What have you done to your Wheel Horse today?

[D_Mac 8,235]

I know you guys are most likely tired of seeing this thing but I took advantage of the nice weather today and did a little more cleaning on the 857. Got the toothbrush out and got into some nooks and crannies. Put a little wax on it. Hand painted the  " KOHLER USA ". Greased up all the moving parts of the plow. Looks better considering I still havent got to power wash it or been able to paint the wheels and front axle. Really love the decal set. Did I mention I am really starting to like this model more and more ?? Curious to see what this 8hp engine can do with Upstate NY winters snow.

[muz123 1,191]

Plow mounted on the 520 today. Along with the factory auxiliary tank. 

[Horse Newbie 6,876]

3 minutes ago, muz123 said:

Plow mounted on the 520 today. Along with the factory auxiliary tank. 

Auxiliary fuel tank ?...planning on plowing the Arctic ?

[Tractorhead 8,611]

6 hours ago, 953 nut said:

When we have snow it is heavy wet stuff that a snow blower couldn't handle. Average storm here is about four to six inches.  

 

👍

with a FEL you be allway’s best prepared....

 

 

[WHX?? 46,814]

13 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

Auxiliary fuel tank ?...planning on plowing the Arctic ?

520's are known for their power not  fuel economy Newbie..... hence the factory option! Kinda rare to see them Muz. 

[WHX?? 46,814]

On 12/10/2020 at 2:59 PM, Lane Ranger said:

Put my Ralph Stable decal on the truck today!

 

 

 

Shoulda been stableS Lane...we all know you got more than one! 

[JCM 8,658]

3 hours ago, WHX24 said:

520's are known for their power not  fuel economy Newbie.

        Ain't that the truth.

[adsm08 1,439]

I broke the 855. I was letting it run to warm it up for an oil change, ran in to deal with kids, came out, not running.

 

The neighbor said he heard a pop, and I have no compression. The plunger for the points is still moving, the cam drive gear in the crank case is still turning, I feel no air moving past the carb, and very little at the spark plug hole.

 

Gonna have to pull the head after dinner. At least there was no metal, flake or chunk, in the oil when I drained it. It already needs a valve job, hopefully a valve broke or something, not the rod or piston.

[Tractorhead 8,611]

While Rim‘s still ain‘t be here i decided today for a little optical rework.

 

 

 

As much as i like the Patina, the loosened paint on the Aluminum Cast dash part annoy‘s me,

i think it doesn‘t fit to the Horse as it is.

So i decided to give it a Try.

 

I like brushed Aluminum so i try to take a look how it turned out and begin to rework it .

first i try it with the Wirewheel, but that doesn’t effect as i like, than i do it by Hand, what gives me the much better result.

 

 

With the Wire wheel it looked more smeared than brushed.

 

 

 

 

When i reworke it by Hands, the optics looks much better.

 

 

Same on the other Side

 

 

After greasing it a little it get the Look i like to have.

First carefully try to remove the Steering wheel fails, but i try it very carefully not to destroy anything.

 

That fits much better to the optics at all, i find.

 

After that i do a cold crank pressure test.

 

 

 

Enginetemp is -2*C and after first pull i read 45PSI.

 

 

the third pull hops up to 55PSI. 

It seems i have to rework the Engine next summer.

The fuelratio seems little too ritch, what indicated in black sparkplug.

 

Than i fired it up and after prewarming phase i give her an Oilchange to 5W30.

After Oilchange i checked the Ignition with the Strobo and found that she sometimes missed an ignition.

That could be also a reason for the black Sparkplug.

 

Will investigate that later, closed the Workshop for today.

 

[adsm08 1,439]

1 hour ago, adsm08 said:

I broke the 855. I was letting it run to warm it up for an oil change, ran in to deal with kids, came out, not running.

 

The neighbor said he heard a pop, and I have no compression. The plunger for the points is still moving, the cam drive gear in the crank case is still turning, I feel no air moving past the carb, and very little at the spark plug hole.

 

Gonna have to pull the head after dinner. At least there was no metal, flake or chunk, in the oil when I drained it. It already needs a valve job, hopefully a valve broke or something, not the rod or piston.

 

 

Nope. Rod broke, crank scored, piston skirt missing pieces. Amazingly the cylinder was completely untouched, but the only piece of rod I found does not extend below the skirt, and there is nothing around the crank.

 

I did find that if the piston is detached from the crank but stuck in the cylinder you can apply compressed air to the dipstick hole and it will come out. It almost cracked me in the head on the way back down.

Edited December 12, 2020 by adsm08

[Horse Newbie 6,876]

21 hours ago, muz123 said:

Plow mounted on the 520 today. Along with the factory auxiliary tank. 

@muz123  Man your 520H looks great... and I'm guessing that auxiliary fuel tank is a factory option ?

Sorry... just read up above... IS a factory option... cool !

Edited December 13, 2020 by Horse Newbie

[ohiofarmer 3,157]

I finally decided that it was time for a start and run out of the gas tank for the c-145. I bought two 145s for one price and this one has an overbored piston that fits tighter in the bore,than the other one The new E- bay carburetor gave a good accounting of itself, and she sounds good , I had it on the lift, so changing the oil was easy after finally discovering the oil drain went straight out the bottom of the engine. The drain plug that i removed is a female cap and it did have some sludge in the bottom and the oil was not really warmed up. The CO detector went off even with the short run time. i returned later and did see some very light sheen suggesting metal, but after earlier seeing the piston bore looking very nicely cross hatched with what looks like a ball hone, I am not in a panic about it. I think maybe that the engine was re-built and this is the first oil change. You never know about previous lives of these engines, so it is definitely a possibility that the sheen is just too many hours on a fresh rebuild?

  The oil capture container was a white porcelain steel pan and as clean as a whistle. After the oil settles, i think that I will save a decent sample in some clean glass bottles to see what settles out.. I think it will be my plow tractor. Fourteen horsepower with a side lever auto should be sweet

[ohiofarmer 3,157]

  Tractorhead, on polishing aluminum, here is what we do on motorcycle side cases.  If the metal is heavily corroded or has a lot of defects, we use a small high speed buffer with rol lock disc. Step two is establish brush marks with 320 or so wet or dry sandpaper. you can always go a bit coarser if need be, but fine brush marks are very nice. Then finish off with finer grades of sandpaper in the 800 to 1000 range.if you wish always making the brush marks in one direction only.  Finally, hit that piece with flitz metal polish. It shines the best if rubbed in the same one direction as the sandpaper  marks.

  The difference is very very nice. You will need to maintain this finish with the polish several time a year but you love this tractor so all is good.

[Jhook 849]

Got the plow on the 315, installed a new cutting edge, and got the deck hosed off ready to soak in marvel oil for winter. Pretty productive day so far hoping to get started on the charger 12 loader subframe as well

[tom2p 2,393]

On 12/11/2020 at 9:04 PM, D_Mac said:

I know you guys are most likely tired of seeing this thing but I took advantage of the nice weather today and did a little more cleaning on the 857. Got the toothbrush out and got into some nooks and crannies. Put a little wax on it. Hand painted the  " KOHLER USA ". Greased up all the moving parts of the plow. Looks better considering I still havent got to power wash it or been able to paint the wheels and front axle. Really love the decal set. Did I mention I am really starting to like this model more and more ?? Curious to see what this 8hp engine can do with Upstate NY winters snow.

nope - not me - will never be tired of pictures of this tractor ...

 

great looking tractor - another great / desirable tractor as were your prev tractors ... the 16 hp Kohler singles especially 

 

[tom2p 2,393]

11 hours ago, ohiofarmer said:

  Tractorhead, on polishing aluminum, here is what we do on motorcycle side cases.  If the metal is heavily corroded or has a lot of defects, we use a small high speed buffer with rol lock disc. Step two is establish brush marks with 320 or so wet or dry sandpaper. you can always go a bit coarser if need be, but fine brush marks are very nice. Then finish off with finer grades of sandpaper in the 800 to 1000 range.if you wish always making the brush marks in one direction only.  Finally, hit that piece with flitz metal polish. It shines the best if rubbed in the same one direction as the sandpaper  marks.

  The difference is very very nice. You will need to maintain this finish with the polish several time a year but you love this tractor so all is good.

hmmm

 

you use the Roloc bristles on aluminum side cases ?

I like the Roloc bristles - but thought they might be a bit too aggressive for aluminum side cases 

 

[rjg854 10,748]

Thanks to @WHX24 for a set of seat springs that will get me up off the fender pan, it will help me see better where the front of the blower is.

Before

After

 

Then it was on to the Raider 12 for some up grades. Added a full of  wheel weights, a set of chains, and a tote to take the trash and recycling down the 1/4 mile driveway to the road.

 

 

 

 

[adsm08 1,439]

2 hours ago, tom2p said:

hmmm

 

you use the Roloc bristles on aluminum side cases ?

I like the Roloc bristles - but thought they might be a bit too aggressive for aluminum side cases 

 

 

The yellow Roloc bristle disc is like Frank's Red Hot. I use that s**t on everything. Especially aluminum.

[adsm08 1,439]

Today I took the 800 out of winter storage, moved the chains from the 855 to the 800, and got it's plow on. Then I yanked the engine out of the 855 and tore it down. Rod is in four major parts, crank is scored, piston is broken and shows significant wear on the skirt.  Cam appears to be OK.

 

I am going to call a local machine shop tomorrow where I know the owner and see if he is equipped to deal with an engine this small. I am really hoping I can save this crank and get it going again quickly.

[ArturHawk 174]

I got the snow plow mounted on the Raider 10 a couple days ago. Then I got the bright idea the parking spots in front of my house needed the gravel freshened up.

 

First, I loosened the gravel with my C-120 and a cultivator. Then I dozed it into a pile for processing with the raider. Fortunately,  I had the common sense to get some pictures.

 

 

 

I was surprised with how high the tractor climbed up the pile. My dad was out, so I had him get an action shot too. 

 

I'll be sifting the pile then putting everything back down layered: dirt, pea gravel, large gravel. These are the piles of how far I've gotten so far. 

 

 

I wouldn't have even considered a project like this before I had my horses to help me out!

[8ntruck 6,379]

 @ArturHawk - what are you using to sift the gravel?

[ArturHawk 174]

@8ntruck - A buddy game me some frames he made for tables. I added 1/2" screen on the top and 1/4" screen on the bottom.

 

Three scoops of dirt...shake...remove big gravel ...shake again...remove pea gravel from bottom...when dirt gets too high, empty cart.

 

Having the whole assembly on the trailer makes it easier to shake.

 

Sorry for the bad pic. I was lucky to have it in the background of the few pics I took.

[ZXT 2,394]

6 minutes ago, ArturHawk said:

@8ntruck - A buddy game me some frames he made for tables. I added 1/2" screen on the top and 1/4" screen on the bottom.

 

Three scoops of dirt...shake...remove big gravel ...shake again...remove pea gravel from bottom...when dirt gets too high, empty cart.

 

Having the whole assembly on the trailer makes it easier to shake.

 

 

Sorry for the bad pic. I was lucky to have it in the background of the few pics I took.

Probably a stupid question, but what are you trying to accomplish here?

Edit: Nevermind, I should've read up first!

Edited December 14, 2020 by ZXT

[ArturHawk 174]

@ZXT

I probably should have mentioned the reason I started thinking about this is there was grass growing in the gravel in about 30% of the area. I want to avoid herbicides, so I figured mechanically pulling the grass out, sorting the gravel, and layering it back down would be the best way to fix this into the future.

[Greentored 3,201]

Making a long story short, swapping engines between ‘lawn duty’ 1277 and a charger 12 that runs much stronger. 
In 30+ years I’ve never had this happen, but since getting into WH’s I’ve heard the rumour. No way- someone is doing something VERY wrong to snap the threaded portion off the end of a crank. 
  Nope. 0 for 2. When the second one snapped I chalked it up to a bad omen, locked the shop with the tools still laid all over, and went to the beer fridge. 
Anyone ever had this happen? Supposedly drill n tap and set up like the magnums are?