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Bailey in his monkey Jammie’s…

Congratulations to Kevin and his Snowmotractor for making the cover of Lawn & Garden Tractor Magazine! The feature also includes a center spread. Part one is in the January-February issue and part 2 will conclude the build in the March-April issue. Be sure to ask Kevin to autograph your copy! You can subscribe at www.LagtMag.com. This issue will be available after Christmas and can be ordered at www.HapcoParts.com or by calling 812-985-0828. Merry Christmas, friends!

Little more work on the raider. Got seat back from upholstery and put on. Gonna try to pvc trick on the plow edge see if it works

My girl.

Mrs. Sylvan doesn't provide me with a heating mat when I'm in the dog shed... hhhmmm...

Made the cover and the centerfold! My wife always asks me if I'm looking at tractor porn; Is the center fold picture going to have some sheet metal removed? Seriously,

You don't say.

Reasonable, in my view. My always worry with the round hoods is the absence of full-length foot rests. It is so instinctive for the operator, when something unexpected happens, to put their feet on the ground. My adult neighbor wanted to try my 854. I explained and demonstrated how to work the clutch, but he still had it jerk ahead in 2nd gear which startled him. He put his feet down, and if I hadn't been right next to him to reach in and pop it back into neutral, he would have suffered much worse than a couple of scraped calves. Just something to think about. BTW, there are a couple threads on here by guys that added full-length footrests to Lawn Rangers for use by young'uns

Now that you know you have a fuel issue, please toss the starting fluid and treat your engine well Most of the shelf sniffing salts are more harmful than good. Berryman carb dip is a great full service cleaner. It’ll still take a little elbow grease, brake clean, etc… to get all the passages clean.

I'm no expert on the topic, but I would be really concerned about a malfunction in the heating pad, especially at night or any other time it's unattended. The electric pads that I'm familiar with aren't meant to be covered by anything other than the thin cloth pad they sometimes come with. You're also not supposed to sit or lay on them, or otherwise crush them in any way. And a cat could certainly scratch or claw its way through whatever cover is in place and dig into the wiring. I'm all for helping these animals when I can, but I think a simple cardboard box with some blankets would keep them warmer and safer than they would be out in the wild. Maybe there's some other kind of technology that would be safer? By the way, my comments are inspired partly by seeing my neighbor's house catch on fire many years ago, caused by a malfunctioning electric blanket. Fortunately no humans or their pets were injured, but it was frightening to watch, and it wasn't even my house.

I'm quite impressed - '1: machine has clogged main jet.' I pulled carb and, boom, found a piece of liquid gasket sitting in main jet. Tail between legs here : ( I mistakenly used liquid gasket between the carb and block that holds air filter brace unit. Bad Idea.... Whoops. As always, thank you for all you help and time. Very much appreciated. Snoopy11 - you're two for two on answers. Appreciated. Sincerely, Mark

Joker i have a set of original mufflers that are not in bad shape, But if you want a nice set of mufflers then talk to Jim Kemp , he makes custom stacks and mufflers! He can make you a an original set just like it came with or i had him do a custom set for me with curved stainless tips coming out the front of my D180, Great guy to work with and does excellent work.

I have a heating pad in an open cardboard box set at 100 degrees. A cat’s body temperature is 102. Do you think it’s too hot? He can always get off of it if he does get too hot. It will be below 30 degrees in the garage tonight

Your Onan is a battery ignition engine and the Magnum has a magneto system. I developed this thread for just such an occasion. If you need any further clarification please feel free to ask. This is much easier and less expensive that replacing the ignition switch and doing the needed rewiring.

Lucy just hanging out while I change a fuel injection line. Whatever I bring in my shop she has to sit in or on it !!

Picked this guy up today. Needs a seat, battery and shifter knob. Mostly original including tires. Came with a plow.

just got a nice card from my granddaughter , thanking us for , all our help and transportation drives. she likes the way we ask questions and make her responsible for things ,and ask her for insight / thought . likes my music collection down in the fly tying zone . likes grandmas cooking and learning how to make and bake things . also likes the way we emphasize , responsibility , accountability , what do you think ? card like that means a lot , she has been listening . being a grandparent is good stuff , the feed back is so worth it , give them a big hug , grandpa

Not sure Jeff. I got it from the humane society for my wife but she ended up being my cat. They say pets are a better judge of character than people are, so I’ve heard. 😜 No seriously my wife is the best just so busy she didn’t have the time I did with her. Thought we almost lost her a couple weeks ago. She didn’t eat, drink, duty for almost 2 weeks. Spent a ton of money at the vet only to find out they didn’t know. Then she started pulling through.

To clean a carb with an aerosol can, I use a spray carburetor cleaner since it is made to dissolve fuel related deposits. I use it for both on the engine and on the bench for blasting small passages.

Just no good way to tip these jugs when they are full. So I used my battery powered fuel transfer pump and filled my 308. Quick, easy and no spillage

The cat pad has been on now since the beginning of November. It is set at 100 degrees. The infrared temperature when he is off of it is an average of 48 degrees. When he just gets off of it the reading is about 85 degrees. I do check it to see if he scratches it and he doesn’t. He can get off of it if he gets too hot. It is in a cardboard box on a cement floor away from any combustibles. thanks for all your advice and suggestions, i was just concerned if it was too hot.

Yes, 301 pistons will fit, and gaskets, lectrics, fuel stuff are readily available ..... but the kicker can be the rods and crank (although I DID see a rod on the bay a few wks ago) and maybe you could get the crank ground ( nobody near me will/can turn the crank) with possibly more luck in getting a bore job. I have been lucky, of all the big twins I have had they were all within, or close enough to hone and re-ring. I even opened a 20 up and found it had had an - apparent - rebuild with very close .020 bore and .010 crank. On another 18 it was - again apparently - a replaced short block, was dead standard all across and very close fitting. But, on another 18, on re-assembly one of the rod bolts peeled the threads out --- was about 10 months til one popped up on the bay - and mind you, this was 3-4 yrs ago!

Buy an ugly white work truck and dip it.

Who knows when the next 2 week project at Pullstart Stables will become such a hit! Thanks for the opportunity to showcase my creation Kate, it’s an honor!

Stay tuned for... Part 3 = The Injury Files...

The big white Great Pyrenees/Anatolian on the floor is Singha - I used to call her "Dum Dum". Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she's a good girl. The little guy named Koji on the couch is Shiba Inu/Miniature Pinscher. He is my best buddy and likes to sleep under the covers by my feet when it's really cold. Helps keep my feet warm and he barely moves all night, so I don't mind at all. Koji again, with Sophie, Border Collie/Australian Sheep Dog. We don't mess around with purebreds here. I don't think I have a picture of my pot-belly pig handy, but .... she's pretty ugly...

That is a 701 only item, looks like a great deal for $ 300, if you don't want it PM me the details and I will buy myself a Christmas present.

I think you did great. The double pulley guards go for dang near that now by themselves. I had two 701s, but only one now. They are great little chunks of history. Congratulations!

Looks like our cat from years gone by. We had one that was all gray like that also. Ours was a He-cat. BIG!!! not fat, but MUSCLES! He hadda go almost 18 pounds or so. He had the best personality too. Is that a "Russian Blue" by chance? We believe ours was, but no way to tell without "38 and me" genetic testing and if he was on the FBI wanted list... well, we didn't have him tested...

When I was working for the state when the dept "needed " a truck it was spec'd out and was put out to bid to local dealers and ordered thru them. You pretty much had to wait about 10 month's to get it though. Navy Blue 3/4 ton Fords that didn't carry more than a snow shovel! I have a retired engineer friend who insists on no frills. Years ago he had to order a brand new S-10 PU with no AC or Radio. When the truck arrived he had a fit because it had an antenna. He made them replace the fender with one with no antenna hole. He didn't let them remove the antenna and just plug the hole with a plastic cap.

great points @Handy Don. I’m not always the poster child for safety, but care about my children immensely. We added a second pedal to Rylee’s Commando 800 “Screamin’ Jimmy” and have found 953/1054 tractors extremely child friendly, pushing the pedal DOWN instead of FORWARD for clutching and braking.

There is a section of the Forum called Haulin' Help. You can post your situation there and might get a response. You'd probably be surprised at the number of times members have helped move tractors, implements, parts, etc. for other members. I've done it myself a couple times. If you can get the tractor safely secured on a pallet, there are LOTS of shipper options (just google "pallet shipping"). I've not done this for a tractor, but I have done it for other goods--I even built a shipping crate atop the pallet for extra protection.

Motor turns over by hand. Gears all shifted smoothly. It came with 3 covers, the double pulley on the gen / blower, drive belt cover and a third small cover that owner said is for top of engine. All covers in good shape. Still has an amazing amount of original paint. I would just "replenish" it, no restoration, just make it as good as I could as is. Wanted something for the grand kids but not a "nut roaster". Its mine for $300. Will post pictures and progress when I get to cleaning and getting it running.

I have just removed the top of the carb while it was still on the engine and cleaned it as good as you can with spray carb clean, paying close attention to the small fuel passages. This worked for me, may take several times. If that doesn't work then the carb will have to come off and as Keven and Jim said be soaked in a good carb cleaner.

So basically my point about this part was that they don't have people in the factory with glass and sandpaper planing out heads...they're mass produced and after casting are probably either milled or knocked flat on a belt sander and slapped together. Lol. I'm not saying your method is wrong or doesn't yield excellent results, as I've done it myself that way in the past and it worked great. If we were working on really high compression, high revving race engines then I'd agree a little more attention to detail would probably be in order. My thought process was do it as close to the manufacturing process and it should be sufficient since they, by in large, operate trouble free that way for years from the factory. When we tighten down these heads they deform and deflect a little anyway so as soon as you torque the bolts down, it's no longer perfectly flat anyway. So at some point we end up unnecessarily chasing our own tails if we over complicate it. Lol. I would say most head gasket replacement failures are a result of an improper torque process if the head is satisfactorily flat. As for the heat cycling and then retorque....well...not a bad idea one would think, but is that a recommendation from Kohler on a new engine? I don't have a definite answer for that but one wouldn't think so either however I definitely could be wrong on that part...🙂

The wheel horse, with the 1 year old batter that went down to 5V when I turned the key, started right up. The JD with the 3 or 4 year old battery that only went down to 11V when I turned the key struggled but started and still made the slow whirring noise when I turned the key. The good news is, jump starting them works and is easy based on how we park our machines and cars. I will take both batteries in today to get them checked out and maybe replace them.

This is not your exact engine, but should be the same process to check and adjust your governor. Note - make sure your cable is disconnected while doing the adjustment.

Keep in mind Kohler recommended idle speed is 1250 which sounds pretty fast...

I have fostered feral cats more than once in the past. They stayed inside my workshop shed over the course of a winter. They were never given heat and it was never a problem. They had small enclosed areas such as transport boxes or cardboard boxes. Blankets in and around or towels or whatever. Given the reminder of the capabilities of a cat I WOULDN'T EVEN CONSIDER leaving a heating pad or heated blanket anywhere within their reach. Especially considering that cats are well known to knead their own sleeping quarters on a regular basis. I appreciate your kind intentions on keeping the animal warmth and I applaud you for it but it is most certainly not worth the risk. Another extremely important consideration to using a source of heat such as that is the designed in duty cycle of the appliance or item. Portable eaters like that are not meant to be left on all the time. I've had a couple experiences at my place. When we had our oil spill a few years ago we were using radiator heaters and one of them began to melt the face off. Another thing is when I had one plugged in to the same outlet in the living room for several months at a time using it off and on. When I went to remove it in the spring I noticed that the off-white colored electric socket was now dark dark gray.

Depends on how much you want it, and how reluctant the seller is to sell it. #1 is that it doesn't run, that could be a lot of different things. Does it shift thru all the gears? a bit hard to know for sure without it running. It is a popular tractor though. Mower deck needs work. That's my 2 cents/sense.

Thank you sir! Definitely gives me a several options to think over. Might need to increase my life insurance policy

Click on this link https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/forum/45-restorations-modifications-customizations/ then click on the red box that says "Start a new Topic", give it a title including the model number and then type away, add the appropriate photos where desired.

@19richie66 it depends what chain sprocket ratio you use between the output of the second transmission and the rear axle. Assuming a full speed input into the 3 speed transmission, the output speeds of the 3 speed transmission will be: 1st gear - 531 rpm 2nd gear - 708 rpm 3rd gear - 1700 rpm Assuming a direct drive (1:1 chain ratio) from the 3 speed transmission to the 4.10 rear axle, the axle speeds will be: 1st gear - 129 rpm 2nd gear - 172 rpm 3rd gear - 414 rpm Assuming 27" tires, road speed would be: 1st gear - 9.8 mph 2nd gear - 13 mph 3rd gear - 31.5 mph ! Putting a 2:1 chain reduction would cut the road speeds in half. Using a 3:1 chain reduction would cut the road speed to 1/3 direct drive. Using a 4:1 chain reduction would cut the road speed to 1/4 direct drive. Depending on what you plan on using this tractor for, I think somewhere a 2:1 and a 3.5:1 reduction ratio would be good. This would give you a 'creeper' 1st gear, a mower friendly 2nd gear, and a 'catch me if you can' 3rd gear. Changing the chain reduction between the 3 speed transmission and the axle would be like changing the gears in a quick change axle in a race car. Easy and inexpensive to do. Moving the chain from between the hydrostat and the 3 speed to between the 3 speed and axle will place a larger load on the chain. If you plan on pulling stumps, you ought to use a double chain - with a good guard - since this assembly will be under your seat. As I said before, good luck and have fun.

It’s got a stock 420 predator engine right now but it will receive a cam, a billet flywheel, a billet connecting rod, a slide carb, and a custom made header. It is chain drive with a jack shaft right behind the engine and a live axle in the back.

This Winter is the first time since 1989 that I did not have any of my 8 running WH tractors ready for snow removal so out came the JD. This past weekends storm would have worked them hard anyway and they have never failed me so I figured they needed a break. This was a solid 10'' of wet snow. Recently bought a cab for the JD but have not installed it yet, waiting on 2 , 8' foot overhead doors with openers to be installed. This tractor has a 3 range Hydro trans and I usually plow in A range but because of the weight of the snow B range worked better, needed slightly more headway speed. Never had snow stick like that and stay in the bucket while traveling to dump it.

Would I be wrong in at least getting him a rattle can of regal?!? Must be really hard up for articles Kate ... Kev takes being ribbed very well... Looking forward to the issue and won't use it for TP like when @Achto had his features...

Got a package from @wheelhorseman Lowell !!

Jeff, sorry I must have missed this post.

Friend of mine did it. I will get closer pictures but he is just learning so it may not suit everyone.

I would suggest measuring the cylinder bore before making a decision. Make sure it is still with in specs and doesn't need to be bored.