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Went up to Michigan for family Christmas this weekend and had a good time seeing family members that I haven't seen in quite a while. It was a very adventerous trip to say the least. Saturday morning the family loaded up in the truck with the landscape trailer in tow. Had to make a little detour on the way to drop off a 654 to a gentleman up in Michigan. The problem was there was a small sheet of ice all the way from Fort Wayne, IN to Ann Arbor, MI. Saw numersous slide offs, two cars flipped over, and plenty of emergency personnel earning their money unfortunately. Needless to say we made it safely, just turned a 3 1/2 hour drive in to a 5 hour one. Woke up Sunday morning and the wife and kids headed back with mom to Indiana, while Dad and I hopped in the truck at 9 a.m. and headed north. Met a really nice couple that had a Wheel Horse dealership that unfortunately had to close down due to the poor economy. We stopped in at the old shop and purchased a few things. Was able to grab two lighted signs that are in perfect shape, just need a real good cleaning. Here they are with Dad making sure everything was secure for the long ride home. We made it in to the shop and grabbed the rest of their Tecumseh parts and a handful of Briggs Parts. Grabbed a few 3 ring binders of Kohler, Walbro, etc manuals. Also had every microfiche card known to man thrown in on the deal. Anything from Wheel Horse to Kohler and everything in between. Then we headed over to their home and felt like American Pickers as we were allowed to crawl, climb, and search through their unwanted items. The back of the truck was full as well as the back seat in the truck. It was a great day and more importantly another journey that dad and I were able to share in the hobby. Made it back home at 6:30 and was very glad to look over the goodies, but more excited about finally being out of the truck for a while!

glad too be back dadstractor1 :greetings-clappingyellow:

I have a 1969 GT-14 and was wondering if there should be some type of grill on the front, as the plastic fuel tank is exposed. Looks like this could be punchured very easy....Any one?

Tractor Supply sells "Anti-Monkey Butt " powder for these occasions!

Great trip Scott. That Wheel Horse sign looks like one I picked up from TomWH1971, and took to Brrly1, who gave it to Carl...who lives in the house that Jack built. :rolleyes:

Santa started his trip early... Great to see you get those signs and preserve them in your awesome shop !!

I do hope you guys are laughing as hard as I am at my replies. My wife says all the time " your not funny" I make myself laugh all the time. I sincerely hope you guys are laughing with me!

That loader bucket created too much wind drag. If you took it off I bet you would have gotten 7MPG!

Hey Kelly: It has a lift, I got the basic concept from postings here, and ran with it. I made mine from 1" x 1" square tube, fabbed up the "flag" from info on this forum and added a couple of springs and such and now have a lift, with spring assist. I am a pretty big guy and didn't think I needed the lift assist..hahahhaha was I wrong. 4 lifts and it was time to find some springs. My neighbor wanders over and says "hey I got some springs from my old trampoline" I said well lets put them to use??????????????? A couple of beers and a few misc parts later and here we have, wait for it.............. TADA........... BLOWER UP BLOWER DOWN Adjusted the springs so it can be lifted with 1 hand more than 20 times in a row without farting or my arm falling off !!!!!!!!!!! What an adventure!!!!

I'm glad to hear that it went to someone who could work on it and make use of it! It was just going to continue to sit if it was here! It was nice meeting you and talking tractors for a bit. I'm not that far from you so if you ever need a hand with anything let me know. Chris

Denny, e tanking the fuel tank should not be an issue. I just did one on a D200. Try this, fill the tank with electrolyte and check for obvious leaks. If the tank has leaks, you may need to set the fuel tank in a tupperware container large enough to hold the tank. Both the tank and the tupperware container will need to be filled with the electrolyte solution. Take a piece of 1/2 diameter pvc pipe, cap one end of the pipe and place it in the tank. Cut the pipe about an inch or two longer than the depth of the tank. Cutout a few holes in the pvc in "swiss cheese" pattern down the length of the pvc. Leave all the pvc intact at the point where the pvc meets the tank filler neck - this prevents an electrical short from the tank to the rebar to be fitted inside the pvc pipe. Fit a piece of rebar down the pvc pipe and attach the red lead of the battery charger to the rebar. Negative battery lead goes to the fuel tank. Let it cook and then repair any leaks in the fuel tank itself.

Denny, about your question on the etank of the gas tank. I have never tried to etank the inside of anything, but if you try, you will have to put the donor rod down in the tank and make sure it doesn't touch the sides. Let us know if you try it and how it works. Typically, I just put rocks with kerosene in the tank and shake it until I think it is clean. Others have used similar approaches, but suspended it in a cement mixer or cloths drier to rotate the tank for a while. The 857 was my first garden tractor. The 8 hp Kohler has a lot of torque and the short wheel base works great in smaller yards. My son has mine now for his yard. I have tried to upgrade him to others, but it is the one he learned to drive in the late 80's and grew up with, so, he wouldn't have any other. Ours is still a worker and has never let us down. Have fun!!

I wash mine in the shower. Sorry, too easy. A lot of the older mechanics I grew up around would use one full of Gunk or ATF for the heavy stuff and rinse that off with carb cleaner or clean Gunk. I usually just soak my parts in WD-40 then rinse them with Simple Green. I don't own a parts washer.