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I know I said I wasn't going to buy it right away but I really wanted it and I managed to find jsut enough spare money to afford it. I feel I got a ok deal for $300. So far I have found that the engine seems to be seized and the tranny wont shift into 2 and 3 gear. I will also need new front rims. Otherwise all of the other bolts have came out without any problem. The hood is very straight without any dents or cracks. It even still has the original serial number tag. This is going to be a long term project.

The first 314-8 was a 1985 model. (21-14K801) If you stand back far enough to see the big picture, it's easy to see what caused the demise of the "Classic" Wheel Horse GT..... they killed themselves. It's not uncommon to see 20, 30, 40, even 50 year old tractors still working their guts out on a regular basis. Sure - they require maintenance and some parts here or there, but it doesn't cost anywhere near the amount of an equivalent new machine. Now look at the "big box store" junk out there today. The manufacturers pretty much guarantee themselves return customers in 6 to 10 years. They know exactly what they're doing and people play right along with them.

Jeeesh no wonder yer down on yer football picks! You got Hexed by getting the Tecky! ~Duke

That was me. I don't have any for sale at this time. I sold all of my stock to Dave's Tractor World. He has them in stock, ready to install. Dave is also a member here, but is not very active. You can contact him at www.davestractorworldonline.com, or as Jason said, buy the raw material from McMaster, cut to length (10-1/8") drill two 3/8" holes for the rivet heads, and you are good to go. The new linings can be attached with clear silicone adhesive.

As has already been said, part of the fun of this hobby is in the work of "restoring" the tractor. As has also been said, "restore" seems to have many different meanings where GTs are concerned. I make some modification to each and every tractor I work on. This is partly due to a lack of OEM parts here, as well as a tendency to think I can somehow make an occasional tiny improvement to MY tractors for MY use. Some of my machines are what I consider highly modified, but I try to make the work look at least "correct" for the style and use of the machine at the time. In my opinion at least, until some type of cash awards start poppoing up for shows (which I hope NEVER happens to our hobby), then my restores will be to MY personal satisfaction first and foremost. If someone else likes it, great! If not, that's OK by me too. That's not to say I haven't asked others for their opinions, it just means in the end that I have to be happy with the outcome of my work. If there are any "Wheel Horse Police", they can go fly a kite. As a side note: I've seen many restorations at the PA show, and many of them by far exceed the quality of work the factory produced. Better paint, better attention to detail, and far better hardware and components than any that EVER rolled off the assembly line. Personally, I think it's a testament not only to the skills of some of the collectors, but the love for these little tractors as well. I think such things as this are far more important than someone elses idea of a "perfect restoration". In short, my opinion of a benchmark restoration is the one that makes YOU the happiest. Paint it whatever color you want, make any changes you want. In the end, YOU have to look at it in your shop and get a case of perma-grin. What others think can be icing on the cake, but if you don't absolutely love it- what's the point of doing the work?

As I see this hobby, most of us fix these tractors up to our liking, no one else's! We fix them to show, we fix them to work, and some are fixed up for both. I love going to shows, and I love to see the nice fresh paint jobs, BUT, I also like to see tractors that are in good condition (paint wise) and are workers. I feel my GT's will never be the best show quality, but if & when I take them to a show, everyone will know it is a working GT!

I am fairly new to the WH collector hobby having acquired five round hoods in the past two years. From what I understand, tractors from the factory didn't necessarily have perfect paint jobs to begin with. Parts were mixed and match thus factory built tractors may not have looked like the sales photos. I am restoring my dad's original 552 and I am by no means doing a "professional" restoration job. I do what I can, with what I have, when I can. If my tractor looks good to me, that's all that really matters anyway.

Here's where my head is at...... People need to quit over-thinking these tractors and have fun with them.

hears mine. click on the pic to watch the video

Well it's a while sense I built any of these hitches and I have had a steady flow of PM's from you guys wanting some more hitches. I have been very busy this last year as my parents have been going through a lot, Spending half of my free time over there helping them out and know I have to move my brother and his family over to my parents so he can help take care of them. So Tom and I will be doing another build of our hitches. The price has gone up as our cost has gone up for the steel. There will be two different hitches for the main product this time. first will be the good old sturdy classic and the second will be a shorter version that will be able to fit a tiller with leaving the hitch on. I have had a lot of you asking for this and I think I can do it for just a little extra in the cost of the hitch. I will drill a new hole for the pin close to the flared end of the receiver, and cut the other end off so it can be mounted up tighter to the rear axle. I will test this hitch as I do have a tiller know and I can check the fit after the first one is built. I did missplace the dimensions for the for the XI hitch I built for Burrly1 and Shallowwatersailer. I have access to a 520xi at my local dealer that I have been keeping a eye on and will get the dimensions that I need this weekend. The paint will unfortunately be changed to Regal Red as my favorite Valspar Restoration series paint is no longer available. I hope it drys good before shipping as I don't want packing materiel sticking to it while they are on the way to you.The old paint took 2-3 days and the new says 24hours but we will see. I am also doing a custom hitch for are friend in Australia. He wants one for his 520 with a loader. the difference between the standard and the XI and a custom hitch that was built I only have Saturdays to work on these as I have my daughter Gabby every day know as I don't want My parents Driving to pick here up any more. So It may take tell the end of the month for these to get built. I will do my best to get them done as fast as possible. Remember that these are built to order, I require 50% down to build you a hitch, and the other 50% when its ready to ship. I use USPS to ship these and only ship on Sat. I will give you a shipping quote when you give me a address, and delivery conformation and a tracking # will be given to you when its shipped. I have 40+ hitches built and sold and have lots of compliments so far and I thank you guys for liking my hitches. The new prices are : 1 regular hitch $120 + shipping 2 short hitch for tiller $130 + Shipping 3 XI hitch $130 + shipping 4 custom hitch to your dimensions $120 - $140 + shipping depending on what you need and cost of materials. extra plates and bolts $10 To mount hitch to tractor if you don't have a rear plow-tiller mount. Any questions you can PM me or post here. If you want one I do like to talk to you in person on the phone as I like to make sure you are happy with what your getting. Thank you for looking an

I had a pretty clean short frame plow frame for a few years, I got it in a load of stuff I bought, I also picked up a pretty nice early vert shaft plow a few years ago, but I have never sold any of them, so I pull parts off them, the plow head is the same as a regular 42" plow, same with the pivot and springs, I also needed a angle handle, and had one I pulled off a junk plow a while back, I've been wanting to put a plow on my little worker round hood, so today I took time off the diesel project to clean up the plow and get it ready to put back in service, I brought everything in the shop to clean it up, I took it all apart and washed it then wiped it down with WD-40 I know some of you don't like that, but it helps keep rust at bay, and shines it up, I wipe it down after it sets a while so it does not have a heavy oil feel to it, and I didn't want to paint this one right now I have to much going on, I did pull the cutting edge off and flip it, I also cleaned and sprayed it with some black paint I had handy, I also put some anti seize on everything that moved, and the shafts that hold the springs on, I had to make up a wire for the release handle it was missing, but the vert shaft blade came to the rescue again they use a long wire that can be trimmed to size, I had about a hour in to cleaning and getting it back together, tomorrow I'll get it on the tractor, I need to see if it will fit with the tombstone weight on the front?? I hope it will. No action shots only all done, still needs a final wipe down to get the extra WD off it but it is all done, not bad for a bunch of parts, even all orig. paint.

So I began stripping apart the $20 B-80 that I snagged on Wednesday to find that the engine starts and runs great! I was shocked...we began stripping parts and decided to try out the tranny. Funny picture below of how I rode it around my yard! Sadly, as I drove it around I blew the carb bowl gasket!! So then I got it back into the garage as it sputtered along spitting gas and began the complete pull apart. I will keep everyone updated as this will for sure be a weekend by weekend project. You can tell this tractor was kept outside...

Well heres the update/final chapter... I took it to my dealer friend and he pulled the head and flywheel and timed everything (he said it was off just a little...) and it runs like a swiss watch. I dunno.... never seen an engine that is so flippin critical on timing. But its all set and cost $100 for parts and labor... Tecumsehs are great on snowthrowers when they run.... but thats the trick. Tony

See - I told you that would work. Is the clicking only audible, or can you actually feel it too?

I think that one of the biggest aspects of marriage is common interest. In the 38 years of marriage and before she's been interested in many of my projects from helping sand my old VW to turn it into a a baja vehicle to now where she's really excited about having her own Wheel Horse (and it had to be a Wheel Horse). Yesterday evening a couple hours after bringing it home I was wondering where she was, and I found her out in the yard sitting on her tractor. She said that she was trying it out to see how it fits, but this is usually the stuff I do, so I think she's bitten by the Wheel Horse bug. She is extremely excited, because being a tiny person, I found a tractor small enough for her to operate. She couldn't thank me enough for finding her this tractor, so I'll be sure that I put in a little bit of work that it needs to get it running, so she can drive it this week. Yes, guys were lucky to have a wife to share the hobbies and projects that we find ourselves involved in. I think that there might be more women who share the interest, So if you guys have wives that share your interest in Wheel Horse, let it be known, for I am sure that many others wives migt be wanting a tractor of their own too and might want to help mow the lawn with you.

Check the woodruff keys at the wheel hubs. If you don't have an "assistant" (to watch), draw a line straight across the end of the axle and hub face (both sides) with a marker, paint pen, crayon, etc., and briefly try to move the tractor. Look at the line you drew across the hubs. If it is no longer straight across, the key is sheared.

ok i just had a moment of genius..................IT'S GOT A PULLSTART lol. did a quick test drive and it seems good but there is a clicking in the rear when in reverse. any idea's what that might be?.

Update: I installed an electric fuel pump on my 1988 520-H, but there was VERY LITTLE room to mount it anywhere in/on the tractor. In the engine bay, the big Onan 20 hp engine pretty much fills-up that area. There was room to mount the fuel pump beside the battery on the inside of the PTO lever side of the dash tower sheet metal, but it would be right next to the exhaust, so I'm thinking hot exhaust muffler and rubber fuel line - might not be a good mix. There is zero room under the seat and rear fender due to the under seat/fender fuel tank and hydro filter from the Eaton 11 tranny and from the linkages for the clevis hitch. I could mount the fuel pump to the bottom most portion of the front hood, near the hinge, but felt like that would vibrate to much. So what I did was mount the fuel pump on the exterior of the tractor in front of the hydro lever on the left side of the tractor, beneath the hood. It is horizontally next to the present vacuum pump and so the fuel lines were easily transferred to the electronic fuel pump. I left the vacuum pump in place and blocked off the fuel lines to it. I thought this would look TERRIBLE and tried to avoid it at every turn, but in the end, it doesn't look bad. I wired the power and ground to the gauges under the dash tower, so all I needed was ring terminals and didn't have to cut any existing wires. The pump runs when the switch is on this way too. The best part of this fuel pump is - before I cranked the engine, I let the pump run for a few seconds and it took a pretty much empty fuel line, a new/empty fuel filter and filled them with gas. There was absolutely no guessing if fuel was at the carb. The pump is self priming too. The pump is a Facet "Posi-Flo" EFP-3 and is sold at NAPA for around $50 under the part number 610-1051. This pump is 1.5 - 4 psi and was referenced on Brian Miller's tractor pulling web site. We'll see how it goes with this pump - that's why I left the old one in place. I'll post some pics as soon as my the post office delivers my check to the site owner and I can post more pics - I've hit my freebie limit... Thanks! Bill

Don't worry about those Tecky's Mike...there is always some YaHoo out there that likes them and wants one. :)

I like to stay as close to origional as possible, but part availability, and choosing pant color will never be exact. Some of the parts are becoming very hard to find. I still want all mine to be functional while I still want them to look good. I get a lot of people who stop and say, heh, how old is that tractor? This hobby is more than just trying to relive the past to me, it brings people together doing things they love and talking about memories. I like origional, sometimes even untouched, but like to see tractors that were done with pride. I am not into the tractors that are chopped up or changed into something they were not. But thats just me, to each there own. (In fact some have made me kinda sad). I think we all have to remember that life is short so lets have fun and make memories with family and friends. Now where is my red spray paint can? Let these tough tractors that were made with pride and brought memories live on and make more memories for years to come! May I live to be an old man sitting under an oak tree talking to my friends and family about the fun that was had and the work that these little gems are able to do!

I put in about 10 years plowing with a Craftsman and it was the cats meow. I recieved a C121, got it running and did a restification and am using it now. Picked up the Craftsman from my buddy whom I sold it,to load the rear tires for him. After loading it up, my thought was " what a chincy pos, how did I live with this?"

I decided that since its the aluminum parts that really made this engine unique, I would deviate from painting them black like Briggs did, and I would only clean, and clear anything aluminum on the engine. Upon opening the engine, I found a beautiful cylinder bore, piston, valves, crank, and rod. All I had to do to it, was hone the cylinder, install new rings, gaskets, and seals. I got a new set of reproduction decals for the engine, and I even managed to find an old clear united oil bath air filter, that could have come on it. The original David Bradley Sears 500 tag was in bad shape, as you'll see in the pics. I couldn't find anyone who reproduces these, so i had a Briggs tag made with the correct numbers on it. I've really enjoyed this engine, as it really stands out. Anyway, here are a few more pics. I'm just waiting on a governor rod, and spring to come in, and then I'll post a video of it running. Matt :flags-texas:

Why do dogs need a coat if their born with one? :confusion-scratchheadblue:

Here's a pic of the adjustment I was referring to. DON'T over do it because it could add excessive side load on the engine shaft. A couple of turns should do it.

As the saying goes "To each his own." ask 100 people you'll get 100 answers. I have a 655 done up about as close as I can get it to original but with SS fasteners and I am not ashamed to admit that I drive it around all year get dog crap on the tires and scratches on the hood, about a week before the MI show I drag it out give it a good bath and touch up the scratches. From 10 feet it looks great get any closer and you will see the worn and bent steering wheel, wrong dash decal, never did do the rims, a little rust on the hub caps and the deck sounds like hell. But it is still my baby and a trailer queen in my eyes. I also have a few others that go from workers to wrecks to rollers with no engine or non running and a ratty old puller. But the other tractor I bring to the show is my C-125 worker that is more of a C-175, it's ugly, mean, and nasty but boy is it fun to drive around all weekend. Will I ever turn it into a trailer queen..Hell No! And if you try to judge either one I'll probably tell you where to go. Point is this hobby is too much fun to get all technical and the documentation for such probably doesn't exist. Toro can't even track any of the serial numbers cause someone tossed the records out years ago if they were even kept at all. Each dealer did their own version of prep and installed options after they left the factory, and it wasn't as if they were made in the millions like autos or even close to the numbers that the more popular of farm tractors were. They were a smaller regional manufacturer with no distributors out west and in the deep south, yeah they made em under license in Europe but they didn't have the following or backing of a JD, Cub, or Sears. For a company that started out in a garage and was eventually buried and died under corporate greed it is amazing that they are collected and restored at all to the degree that they are now.

Wouldn't it be nice to see an NOS RJ right out of the box without a single scratch on it? I'm afraid that every single supposedly correctly restored RJ out there would certainly be "over restored" if such a thing as an NOS RJ existed to compare all the rest to. I'd be willing to bet the farm that the paint jobs out of the factory looked like crap compared to what we see now at the shows that are supposed to be "restored correctly" (or even just an average paint job by today's standards.) Who is going to want to do a sub par paint job to try to copy how it was done back in the day? I can hear the comments from onlookers already, "man whoever restored this could have done a much better job on the paint job! That is what is great about Wheel Horse's and the guys and gals who own them. We don't get our undies all tied up in a knot if something isn't just so. Ask a Wheel Horse guy what color red is the correct color and more than likely he is going to tell you to paint it red and it'll be close enough. As far as points judging goes, no thanks. A guy can do a real nice job making everything on his tractor original and as close to the way it came out the factory's doors as humanly possible, rebuilding all components himself along the way, BUT, if he paints the tractor himself and he lacks the skills to do a killer job on the paint he'd fail miserably if there was a points system at our shows. And that would suck in my opinion. Fact is, most cars that are judged at car shows were painted at a body shop and the owners probably took out a second mortgage to get the work done.

I think I know what's on your mind on this issue. Some people take more time and research as they rebuild their tractor than others do to make them as original as possible. But there are few "chalkmark guys" in the wheelhorse world. Some paint, others powdercoat, some stainless fasteners, some zinc. But it seems nobody gets anal about a tractor unless it's really rare, then they typically leave it alone or fix what is nessassary. The attitude is different, this is supposed to be a fun hobby and not become a job with ISO standards applied. If WH tractors were judged by some absolute set of "factory" standards dictated by "experts" , then me and my tractors would not apply.

I don't buy a restored tractor unless the seller is giving it away or wants it placed in a good home. I buy the best originals I can find as well as afford. One of my prizes is a 1983 C-175 Twin Automatic with only 285 hours on it. I have replaced the high back logo seat with a flawless high back logo seat, the plastic fender with a better plastic fender and one belt guard with a better belt guard but all parts are originals and no repaints. I did replace the drive belt and idler pulley assembly since those are common issues with that model. As far as restoration goes it is whatever the restorer chooses including custom or original. They all look good. I don't have the time, tools or skills and that is why I buy replacement original new or used parts when I can find them. I try to get all the mechanical functions in order first which is what I enjoy most and then worry about appearance. Some of the older models look great with their well earned war wounds and weathered finishes from years of hard work, especially when they still run better than the ones at Home Depot that are made from recycled beer can and plastic soda bottles.

I am doing one right now and I will not follow any strict guidelines. I have nothing against anyone who does however. To each his own. I just want it to be clean and look good to me. I did a 67 Chevelle 20 years ago and did it the same way, to suit me. I cloned an L-79 version that I had when I was young. Again I say, I have nothing against the purist who wants to do it the way it came off the assembly line. In fact it is good that some choose that direction for the reasons you gave. Its just not the way I want to go.

They are garden tractors, not high dollar cars or trucks, they should be built to your ability and be happy with that, I'm a Body man, I can build the heck out of one of these tractors, but I also have a round hood I spray bombed, I took it all apart but still used a rattle can, My Daughters tractor is a candy red, with $600 worth of paint, primer and supplies, it also has 90% of the fasteners on it changed to stainless, I like it, she loves it because it's different no one else has one like it, it's not a belly button tractor you know everyone has one, to put one back to new condition would be hard because they didn't do a very good job when new, parts where assembled then painted undersides and insides did not get much if any paint on them, on some models, why take the fun out of the hobby from the guy that can't paint like a pro, or don't have tons of money to throw at them, I run a WH show in MI. I tell everyone to bring anything workers, resto jobs, clean orig. even beaters, if you want to bring it to the show it will be welcome, the only real pet peeve I have is if you did not take it apart and you rattle canned it, please don't call it a restoration, call it what it is, a clean up and repaint, there are different levels of a restore, but just throwing paint at a tractor is not one.

I sort of think that anyone that has an affection for Wheel Horse tractors would be delighted to see one just as it sat in the dealers showroom. To try and replicate that, from what is available today... well let's just say the only difference between being able to do that, and doing thee impossible is, thee impossible is just a little bit harder! I as well think that anyone who would like to try to restore a tractor (or any Wheel Horse) to as near "Showroom" as they are able should pursue such an ambition. I also think trying to obtain a nth degree could prove to be quite controversial, as it seems the correct position of a fastener (a hairpin clip for example) on one tractor may have been put on the opposite direction 50 units down the assembly line. What could possibly be an absolute? I think everyone that owns a Wheel Horse has a right to do whatever they decide to do to it ( stopping short, as previously mentioned, of painting it green and yellow). I also think making a tractor look better than factory or "Showroom" is somewhat of a delight to behold as well. Mark.

Most anything is alright as long as you don't paint it Green & Yellow.

I tend to agree that more weight is not going to help once you start to slide. Here is an example, though it maybe like comparing apples to Orange's. Years ago I was up in the High Serra's cutting fire brakes with a Cat D9 Dozer, I was on a very steep slope when the ground under the dozer just started sliding. Even though it was only about 45 yards with dropping the blade it was still on hell of va ride. Once that all that weight on the D9 got sliding it was hell bent on going somewhere. It took digging that blade in deep to finale get it stopped. Like I said maybe this is not a good comparison but the finale out come will be the same. I was lucky that all I did was get a thrill ride of my life and skid marks in my shorts. I did not have a road that I might have ended up sliding out on. Just my perspective on slick slopes with equipment.

My opinion is "what ever makes you happy". There are no Wheel Horse police out there to ticket you for doing something "wrong" Sent from my MB520 using Tapatalk 2

Now this is clever!!! No not just clever, VERY very clever! http://www.youtube.com/embed/iKqpvriKZuA

Or you can go totally of the wall the other way and do something like this

Bingo!

Do we really need a benchmark to just have fun?

No prob bud thanks for looking! I defiently considering rim guard. Hey I might be looking at a C-160 soon with wheel weights and a plow attachment...I see you are a fan Yes I like my C-160's. Grew up on my dad's that he bought new & he still has it. They are a tough worker tractor and who doesn't like a K341 THUMBER under the hood.

I don't have an E-Tank but would like to, I think they both have advantages. I think sandblasting sets up a good profile and TEETH to allow the primer to bite and adhear to the metal surface. ~Duke

you can come over and pull that stinking rope :laughing-rofl:

Here are some pics. Needs work but the price was right!

Give you a tip, the top of the springs the bar that holds them to the blade move it up one set of holes, it will stand the blade up better and plow better, they way you have is fine but will ride up over stuff faster, and if you get in to deeper stuff will not work as well, glad you got it to work and put to use, I have weights and chains if you need them.

Because there is not enough room in the kitchen...

:dunno: I got more pics today!! And to answer some ?'s It will be hydraulic cylinders powered by the axle pump. I am going to use 12V hydraulic control valves and momentary switches to control the blade. More on this later on. As for the welds, most look great, but some don't. I should take my time more, but that's nice about steel, I can grind out the bird turds and redo it wright! I try to make them nice where they are seen. Ok for the pics This is the mount for the blade after finishing up the fab work. And with some paint on it Hydraulic cylinders installed, and cutting (wear) plates. And a tip I got from Nick's v blade about sidewalk cracks, the nose has a ramp to prevent me from kissing my XXX's on the wheel when I hit a crack or raised piece of cement. The springs installed I couldn't resist to install it on the tractor to see what it looked like Know I'm waiting for a shipment of fittings and hoses from surplus center. Should be here Wed. or Thur I hope! The next fun part is getting to the return line for the lift valve on the 417A. I need to tie into it for the 2 new valves, and run a new line to the filter. The hoses will have disconnects and a on-off switch under the hood so the valves will not operate when the blade is off. Trying to see what other implements I can make that could use the hydraulic ports that will be up front. Still more to come............