What have you done to your Wheel Horse today?

[Handy Don 16,803]

23 hours ago, sqrlgtr said:

me thinks the ball/tongue will still be even to top of axle and I tried making the hitch as tight as possible to tractor. Actually going to drill a new hole for the hitch pin and slid ball in another inch or so that will help also, I hope. .. This is going to be my firewood hauler at least thats the plan anyhow. Ive pulled some pretty heavy loads with a hitch that I made that goes on the sleeve type hitch and this one isn't much taller if any at all, just hated putting all that tongue weight on my lift cables .

Moving the hitch closer to the tractor only modestly offsets the torque from the tongue weight. It does NOT change the torque caused by drag (the effort needed to pull the trailer along). A wheelie can happen extremely quickly with no time to react--and having a 600 lb tractor on your chest and a trailer tongue under your back can be, well, hurtful.

 

As noted, locking the hitch snugly onto the ball and leaving the trailer’s jack wheel close to the ground can be a partial anti-wheelie solution, but if the jack wheel hangs up...

 

Also, pay attention to the trailer tongue--putting the hitch ball in close, you may restrict your turning radius!

If you have the option, modifying the trailer tongue so that its hitch is at or below the height of the tractor axle is the way to go. 

Edited yesterday at 01:34 AM by Handy Don

[Blaine 93]

Success. 
 

 

[sqrlgtr 3,068]

17 hours ago, Handy Don said:

If you have the option, modifying the trailer tongue so that its hitch is at or below the height of the tractor axle is the way to go. 

yeah it should be just level or a little bit below tractor axle and Most of the weight is on the 3/4' pin at bottom of trans so that will help a bunch.

[adsm08 4,701]

So Thursday, while getting ready for the show we found some holes in the boy's mower deck.

 

This afternoon I had him strip it down to repair the shell. I will probably also replace the double belts and re-bearing the whole thing while it is apart.

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile I was futzing with the 1076 I bought from @Ed Kennell at the show. I wanted to get the deck on and try it out as a mowing machine, but first I had to straighten the forks a bit:

 

 

 

In the end I got the deck on, but there were other issues, and I ended up using the 855 to mow for the first time this year. The Commando has been dominating lawn care duty so far this year.

 

[lynnmor 8,864]

May I suggest a visit to this webpage:

[mrc 1,089]

hello adsm08,

 

license plate for deck repair...NICE!

 

also great to see a young man learning something besides computer/phone skills. 

 

regards

mike 

Edited 19 hours ago by mrc

[adsm08 4,701]

29 minutes ago, mrc said:

hello adsm08,

 

license plate for deck repair...NICE!

 

also great to see a young man learning something besides computer/phone skills. 

 

regards

mike 

 

The license plates were already there when I got it. Ed even joked it's the only WH licensed to drive on the turn pike. I'm on the fence about trying to repair that deck. The area around the spindles seems pretty solid, there is a lot of metal that needs replaced everywhere else. It may be better to just look for a different deck.

 

He much prefers working with his hands over doing computer things. He plays video games, and watches TV, and spends most of the evening most nights talking/texting his girlfriend, but he only has so much patience for a screen, or for sitting still, in a day.

 

@lynnmor

As for eye protection, we are well supplied with safety glasses, and use them when needed. Most of this job was done with hand tools, because we were working with carriage bolts, and impact guns strip the holes on carriage bolts.

 

In regards to the picture that I'm sure prompted that comment, he wasn't running the gun, just looking under to line up on the bolt that he couldn't break loose by hand. The deck shell was plenty of protection in this case.

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by adsm08

[Ed Kennell 46,365]

10 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

It may be better to just look for a different deck.

Most of those side drive decks have seen a lot of use.    The spindles in that one seemed really good.   May have some value to someone rebuilding one.

You may want to convert to a front mule drive if you look for a better deck.

[Bill D 2,952]

I'm big on eye protection.   I'd wouldn't be able to run trains anymore if I lost an eye.  I had a coworker who had a deer head fall off the wall and puncture his eye. There's actually a video on YouTube about it.

Edited 19 hours ago by Bill D

[adsm08 4,701]

8 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

You may want to convert to a front mule drive if you look for a better deck.

 

I had also considered that. Took me five minutes to get the deck on, including straightening the mounting forks. Took me another 20 to figure out that goofy belt setup.

[Handy Don 16,803]

4 hours ago, adsm08 said:

This afternoon I had him strip it down to repair the shell. I will probably also replace the double belts and re-bearing the whole thing while it is apart.

The cross-shaft bearings are probably ok, but the spindle bearings are probably worn. Part # 1508 spindle bearing (4) ==> Koyo B-1212 needle bearings. You’ll also need new seals 1303 oil seal (2) ==> Timken 312518. 

Be sure to help your apprentice out during spindle disassembly because the order of components is critical and, if it was a later model with thrust bearings, they’ll almost certainly look like greasy washers! (From the photo, there was a serious dearth of grease on the gears--they should be buried in grease!)

Lastly, be prepared to put some shims behind one of the cross-shaft bevel gears (between the gear and the step in the shaft) upon reassembly to take out gear lash. It took me three times to get this right and in the end the shims left about .05” of lash to account for heat expansion.

Good luck to you both! PM me if you come up with other questions.

Edited 17 hours ago by Handy Don

[adsm08 4,701]

5 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

The cross-shaft bearings are probably ok

 

The inboard seals have fallen out of the cross shaft bearings and the guts appear to have been exposed for some time. They aren't super rotten, but they are patinaed to match the rest of the tractor. 

[Handy Don 16,803]

2 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

 

The inboard seals have fallen out of the cross shaft bearings and the guts appear to have been exposed for some time. They aren't super rotten, but they are patinaed to match the rest of the tractor. 

Getting the bearings out of the holders is unpleasant and, though I’ve looked, I’ve never seen those parts separately at the show. I’m running the best pair from three donor decks. 

[Handy Don 16,803]

Ju

11 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Getting the bearings out of the holders is unpleasant and, though I’ve looked, I’ve never seen those parts separately at the show. I’m running the best pair from three donor decks. 

Just found this in my notes:

Staked cross shaft 1515 bearing changes to the 101480 bearing which is a 1630 2RS

[Bar Nuthin 2,549]

Found some vintage tractor lights I liked and got them installed on the C-160 today. Pretty close to the ones I put on the C-120.

Will probably end up getting an LED upgrade before winter.

Also mounted a flag on the C-120. My neighbor volunteered me to join a 4th of July parade with him. I think we may have recruited a few more now.

 

 

 

 

[Blaine 93]

Hung the 36” gear drive under the 69 Raider 12 today just to get it out if the middle of the floor. The points conversion went well. This motor hasn’t been ran in decades.

 

 Before putting gas in it, I cleaned the carb which only had a little crud in the bowl, and i adjusted the valves. Should have had some breather gaskets on hand because they are hard as a brick and leaking a little, so that’s on the to do list. 
 

 Need to do some wiring and both cables and change the fluid in the trans. Ordered the 6908 unicorn pulley and required idler standoff support, so the gear drive deck will work with the PT-6 pto. It shouldn’t be long until my 401 gets a well deserved break from its duties.
 

 The high back boat seat is very supportive for my lower back, but if i keep whacking my shin every time i get on it, it may have to go. 
 

 

[ebinmaine 79,305]

6 hours ago, Bar Nuthin said:

parade

 

Years ago I did several parades over 3 (?) years. One year was 3 in one day!

 

It was interesting, a fair amount of fun, very time consuming. 

My small town has one too. We've considered going in it with tractors. Maybe some day...

 

 

[adsm08 4,701]

7 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Ju

Just found this in my notes:

Staked cross shaft 1515 bearing changes to the 101480 bearing which is a 1630 2RS

 

I knew they were out there because I did them on the 855's original 32 inch deck.

 

I distinctly remember it being no fun.

 

In fact I may grab those ones and use them since that deck now has a broken cross shaft.

[lynnmor 8,864]

13 hours ago, Bill D said:

I'm big on eye protection.   I'd wouldn't be able to run trains anymore if I lost an eye.  I had a coworker who had a deer head fall off the wall and puncture his eye. There's actually a video on YouTube about it.

 

I learned the hard way after several eye injuries.  Worst one was when I was working in a room separate from the shop using one Allen wrench.  When I loosened a tool block clamp screw material shot out and hit my eye landing me in the hospital for a week with both eyes patched shut.  If I wouldn't have laid down my safety glasses it would have been a much better week.

[Ed Kennell 46,365]

I wouldn't be reading this today if I didn't wear my glasses.       The plastic safety lens melted when a 4KV breaker exploded in my face.

[Bill D 2,952]

My neighbor is a machinist.   Over the years he has tried to emphasize the importance of safety glasses to new guys.  His favorite line...  "Wear your safety glasses because you can't hear b--bs".  Told this to my wife and she promptly grabbed mine, shook them and said "He's right, they don't make a sound".   Yup, I have a funny wife. 🤣

Edited 23 minutes ago by Bill D

[Handy Don 16,803]

12 hours ago, Blaine said:

Ordered the 6908 unicorn pulley and required idler standoff support, so the gear drive deck will work with the PT-6 pto

Please be sure to post some good photos of this when you can! Thanks.