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Here's my C195 Brian

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I'll start by nominating my 145 "Marvin" A friend offered me this tractor for $150. It was a good runner but had a weak Hydro. I was looking for a tractor with hyd. lift to mount a tall shoot blower on and said to send me pics. What I saw was a pretty clapped out flat top. I never cared for the look of the black hoods but I figured the motor was worth the price. Here's how it looked when I got it and mounted the blower: RF of the hood was bashed in: Once I drove it I thought what a great tractor. Sweetest running Kohler I ever had. A littile birdie on the forum inspired me to fix it up and do something different. It would need a hood, fender and another hydro unit which I picked up at the big show. It's been a tough slog getting it all done in one month working late at work for 2 weeks but here it is. NOTE: I AM NOT A PAINTER! Looks like Marvin the Martian here: I don't like to blow my own horn but this was given to me by a very special forum member so It had to go on:

Never saw one of these at Camp Lejeune. Was wondering if anyone knows of this military model?

If you can't afford to be a supporter, you can't afford to own a Wheel Horse.

Had the herd out today for pics. 702 recently restored with my new seat cover (Fathers day gift(Love it Tricia)) Lawn ranger daily mower and 58RJ

This is the only Kohler manual I have seen that covers the starter/generator Garry

just renewed my membership, well worth the money . Its the best wheel horse manual you will ever buy .

I would take the rims to a machine shop and have the short side turned back far enough to work with those spindles (easy thing to do) Brian

Proud to be a member of the two percent-er club.

Looks like another chance to show off my black hoods, I love black hood month!

I have been having good success with the 20oz HVLP from Harbor Freight. With a coupon, I got 3 of them for $9.99 each. They do just as well as the Husky from Home Depot, and when they get too dirty, I just toss them and get a new one. It's cheaper than a gallon of lacquer thinner to clean them.

Take a look at any UPS tractor trailer going down the road. The tractor is registered in one state but the trailers are usually all registered in Maine. UPS is just one example. More and more trailers are being registered that way. I would have started doing it 40 years ago if I would have known about it. I didn't learn about it until about 8 years ago.

I would see if you can turn one side down with a lathe or something. Would need a pretty big lathe though.

I wonder if there's enough 'meat' on the wheel hub to have some removed from each side? Shorten up the hub a bit...

yes the heavy duty spindles kit for a front end loader had longer spindles and wheel rims Brian

After reading all the good advice I forgot to think about how I would use my trailer. Realistically It will travel about 25 miles a week to mow the kids yard and maybe the occasional 300 mile round trip to pick a Wheel horse find. then once a year to the big show and a few other shows as we get time to attend. If you dont have a trailer with you can miss out. may pull it an average 2500 miles a year. Biggest load would be a 520 with blower. I am thinking 5 x 8 would be the smallest I could get by with. Seems most of them have 13 inch tires. Not sure on the heat rating. I agree with you Maynard on the towing behind a full size van. They can be a pain to back but I will not use it often enough for that to be a real issue. Just have limited trailer budget at this time and tired of borrowing and returning my brothers M/C trailer which has no ramps and is a pain to load and unload. Thanks for all your help guys. I value your experience and appreciate your input.

Come on Karl.... "it is for my kids" hint hint.... at least that is what I told momma - @ Jeff- I will take that bet....

only trouble with looking for used around here is you got to be quick. not much comes up for sale on cl around here and lasts more than half a day if its in decent condition. i just went through this the last 6 months or so and gave up. unless you know somebody who has something decent for sale its almost impossible to even get to look at it before its gone. theres plenty for sale, all different sizes, but most of them aren't fit to even tow empty, and everybody thinks they are worth as much as new sometimes. new, yeah you pay more, but if you look after it then it is worth the extra. and stevebo brought up a good point about having to spend on it before its ready to use. as far as using hire trailers, what do you do if you get a call on a tractor thats cheap and you need to get a trailer quick.............. but its late and its past closing time?

U-Haul has cheap daily, and weekend rates... and you won't have to look at it sitting around the house when not in use. Got one for the big show Thurs morning, returned it just before closing Sat evening... ended up charging me for one day, and waived the additional insurance I got too.

Heading down this morning to deliver a Trail Blazer 7 with front mower deck to Ken Townsend (chevelletown) should be there between 11 and noon. Can't stay as we have a family function in Grand Rapids. Wish you all the best and good weather. If someone is available I'll buy some raffle tickets. Those are some sweet looking tires and wheels.

Here's what's been going on.... Gauges done, sound system in, floor mats in, bumper done, working out some other bugs and then washed it off and shot some pics. Leaving for college next week and will paint the hood when I'm home next along with a tailgate.... Have about 1000 miles on it and the turbo's quite incredible. Maxes at 60PSI and 1300* on the pyro. Yesterday I sheared off 12 out of 16 axle shaft bolts on the rear on my way down to the shop. Wasn't even driving it hard so I shared the 4 bolts between the 2 sides and babied it down there. Drilled them out bigger with stronger bolts.... Notice the steering stabilizer that utilizes the original tie rod location on passenger knuckle and is mounted to the diff cover with 2 pieces I plasma'd out: My FAVORITE picture of this truck as of right now. Storm passing by, old shed and some green grass Charlie

The plan all along was to get the engine on, fabbing done, test drive and then pull the engine back off and paint it. I pulled it last night and painted the block at home. I took the tins to work and painted them with my hvlp with Resto Series. I got home from work today and had it all done within a few hrs. Cole finally got to take his test drive and he's diggin it! What does he like about it the most? Electric start! I used a belt guard off a tractor I got from Vin, I modded it too fit this engine until i have time to make a new cover from scratch to look more like the original cover. I also redesigned my foot throttle from the one previous. Its done! (for now)

I'd go...with a priest in tow. At the very least, say a prayer...then cross yourself before you get out of the car.

no, i work for a large powdercoater/surface finisher....... (fringe benefits) powdercoat is available in gloss ranges from flat to hi gloss. not a glass smooth finish (orange peel is evident), but gloss is definitely available if you need it. the hi gloss colors tend to not be as scratch resistant though.......

I have seen that before! But it will turn out OK with some work, SEE!

It's a tractor. Tear it down, clean it up, fix the broken/worn stuff, paint it and put it back to work. That's what it was built for.

i have restored (my way) my 1057 and for the amount of work and detail i put in, i dont want to work it and deal with cleaning it all up. i still drive it, and it gets dirty and dusty, just dont use it for cutting the lawn, digging in the garden or plowing snow etc. but i built my c125 for working, i cut some cosmetic corners, mainly sheet metal straightness and fit, and not making the paint really nice, even though it looks almost as good as the ones i try to make nice. some of the sheetmetal is pitted with rust and you can see it up close, but it still looks like a nice tractor, and most people who see it still think its too nice to use. but i enjoy using this one, and plan on using it a bunch more as time goes on. i dont clean it other than a hose and wipe down every now and again. i will go to the c125 for seat time over any of the others i have rebuilt........ from now on if a tractor gets torn down for a rebuild im leaning toward making it only just nice enough to still use it. 1057.... c125.....

If my 175 looked that good, I don't think I would work it either! This is mine which I've been 'tending to' since '92. Just keeping up with maintenance and out of the rain. I've thought about restoring, but she don't look too bad as-is all original.

why not do a restore on it AND use it. you dont have to make it perfect, just fix all the loose/worn out stuff, give it some basic paint, alot of guys do the rattle cans, i like powdercoat myself (but that will add to the cost-unless you know somebody ). get a nice seat and tires, decals from Terry (vinylguy) to finish it off and enjoy it for what it was meant for. depending on what sort of condition tractor you start with, you could have some decent sort of worker for $500-$1000.

Redwolf's instructions are right..... for a different idler configuration. The spring for the L-shaped idler goes where Kevin has it. The spring for the I-shaped idler goes to the front hole. (image from)

I found another 520H for parts which had nicer sheet metal and a few other parts I needed plus the muffler from redbovine and here is how it looks now.

...and they should be pinned to the bed Denny, to prevent them from sliding left to right when loading in wet, or off camber situations.

Morning and welcome to Red Square Vic. Couple thoughts. First, unless the deck was on level ground when you adjusted the deck wheels, there still is a possibility that the overall deck would ride low. The deck has a front to back adjustment and a side to side adjustment to provide the best cut possible. Once it is set correct, the front deck wheels should ride about 1/8" above the ground after you have set your desired cutting height using the rear height adjustment. Also, there are cams on either side of the tractor, under the footrests, that are adjustable for transport height. If the cams are out of whack, that can also affect the lift/transport height. As for the price, as stated by Boo, supply and demand. You said it yourself, this is the first WH you have located in 5 months. Good luck. Oh-the xi series is a workhorse. You won't be disappointed.

Thats a very nice 312! I think the 12hp Kohler and the 8 speed tranny is the best combination of power and fuel economy there is. Mike............

Another note when loading in a truck, you should remove the tail gate, the little cables are not made to hold the weight of a tractor.

We spent last Sunday after Plain City picking 1953 Hiller Yard Hand 1950's Mow-Cycle