B-80 differences in years

[rdeanrj58 68]

I need some help from the B-80 experts.    I have a 1975 with a 4-speed and a 1976 with an 8-speed.  The rear fenders on the 76 are about 2 inches higher .  And I'm assuming that's a rock shaft at the top .  Someone welded a piece of angle iron on the left side for some reason.  It appears the shaft wasn't long enough.    My questions are is this original and what is the purpose of the rock shaft 

[rdeanrj58 68]

[Racinbob 11,989]

The cable from the lift arm goes to the rock shaft and then a short piece of chain is connected to the rear hitch, tiller or whatever. Your 75 is different and doesn't use a rock shaft. The 76-77 B's were the same as the C's except for the seat, low back vs high, the steering wheel, 13" vs 15", the rear tires, 22-7.50 vs 23-8.50, headlights optional on the B's and of course the horsepower. The 74-75 B's have a 2" shorter wheelbase and a few more differences. In 78 the B's became lawn tractors. 

[rdeanrj58 68]

Thanks racinbob. So why goes the shaft appear to be too short requiring that piece of angle iron in there?   I don't think that's original 

[Goldnboy 1,035]

I have a 77 B-80 8speed and my guess is that the prior owner couldn't find the correct rockshaft for that and cobbled that together from another model. Ihave a rockshaft on mine and don't have that angle iron setup.

[rdeanrj58 68]

Thanks goldnboy. I guess I'll just use as is and see if the angle iron holds up 

[Lee1977 7,232]

That's a 300, 400 or 500 rocker shaft. They narrowed the fender bracket when they put the gas tank back there.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Lee1977

[Racinbob 11,989]

 

I didn't notice that the shaft was shorter until Lee mentioned it. Wheelhorsepartsandmore.com will have the correct one for yours. Or you could use it as-is. I have a 76 B-80 that I bought new and converted it to basically a C-160. I bought a rockshaft shortly after buying the tractor to work with the tiller I had at the time. Now I just use it with the slot hitch. 

[rdeanrj58 68]

I'm thinking of putting a tiller on this.   How did the 8hp do running the tiller? 

[Racinbob 11,989]

I converted it to a 16hp almost immediately and never ran the tiller with the 8hp but you'll be fine. Tillers really aren't big power users. You need to let them work the ground. A snowblower is more dependant on the power. With that said I bought a new blower with the tractor and it was fine. You just need to slow down a bit. Basically, a tiller defines the speed it needs and 8 ponies will get it done. With a blower you'll need to slow down a bit but it will still do a great job. 

 

[rdeanrj58 68]

Thanks for the input.   I thought the 8-speed would be just the thing to slow it down 

[Lane Ranger 11,448]

If  I recall  that particular rockshaft was one of three different styles  Wheel Horse made for lifting the rear tillers.  That appears to me to me a two piece rockshaft that was one style used by Wheel Horse.  It could have been welded by previous owner and I do not recall if original was welded.

 

 The 1976 /1978 B-80's and B-100's used a similar one if I recall correctly.  Due to the wider fender pan support frame.  (the Two Uprights)

 

The angle iron was added as the original rockshaft was a lot longer going between the two uprights.

 

Correction:  The rockshaft you have was the second version and the previous owner did add the angle iron beacuse he probably had a hard time finding the longer original version!

 

Here are some notes from one of my Tiller Manuals.

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Lane Ranger