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Well the boys scored 5 tractors today (technically 6 but I have laid claim to the round hood haha). Alex had me put an ad on Craigslist a while back and I had totally forgotten about it. A gentleman emailed me and offered 5 tractors plus all the accessories to them. His brother recently passed away and had them and he had no interest in them. So after pictures were exchanged and some texts we settled on a price. When I mean gentleman I mean it. Very nice man who even offered to give them up to 2 months to come up with the money for the tractors. The boys sold a few things that they had hanging around and then I chipped in a little bit.l but they had the money in less than a month. It’s amazing how hard work pays off and they are realizing that. We decided on getting them before snow. After some more texts the gentleman said he had found more wheel horse stuff and another tractor that he was including in the existing asking price. So today we went down and snagged them. The tractors they got were a B-60, B-80 4speed, C-121 and 2 that we are unsure of. Alex wants the B series tractors and C-121. Aiden wants the other 2 that we still don’t know what they are. The grey one has us all intrigued. Someone did a fairly decent paint job on everything. The decal really isn’t a decal but a hand painted look alike. It’s even matched on the plow frame. Plus they actually scored 2 more decks, 4 total plows, a dump cart that we believe may be wheel horse but are unsure. A banner that they are holding in the picture. A repop sign and a bunch of miscellaneous parts. He even said if he found more he would deliver them to us. Im pretty intrigued with the round hood with a tow truck attachment made from a old plow frame. Engines stuck on this one. I laid claim to it but I’m sure one of the boys will end up with it at some point. I’ve got some pretty happy boys right now and it’s very nice to see their hard work pay off and them able to purchase what they wanted.

Added two all original 1967 model 857 and a 1968 commando 8 to the garage . Nice to see there is still some true original survivors still out there .

We've been needing to reinforce the top of the rock wall by the pole barn since that wall was built. The aggregate loves to run down through the huge boulders during the more aggressive rains. Today we used Trina's Pigpen 867 and my Cinnamon Horse C160-8 with trailers on each to move a BUNCH of rocks stones boulders to the wall top. I spent several hours tossing some up from the bottom then moving the rocks into place. I moved 3-½ big loads while Trina and her mom moved 5 smaller loads. Got em all set. Now we wait for another good rain shower to see what else needs filling in.

Picked this up with plans on a restoration project for later on. Every pivot, linkage rod end and bearing on this tractor is worn out. It had a loader on it before I got it. Got it running, lift cylinders work albeit very slow but it would not move. Trying to decide what direction to go, I scoured the internet and stumbled across these two videos on youtube and have studied them, watching them both many times. Sad he repurposed an older horse but the way he did the transmissions is genius. I have a Panzer rear axle, picked up a T-92 3 speed powerking transmission but I didn’t have a wheelhorse manual transmission. I did have another Eaton 1100 sitting around and thought I would give it a go with that. This way I don’t have a clutch or linkages to try to fit in there. Did some measuring and it will be close. Yes I will have to cut the frame on the right side a little but will weld in some steel to stiffen it back up. If it works, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Haven’t gotten that far yet. Yes I’ll loose the PTO and steering brakes but I don’t really care as I have no D series attachments and will add automotive disc brakes in the rear. Took the transmission apart, removed the pump and began cutting. Removed the axles/differential (it won’t be used), cut off the axle housing extensions. Removed the bearings and traced out some circles on some 1/8” plate for fillers. JB welded both plates in place of the axle bearings and reassembled the transmission. Silicone sealed the outside of the plates and ran out of time. Next step is to remove the PTO assembly and right side panels/fender. Gonna be tight.

Fixed the comments for you... Apparently they serve cheese curds on road projects up there???!!!

A few post ago I shared some pics of the starter/gen mess that was on my 953. Here's a recap. After some scrubbing and some blasting it didn't clean up too bad. After evicting all of the rust, I sprayed a couple of coats of self etching primer on the inside parts to keep them from rusting again. Then installed a new rebuild kit. After bench testing the gen, it got a fresh paint job. All ready to install on the tractor.

The C-81 & my Son helped with with the last big piles of leaves along the chain link fence.

Made a battery hold down today, did the RandyL mod. No more bunjee cord. Thanks @RandyLittrell for the idea.

Not without malt liquor to wash them down with...

No clue but he used it as the cap to the oil drain!

Thanks again for you help today Jim @WHX??!! We started putting a few tractors in the new "fake garage". Big Betty Baloo seems pretty happy under a roof. Just look at that smile on her grill.

I use weights and roller chains on the front wheels on my blower tractor to help with steering. It doesn't like to steer with the blower resting on the ground when trying to turn.

I'm not sure Sparkys toy but if the blower is lowered with the skid shoes in contact with the ground I don't imagine there would be much additional weight on the front axle from the blower. In that case it would be good to have the additional front wheel weights to help with traction/steering up front. I could be wrong, hopefully some others will chime in with their thoughts on this. BTW, the whole 2 stage blower is more like 360 lbs or so.

What an AWESOME find! That B60 would be a good worker if it runs. Sips gas. If not that tractor is a prime candidate for a repower. Long frame. 8 speed. The gray one is certainly intriguing. Looks like a 68 or 9. Little Barefoot pedal out front there sticking out. Love the hood ornament.

Trina had a really neat idea for a full height storage setup. The walls are just over 12 feet on the first floor. We'd love to be able to get shelves up near the top. She's considering a sideways rolling ladder like an old school library may have had. Rails at the top. Rollers at the bottom.

FWIW I just bought a six pack of Honda oil filters for my cars and outboard. Stamped “made in USA” on them. This particular variation (“-A02”) is made by Honeywell and is apparently not as good as the prior version (“-A01”). But if it’s good enough for OEM it’s good enough for me. My point is that there are still USA made filters, sometimes in unexpected places. As an aside that I think is kind of fun, Honda uses the same spin-on oil filter pretty much across their entire line: cars, vans, SUV’s, outboards, small engines that are big enough to take a filter, power sports, etc. Convenient. It’s kind of small, but apparently meets the need well enough that its replacement is generally recommended only every other oil change…although who doesn’t also change the filter when already under there anyway? Steve

1054 hood ornament..

Got Clyde out again today for some more cart work. Hauled some tools to the lake house to blow down the water lines and winterize the drains. Hauled the tools back and some items that we want to keep in a heated house over the winter. While I had a tractor and cart out, I moved some wood I cut up the other day to the wood pile, then moved some rocks to the lake adding to a small breakwater I am making to prevent the shore from washing out under the concrete dock pad. Got to work on Clyde's choke linkage. The original carb had a vertical choke shaft. The carb currently in use has a horizontal choke shaft. Direct connection to the current choke lever is not possible with the choke Boden cable. I'll have to figure something else out. I'm tried of opening the hood to work the choke directly.

No way man... get them "fixed"...are you crazy??? I need them all fertile for breeding purposes...

What's the issue? SOMEONE has to guard the barrel!

They're occasionally seen on hotrods. They were pretty popular maybe 30 years ago?? All 3 or 4 pedals came in sets. The one here is for a floor dimmer switch cap.

@WHX?? Looked like a state road crew job at first , everybody standing around a barrel .

Great haul!! My guess on the gray one…it’s a Charger 10/12 auto from the late 60’s

Did you notice the glass door knob shifter on the roundy ?

Dig that engine...err tranmision stand Ritchie Helped @Achto and Punkin Farmer put the cover on the fake garage I give them. Hopefully they have better luck than I did with it. First in was a LR. We should pull the K181 off the parts 875 I have for use on it and get it inside. Git out from behind that bush... In ya go... don't pay no nevermind to them Simplecitys in ther!

over the years with various other machinery, I've found that sometimes speed is the key when pulling a stuck hub - once it starts moving you need to keep it moving - as long as the force applied isn't going to break parts. hand tools are good most of the time. but there is a time and a place for using an impact gun. I'm guessing that you'll replace the seals anyway so no real harm in warming up the hub with a bit of fire.

Looks great!! Glad I could conbritube something of value!!! Randy

I got zero... zip... nada done today. The FLW sent me on a wild goose chase to find chocolate chips for Christmas baking. No Walmart had what the resident female lady women baking department wanted. I finally gave up, and went to Menards to buy some square u-bolts for the bumper... and guess what? They also had chocolate chips! I guess I should have just gone their first before wasting a tank of fuel running around to 45 different stores... I'm home now with a dozen and a half of white, milk, and semi-sweet chocolate chips with u-bolts. I need some serious help... Don

This is probably the newest song I listen too. Only 25 years old. LoL Main steam classic rock type of stuff is what we grew up on. First live concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd in June 1977 just a few months before the plane crash and about a month before my 13th birthday. I can't imagine ever letting my grand kids go to something like that at 12-13 years old.

@Handy Don The info is certainly appreciated - The mix of pieces isnt bad, it kinda gives character. As long as they work together well and dont look terribly wrong. When it gets here later this month I'm going to see if I can put the battery back where it belongs. The unprotected terminals contact the seat when someones on it! I did notice that the starter is mounted low, and most of the other 854's I've seen have the starter higher up. With the dual wheels, I wondered if maybe someone had wanted to make a puller. I was worried the rear differential would be locked, but fortunately it sounds like that isnt the case. Has anyone ever put together some sort of live PTO to the rear of one of these older models? In my mind I envision some sort of pseudo-3 point happening. It would be neat to mow the lawn with a miniature rotary mower, just for kicks, with my miniature tractor

Thanks!! I am wery happy to start getting it back to work. Its condition is not so bad but everything need some attension. But thats my kind of work. And i like to read about them and search for parts. I hope i can show some progress…

Look at your gears very carefully - " fully cleaned up " - this came out of my 416-8 making a ticking noise - when I got this one apart I was baffled - for the life of me couldn't find anything wrong - one by one I started looking at each gear under a light ( after a few nights of rolling around in bed wondering what I was looking for ) . This hairline crack wasn't from abuse - in my opinion it was a bad casting - nothing in the transmission suggested it was from a hard jolt or hitting something - the crack is all the way through the casting back a tooth - the noise was it spreading and clicking on another gear even a slight load - could not hear it with tractor running - only when pushed in neutral making room in garage . Another member here had a good replacement to get me rolling again

I won't use an "F" word fram on anything. Haven't for decades. Wix. Hastings. Baldwin. But I don't know where any are produced now. At $20+ for an overseas made WIX 51410 I'm not likely to keep using them. That's a HUGE profit margin for someone other than me.

Happy Happy Bob!

Have BBT take it upstairs in the new barn, put it in the middle of the room, and do her thing... If that doesn't work, then have her teach it a lesson...

Ain't cause @stevasaurus has them... What's up with the star hubs EB? Shouldn't it have had the stronger ones like the puller hub? Paint looks fresh too? Be careful those star hubs shatter easy... looks like you might have a woodruff hung up?

Finished splitting the Amigo @oliver2-44 @CasualObserver... to find the transmission input spline was not feeling good. Whatta heck of a tractor tho. Very unique design. Every single fastener is fine thread and parts are heavy! Afraid to crack open the tranny because... (A) she is a complicated affair and (B) sceered of what other damage i might fine what with parts made of unobtainium. Surely the odd ball to have in the herd!

As far as attaching the bumper to the machine, I was considering going with square u-bolts to go around the tubing of the bumper and frame in this area: Then I plan to fabricate an attachment point at the stock hitch area that would allow me to physically put a bolt through the bumper and hitch. What do you guys think...? Got any better ideas, or anything I am not thinking about? I do not plan to use the stock hitch ever again... I don't want to tow anything with this machine... (got 5 other machines that are free to tow). EDIT: 'twas thinking about these here... Don

Had you in mind when I found that...

I’m not sure… maybe the @Pullstart feature… but a B60 intrigues me…

Had to make an adapter to center up the coupler and the “new” coupler so I could mark the holes. Got everything drilled and welded. Should work.

The b-60 spins over. Hoping it will run. The gray one does have a barefoot pedal. That’s on the cap for the oil drain lol. One of the others has a Tasmanian devil cup holder on it.

@lynnmor has pretty well nailed it, these old lathes just get slop worn into these points. I have never been lucky enough to have success with his method of splitting the nut on the cross slide. but its sure worth a try. The carriage will likely be the problem area in removing the slop. I had had 2 South Bends - a 9" and a 10" with these problems, I gave up on the 9 and gave it away, the 10 I lucked up and with help of a machinist friend (a lot of!) we made new lead screws/nuts. Parts are like our horses, they are getting very hard to find. I presently have one of South Bends13x36 later models in quite good condition and it still has minor 1-2 thou slack on both cross and carriage. This machinist friend had worked in many shops and was well familiar with having to use many a machine with these problems, said that you just have to teach yourself the pecularities of them and develop 'work-arounds'. If the slop is 5-6 thou then you crank that in before you make the cut ..... I thought to myself "yeah, I can see me doing that!" But, suprisingley I do find myself doing just that!.

I bought something to go on the back. Just wait and see. Don

What kind of noise and when does it happen or what are you doing to create it?

Put the tractor back together and bang it between full forward and full reverse a few times?

I’m gonna bring @Shynon back in on this one. I purchased Clyde from him for dad’s 65th birthday. I’m not sure what type or brand. It has a great mellow sound… …you can hear it under load in this video! I love the fact that you have the same name for your Super-C!!! VERY COOL!