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Got all the other 6 weights descrubberized of the biggest rust and paint flakes. The Paint Department is working on spraying them. Bring one outside. Spray some red. Bring it inside. Repeat. I had started to soak the carb off the '75 C160 Automatic the other day. This evening I spent a few minutes finishing up the cleaning out process with brake clean. Also wire brushed the exterior of the carb body.

Another K341 carb ready to go.

I'm feeling fine now but I've told my wife that when I croak she should post my departure on Red Square and give all my stuff and tools to whoever wants them. Calling dibs will only work if you are fast enough to get here first!

I moved from the mean streets of South Philly where I had owned a rowhouse with pavement out front and an 8 x 10 backyard of South Philly grass (cement) out to an 1864 farmhouse on two acres in the Amish country. Much of the property was overgrown and I bought a 1984 21 inch Toro walk behind with a Briggs and Stratton engine from a 10-year old Mennonite kid for 150 bucks. Needless to say that wasn't enough to mow two acres and the next year I decided I wanted to mow the whole property. That meant a riding mower and I started perusing Craiglist. A one family 1976 Wheel Horse B80 was newly up for sale. I went and checked it out. The man selling it said it had belonged to his father-in-law but he was upgrading. My uncle, who deals in vintage farm equipment, told me if it was in good condition he wouldn't pay more than 600. The seller wanted 700 but agreed to deliver it to my house. When it arrived my wife rolled her eyes and said " I knew you would come home with something cooler than just some riding mower." Looking at a Toro Wheelhorse 520H now as I've worked that B80 really hard.

But, the charging system can be verified with a volt meter to know for sure if it's actually working or not in less time than it would take to fully charge a battery. If the charging system isn't operating, it won't really matter how good a battery is. Verify the charging system while you're waiting for the battery to fully charge and kill 2 birds with one stone, especially since you did some prior work on the stator.

I used to quote James Dean on this subject. “Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse.” I ain't young any more and looks are out of the equation, so might as well live fast.

Here’s to hoping that day will be long into the future…

Maybe... but don't mock the little guy... Never judge a WH by the size of its Deck ! 😆

Everyone been busy fixen ,I’ve been breaking stuff. Broke my own rule, never use a impact drill on the small stuff even if you feather the trigger 😬 Good news is a successful extraction..

Seeing the subject “Tecky Acting Wierd” made me think I bet it’s doing what it’s supposed to for a change!

The problem is it's a Techy! Throw one of numerous K91s you have on there and be happy. That's a new one on me but I've had some that started better cold than warm.

Yeah that's ok she went south about two pages ago.... Jeremi says anything he get to camp in the garage with the rest of the plow dogs!

Pete: Let them get over it!! No different than chucking the ammeter for a voltmeter, upgrading to LED lights or adding a non factory fuse for safety (as the 702, 854, and C81 had NONE) Bill

This morning we end up with a physical copy of the original!

One more test you can do with a voltmeter if you have an extra hand. Put the black lead to a clean bare spot on the tractor frame. Put the red lead to a clean spot on the engine without any rust. Ideally the cast iron block or the carburetor. Try the starter and see if you get a voltage reading. If you do you just measured the voltage drop across a short ground cable between the engine mounting plate and the tractor frame which provides a chassis ground. This will affect the voltage regulator. You want a zero volt reading. The short ground cable often breaks from vibration because the engine is mounted on rubber. You can do the same test between the body of the aluminum regulator and the negative battery post. It requires a good ground to function properly which is a zero voltage reading. Another - Negative test lead on battery (-) post. Slide the other lead across the top of the battery toward the (+) battery post. If you get a voltage reading the top of the battery is wet and causing a short between the battery posts. The wetness may be battery acid so clean the meter leads to prevent corrosion. Hands also because it eats clothing. A mixture of water and baking soda will neutralize the acid. Clean battery and dry it.

Nice bus! I just bought one, mine is a lot older though. It's got air brakes/suspension and a DT466 with a 6 speed Eaton

It’s not the size of the deck that matters… it’s how the moves those spindles that counts…

@ebinmaine this truck made me think of you today. I love the low cab / tall stacks look. Didn’t get any front views, but it had the big winged hood ornament. Such a sweet rig! @Handy Don not sure if I ever clarified. It’s more of a point and shoot a few… check ‘em out later thing than taking a Perfect Polaroid Picture shot.

I've always answered the phone as "Whatever (your) county mental health clinic". Keep one thing in mind- knowing you are crazy is actally a great thing. It's the lunatics that think they are sane that scares me!

I've stated this multiple times in the past and I'll repeat it for the sake of clarity. Anybody who even so much as considers the fact that they may have some psychological patterns in common with me should immediately get up and begin walking towards the nearest mental health facility.

We don't do Thanksgiving or Christmas here but I most certainly celebrate FOOD as often as possible. This could be a significantly longer than expected delay. Starting to think we have more in common than tractors... Isn't there a FOOD season? As I recall it runs January through December 31st... In my 30s, my wife and I could be sitting around, and we had a certain way that we 'looked' at each other- and it was ON! Clothes flying everywhere. Now- we have the same 'look'', but it's usually when we figure out what's for dinner!

It depends on how they size the ring. If a 3/4" snap ring has a 3/4" ID it will not hold in the groove. 3/4" shaft with a 1/16" deep groove would require a 5/8" ID snap ring. I've run into this size issue with my snap ring assortment kit.

Regular vs heavy...Measure your groove

I told mine I kick over to give it all to Dan and let him deal with it. Then he can be her sugar daddy! Course the way he goes at it sometimes he might croak before I do!

Oh geeze, where are my manners? I would never stand in the way of an old lady and her dream.

Ok I have a voltmeter and my dad was showing me how to use it and I will do that tomorrow. We have had the battery for 2 years and it works fine it just does not hold a charge. I will do all of this tomorrow and share the results with you guys. Thanks

In addition to above, if you don’t want to do it yourself you can get the battery load tested for free at an auto parts store…

I haven't finished leaf clean up yet. The blower is on the 418-C but it only takes a couple hours to mount the snow plow and loaded turfs with chains. Rest of the crew is ready to go, same players as last year.

I got interested in these tractors when I decided I wanted a riding mower.But I didn’t want a new plastic, China made machine. Stumbled onto WH looking at vintage tractors on the net.Never realized there was such a following. I love the mechanical aspect of these quality tractors, built to last and made in America ! I bought my first WH a 1971 800 special from a nice fella in PA.I restored the cutting deck . I use it mainly to cut grass and pull a trailer around the yard to do yard work. It’s a awesome machine, nothing made today doesn’t even come close to the durability and reliability as these old iron machines from a time gone past.

if you want to easily improve your electrical grounding areas / accessibility , I regularly use this type of electrical lug , to carry on my power flow , https://www.grainger.com/product/BLACKBURN-Mechanical-Connector-3LN35?opr=IDPPLARECS&analytics=PLAPDP_undefined , you can easily find this type of lug at your local H/W store . only using the picture to give you an idea . but if you are setting up an electrical , anything , it would pay ,to have a few of these in your mounting areas . think about it , once bolted in place with dielectric grease and serrated washer , a flat screwdriver gives you easy access. they always come to mind in making things better , sorry if i offended anyone by daring to go off original set up , always experimenting , pete

One other possibility that comes to mind. If this is a points engine, are the points burned back opening the gap and advancing the timing? Advance timing will make a cold engine start easily but make a warm engine start hard. When I ran demo derby cars I would put a bar on the distributor that ran into the inside of the car. This would allow me to retard the timing to get a hot/over heated engine to start. Note: a Chevy small block will run a long time with the engine temp at 300 to 350 degrees.

@ebinmaine There… fixed it for ya “no grass” woodsy types…

Since the newest Wheel Horse with an Onan engine is now a quarter of a century old, parts must be purchased wherever you can find them. That key has the long tail on it to drive the magnetic trigger ring for the ignition, they basically used the same engine that had points and upgraded to electronic without significant changes.

No, lawn & garden shops that sold Onan powered equipment, Steiner dealers for example. Online there is onanparts.com, Colburn, Ebay and numerous others.

I painted some more parts today after work…

I’ve got most of mine on my head, and am even growing more out of my ears

yeah man! That’s what pulled me in to buying the 502 to cut my lawn. I could already see me being the guy mowing and all the people snapping their heads to look at that sweet vintage round hood still doing chores. Come to find out, it came true!

It is a bit harder to make than a standard key. They are readily available at any of the usual places we get parts.

I believe that the Predator has a thrust bearing.

WH couldn't decide how to keep wheels on. They used Cotter pins, E-Clips. External snap rings and bolts. Snap rings are 3/4 inch...but there are regular and heavy duty different thicknesses.

Yup. With masonry work, it is good to think ahead and set things up before acting. If something goes wrong, lots of heavy objects will be on the move...... Years ago, I was a councler on a youth group trip to Hungary. We overnighted in Frankfort. Took some time to sightsee while we were there. A few of the kids and I climbed the cathedral tower. The kids were talking about having to make the climb to ring the bells everyday. I told them I was thinking about how the guys brought all the stones up to build the stairway we were using with only human and animal power.

So @WHX?? Is going high speed helicopter shopping this afternoon....

Very nice setup. I. Your predator build, what did you do to strengthen the pto side bearing to take the load of the clutch? also, do you have a write up of how you engine swapped your tractor? Thanks!

Maybe depending on Snow one Day more... 😂 Cool project. If you plan right, you can use it also as a Toy hauler... 😎

Continuing to send out ornaments etc. Just purchased an upgraded computer system that is extremely fast! Now have the ability to vastly increase resolution, AND use photos to 3d scan items...such as this gargoyle head from the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Assylum museum.(The 2nd largest handcut stone building in the world after the Kremlin.) Museum wants keychain gargoyles lol.Fist the original cast, and the screenshot of the completed 3d model.

Not sorry guys but gotta call dibs on the loader tractor @953 nut

Any chance you got a DOA battery? It happens more often than not the way things are made nowadays. Any chance you have a parasitic draw? Easy to check this. Charge the battery and measure the voltage while still connected to the tractor and monitor the voltage. If VDC drops disconnect it and charge it again and monitor again if it drops when disconnected might mean a bad battery. Record all measurements. If it holds it voltage might mean a parasitic draw. Also charge the battery and check the voltage and record it. Run the tractor and see what the voltage is when say half and full throttle. Again record all measures and report back. Of course you will need a DMM for all of this. A $20 load tester from HF can eliminate bad batteries from trouble shooting efforts. Your on the right track by checking all connections and grounds.

Hhhmmm… so, you bought it for the articles and just happened to then “notice” the pictures… uhm… I’m trying to remember the name of that magazine that teenage boys were fond of before the internet… they would use that same excuse when Mom found them with it… what was it …? Tractorboy…? No, that’s not it… Pondboy…? Nope… hhhmmm…WheelHorsler…?