854 or 754

[Dr.D 9]

Hello All

Last year I bought (what I thought) was a 854 with original snow thrower from guy in South Bend. It had-has  a 854 sticker on the side.The PO bought it from his next door neighbor in 1976 who bought it new. I got it home, pulled it apart (except the engine) and stripped, repainted, restored. Looks nice and runs but I smell like gas after every use. The engine is 56 years old so I start gathering parts for a rebuild until... yesterday I found a NOS K181 replacement engine on ebay (easy button-never been started). The engine was pricey but now on its way...

Now this is where the 754 part comes into the story. I scratch the paint off the engine tag and it clearly says its a K161 #700688 Spec # 28626E. Not sure why it would have a seven horse engine... Thought it might be a replacement engine shroud... Either case I went ahead and ordered the NOS K181. Then I read a thread on Red Square about the mythical 754... hmmm.... What do you think guys? Could mine be one? How would I know? If it is do I need to back the truck up on an engine swap?

 

[oilwell1415 563]

I'm pretty new to this myself, but one thing I can tell you for certain is that anything is possible on these tractors.  The engine could have been changed, the part with the 854 sticker could have been swapped, or any of an endless list of other things.  Do you know the serial number of the tractor?

 

Even if you have a 754, saving the original engine and using the 181 isn't going to hurt anything.  If it is a 754 and you decide to sell it you can always put that engine back on it, which you wouldn't be able to do if you worked it and it spit the rod out the side or something equally unappealing.  

 

Now I've got to go read up on the 754.

[The Tuul Crib 7,339]

to 

 look under the steering 

wheel for model and serial numbers. 
This should help determine what you have . 

[Pullstart 67,042]

7 minutes ago, The Tool Crib said:

to 

 look under the steering 

wheel for model and serial numbers. 
This should help determine what you have . 

 

!

 

[Terry M-(Moderator) 2,251]

Could you post a picture or two?     

[953 nut 60,346]

1 hour ago, Dr.D said:

bought (what I thought) was a 854 with original snow thrower from guy in South Bend. It had-has  a 854 sticker on the side.The PO bought it from his next door neighbor in 1976 who bought it new.

Few of us have that kind of history on our .  The Pond family left us a lot of little mysteries to make things interesting,

Hang on to the K-161, you could always rebuild it later on to make it a 754. 

1 hour ago, Dr.D said:

Spec # 28626E

That spec number is correct for a 1962 model 702 wth electric start or a 1963 model 753 so the plot thickens.    .

[Dr.D 9]

Well... I said I stripped it down for paint... that included all the old stickers with the serial number. I think the PO listed it in his advertisement. I was the first person to say yes so he held it till I picked it up a few days later. The PO said that the phone been ringing off the hook about it and one guy offered 1100 for it sight unseen. I bought it for 650 because it had the snow blower... did not think anything of it but now will check to see if I can find the serial number. The first photo is with fresh paint, second is the engine and the last is from the day I picked it up. 

[SylvanLakeWH 28,581]

[hcminis 1,700]

IF it is a 754 the the serial number will definitely tell you.  There were only 422 of the 754 models made.  The serial number range for those is 47916 - 48337.  If your serial number does not fall in between those then it isn't a 754.  As mentioned the spec number is correct for 1963

[AMC RULES 37,211]

Mind sharing DJ...

where your production numbers come from?   

[hcminis 1,700]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:55 AM, AMC RULES said:

Mind sharing DJ...

where your production numbers come from?   

This has been discussed and posted on Red Square. You can search for it but not certain where it is. I got my information here on Red Square

[JohnE 13]

Will this mystery be solved???