New WH guy!

[ebinmaine 63,214]

18 minutes ago, Herder said:

The Northern Lights?  My home town is turning into a small city, not certain how much longer I can last here either.

no northern lights where I am but you can catch them a couple hours North on occasion.

[Mr Magoo 226]

1 hour ago, Herder said:

The Northern Lights?  My home town is turning into a small city, not certain how much longer I can last here either.

Understand that. I grew up in Tuxedo, N.Y. 

[Herder 2,354]

Just now, Mr Magoo said:

Understand that. I grew up in Tuxedo, N.Y. 

I feel your pian.

[Mr Magoo 226]

Some progress today, but still not running. I went back through and checked all my connections again. When I turned the key I got the starter hitting intermittently. One difference though, this time I noticed a little puff of smoke come from the solenoid lug that leads to the starter. The cable does not look bad, but what I decided to do is rob the one off of the other C-120 to see if it made a difference. Sure enough the engine cranks right over whenever I turn the key.

 

Motor is spinning up great, but will not fire up. A couple of times it acted like it would and even backfired twice. I used a spark tester (not the most accurate tool I know) and it shows that I am getting power to the plug. I don't know if it is the right amount of power. I also seem to be getting plenty of gas to the carburetor.  The points did not look great, so I filed them and set the gap at TDC. Even with dressing the points, I'm wondering if they still need replacing. I noticed that the coated steel portion of the points has white oxidation. 

 

So where to go from here. For now I'm going to get a shower, some dinner, and put my poor little overworked battery on the charger.

 

[ebinmaine 63,214]

1 hour ago, Mr Magoo said:

Even with dressing the points, I'm wondering if they still need replacing. I noticed that the coated steel portion of the points has white oxidation

A lot of us are more prone to removing and CLEANING the old points.

They're often a better quality than the newer ones.

 

Keep trying....

 

Keep testing.

 

 

[Mr Magoo 226]

Okay, big update today. I met with the previous owners of the 3 tractors yesterday. Notice I said "previous". So yes, all 3 of them are mine now! Let the games begin! Probably lost my mind a little I think. Went down expecting to make a deal for one of them, not all three. So I went from owning 0 Wheel Horse's to 3 in one day. Also got the plow for one of them too in the deal which is nice I think. 

[Pullstart 59,744]

Woo hoo!  

 

Seems I do recall back back in the beginning... some wise folk telling yo not to stop with just 1!

[Tractorhead 8,611]

Congrats to your Deals.

 

now you have a few things to be done.

 

That reduces some idle time, so you can just working on one, if for another is a stop because of delivery for parts.

Another big thing is you can choose, wich horde you use this Day.

 

great  👍

 

[Mr Magoo 226]

So, back to thinking about what I need to do next and I'm fairly certain I have the points set incorrectly. This was actually my first time ever setting points. I do not own a timing light, but may get one to try it. I did try and find the marks on the fly wheel, but could not see them. I may try and clean it off to see them. I also have figured out a way I can do it mathematically using some of my layout skills as a sheet metal worker. 

[tom2p 2,393]

good things come in threes 

 

congrats !

[lynnmor 6,796]

As you rotate the engine you will see the points open and close, rotate to the maximum position and adjust the gap to specification.  Rotate the engine with a piece of paper between the points till the paper is clamped, then pull the paper out to clean the points.  You seem to be dwelling too much on points and timing, the engine will run with those being a bit off, of course try to adjust as best you can.

[tom2p 2,393]

ok now that you are an official wheel horse owner we gotta come clean 

 

wheel horse tractors do not last forever 

 

some at least 

 

after 20 or 30 years an engine can require service - and some even expire (gulp)

 

seats sometimes only last for 20 or 30 years and then will show wear or cracks 

 

mower decks - if not maintained - will only go 20 or 25 years before rust holes appear 

 

mower blade or bearing can be damaged when attempting to cut 3-4" saplings 

 

tires will show cracking after 20 or 30 years 

wheel horse oem belts will only last 10 ... 15 ... (20 or more ?) ... years ... 

 

 

for some reason batteries do not last a lifetime when installed in a wheel horse tractor ... (very annoying)

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by tom2p

[Mr Magoo 226]

4 minutes ago, tom2p said:

ok now that you are an official wheel horse owner we gotta come clean 

 

wheel horse tractors do not last forever 

 

some at least 

 

after 20 or 30 years an engine can require service - and some even expire (gulp)

 

seats sometimes only last for 20 or 30 years and then will show wear or cracks 

 

mower decks - if not maintained - will only go 20 or 25 years before rust holes appear 

 

tires will show cracking after 20 or 30 years 

wheel horse oem belts will only last 10 ... 15 ... (20 or more ?) ... years ... 

 

These are 43 and 53 years old so I guess they have had it. I'm the same age as my oldest tractor, so I guess I'm past my expiration date also. 

[tom2p 2,393]

12 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

These are 43 and 53 years old so I guess they have had it. I'm the same age as my oldest tractor, so I guess I'm past my expiration date also. 

lol

 

can still recall the time years ago when I was cutting grass with our 704 ... sometime in the late 80's - so the 704 was around 25 years or so old at the time

 

as I was cutting grass I noticed a small hole in the mower deck shell 

 

( deck was rarely if ever cleaned properly or serviced ) 

 

joked with my father if I knew this tractor was going to last this long I might have cleaned the deck ... once or maybe twice lol

 

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by tom2p

[tom2p 2,393]

12 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

These are 43 and 53 years old so I guess they have had it. I'm the same age as my oldest tractor, so I guess I'm past my expiration date also. 

all three tractors look solid - and appear to be well worth the investment ... $ and time 

 

once you get them going again you can age gracefully with them 

[Mr Magoo 226]

I lucked out, even the wife was happy about getting them! Sometimes that's half the battle! Two C-120's, I guess we can have his and hers!

[ebinmaine 63,214]

14 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

his and hers

Oh no.

Houston. 

We have a problem.

You have 3 tractors.

Who gets the 3rd????????

[rjg854 10,748]

Could possibly be his, hers, and ours 

[Mr Magoo 226]

Happy Holidays everyone! Weather has kept me away from the horses. I really need to get a 4x4. I was wondering what is the easiest way to remove the hood on these? I think it would make it a lot easier to do some of the work if it was out of my way. I looked at it briefly last time I was in front of them and I could not tell if the hinge pin came out or not. It looked like I would have to remove all of the bolts that hold the hinges on to remove it. 

[ebinmaine 63,214]

10 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

easiest way to remove the hood

On a B or C series tractor there should be C or E clips on the rod the hood is on. Just inside where the hood hits the hinge.

 

On the earlier square hoods there should be a cotter pin at the end of the rod attached to the hood. 

 

 

[Mr Magoo 226]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

On a B or C series tractor there should be C or E clips on the rod the hood is on. Just inside where the hood hits the hinge.

 

On the earlier square hoods there should be a cotter pin at the end of the rod attached to the hood. 

 

 

Okay, I must have not seen the clips. They may have been painted over. Thank you! It is supposed to be in the 50's all week here. I may be able to get down there at least one day.

[ebinmaine 63,214]

If there's any paint or dirt they're a little tough to see.

And be aware that they WILL do everything possible to fly across the room to the most hidden place possible.

 

Hopefully you can get some time in soon!!!!

 

 

[Mr Magoo 226]

Looking over some pictures today and it sure looks like my #2 may have a bad head gasket. 

 

 

[ebinmaine 63,214]

41 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

bad head gasket.

I'd agree with that.

 

Luckily it's an easy fix.

 

Take off stuff..

Use sandpaper to straighten head.

Reinstall stuff..

 

Done.

[953 nut 51,775]

On 12/13/2019 at 6:34 PM, Mr Magoo said:

I noticed a little puff of smoke come from the solenoid lug that leads to the starter. The cable does not look bad, but what I decided to do is rob the one off of the other

       Magic smoke coming from a cable is an acceptable trouble shooting method when looking for a bad cable.            

Now that you own three  you are eligible for membership to an exclusive club here,