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Hope you like the progress!

So I logged onto craigslist this morning... just surfing... should have been working Did my usual Wheel horse wheelhorse search and I found a 314-8 (73449) with 169 hours.... original family owned it... for $500 Seat is perfect, everything works... just has that grass cutting patina on it... How do I spell SWEET?? Easy.. STEAL A WHEEL HORSE on a Thursday afternoon... Yes, I paid full price, didn't even try to negotiate.... Taking it home now to wash it.. (really needs that) and explain to momma what a smart guy she married... hope she listens just a bit before I get, "the look".. But hey, she benefitted all winter long from the plowing my '74 C-160 Auto did.... and this one is so quiet I might get her back to an occasional afternoon mow! --- that's about the best I can hope for from her in the afternoon anymore... Okay... had to share!

Jim, let's be nice. Yes the Hawkeyes lost but guess what? The Buckeyes lost also. They were taken out by Dayton. Hmmm, isn't that a MAC team? Looks like the Badgers out of Wisconsin are doing quite well.

If you do any amount of fabrication and welding at all, no matter how careful you are you cant tell where a welding spark is going to fly. I've got my ARSE chewed out by my wife a zillion times for ruining good clothes, I have just come to the conclusion that things happen and its all part of it. Clothes like welding rod, wire, and gases, are CONSUMABLES same as is your skin and flesh! We are all going to get our lumps doing the things that we love in this case working on our horses. Ya know what..... I don't know about you guys, I wouldn't have it any other way! Battle scars build character! ~Duke

Iowa lost?? Well, that's...

Inside details. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Inside details are the last picture. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Restoring My 1054 Before I Leave For College. It's Not My First Tractor Restoration I Have Restored An 1945 Farmall A And A 1948 Oliver 70. The Wheel Horse The Farmall The Oliver

I started this back in Nov. And just finished it last weekend. I completely disassembled and sandblasted painted and reassembled waiting on deck decals and it will be 100% done.

I want to first off thank all the folks here on this board for helping me with my project. My wifes grandfather passed away in 1989 and this tractor had sat in a pasture since the 70's. He purchased it new from the dealer and as some pictures show, he completely "farmerized" numerous pieces. He somehow installed a power steering pump, heat shields, and other items to just make it work. I was able to finish this project this weekend and give it back to a stunned mother-in-law and father-in-law. I tried to leave parts and pieces in original-ish form, but obviously had to fix others. You have all been so kind and generous with your time and answers. I have never worked on cars, or farm implements. I borrowed tools, asked questions, and for the first time in my life listened to advice. I am the epitome of someone who had never even heard of Wheel Horse 4four months ago. Sure there was some money spent, but this has been very fullfilling. My favorite parts were the heat shield that I was able to design to use her grandparents names, the id tag which is his birthday, and the engine tag that I had done so that it showed his DOB/DOD on it so nobody would forget. I told them the only rule was this has to be used, driven, played with, wrecked, fixed, used. It is not allowed to sit in the garage and looked at. I used rattle cans, so that if there is a scratch, we can just touch it up and put it out to be played with again. I will probably never own a Wheel Horse again, but I would like to think the knowledge you guys gave me, will stick with me. I feel like one of Ken's kids in the Tractor Club! Enjoy the pics. I have some before and afters, and a few of my wife back in 1975 playing on the tractor with her grandparents. There were plenty of tears shed yesterday when I unveiled it. I told them I just was going to get the engine to run, they had no idea. I know this board's motto is "pics, pics, pics"! so here you go. sorry the pics were so small, I needed to make them small to fit so many...

congrats on the score! I am glad that someone else finally sees buying a wheel horse the same way I do when it comes to dealing with the wife : It is easier to beg for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission!

Yes that is what im looking for!! Thanks TT and martin.

onanparts.com $10.00 ea http://onanparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7_22&products_id=17 they are the cheapest i can find. garys place is cheap too, but not genuine parts. they work ok though.... http://www.gphope.com

Should be Kohler p/n 210149 These are cheaper though: http://www.mfgsupply.com/mower/mowerthrottle/mowerthrottleu/3-249.html

Also the older Tecumseh motors used a Bellville washer (cupped) to keep consistent torque on head gaskets with hot and cold cycles.

just make sure the block and head are clean and straight, install the new head gasket and torque to specs. all that really matters on these air cooled flathead engines is to properly crush the fire ring around the combustion chamber/cylinder the gasket material just helps to stabilize the head and hold the fire ring in place during assembly. The copper stuff and most other gasket adhesives are most beneficial to hold paper gaskets in place during assembly but they make it much harder to remove the gaskets the next time the engine is disassembled, I would just use a little grease or Vasaline to hold the gaskets in place for assembly.

Hello everyone, Last week I was at a small tractor show in Durham Ct. I brought my fathers suburban and my brothers rj58. The show consisted of big tractors such as farmalls etc lol. Everyone there loved the little wheel horse tractors. I came across a gentlemen that said he had a wheel horse tractor in his barn but he couldnt really give me any detail on it. We exchanged phone numbers and we planned a time to meet. In my mind I thought it was going to be a suburban or an rj58. Today the gentlemen came over with the tractor. It turned out to be a 1955 rj35 cable steer! It has the original kill switch still on it. The tractor looks rough but its all there but the motor. Iam very happy with this find!! I will try to get more detailed pictures later.

Well, so far Ohio St. is out...Wisconsin had no problem and won...and guess what??? Illinois is still playing basketball.

a job well done congrats

Well, Aussie came back first with the pic, so he gets the free kick, but I am assuming he won't be at the "BIG SHOW" to collect. But Aussie, and If you ever cross the pond, look me up. Thanks Martin, Guess My subconscious told me the coil wire didn't matter....yaeh right. I did mark the trigger and condenser wires, but thanks for the info.. I will do the discount dubble check . GMAN, The PO says he bought it new and says the engine was never apart , But who knows ? The meter shows 438 hrs, but I didn't check if it was working before I tore it down. Looking at the tin on the seat pan and hood , I would guess It had a lot more hours.....But I know the PO's daughter mowed with it for several years, so that may explain the body damage..OOPS....there I go again....sorry fems.

I have a 551, 550 and a 58. The 551 has the undrive trans in it which as we all know is a proven trans. The cast front axle is also on that model. The straight axles of the RJ's were replaced because of the weakness they are prone to.

Duke, I have a feeling that John ate all the brownies last night in disbelief of his Iowa Hawkeyes. Hopefully, he was listening to INA-GODDA-DA-VIDA before he got SLUGGO out and beat up his TV. The Hawkeyes loose in OT to some team named Boston U. (didn't know they had a university). John, it has gotta be tough being out of the Tournament before it really starts...bummer dude. Anyway, the Illini pulled one out with their defense in the 1st round of the NIT. :bow-yellow:

If the battery is indeed charging above 16 volts then yes, this would be a dangerous condition in which the battery could crack and leak fluid. We are running out of options and may need the 2nd opinion of another voltmeter. The 2nd voltmeter could be a simple automotive voltmeter gauge from a local auto parts store or an analog multimeter from any local source auto parts / radio shack / sears, etc.

I don't smoke since I had a Stroke several years ago.... But a couple of John's brownies would be nice!

Well it is Wednesday night and that means one important thing........Tractor Club Update!!!!!!!! Well after an awesome field trip last week to the powder coater, we are now back in the barn. We do not have the entire tractor back and have also ran in to some issues with the transmission. Hopefully those little hiccups will be solved soon. We at least had enough to start bolting things to the frame. It is slowly starting to take shape. The tires are just about done, and the motor will be taken back to our shop to get the final prep before primer and paint. Now the tough part.......keeping all of these little hands busy. They all want to jump in and turn a wrench but as you all know, it is a process as this jigsaw puzzle goes back together. I might just have to get one of my tractors over there for them to redo. Well only snapped a few pictures tonight so I hope you enjoy!

I have to be honest you may be disappointed at how it rides. A few words come to mind for me when I drive mine... slow, terrible steering as it will "push" when you turn it and unless you have the brake kit only drive on level ground or on a light incline... but they really are cool!!

What's sup guys here are some pictures of my progress. I would like to thank Vinsrj for all his help and knowledge! I would also like to thank Clay Brooks! Hope you like the pictures. More pics More pics

An additional thought - have you checked the spark plug wire for breaks? Maybe a quick substitution of a resistor wire plug cable instead of the solid core wire on there now? It is a long shot, but do you have any type of aftermarket de-sulfator hooked into the battery circuit?

What always amazes me also is how little fuel these diesels burn. I can mow my lawn with well under 1/2 the fuel that the garden tractor uses. Cleat

I have a 25 hp, diesel, 4x4 compact utility with a loader, a 5 foot tiller and a 6 foot grader blade. Shortly after I got it, I sold all of my worker wheel horses except the one I mow with. I didn't use them anymore.

From what I have read, reversing the +/- wiring of an ignition coil only causes the secondary (spark) output to decrease somewhat. I have never experienced or heard of permanent damage caused to the coil due to this type of miswiring. From your description of the 45 - 60 second delay before the battery voltage rises, it sounds like one possibility may be the wiring in the ignition coil may be breaking down and arcing the spark voltage into the primary coil. That is one possibility. The other possibilty is the condensor not filtering the voltage spikes from the primary of the coil. Condensor issues usually manifest themselves quite nicely as total failure to run or running VERY ROUGHLY at idle and a failure to change from idle speed to partial throttle without severe stumbliing. Just so we are clear - you removed the connector from the RR unit - disconnecting the output of the stator / RR from the battery - and the high voltage reading still remained? If this is so, the only other components in the wiring able to produce / supress high voltage would be the igntion coil or the condensor. It is also possible a break in the spark plug wire could be "broadcasting" interference into the voltmeter, much the same as you might hear in a radio under fluorescent lights. Measure the resistance of the spark plug wire while flexing it, the resistance should be very low and NOT CHANGE while you flex it. Any jump in resistance would indicate a break in the internal wiring connections. We could also try to measure the primary and secondary resistances of the coil AFTER it acts up. The issue with resistance measurements is the voltmeter only applies less than 1 or 2 volts across the windings of the igniton coil whereas the coil in operation applies thousands of volts across a broken section of the insultaion inside the coil. The test meter may not pick this one up on the resistance scale. I'll post a procedure to test the coil later this morning.

First time posting a pic, so may take a few attempts. Attached is my 314A. If all goes well I will start to take apart to take down to metal to primer and paint within the next few days. I'm sure I'll have some questions to follow. Thanks Brian

First day of spring Thurs... caught some Daffodils peeking out here today.

Technical difficulties! Its actually an eyesight test. You guys passed.

I remember working in an auto shop. We had a guy who always kept a rag hanging out of his pocket. He was cutting off an exhaust when the rag caught fire. I yelled to him and he put it out. The guy next to him, who was a ball buster had gotten the water hose out. He let him have it even though the fire was all ready out!

This has been a great inspirational thread Andy , it has given me the gee up that i needed to to tackle the repair on my tub cart . great work

As always, thanks for the supportive comments guys and I'm pleased it has inspired at least one other to consider repairing a cart. I'm amazed to see that the thread has had over a thousand views now but I guess it's the sort of work that doesn't draw exactly a whole lot of comment. Anyway, another couple of weeks and things are coming on. A bit of filler was needed to blend in the new and old but it was beginning to look like it should. The sticky out piece that the tub rests on when tipped was added. My original thought was to duplicate the original which extends down and is welded to the tub just above the center ribs. The front of the repaired tub is so strong that this really isn't needed - I tried standing on the simple one I added and it didn't flex or move. I may add a 'decorative one later if I'm not happy with the appearance but for now it will be completed as is. Apart from that it was beginning to look much more like it should. Back at the larger tub it was time to remove the last of the original paint, treat areas where rusting had occured and do the fine filler bit. Also time to say farewell to the original decals. I realise that these came with some variation in colour over the years they were used but these were a very dark red and it was only having removed them and held them up to another tractor that it became obvious that these were no accident of printing process. They were Wheel Horse Maroon - exactly the same shade as used on 200, 300 series etc. While on the subject of colours, I believe the WH red paint tended to vary, in this case a particularly 'firey red' - the camera has accentuated it slightly but I can see now why my C-100 and 216 more so ended up pretty much orange rather than red after years out in the sun. Another point of interest that I've noticed before is the mysterious rusting that occurs under the decals. From the pattern of spots my guess is that they used the wet method of applying and that this is the long term hazzard that results from the use of no primer and tiny droplets of water that get sealed behind the decal. (Just a guess) So Spring finally arrived an it was great to be able to work outside getting the last of the original paint off the smaller tub. and this is what they look like now primed. The decals have arrived from Mark (Meadowfield) but it will be a while yet before the tubs get their final coat (the air's getting warmer and drier but not quite good enough yet). I did get the chance to try one out though as the aerator that came in the same haul as the small bath tub cart and a mid mount grader has been without since last year. and very nice it looks too - thanks Mark. So that's about it for now, if the weather continues to improve as it has been then final coat and reassembly shouldn't be too far away. Andy.

Well the good side of that is the PO didn't let any moving parts run dry. Even the inside of the wheels

one other option is your multimeter may not be properly shielded against the radio frequency interference spewed out by a sparking connection in the tractor. the 200 volts is not actually entering the battery but is just being "picked up" by an inexpensive, poorly shielded multimeter. Even some expensive meters have issues with operation in a high RF environment and produce false readings.

The only devices in an ignition coil based tractor capable of generating those voltages are 1/ defect in the spark plug wire 2/ arcing in the ignition coil 3/ arcing in the stator assy whenever current flow thru a coil is stopped, the coil (stator, ignition coil) wants to keep the current flow going. The magnetic field in the coil will collapse and convert the magnetism into a high voltage and tries to keep the current flowing thru an open circuit.(bad wire connection or broken spark plug cable). this electrical characteristic of a coil allows the collapsing magnetic energy stored in coil to be converted back to voltage - a really high voltage in excess of 200 -300 volts. This same action routinely takes place at the ignition points when the points open. The coil tries to spark across the points (high voltage jumping a gap) but the condensor absorbs some of the voltage and prevents most of the excessive arcing at the points. So, we either have a spark jumping inside the ignition coil feeding back thru the 12 volt line back to the battery or a bad connection in the stator which is sparking and feeding a high voltage spike back thru the regulator. The regulator is not fast enough to prevent the spike from getting thru the electronics of the RR unit and the spike appears at the battery terminals. I would go simple first. Remove the electrical connector from the regulator and restart the tractor. Removing connector from the RR unit will prevent any spikes from getting to the battery thru the stator or RR unit. If the high voltage disappears, the problem is in the stator or stator wiring. If the problem remains, Check if the condensor is good (probably is if the engine is running strong) Make sure the condensor is hooked to the negative side of the coil and the positive side of the coil is hooked to the ignition switch Replace the spark plug wire Replace the ignition coil. Use the multimeter to re-check for the high voltage after each of the steps above.

You've given me idea's on fixing my dump cart.

I have been riding the 417A around the yard and took it for a 1/2 mile road trip with the mower deck running. It seems to be doing fine. I made two videos but not certain that I can upload them here, so I'll post one more picture while I try to figure out how to get the video to transfer.

I finished fitting the valve lash and hand lapped the valve sealing surface, then installed pistons and rings into the cylinders. I used silicon in place of the base gaskets, then torqued the cylinders and heads into place. After painting the engine and letting it sit overnight I added oil to the crankcase and will be working on the fuel, exhaust, and ignition systems today. If I wanted to push myself I could be riding the 417A again this evening, but with temperatures again in the 20's I may wait for another warm day. It shouldn't be long now.