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I purchased the Mighty Conrad Weiser Wheel Horse from my son's marching band when they decided it was no longer suiting their needs. My beautiful wife's first question was "What are you going to do with that?". A few weeks ago, our water heater, that was only 15 years old, burst and I replaced it. After draining the old water heater, it still weighed 180 lbs and was in the basement. We strapped it to a handcart and tried dragging it up the 15 steps of the casement stairs, but were unable. Me, being a thinking man, tied several lengths of parachute cord to the handcart and the other end to the back of the Wheel Horse. With my youngest son at the wheel, the water heater didn't stand a chance. Now the Mrs no longer asks what I am going to do with "that"

Well my sons' name is Jack. And I have called him "Hatchet Jack" since he was born...most of you know the great movie that's from. He turned 10 last month and will be hitting the deer woods for the first time. I didn't carry a hatchet with me in the woods till I was almost 20 and couldn't believe I didn't start sooner. So the plan was to have him one when he hits the woods...and be fitting for his nickname! This won't be sharp yet as I'm not confident he won't lose a finger so the edge is not sharp. It's almost as sharp as a soup spoon. So no worries there. So a couple years ago I came across this old Sweden hatchet at an antique store and put it away for him. So the time is now. It's just a basic 1.25lb head. The steel is good quality and knew it would clean up nice. Here's the start Rust removed and edge cleaned up. But not sharp For handle fitting I do like to bring the head to the shoulder and thin it down. Most of the ones today are way too thick. This one turned out nice and got it where I like it with the draw knife and a rasp. I fully sand and take it to 1000 grit. I find it gets less splintering and is more comfortable for choking up on. Found a nice dark hickory handle for it. You can afford to wait out a nice one when you have a couple years to plan for it. that's the fit we're looking for! Wedge set it nice with lots of curling. Then let a couple rounds of boiled linseed oil soak in and wiped it clean. Turned out pretty nice! Should last him his whole life. We'll get it sharpened up when he's ready. But for now it should clear out a sitting spot against a tree just fine and help with other camp chores. I've lost an axe sheath before so thought a bright colored one would be better to start out with. Had some yellow leather from a scrap pile so we decided that would do the trick! thanks for looking!

Picked up this 1960 suburban 400 yesterday from the widow of a collector down in Temperance MI. Today will probably do a survey of all the fluids and lube points and see if I can get it fired up!

All: A while back, @peter lena posted an item about a small Slide Hammer. I replied, without pictures, that about 40 years ago, we used auto body dent puller slide hammers that we adapted to extract hollow pull dowels, a C shaped auto body tool, and a favorite - the marriage of a pair of locking pliers (aka Vise Grips) threaded onto the end of the slide hammer - VERY useful to extract woodruff and straight machine keys, and useful around the house to pull nails where the heads had rusted off and twisting them would break them off. Removed a 3/4 round molding on the porch I am refinishing - not all the nails played fair. Most of us probably have the 2 store bought items in our tool collections - just need to whip up the hex stock adapters.... Bill

The incredibly hard working BBT and her helpers have been going along for weeks now. If all goes according to plan there'll be a weddi-fication here this afternoon. They got the reception area and dance floor put up yesterday.

And.. sometimes, there is just NO explaining the acqusition of another tractor to your spouse. Case in point - We have my wife's Dad's 702 he bought used in 1965 - she used to cut the grass at home when she was a teenager. That tractor is now retired of yard duties, only comes out of the garage on special occasions. My go-to tractor is my 854 8 speed - reworked drivetrain, original patina, but it kind of looks like the 702. I was plowing one day a couple of winters ago, came in the house to warm up. She asked me why the paint looked so poorly on Dad's tractor. I told her it was not the same tractor, but the one I built. "AND JUST WHEN DID YOU GET THAT ???" she asked. "While you were sleeping, dear....."

I just designed and 3D printed a jig to drill straight and centered billiard balls to use on my shifters. As soon as Amazon gets my 3/8-16 rivet nuts to me, I will drill a #2 and #4 ball for the Might Conrad Weiser Wheel Horse. Along with the LED lights my son and have been adding, this will be the most pimped out tractor on the whole street

I will reply "I love you AND get your own". Notice how I used AND not BUT, and started with an "I love you". You don't stay married for 27 years without learning a few things

Any thread with "parachute cord" in the text is worth a like and yours was tied to a so you get bonus points!!

My shed has taken a beating the last few years, the worse was when a tree fell on it. Almost had to scrap it! But I was able to straighten the framework enough to save it but the top was wrecked. Put a huge tarp right over the entire thing but tarps just don’t last..,so today I double tarped it (over the original shelter-logic top). A bit of an eyesore now but my stuff is protected from rain and off the ground.

So I bought this trailer from a junk man off the back of his scrap truck for 10 bucks. Just gave it a paint job.

Last week, the night before I sent her to a week girls trip in the Dominican Republic, I happened upon another Ride Away Senior at auction. It was hard for her, being my birthday and me receiving no gift, and her traveling for a week, to say no. We settled on a max bid (that I exceeded a couple times) and let it ride. Normally though, I show it to her or she shows it to me, and we decide we probably need it. Happy Life with a Happy Wife!

We live hall way up a rather steep mountainside. A few years back an unexpected snow storm popped up and dumped about four inches of wet heavy snow on us while I was in town shopping. With the steepness of our driveway there was no way the two wheel drive truck would make it to the house. I left the truck down next to the barn and loaded the groceries into a cart hooked to a trusty 1055 with chains and snow plow and brought home the bacon (and other vittles). Long story shorty, she gained a new appreciation for my little herd,

I say it all the time. Never take your health for granted. It all can change so fast. 3 times I was told it's cancer. Throat and pancreas in 2019, kidney 2021. Trust me when I tell you, any test they want to do to you is a nothing compared to what you could be up against. Finding it early is so important. Get your check up and tests done and tell your doctors everything. Hope no one goes through what I've been through. Having cancer not only affects you physically, but it affects you mentally and financially. The mental part of it is the hardest. Don't be afraid to ask for help in that department as well. Physical and mental health, work at them both. I am blessed to still be here. I am way past feeling inconvenienced or scared of having blood drawn, mri, CT scan, ultrasound, biopsy...any of it because I know early detection is so important and those tests are like tickling you with a feather as compared to having surgery to remove organs and sections of your bowels, chemo, 33 rounds of radiation to your face. Months in a hospital bed, feeding tube, drain tubes, IVs sewn in your neck, pic lines you name it. While all that is being done your wondering how much more you can take. So I will say it again... get your exams and test done regularly. Finding things early makes a world of difference. A little prick or poke now can save you much worse later on. Good health to you all.

My wife doesn't pay attention to the garage or "The things that live there". When she does notice, I tell her from where it came. I also remind her that there are worse things to spend money on.

I drove the to the store one night in a snow storm to get medicine for the twins when they were little, ( snowblower, wheel weights & chains ) That seemed to please SWMBO for a while... I now have 12 & counting, God I love being single!

But what will you do when she says "my turn to drive"?

6k rpms sounds good 20220812_172030.mp4

Just a picture to lower the body temp a bit.

I'm here for ya Mac...

Soo long time no post.. i've been busy plugging away at things so I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked. Since i'm a guest at a upcoming harvest-show I have to make sure the tractor is 'presentable'. So to that end I put everything together today to see how it looks so far. Waddaya think?

It followed me home, I think I’ll keep it 😜 42 inch deck, needs a few things but for 150 it’ll do.

When I removed the dreaded hitch pin I used something like this with an air hammer after soaking in penetrating oil for a while:

@ri702bill , interesting view on that , surely that opportunity will be more fitting as time gets closer to that , think he will go with what's easiest and most cost effective , having a fresh rebuilt 14 horse , would be a very good baseline to the build , pete

Conrad Weiser High School, that's twice I have heard about that school in the past few months. My grandparents lived in Robesonia and I have been by that school many times. Never would have thought the marching band had a Wheel Horse though. But not surprising because of the amount of Wheel Horse Dealerships that are in that area. Brown's Mower Service comes to mind as they were in Myerstown, PA just down the road from you. On RT 422 is a town milage sign with 3 town names that if you didn't know where you were you would think you're in Germany, Heidelberg, Womelsdorf and Stouchsburg . There is an old guy from Womelsdorf that delivers new trucks to the dealership I work at, and he asked me one time if I went to Conrad Weiser. Pennsylvania has no shortage of Wheel Horse tractor because more were sold there than any other state! Wild Bill in Richmond VA

The test switch simply tests the engine oil bulb to make sure it works. The oil lamps are the only ones that flash for those that have more lamps. The low oil switch is a float switch that monitors the oil level. If it is energized it powers a relay that then prevents the starter from working. That also lights the low oil lamp so you know the reason for the no start. The next time you change oil and the oil is drained try to start it and see if it works. If it does start shut it off immediately and make repairs.

I finally put my circuitry to give me clean 12VDC in a box and mounted it in the mighty Conrad Wieser Wheel Horse. Then we got the LED tail lights installed/hooked up with a fancy new headlight switch that my helper picked out. My helper even took me on a test drive. He told me to sit in the wagon so that I could admire the new tail lights as we drive around the neighborhood Next step... Add LED light strips under the frame that are controlled by my phone and music.

Thanks all. I was able to saw off the manual lift lever nice and clean and with a little pounding on a vise and some penetrant I was able to get the bell crank off unharmed. New shaft to be used with the electric lift shown to the right in the 3rd picture...time for a cold one

@Sparky tarp shingles! The HOA’s gotta love that! @Horse Newbie what ratio mixture do you use in that trimmer? Looks a bit rich to me…

Supporting vendor posted this:

Generally she encourages it, she knows I like tinkering with these tractors.

Simple. Easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission.

I already repowered a gt1800 electric, that’s enough 🤣

Just remove the left rear wheel and tire.

A Dominican Republic tradition… Momma’s unpacking and I figured I should try it! It’s quite woody!

Put the 418-A to work yesterday!

The horn is on there because my crazy dog like to bite the tires and engine when I start it or any other tractor up. As I drive around he is nipping at the tires. Horn distracts him.... for a second. As far as the finish goes I'm a big fan of leaving what's on there. I rub everything down with boiled linseed oil. Getting left out in the rain water beads off. I do paint things on the tractor but the only tractor I ever painted the whole thing was my Lambert project. I like the tractor to tell it's own story by leaving most of its finish on it.. good or bad.

If their minister doesn’t show up EB, just get me on the next jet outta South Bend! I’ll have to borrow @Jrblanke’s tuxedo t-shirt though!

Happy Birthday

I concur.. I've been soaking it with PB every other day for about a week now.

It's all in the presentation! The 2 words "Yes, Dear" around here can either start or end an arguement. It's all about how it is presented .... going on 46 years - no time off for good behavior, plenty of gripeing for bad behavior....

Are those the only ones you took, Mike?

Might have an easier time getting to 28 with "I love you and I'll start looking for another one for me!"

20220812_172006.mp4

Got a little dirty today... Don

Just a couple more. This Steam tractor was built in 1914 in my hometown of Clyde N. Y. https://www.farmcollector.com/steam-traction/sw-wood-engine-co-tracing-the-history-of-companys-rare-16-hp-steamer/

So up early to finish what I started yesterday. Finished painting the wheel weights on my 875. They are Craftsman weights 55 lbs each. Better then no weights.