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I've long the dreamed of having a full set of cast iron wheel horse weights for the 1973 no-name I use for plowing snow. Being a practical man of modest means, I had settled for generic cast-iron rear weights and plastic front weights. But last year, my dream partially came true when in a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story, I acquired a front set of weights for free. My dream was completed about 18 hours ago when I picked up a set of rear weights. Tuesday night, I saw a new Craigslist ad for a set of rear weights with chains. The asking price was $150. I immediately emailed the person, saying I'll take them at that price and gave my phone number. I assumed they were already gone, but about three hours later I got a call from an older gentleman. They weren't gone after all. We didn't have a mutually available time the next day, but set a time to pick them up Thursday morning. I drove back on a long driveway through the woods, to come upon a clearing of his house, detached garage, and numerous sheds. It was a place I would have loved to own. I pulled up to the garage, whose doors were open, and saw a man working inside. I introduced myself, and made a little small talk. He was 81 years old, owned the property for 53 years, and spent most of his working life at a Wheel Horse dealership. We talked Wheel Horses for a while. He said at one time he owned 12, but was starting to sell them off, and had one that he thought I might be interested in. We walked over to a shed, and inside were several Horses, but the one in front was the one he wanted to show me. It was a Lawn Ranger, in completely original (and excellent) condition, except for having an 8 hp Kohler. Another modification was the pulley sizes. He said it went really fast. I asked how much he might want for it, and and he said probably $500. I was all ready to ask where the nearest ATM was, because it would have fit in my wife's Subaru that I came in (she's in Florida this week, which gave me a little breathing room to buy stuff). But then he said, "I don't want to sell it now, I use it to go to the mailbox". Dang! Then we walked around to different sheds, with each one having one or two stashed inside. They were all in excellent original condition, original paint and no rust. I was drooling. He ended up showing me close to 12, so he either originally had more than he thought he did, or sold fewer than he thought he did. The guy knew Wheel Horses. I asked him if he was on any online forums. I got the answer when I had to explain what an online forum was. That was sad, because I thought of the wealth of knowledge that is going to die with him when he eventually passes. He wasn't ready to sell anything else today, and I didn't want to pressure him, so I'll be sure to be on the lookout for the next time he posts on Craigslist. Thank you Will, you made my day. No, you made my week..

Between the mower and the mowee there are 120 years of mowing experience and still learning. The mower is still going strong. Not so sure about the mowee! Gary

On the corner of the strongest work bench. Bolted through the bench because it will tear out lag bolts (or at least the abuse mine takes will). The corner allows more versatility for holding long or big objects.

I had similar story. Saw an ad on CL for a No Name 12 8 spd with a deck. Pictures looked decent enough but the price was a bit high to my liking. So a week went by and the tractor was still available and I had time to think. I didn't need the deck so I could sell that. It had the original 2 piece seat and I find these uncomfortable so I could sell that to. I could end up with just about a free tractor. So I call and find out he's an older gentleman. When he found out I was a collector he got all excited. This tractor was his baby and he couldn't get on and off anymore and wanted to sell it to someone who collected them. He was an hour away so I tell my wife we're going to lunch. She asks "where's the tractor?" Before we get to the house I say I bet the tractor is in his drive way and he's sitting in a chair next to it. Sure enough he is. He goes onto explain the tractor was never even rained on in the 41 years he had it and all it did was mow. He still had the original spark plug in it. He wanted that and had bought another one to put in it when it sold. He gave me a box of parts/brochures and receipts to go along with it. We spent over 2 hours there looking at his 1939 fire truck in the garage. 4 years later I get an e-mail from him. He was cleaning the basement and found more parts and pieces he had and wanted my address so he could bring them to me.

everything in primer

For mobility, mount it on some square tubing and utilize the hitch on your truck.

Did that with my 310-8. It came with a mid-mount grader blade which I already had one of, sold the blade and have a net investment of $ 150 in a like new Wheel Horse with a 42" RD deck.

Excellent! Maybe he’ll call you first before he tosses anything up for sale next time

19" x about a foot deep. approx 100 lbs. Came off a Fire Truck. No exchange or core on them anymore so they scrap them. Mechanic gave it to me. Old wheel rim from truck works well too. here is my grinder set up.

I made a vise stand using 2 lengths of 6" channel iron. It has two wheels and a handle I can raise when needed to make moving easier. It also has my port-a-band mounted on the back side.

Anything made to make it removable better be anchored solid. Can't stress that enough but I guess it depends upon the use. I abuse mine like hammering stuff and bending heavy bar etc etc. Maybe bolt the vice to a trailer ball hitch? Bolt a receiver section to the bench? Now you can move it from bench to vehicle to tractor to ??? I have a piece of sq tube to mount to the side of the bench and a spare trailer hitch. I'd like to have protrude out from the bench a little. Maybe weld some bolts to the bottom of a thick plate to pinch it on the trailer hitch. Hmmm

Mounted my beating bending holding vise(4") to a pipe bolted to a truck brake drum. Fine for a lot of things but not stable enough for big torque jobs as it moves around. Built a trailer hitch mount for my other vise that accommodates a standard vise as well as a ridgid pipe vise. All very handy for their respective functions.

@JPWH Wow! now THAT is quite a set-up!! THREE vises - moveable! I consider my vice to be very possibly THE most ... used? tool in my shop! I beat the CRAP out of it!! I lucked up some 30 years and while hunting and ran up on a falling down barn and was poking around in it and stumbled over a 5" solid mount Columbian bench vise ... in excellent condition!! - probable 50-60 yrs old. I had been using the swivel types and had developed a .... dislike for them, and had broke 2 of the cheap imports. So I quickly found the non-moveable Columbian a dream. I'm on my 3rd set of jaws for it, When I have beat them to death, I make up another set..... Gotta LOVE a vice --- A good one, not one of those cheap/breakable imports pieces of crap!

Excellent story! @Sparky wouldn't that be cool. Joe maybe keep a line of communication open with the fella. Maybe make a friend. Maybe glean some knowledge. Maybe more. One never knows.

Most frequently used tools will be on lids. Still lots of little spaces for more.

As seen in all the posts everyone mounts their vises depending on the type of work one does. Some are not even mounted on benches and are movable. One man’s solution does not necessarily work for everyone. Around here vises are a big thing. There are 5 used on a daily basis and permanently installed and another 5 that are used as needed for specially work. Versatility is an important thing in choosing a vise and it’s position. One has to consider long work being clamped and interfering with bench or other things. Unusually shaped and sized work needs special consideration. The final location and place will also go through some evolution as one uses them and finds better ideas. The bench on which vise is mounted is as important as the vise itself. It has to be sturdy and not move or vibrate whatsoever. For heavy pounding and tugging on a vise , there is nothing that even comes close to a blacksmith’s post vise. Vise height is usually dictated by height of bench but incorrect for most operations in general . Your height , type of work and your back’s condition are better judges of that.

EB, just a small tip, be sure to mount the vice so it sticks out far enough. That way you can clamp onto long pieces vertically without hitting the bench.

my wife Jo always has repro square pan seat covers for sale in the center area every year

I would elaborate your point Mike. Since most of the barns fill up fast (even before the show officially opens) and the outside of the road surrounding the center show area near the barns is snatched up early, it only stands to reason that those who set up in the center show area are going to sell items as well. However, I don't think the intention of the rule was to prohibit any sales in the center show area, but limit it to some tractors, and a few parts. I've had no problem setting up a table with brake linings and other things. When Mike Martino was there selling his books, he wasn't required to set up in a barn. However, when Vinylguy got so big and drew such a crowd, he was asked to set up in the barn area for future shows. I think everything is subjective and will be dealt with as the STAFF sees fit. Just remember that if you plan to sell, you must be a paid-in-full, card-carrying member of the Wheel Horse Collectors Club.

As they say, we all have our Vises! Over the years, I have acquired several. My primary use vise was my Dad's fixed mounted under the bench cast woodworking vise, that is mounted on the left hand end of his 10 foot workbench. A smaller removable clamp-on style I have mounted to the right end of a bench nearby - odd shapes sometimes require a different mount. A third, and probably the most useful of all at the time is a 3" Wilton swivel vise mounted on a heavy gauge shelf attached to my Assembly Roll away. It served as a third hand, mostly used to hold the tubing flareing tools - I did a LOT of custom pneumatic and hydraulic tubing work as a Machine Builder. Last is the 5 inch Milling Machine vise, shown without the removable swivel base. Any heavy pressing or bending now gets done in the 20 ton press. Bill

My last job we had an E350 transit work truck. Guy I worked with wanted a vise. We finally get approval for one. So he says we need to get it so it mounts to the trailer hitch. Weeks go by and I find a suitable plate for it. He says great! So I get it drilled and get the bolts. He says he'll take it to the welding shop and get some tubing and weld er up. weeks go by. Finally he gets it done. I tell him "now remember that thing is in there!" First week we're changing some steam lines and he goes out to the truck to get something. The back doors are open so it kind of hides the rear of the truck. He rounds the back corner and ZOT!!! Walked right into that vise. Got both shins!

harbo fright caries these sleeves that could be adapted to a bench. Accepts a 2 inch tube. I got my vise about 25 inches off the floor. I usually am working and need leverage. The vise rotates two ways and has a set of pipe jaws. I have another light duty setup that clamps to a bench.

Seems to me, there is another dump truck style tractor project going in southern Michigan. Last time I visited, I think I saw it on the third shelf up in the magic barn. It was started not long after a large tractor project in Maine. Both projects are currently in about the same state of progress.

Dug this out of the guys shed tonight for my final haul. This one is one that I'm keeping as I've always wanted a C-160. Biggest problem is that the transmission is shot and he told me that up front so I have to tear it off and have it rebuilt or find a new rear end. I would have ruined it anyway since the release valve was absolutely seized tight and I had to get it on the trailer so I had to tow it. I think a tractor like this is worth putting the money into. I guess I'll be on the lookout at the big show for hyro rear end options.

You can run the K91 on 1/2 pipe too. Or at least I have done it without issue. Or use a 1/2 nipple to connect to the engine then a bushing to go up to 3/4? That thing is in pretty good condition and yeah, the wheel barrow tires gotta go. Screws up the whole look of it. BTW, that up draft oil bath air cleaner is a very sought after item. Not many survived so that's nice find! The original belt guard is also pretty rare even though there are repops available, many want those originals

I think it is time to lock this thread, sense all the information is readily available.

What's the diameter on that drum? That'd be handy for a grinder or portable band saw.

Just think how this old gentleman would enjoy the Big Show...

I don’t have a picture of it handy but mine is mounted on the corner of my workbench and that end of my workbench is right by my garage door so it gives me a lot of flexibility for holding different size projects with the door open. My work bench is made out of 2 x 6 material and I have bolts that run all the way through with heavy fender washers on the bottom of the bench surface. My work bench is fastened to the wall so it is very stout.

Fully rebuilt Kohler K241 10HP, stock bore, all new piston , rings , rod, seals, gaskets....valves properly reground, carb fully rebuilt. Every single piece used was a genuine Kohler part, even the oil. Has been bench run and is ready to go. Refinished in PPG single stage urethane. $800.00 ( Note: this is a "shaker plate engine" )

New here. Never Posted on one of these forums before so I do not know if this is is going to get where anyone can read it. I have a B80 that has been in the family since new and is still running. I purchased an older wheel horse from a co-worker about a month ago. I have spent a lot of time reading here and I think it is a Rj 58 or 59 from what I have learned here (lots of info here). Can not find an ID tag anywhere on it. It has a Kohler k91 on it and unfortunately the exhaust port threads are about 75% broken out (the thin wall of the embossment on the block where pipe threads were are broken off of block). I don’t think it is salvageable, not much meat left there. Also missing recoil pull starter. It also has some kind of wheelbarrow wheels on the front. I have read here I think that the front tires were 4.8/4x8. The spindles measure 3/4 by 4.5 inches long from flange to snap ring groove. I have looked for several weeks and and have not found any original wheels for sale and that may be impossible to find. Other than that it is in fairly good shape and has belt guards, fenders, tool box, flat hitch on back with cable and lever that raises and lowers it, hood in good shape, toggle switch(kill switch I think), and a lever throttle cable on hood. Sorry, that was long winded. Now for the questions if someone can help me out: Any suggestions on a replacement motor will fit as a replacement? Does any one know what the offset on the 4 1/2 wheel hubs are in relation to the wheel inner and outer wheel flanges? I may try to bore hubs out of a wheel on the lathe and weld a hub in the correct length with the correct offset. All of the wheels I have found the hubs are too short. Any suggestions with my issues with motor or wheels is much appreciated, thanks in advance. If any of this text gets to anyone I will try to figure out how to get photos sent.

A Maine bear went into the wood, with a chainsaw to do what he could. Having bucked up some trees, with his work he felt pleased. Some gasoline can sure do some good!

@ebinmaine you have set my brain in gear once again. My vise is mounted on my bench, but I am going to look at creating a mount to put on my anvil. Anvil does not get a lot of use, but I image it will create a great base for the vise.

Wow thanks for all the responses. This is not the best pic. I took it last week. Thanks for the red arrow for how to get pics on here, I do better with pictures. Will try to get some closer ups when I get home. Basically the entire portion that had threads is broken away and I can see what I guess is the exhaust valve stem. All that is left is a radius bottom pocket and then it looks like the motor internals. This is the only photo I have of tractor, can get more this evening. Do not know if it will run, figured it would be very loud if it did. Guess I Gould break out the ear muffs. thanks again all

@Burnerman... Commando 7 with 24hp v-twin Briggs and Stratton

I’m not sure why we would start a thread like this. It’s almost assured to bring out the politics very quickly, which it has. If it wasn’t for this forum being a largely homogeneous group this could get volatile in a hurry. Here are the two things I know about economics in general and gas prices in particular: There is never just one thing that affects prices and we don't have as much control over prices as we'd like. There is little chance of there being one solution to a pricing issue. We can’t oversimplify and think that more drilling is the answer. Or that electric cars are the answer. We have to be sensible in how we react to unpleasant circumstances. And we have to concede that it can take time to see changes. Teachers give us those simple supply and demand charts when we take rudimentary economics in high school and they use examples like the price of sodas at the movie theater to illustrate their point. Supply goes down, price goes up. Demand goes up, prices go up. There’s only so much of any particular thing to go around, so we vary the price to help dole out the product. Seems simple. It sucks that we can’t all afford the same things, but we’ve learned that life itself isn’t fair and to live with economic differences that let the profit motive drive manufacturing, supply, and innovation. But there are things we have to balance against economics – for example not letting a chemical company dump their waste in a trout stream – so we can't always have completely free markets and it’s not unreasonable to expect some well-intentioned governmental meddling. Perhaps this includes mining for resources, diverting water for societal use, or cutting down forests. We all like to focus on the supply side of things. That’s fair. A lot of those causes are easy to identify: We aren’t drilling at max capacity, refineries are stretched, investors are playing poker, a despot invaded a country… At the consumer level we are powerless to do anything about these things so they are where we like to focus our attention. And increasing the supply doesn’t require any effort or cost from us individually. But demand has a huge impact too. The world’s population uses a huge amount of oil for fuel, feedstocks, fertilizer, plastic, energy, iPhones…you name it. There are varying margins to be made for any of these things so they are constantly competing for the finite supply. The mix of output products changes to respond to whatever is the best way to allocate the supply; i.e. whatever maximizes revenue for the sellers. We are still emerging from a range of societal shutdowns and decreased demand, so it's not unexpected to be seeing prices increase as the world's people regain momentum. Gas pump prices are really the about the only thing in our lives that we see changing quickly enough to illustrate how dynamic pricing can be. Although I’m sure there were some who were complaining, when I bought gas on May 3rd, 2020 for $1.19/gallon I didn’t hear it. That low price was temporary of course, but gas producers reacted predictably to it. They slashed production to get the price back to where they weren’t losing money so by January of 2021 I paid $2.58 for the same gallon of RUG. More than double the price in 7 months. I filled up today for $4.60 per gallon in Missouri which has some the lowest prices in the nation. I’m not pleased about this of course. It especially hurts that I have made bad decisions like choosing to drive a truck back and forth to work instead of a car that would get much better fuel economy. And I’m doubly stupid for living somewhat far from where I work. But there is comfort in numbers and I see that most of the people on my commute are also driving vehicles way oversized for the task and are making long daily drives. Missouri loves company I suppose. Because gas has been so cheap for so long we have consumed it prodigiously and more recently worldwide demand has also exploded. What I guess will happen is that the oil refiners will do everything they can to capitalize on the high product price they currently enjoy. They’d love to keep the price high, but they will inevitably overproduce to maximize revenue. Or – less likely - maybe the high price will cause us all to check our tire inflation, slow down, drive less, car pool, and therefore decrease demand. Either way, it’s probable that the price will fall. Eventually we’ll find some new equilibrium that could be back close to where it was or might remain higher. Who knows. It will be slow of course and when it happens you can be sure that there will be legions of people taking credit. Whichever party holds the most sway at the time will be able to claim a victory, deserved or not. One thing is unfortunate about the Supply vs. Demand rule however; the normal relationship where high prices tend to drive decreased demand doesn’t hold up as well in the US for gasoline. We have to get to work and it’s not convenient or possible to instantaneously swap out your vehicle for something that isn’t as thirsty. Despite the younger generations having decreased interest in cars we are still a road-trip culture and have our Suburbans, F150, boats, and RV’s to run around on weekends. So demand decreases severely lag behind price increases. I would expect that we are going to be faced with this for a while. It's weird that we have built our lives and society essentially around cheap fuel prices with the assumption that they would never rise. And I'm not just pointing fingers here, I've done it too. A note about the the Green Deal…I’m not a subscriber to the orthodoxy but their fundamental intent is to use less fossil fuel because it is causing a host of environmental problems. This is a laudable goal to help alleviate a legitimate problem. How you achieve the goal is where there is room for debate. When an administration releases stock from the petroleum reserve and considers measures to get gas prices back down these are entirely antithetical to the Green Dealers’ core philosophies. While they may like that the prices are higher, they aren't directly benefiting from this event and are probably seeing sympathy to their cause evaporate while peoples' wallets drain. We are most altruistic and sympathetic when we aren't uncomfortable. We all view things through our own lens and we are all incredibly subject to confirmation bias. I am continuously disappointed by most of the people I see serving us locally and at the federal level, but these are the people we’ve elected to represent us so we are apparently getting what we asked for. In this age of cable news and Twitter we tend to elect someone from one extreme and then we overcompensate and elect their opposite during the next cycle. We are at an interval in history where the extremes are being the most vocal and effective at voicing their agendas. Terrible media coverage, social media, and our tendency to label and categorize people do nothing to entice people to live and work together. The rational, thoughtful middle isn’t an exciting place to be but I think eventually we will get back there. Gas prices touch all of us. I don't expect this to be a short or painless ride but we should all try to remain open-minded about our options and the realities of our situation. There are no single causes nor are there single solutions to the issue. Steve

My 520H must have had fuel pump issues because it had an electric on it when I got it ... Works great and I find that if I turn the key on and let the pump run until it brings up fuel pressure ( about four seconds before it shuts off ) , I barely have to choke it at all ...

Thanks guys. I have a few pics of the custom from last year.

You can go to the Manuals section and find a manual with a parts breakdown. May I suggest you change the oil in the transmission and replace the rubber boot on the shifter. If you find some water or white gray looking oil (which has water in it) fill the transmission with diesel or kerosene and flush it out a time or two. If the tractor runs, drive it around a while with the diesel then drain. To refill with oil remove the shifter and fill using the shifter hole. I have rethreaded a kohler exhaust deeper as described above and it works! I also have one that I rethreaded and gained some thread, then i cleaned threads with carb or brake cleaner and coated them with JB Weld and "glued the nipple in. While this may not be the perfect solution, it saves and old engine.

So cool. I have met so many awesome people that are connected to these machines. I always say "Every Tractor has a Story"

Sounds like your co-worker fixed you up with a great project. June 24 and 25 there is a show in southern PA you might want to consider attending, lots of parts for sale and even more good people to talk with. https://www.facebook.com/pg/WheelHorseCollectorsClub/posts/?ref=page_internal

I built the bumper earlier and just added a couple of angle iron tabs to the front of it to match up with the generator hanger. It works pretty well.

Sorry I missed this thread @Snoopy11. Still one of my favorites and still going strong. And my brother’s Chinese dirt bike is still running on that original 10 year old oil with no issues.

And no more mandatory Earmuffs I see

That Trina sure is a hard worker!

Pulled the train with 8 kids today in the local Memorial Day Parade. The E 141 worked like a charm. I am pleased.. !

No tractors today. https://imgur.com/s984HBI https://imgur.com/zXpKdYV https://imgur.com/ozVdGQn https://imgur.com/57HSIvj https://imgur.com/mipuV3K https://imgur.com/6fwJf37 https://imgur.com/n0vSqlU https://imgur.com/VtaP2hA https://imgur.com/ztV3d4B https://imgur.com/tT5IDIJ https://imgur.com/ubmhNpD https://imgur.com/hk7vopI https://imgur.com/bXSloC8 https://imgur.com/qLpyVO0 https://imgur.com/UKSZxyS https://imgur.com/mgUqG7B https://imgur.com/EPXbZwK https://imgur.com/FEL0mpt https://imgur.com/FPDhLmx

Either she's got you well understood or it's the other way around.