I got an 855 today

[nyquil junkie 225]

Hi... first post here, I like your site, lots of good info.

So, her I sit with this red thing in my garage. I've been looking around for a plow tractor to clean up the horse yard, just getting the muck pile of sawdust & manure kept in its place and keeping things scraped.

I looked at lots of tractors. I almost bought a cub cadet 125 the other day but it looks like it has more to go wrong with it in time than I want to deal with. I liked my old bolens 854 but time rotted the tires off and the flimsy plow setup broke a long time ago. Still I liked the simple setup.... a gearbox and a fan belt to run it.

So I found this WH 855 (pretty sure its an 855. The guy said it was, claimed its been in the family for 40 yrs, one owner.. yada yada yada) From the pics you guys have posted here, I think it is a 65-855.

Pretty solid all around, PITA to get started but, the carb leaks and the needle screws are all worn out, there was a half a pound of muck in the bowl. With some tinkering it started up ok and ran just fine, considering. Gears all run quiet and strong, steering is a little loose but not to bad. Everything seems to work fine, the front blade pivots easy, the wiring is a little odd, someone sometime rewired it with an on/off switch and a started button.... and a circuit breaker button on the dash, for what, who knows.

The dude pushed it out of a nice clean corner of an abnormally clean garage so, it's been well kept for... who knows how long.

After 30 minutes of me tinkering to get it to run when he said it ran great, I paid $340 bucks for it. With that I got a set of wheel weights and nice clean tire chains and a fairly new battery.

I probably paid a little too much for it but, after reading your fine site for a while, I'm fairly pleased with the simplicity of these oldies. I watched a few youtube videos of people shoving dirt piles around and plowing their gardens. Pretty impressive guts for a little tractor.

So far all it looks like it needs is a carb rebuild kit (got a good online source?) and it's good to get to work.

I like it. I just might have to buy another one.

oh here are some pics....

Don't mind the towel, the carb drips and there is no shut off valve. :help:

[Martin 2,130]

first of all

second, why not try a rebuild on it yourself? if you have a local napa close the kohler kits are available, p/n is 2575701-S, and they usually run about $8.i think the high speed needle is the same as the 10-16 hp ones (somebody correct me if im wrong) and that p/n is 235415-S. not sure about the low speed needle without a bit of searching. they aren't that hard to do, theres a bunch of info on here on rebuilding. get yourself a gallon of carb cleaning solution to soak it well. hardest to deal with is a worn throttle shaft, and i usually deal with them by installing a simple thrust bushing from ace hardware. as long as the carb has the recess for them, its a simple fix. again a bit of searching on this forum will give you a wealth of information on this subject. just take your time and make sure you do a thorough cleaning and you should be good.......

[nyquil junkie 225]

Oh I'm gonna rebuild the carb myself. I've done that before quite a few times but, I'm not familiar with this type of carb.

It's marked on the side "Carter Model N" and in the throat the size is marked "22".

So far I'm not having much luck finding a rebuild kit for that specific model online. I'll check out your part numbers, thanks!

I have a large farm machinery shop nearby that sells IH and a bunch of other brands, they always seem to have stocked whatever oddball part I come in there needing bits and pieces to. I'll take the carb in while I am out this week and see if they have all the little parts for a rebuild. They sell Kohler engine parts so, I'm sure they have the kits or the pieces in stock.

If not, that's why Al Gore invented the internetz.

Thanks for the part numbers.... are they for this Carter N #22?

The engine is a Model K181S Serial #A18169 Spec# 301080

It might not be the original engine... I dunno.

:wh:

[Martin 2,130]

I think the part numbers will do all the carter n carbs. Most of them are similar with the Venturi being the main difference.

[nyquil junkie 225]

Cool, thanks!

[Rollerman 290]

Some of the slop in the steering can be fixed by adjusting (removing/adding) shims in the lower steering shaft on either side of the fan gear.

If the tie rods have a little play to them they really need to be replaced, but you can peen the ends to tie you over for awhile.

Looking at your pics...its the steering wheel broken, or does it twists at the spokes?

You mentioned no fuel shutoff valve?

Factory the 855's had a sedimet bowl/shutoff located under the tank.

Those often start leaking from being overtightened in an effort to stop the leaking....only to distort the aluminium where the bowl meets up with the gasket.

If your wanting function over correct, a 3/8 NPT shut off valve will thread into the tank with an inline fuel filter added on the way to the fuel pump.

Nice solid looking 855 too. :dunno:

[AMC RULES 36,962]

Looks like a cool little tractor to tinker with. :dunno:

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

:dunno:

[nyquil junkie 225]

Looks like the steering wheel just got bent a bit and they put tape on the rough bits where the plastic broke off. It's still in one piece.

Over the yrs people have been refitting this thing with function over correctness. I'm not real concerned with "correct" as long as the "function" that replaces it doesnt harm the machine. Still, a sediment bowl and a shut off valve would have saved these people a lot of aggravation. Then have a brass elbow out of the tank to a plastic fuel filter that is hosed to the fuel pump and, for some reason they used steel brake line and adapter so go from the pump to the carb.

Whatever-I-have-in-the-bottom-of-the-toolbox engineers.

Tractor supply has all the bits like a generic sediment bow and shut off valve, some new fuel line and I think I have some proper bits to replace that scabby brake line adaptation.

I probably should rebuild that fuel pump while I'm at it and dont need the tractor/have it apart. Do you really need the fuel pump on this type of engine or will gravity feed it just as well? Sometimes stuff they put on engines is just.....redundant. The tank is higher than the bowl so, I'm not seeing the point of the pump.

I took the carb off this morning, the gaskets are all shot and not fit right/soft/leaking. I checked the needles with a magnifying eyepiece, the needles seem to be in good shape, and not bent or worn to badly. The holes are open. Once i\I get some new gaskets I'll soak it for a while and blow out the holes to get rid of the crud in hidden places. The float was badly adjusted and the spark plug gap was way to closed.

I'm lucky it ran at all.

But when it does run it doesnt have any funky knocks or clicks, and it doesnt smoke so..... we're slightly ahead of the game.

Now all I need to find is a back blade for it.

Or a mid mount grader that would be cool.

:help:

[can whlvr 991]

:wh: sounds like a very good project,one that you dont have to throw too much cash at to get her working in tip top shape :dunno:

[ben06351 19]

:wh: Looks good. You can find all the info you need on these machines on this site, as well as many diff opinions on how to do things "right" or not too... :dunno:

[Rollerman 290]

Tractor supply has all the bits like a generic sediment bow and shut off valve, some new fuel line and I think I have some proper bits to replace that scabby brake line adaptation.

Most of the sediment bowl/shutoff's I've seen at TSC are for the larger Ford N, AC, Farmall, etc, etc tractors & won't fit your Horse.

Personally I don't mess with them unless I'm going for correct.

I find it easier to install a shut off at the tank with a good quality inline filter.

probably should rebuild that fuel pump while I'm at it and dont need the tractor/have it apart. Do you really need the fuel pump on this type of engine or will gravity feed it just as well? Sometimes stuff they put on engines is just.....redundant. The tank is higher than the bowl so, I'm not seeing the point of the pump.

If you were to drive on level ground all the time, probably not.

But since you will be useing yours to push a muck pile/sawdust with....chances are yor going to be running uphill at some point & starve the engine for fuel without the pump.

[nyquil junkie 225]

That does make sense, you'd have to keep the tank clear full to prevent that uphill starvation.

Good point.

[Martin 2,130]

was just looking for some parts for a rebuild on a k181 and i think that number i gave you for the hi speed needle is wrong. looks like the smaller carter n had two different numbers, 200410-S and 232635-S. you mentioned that your needles were ok so i guess this is just an fyi for anybody reading this thread. 2575701-S is ok for the carb kit though. as far as the fuel pump, i would definitely run one. my k181 has the vacuum pump and it vapor locks when getting worked hard in the hot weather, so im sure it would be worse off with no pump. i picked up a 12 and 14 hp kohler recently that both didn't run pumps but the tank was mounted right on top of the engine, whereas the wheel horse has the tank quite a distance away.

[grnlark 479]

:dunno:

[nyquil junkie 225]

Those part #s pop up lots of places online to buy em, amazon, ebay, and other suppliers.

I found points/condenser tune up kits also, and coils. I'd say this is going to be easy but when I do that, very bad things happen.

Those needles look ok to me, I've seen engines run ok on needles in far worse condition. Per needle they are a bit pricy anyway.

I actually cant even find the idle air screw online to see what the point is suppose to look like.

I'll take some macro shots of them and you guys can gimme an opinion on it.

[Martin 2,130]

Those part #s pop up lots of places online to buy em, amazon, ebay, and other suppliers.

I found points/condenser tune up kits also, and coils. I'd say this is going to be easy but when I do that, very bad things happen.

Those needles look ok to me, I've seen engines run ok on needles in far worse condition. Per needle they are a bit pricy anyway.

I actually cant even find the idle air screw online to see what the point is suppose to look like.

I'll take some macro shots of them and you guys can gimme an opinion on it.

heres close ups of the low and hi speed needles....

[wheelhorse656 20]

:dunno:

[Kelly 1,028]

FYI I have used the cheaper brands of carb kits, and had 50/50 luck with them, I started using only Kohler kits with no problems and if you shop around they are not bad in price about $12 plus shipping, same with points I only use Kohler brand any more.

[nyquil junkie 225]

Ok mine look brand new beside those.

You guys rock.

:dunno:

[nyquil junkie 225]

Update:

After some new points, a gas shut off valve, air cleaner, fuel filter, and finally yesterday the right belt for the starter it's in perfectly useable shape.

Today was the first day all the mud and manure was in that perfect state of dry but not to dry to be hard. So out we went to give poop pushing and dirt shoving a try.

I'm impressed. Most all the dirt and used bedding shoving and pushing around was done at a slightly above an idle in 1st gear. These old things do have some stones. No effort at all, and I only got stuck in a muddy spot once, so no need for chains, yet.

This one will serve out its life as a very useful and often used bulldozer and kept in its own special corner of the hay shed.

The only thing missing from it being the perfect mini dozer is a small set of cultivators or claw harrows on the back to act as rippers to loosen up the harder mud spots as it dries out. My nephew likes fabricating stuff like that, I'll give him my specs for a custom one row 5 or 6 tooth ripper to mount on the back hitch.

Tomorrow, there is the leavings of a pile of river gravel to be scraped up into a pile. Fun fun fun.

Just the right size too, it fits in all the tight places a bigger machine wont. I might even paint it the right color.

lol

[Martin 2,130]

.

I'm impressed. Most all the dirt and used bedding shoving and pushing around was done at a slightly above an idle in 1st gear.

thats great that you got it working good. just a word of caution though. you are going to get more engine lubrication if the rpms are kept up higher towards max rpm. not good to constantly run them just above idle.

[nyquil junkie 225]

Good avice.. i didnt know that.

Thanks!

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Good going on your Horse. Sounds like a fine little dozer/pusher/soon to be ripper.

As I get older, I have discovered the smart way to own and work these things is to have one tractor set up for each task you have to perform, and then keep them that way. Not all mine are WheelHorses but I have one WH set up for only tilling, one WH just for mowing, a JD just for mowing, a 1650 IH Cub Cadet almost finished for dozing/pushing (looking for a blade for this one to finish).

I like your idea about the ripper for the rear. I may have to see about that for my Cub Cadet. That would really add to the value of it as a little dozer.

Thank you for that good idea!