case ya care:

The tiller, with a set of burnt-up points with its cooked wire still attached, and the cobbled up mess that the other guy made to replace the missing mid-mount tensioner pulleys:

And finally -a little something for the purists. A Briggs Model 19 pulley fitted to a Kohler. Thanks for all of the info guys -I'll be back!

[JimD 3,347]

:party: Cat, looks like a nice ride you have there. I'm sure you'll get lots of use out of it. B)

[Suburban 550 28]

:party: Cat. Good Luck with the C-160 and tiller. B)

[sorekiwi 761]

B)

Looks like a decent tractor to start with, and once you get her sorted she'll get the job done for years to come.

One thing I noticed in the pics - there is supposed to be a zerk fitting in that steering column support. Its an often neglected lubrication point, so it'd be a good idea to fit one.

Looking forward to reading of your adventures!!

BTW, which part of the country are you in?

[dclarke 4,082]

B) nice lookin tractor.

[TheUnknownCat 0]

I'm in Oklahoma City, the land of very few Wheel Horses.

(I know you're right about the zerk, I expect that the fact it was plugged is why the ears broke off of the bracket and I had to put them back on. )

[bitten 134]

I'd say you did good. Have you run it long enough to check the tranny? It seems you are on top of it. B)

[rickv1957 74]

Hello and Rick

[can whlvr 994]

B)

[Lawn Ranger kid 14]

Nice tractor. good luck with it.

Josh

[tgranthamfd 29]

I'm in Oklahoma City, the land of very few Wheel Horses.

I second that. Very glad to have you on here, fellow okie. My brother (gwgdog66) lives up in the city, too. I (tgranthamfd) live down in Marlow. There are a few others on here, as well. I have a 74 C-160 and my brother has a 75 C-160, both are 8-speeds, though. If you could ever use some help, let one of know. Once again, .

[Duff 206]

Cat, nice looking machine, and !

Is that an original dealer decal on the blower shround of the engine? If so, you might want to take a close-up picture of it and post it in our collection at the thread below:

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?...l=dealer+decals

Glad to have you aboard!

Duff B)

[gwgdog66 23]

B) Nice I'm in OKC also. My brother posted earlier. Also Daddy Don is in OKC, and his son Prater is in Blanchard. Look forward to seeing more of the C. If you need anything holler.

PS: Send me a PM I can hook you up with the right gas tank for it.

[rickv1957 74]

Nice tractor there! Rick

[mavfreak 11]

B)