What have you done to your Wheel Horse today?

[lynnmor 8,756]

6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

A#1 note here. I'm not a scientist. 

 

That said, to the best of my knowledge, no off the shelf chemical does anything to cancel the negative effects of ethanol on rubber. 

 

 

You've done exceedingly well. 

I've had first hand personal experience with at least a dozen machines that were affected by ethanol over the years. 

Dried up carb components. 

Fuel lines aged prematurely. 

Carbs and pumps leaking.  

 

We've seen ethanol destroy (someone else's supplied) cheap rubber fuel line in just one mowing season. 

 

Disgusting stuff and it has no place in an engine. Period.  

 

 

I agree that it had no place in gasoline, it is there to force people to buy it and in turn to buy the farm votes. I had issues years ago before ethanol resistant fuel system materials were available.  My thought is that many of the problems are brought on by the users allowing the fuel to be exposed to the atmosphere.  I was going to move to all ethanol free, but that isn’t going to happen at current inflated prices.

 

If folks think that they can buy 9 gallons of gasoline and a gallon of ethanol and then pour in a small amount of snake oil they can make that gallon of corn squeezins go away have at it.

[Handy Don 16,325]

Not “to” my WH but “for” it.

In the fall, I made a small cart to hold my 36” RD Gear mower deck for easier storage and movement during its off season. An unanticipated benefit was easy access for sharpening and cleaning and for re-greasing one of the gearboxes.

Now that I’ve got the mower back on the tractor, I decided to upgrade the cart so that it’ll hold the blade.

 

Here it is with the mower and now with the blade.

        

 

 

[sqrlgtr 2,646]

Mounted some Vredstien V61’s, added some liquid ballast and got um back on 520H.

[Chris689 194]

Back moving under its own power sooner than I anticipated. Need to have the AGS mounted next and swap the tri-ribs from the C120 over and remount the dozer blade. 

[CasaytheMann 58]

Rebuilt the carb after the parts came in and reinstalled it. Cleaned the gas tank, installed new fuel line, filter, and shut off valve. Went to the local gas station that the net said had ethanol free gas. They did. $5.80 a gallon. Went to Walmart, bought a 5 gallon gas tank, and went back. Once I got home and put some in the WH it was time to check operation. Turned the key and it cranked, and cranked, and cranked until the battery wore down. Stuck the charger on it and started looking to see why it wouldn't start. 🤔 Low and behold I forgot to plug the new harness into the new fuel solenoid.🤦‍♂️ Started right up! I did not shut the gas off because I want to see if the new parts took care of the previous leak.

 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by CasaytheMann

[rick 292]

Last summer I used E10 in the 314-8 to mow the whole season.  I had no problems this spring when I started mowing again.  I won't use it in my mixed fuel though.

[Stan50 116]

 With propane system there will be no problem with ethanol . That video is very interesting -  Propane kit , NashFuel kit for 10,12 HP Kohler engines. Any advice regarding Propane conversion pros and cons?

Thera are many videos with propane converted riding mowers, but no Wheel Horses  

[CasaytheMann 58]

Went and changed the deck belt today. I saw no fuel leaks anywhere which confirms the rubber seals and O Rings were degraded, most likely caused by the ethanol. 

[Handy Don 16,325]

56 minutes ago, Stan50 said:

 With propane system there will be no problem with ethanol . That video is very interesting -  Propane kit , NashFuel kit for 10,12 HP Kohler engines. Any advice regarding Propane conversion pros and cons?

Thera are many videos with propane converted riding mowers, but no Wheel Horses  

The videos show the pros emphatically. There is a lot to like with propane and the hardware to switch a Kohler to propane (or to dual fuel) is readily obtained.

Things to keep in mind:

- Propane will yield somewhat lower horsepower than gasoline for a given engine displacement/compression ratio.

- Sizing a propane tank big enough to run the engine for as long as you need it. The inter web tells us a standard 20 lb propane tank contains approximately 430,000 to 455,000 BTUs. In one gallon of gasoline there are approximately 114,000 to 125,000 BTUs. So about 3.5 gallons of gas (a full 300, 400, or 500 tank) equals one 20 lb tank. Near me a tank refill ~$20; a gas refill ~$15. 

- Where on the tractor to mount it safely, including plumbing

- Refueling convenience (i.e. switching tanks and getting refills) 

Edited 2 hours ago by Handy Don

[sqrlgtr 2,646]

Replaced rectifier on the 520H and installed a Wheel Horse head fuse block cover gifted to me from @WHX??. Btw the rectifier fixed my charging problem, from looks of the gauge face must not have worked for a long time. 

[Achto 31,633]

I finally decide to take the time to pay attention to this 704 that I bought last fall. First off - pull the rope & see if it runs. Yep that's right, I brought it home, and stuffed it in the shed. Never even tried to see if it ran. Good news, after a bunch of pulls and some coaxing I have it starting easy and running good with no smoke. 

 

Here are a couple pics of when I brought it home. There are a few discrepancies but most of the correct parts came with it. 

 

The correct gas tank and rear wheels where included in the purchase. Did a little shopping in my parts collection and also in Jim's collection to find the rest of the parts needed. Top tin for the engine, gas cap, a different set of front wheel covers, clutch spring, and a hood that is in better shape. Ready to show and enjoy now. This tractor is how ever on my resto list. 

 

Pictures after a light make over.

Edited 28 minutes ago by Achto

[702854boy 651]

18 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

 

@Achto, could you include the idler pulley and arm thingy with the mower deck as it looks like that is specific to the deck?