Commando 8

[farmer 1,075]

I'll be coming along for the ride on this one, as I have recently purchased a Commando 8 for my first restoration. Looking foward to following your progress. :thumbs:

[whfan74 2,015]

Well good news!

A good friend of ours (Vic McNeal) stopped by Saturday afternoon with his father. As he walked out the door he grabbed the stuff that needed welding and said consider it done! What a great friend........that is what this hobby is all about. What a thankless act! So once we get the parts back it will be off to the sandblaster and then powder coater. Should be making some progress really soon!

[whfan74 2,015]

Ok, finally some progress to share. After the tractor has been sitting at the sandblaster for the past month we found out this afternoon that it is ready to be picked up tomorrow around noon.

It has been been sandblasted and powder coated. I am like a little kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the big day. Should be fun to get to see what we are working with and will slowly start to reassemble this tractor.

This thread started on October 19th. Sure hope the last one isn't posted on October 19th, 2011.

Will hopefully be able to post some pictures tomorrow night! :thumbs:

[dclarke 4,011]

Can't wait to see 'em Scott, post pics a.s.a.p. :thumbs:

[Gene_S 93]

I also can't wait to see some pictures of the powder coated

I just checked out your other link for D,S&Z... Pretty cool... :thumbs:

[whfan74 2,015]

Thanks guys, I will make sure to have the camera in hand.

Gene,

Thank you, that sight is a work in progress. Something fun to pass the time! :thumbs:

[whfan74 2,015]

Finally received the phone call to come pick up the Commando 8 that we dropped off a month ago. The rims will be done and picked up on Monday or Tuesday. Going to have some things redone as it isn't just the way we want. We took over an early RJ dump trailer as well as many hitches to be redone. Took plenty of blankets, rugs, and anything else we could grab to help for the short ride home. Dad took his truck and I took mine, between the two we were able to lay everything out nicely for transport.

Well here is what it looks like in dad's parking spot. Thanks to him, he is willing to park his truck outside for a bit. Hoping to have some progress pictures here in the future.

[AMC RULES 36,954]

Looks like Christmas came to your house really early this year. That's a fair trade, pretty sure I'd be parking outside too. :thumbs:

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

:thumbs: looks great!

[dclarke 4,011]

Looks really good Scott. :thumbs:

[sorekiwi 761]

pretty sure I'd be parking outside too.

You're supposed to park inside? Its been at least a year since I was able to get a car inside my garage!

Looks good, Scott!

[Gene_S 93]

Scott on a scale of 1 to 10 how do you rate the work over all? I wouldn't mind having my bath tub trailer done since it has no dents or rust pits... Pictures look really good... :thumbs:

[SAM58 30]

Man, That look great

Wish i had someone in this area that Powder coated...

That's going to be a top notch restore! :WRS:

[Martin 2,130]

scott,

looks really good!

what color powder did you go with?

i see in the picture that the trans is done as well.

did they paint it all together as an assembly?

just wondering if it was done together, how the seals and gasket held up, and im sure it was smoking real good when they pulled it from the oven. we do auto rear axles every now and again and even if you clean that cast iron real good, theres still a bunch of diff oil that comes out the casting pores when it gets heated to 375-400 degrees. although powder coating has a few drawbacks and the finish will never be as smooth as cut down wet spray, for me its the quickest, easiest way to finish ferrous or non ferrous metals. it works great on tractors!!

[Toejam 1]

That is turning out very nice... . I realy want to try that powder coating.

Pat

[Rollerman 290]

Scott the progress is looking good.

Might have to drive down some evening & check it out before work picks up.

[whfan74 2,015]

Well thank you everyone on the compliments. Definitely has some pluses and drawbacks of going this route. I believe it all depends on what the desire is of your finished outcome. Overall I would give it a thumbs up, but like I said there are some drawbacks.

The picture is somewhat tough to see but there is more than just a Commando 8 sitting there. In the background we had an early RJ dumpcart done. It was in pretty rough shape and after the sandblasting we noticed we definitely have some problem areas with the cart. I do feel good about preserving it.........for 60+ years old it looks pretty good. Not showroom new.......but pretty good.

The tractor itself turned out pretty good. We did a lot of sanding on the hood and fenders. Once everything is done, and the powdercoat has been done, you can see some small imperfections. There are a couple little dents in the top of the hood. Not bad, but of course I can notice them.

The trans was done as one assembly. No problems with that, and the guy that did the work has had experience in doing them as well. Everything seems to have come out really good.

The neck of the gas tank came apart in the oven. It is not completely torn off but a small piece of solder came loose. He is going to re-solder it for us and do the powder coating again.

One side of the fenders has a rough patch that came out. Looks as though a little sand somehow mixed in. We are going to have that done again as well.

Now for the reasoning for us to powdercoat this tractor, not that I have to justify myself for doing so, but thought you might be interested.

1. It is more durable...........I have small children that are involved in the hobby. They are going to be around the tractors for a very long time I hope. I understand if it chips that it is tougher to repair, which leads me to my second point......

2. Cost..........it is cheaper for this entire tractor to be sandblasted and powder coated than it would be to buy all the rattle cans just to paint it.

3. I don't have a great place to spray........and it isn't happening in the barn anytime soon. Plus the sandblasting is someone elses mess and hassle.

All in all..........for us it is more cost effective and I don't want to have a stroke if something happens to one of them around one of my kids. I am passionate about Wheel Horse tractors but they don't take presidence over my own children. I want them to enjoy the "family" hobby. When it is all put back together we want it to look very, very nice but there will be some flaws. We aren't just slapping it back together over night, we will try and dress it up some. We are excited to be involved in the adventure that many of you have already taken.

Thanks for taking interest in our restore. We will try and stay on top of it and post often.

Oh yeah Gene.............I would say 8-8.5 out of 10. Who knows......I am sure others might score it differently. But for me it works!

And yes MikesRJ............I am an official wind bag, and proud of it! :WRS:

[whfan74 2,015]

Between all of the spring outdoor chores, preparing for the end of the school year, hitting some tractor events, and maintaining what we have as workers..........we haven't gotten much done.

Dad had a chance to get out to the barn for a little bit yesterday as the Commando has been talking to him. He took a little time putting some stuff together. I will hopefully be able to get over there this week and lend a hand. The whole intent is that we do it together.

But...........the C-161 is getting some finishing touches, the 55 Walk Behind is getting some work done, trying to help some friends out, and all the other little things that pop up, keeps us busy.

Here is what it looks like as of this morning..............

Not much done.........but a start! :hide:

[Gene_S 93]

Scott that looks fantastic!!! :hide:

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Looks good Scott! Your solder doode might want to use soft silver bearing solder it melts at abot 100 degrees higher than lead/tin. How does the color of the powder coat look compared to IH Red?

~Duke

[whfan74 2,015]

The powder coater is actually doing the solder job for us. He boogered it up and offered to make it right...........just hope he doesn't booger up the solder job as well.

Had a painted piece of IH red from TSC and put it up next to the powder coat.........looks pretty darn close. Need to see it out in the sunlight to give it a good look over. Not perfect but will be fun for the kids to mess around with as well. It will definitely have some miles put on the tires! :hide:

[whfan74 2,015]

Well headed over to dad's barn tonight and got there around 7 p.m. Went over for the sole purpose to pick up the C-161 and haul it back to my place for summer chores. Finally have the new axle in it, cleaned up the tranny, replaced a lift valve, and other odds and ends. Going to probably need a new relief valve this winter but for now it purrs like a kitten.

Well I took it for a drive and parked it immediately. Headed in to the other side of the barn and thought I would do a few little things with dad on the Commando 8. We are taking our time and trying to make things right.........or at least right for us. It isn't a perfect refurbish, but so far we are pretty happy with it.

As dad was messing around I started to put the early RJ style dump cart back together. It isn't in perfect shape but looks a heck of alot better than it did. The powder coat will preserve it until we get a chance to come back to it and possibly change some things on it. Putting everything back together with chrome nuts and bolts to add a little flash to it. Didn't snap any pictures of it yet but will soon. Need to buy some tubes and mount the tires on the freshly powder coated rims. Should be a nice show piece when all said and done.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,052]

Scott,

It is looking very nice. Redoing them really takes time and work. Keep it going !!

[whfan74 2,015]

Steve,

You aren't kidding about that. Of course we are learning about other areas that should have been taped off before the powder coating took place. Well I guess you can say.........you live and you learn. All in all it has been a great experience. Dad and I are doing it together so with me 20 mins away, a small family, teaching duties, yard chores, etc....it is a slow going process. I envy you guys who can just jump out in your garage/barn for a few minutes and tinker. For me it has to be planned out.......40 mins. round trip really takes a small chunk out of play time.

Hope to get this thing up on it's feet before too long. All the reading I have done about the tire paint has me convinced that I need to order some this week. :hide:

[massey 111]

All those fresh clean parts and working with your Dad too, just doesn't get any better. :hide: