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Got the mail tonight…

Hello All, So you guys saw the post from @Sparky about me giving him the clean B80 to take care of. Well in some interesting turn he had an 876 that he bought for the plow, iron weights and rear bracket. He didnt like the tractor in the end and offered it to me first. He ended giving it to me and besides needing a new throttle cable the thing runs great, starts great, looks Ok with its paint brush repaint and has ZERO leaks--amazing for a hydro filled with ATF (thin oil!!) . I dunno what my plan is but I have 3 or 4 1960s vintage 32" (I think...) snow throwers and I may throw one on. I had a Commando with a 32 way back and it did a decent job surprisingly enough Thanks Tony 20230108_085158.mp4 20230108_085043.mp4 20230108_085158.mp4

I was never good about taking pictures from beginning to end on this project and regret it now. The engine shroud was rotted out completely. The hood was leaded together and coming apart, tires were blown out and one rim was rotted. Engine needed a little work. But I’m happy with how it came out. I’ve changed exhausts a few times and have settled on a stack on it.

Doing some garage cleaning/re-organizing today, so I had 4 of the 5 in my herd out for some fresh air and sunshine: After having trouble getting 2 of them to start (and one of my 2 generators), I do believe I'm going to make a run to get a bunch of Non-E gasoline, for these and my generators. I seems like carb cleaning has needed to be a bit more frequent than it should be, and I am pretty sure that's the reason. Dang you, ethanol! I think there are 2 stations that have Non-E within 10-15 miles. I think I had shared some updates here about my GT-1848 (second from the right), but can't remember. I built my own 2" hitch receiver mount for the mule, then built a built a battery box and winch mount on a 2" hitch that I can pop in there. For now I have the winch control bungee'd to the hood, and have to charge the big battery manually between uses, but I have an isolator ready to be installed when I find the time, and I'll rig up a more permanent switch for the winch. I pulled some Ash logs ranging from about 10" diameter and 10 feet long to maybe 16-20" diameter and 6-8 feet long out of the underbrush to cut up for firewood, and it worked great. I also recently put the stack on it, and got the rear wheel weights on. I'll put the chains and plow blade on when the next major snow is imminent. Well, I suppose like others have hinted, if I put them on now, it probably won't snow.

Steering is complete. Amazingly tight compared to OEM. Quick disconnect steering wheel makes it easier to saddle up.

Yep, that's me on Harley before we turned him into bacon, sausage, ham, pork chops, puddin, paun haus, cracklins, and lard.....circa 1948. That's my Dad in the bibs and Granddad to his left pulling Harley out of the scalding barrel.

I thought that comment was reserved for the Collosus Project.....

Hiram was born from a parts pile acquired from @ebinmaine

I do use non ethanol in the snow horses and in the other low use Horses. Heavy use summer mowers get regular gas all year until the last month or so then they get non ethanol. my L-107 which is used several times a week year round gets what ever I have. Haven't had big carb issues anywhere in the fleet. I believe most the ethanol problems stem from sitting..

In my opinion any increase in air flow around an AIR cooled engine is worth it

Decided to get everybody out for some run time today move the oils around - quiet winter they’ve been sitting about 3 months 416 - 8 sporting a K341 with the tall chute - 315-8 has the blade - C- 101 back is on light duty , her job is just to look pretty

Really no cost involved. Anything that increases the air flow across an air cooled engine has to be a good improvement. A couple things I have noticed on many 520s. 1. the grommet seal around the oil filter is missing allowing the cooling air to escape before crossing the fins. 2. the oil filter base plate is seeping oil which is blown across the rear fins. the sticky oil collects dirt and grass that clogs the cooling fins 3. my 520s are only used for snow removal and the heat that passes thru the vented belt guard is collected with a cab extension keeping the cab 30F warmer than the outside temp.

Might not help but sure can't hurt. I have cut out all of mine. Since two of them have cabs and are snow tractors a bonus is it let's warm air up in the cab. Cost was less than 10 minutes of labor while the belt guard was off for maintenance.

hello benelliguymn, as a 520H owner with a vented belt guard i would say this to you: 1... really no cost as it is just your labor to remove the belt guard and make some holes. 2... letting that hot air escape is better than having to fix a valve seat that fell out. regards mike in mass.

The 2023 Lebanon Valley Indoor Classic Tractor Expo will be held Friday and Saturday Feb. 17-18 at the fairgrounds / expo center in Lebanon PA. It's a real nice small show, always some Wheel Horse eye candy to look at, I'll probably be there Friday. More info here: Lebanon Valley Indoor classic tractor expo (lvicte.org) Lebanon Valley Indoor Classic Tractor Expo | Facebook There will be an auction Saturday morning, they're looking for consignments if you have anything to sell (tractors, literature, farm toys, etc.; no non-running equipment, tires or junk), details here: Feb 18th 2023 | bachmanauctioneer Hmmm... Maybe I'll go Saturday instead.

I'm thinking the crank is out of round. Get some green plastigage and check it. Cheap insurance. You don't have to get it running by tomorrow. @richmondred01

I don't have a 520 but I know some people have installed a remote oil filter kit in their Onans. Makes oil changes easier and less messy, and improves air flow across the rear cylinder. Something to consider if you buy a 520 or any other Onan powered machine.

Trina n I and a friend took a walk through a beautiful mountain winter forest scene yesterday. This is the top of Bill Merrill Mt across from the house.

Not any more. Used to help butchering hogs on grandpa's farms and the farm dad bought and where was row crop. Mince meat pie, cracklings,--makes my double smoked bacon kinda look pitiful. We lived on grandpa's farm for my first few years of life. Our house a log house (that someone had sided with clapboard siding). It had three rooms, living room, upstairs a bed room and a kitchen was built on in the back with small open porch mom would wash clothes on. Somewhere I have a picture of me and my little brother in the living room sitting in a galvanized tub we took baths in. Right behind our house was grandpa's smoke house. It was the scariest place on earth to me as a child. There were steps leading up to the wooden structure and it was dark as pitch inside with a hole in floor towards the back that surely led to Hades. That hole was where the smoky fire was built. Grandpa hired me and a friend right out of high school to tear the old house down. He ran a log chain through a couple of windows, hooked tractor onto the chain with the idea of just pulling that old house down. That didn't work! I don't remember the particulars of how the house was finally destroyed but I now wish it had been preserved.

with plows going on , its easy to relate to a heavy arm lift , without hydraulics , used my existing threaded lift eyes on the lower corners of my hood attachment points ,and also added a lift eye to the handy rear hole in the back of the quadrant area . having an assist , right at the weight area , makes it very affective. using 3" x 3/4 " extension springs , found these , just let the balde gently clean , yet make lifting much easier . you could also add a turnbuckle to this , for a dial it in perfect setting . add small shackles if you want . tightened up the spring ends to insure , no pop offs . arm lift ease is about 60/ 70 % lighter . that combined with a slick / smooth steering quadrant , makes for much easier operation . only a suggestion , have this set up on 2 horses , tried it on one , worked out the issues , and duplicated that on the other. you can't do that , pete

I worked for Allis Chalmers Hydro Turbine Division in York, Pa. from 1964 until the 1987 bankruptcy forced its sale to Voith Hydro in Heidenheim, Germany. Then continued to work for Voith for another 20 years until my retirement. Most of my time was spent designing, manufacturing and testing model hydro turbines for new hydro sites and for upgrades to existing plants around the world. Thank you for posting the West Allis video. It brings back 50 years of good memories.

It is perfectly normal for the filter not to fill. You can’t see it, but the tube leaving the upper end of your filter sticks down into the body to just about where the fuel level is now so it can’t draw the air out any lower. All looks good from the images. Nice work

Just came in from the garage. I finished up the bronco 14 today. Re attached the air filter assembly and put the tire chains on. Left side went on way to easy. Right side went on almost as easy. I never have this much luck doing tires chains. Doah! I realized they are not a matching set. Wandered around found the matching one to the right hand side chain but decided my luck would change and I would end up fighting it if i swapped it so I left it. I swapped out the flat front tire with one laying around the garage that Alex took off of one of his. Will need air but it’s not flat flat. I wanted to bring our 854 into the garage and start working on that but decided I needed to clean up first and bring in my friends c-105 in that’s been sitting here way too long. Got it running for him once already then he let it sit for years. Now he wants it running again. I kind of dragged my feet on it because the last time I got it running he used it once or twice and then left it out. It’s definitely in rougher shape then when I found it for him and got it running before. I also used Aiden’s 856 to bring in another very small load of wood. Yesterdays little load probably would have sufficed til the boys got home but figured I would rather do it today than after work this week. When they get home they will be tasked with bringing in 1 or 2 loads. One of my friends showed up in between projects and I ended up losing motivation. Back to the warm house and couch I go.

Got up before the sun this morning and drove the school bus out of the frozen mud. The chains wrapped around the tires and through the wheels seemed to really pay off!

Some years ago I guy on here did a study using a thermometer, he found no difference between front and rear cylinder temperatures. My thought is the oil filter and temperature sensor blocking the air flow might be a problem especially for those that won't run the engine at high RPM. Keep any buildup in the fins cleaned out, oil leakage or spilling in the filter area holds dirt.

I have completely stopped advertising ANY free stuff because 90% of the people responding only want to waste your time. Adding an amount to the ad weeds out most of those people ( not all ) for the one's more interested. Then when they actually show do up without ANY BS going on, I'm more than happy to just give it away to them free of charge. Win Win. Any waste of time BS people, they can pay for it if they do eventually show up. Had an SS 12 a while back. They're rugged well built machines and certainly worth saving and using.

Skittles….. maybe one day I’ll finish her. She looks a little better….at least from 10 feet away

Here's one I did here.

I just enjoyed my favorite desert. A warm slice of Mrs.Ks 3 berry pie. I'm feeling very fortunate to have a wonderful family and a great bunch of Red Square friends. Thank you all for the birthday greetings.

Thanks for the invite... What's in the marinade?

Momma made some marinade of sorts this morning. Back straps are going in the smoker in about 30-45 minutes! *edit* YUM! 250 degrees for an hour an 20 minutes or so, to a 145 internal temp.

I added a fuel filter and check valve that a member recommended. Did I do it well enough? The plastic tank is fairly new on the new to me C-160 but there was a small amount of stuff in the bottom. It has a fine gold colored screen that should keep it out until I clean it out next time it runs out of fuel. The new in-line filter came from isavetractors.com and was described as "2 Pack - Inline fuel filter for fuel systems using fuel pumps and 1/4" ID fuel line." Even after I put it on line and was running it the filter didn't have a solid column of fuel in it; that normal? I was careful to make sure that both were not touching anything that could cause a vibration wear point. I assumed that all of these are engineered to not restrict fuel flow too much for normal operation. I tried to put the check valve between the fuel pump and carb' but couldn't squeeze it in. I figured that it was beneficial as the carb' is above the fuel tank level and that it could go almost anywhere in the line.

Pretty cool deal! @Sparky… you can move next door too when Tony moves into the bad neighbor’s place!

I too agree - BUT to verify the different clearances, you need to use the green Plastigage at 90 degree intervals on the crank. Best thing with using the squish gage - it WILL show if there is a taper on the journal - the used plastigage will not be even across. Last time I used that stuff was about 1995.....

I would think the dark spots is where it is not touching the crank journal. If it was mine, id run it

That would be a good improvement but there isn’t a lot of room to add the kit. The remote filter was produced for installations where the access for service was impossible.

For the past three years, during the winter months I've been double smoking bacon. It started when one of my wife's customers gave us so smoked bacon as a "thank you" for my wife helping them. It was the best tasting bacon I had ever eaten so after some studying and internet searching I came across some guys that double smoke bacon. From what I understand, the "smoked bacon" we buy is actually chemically smoked. I guess it's injected with liquid like Liquid Smoke or something. Basically I use pellets for smoking and a smoke generator attached to a 4" flex pipe into an old Brinkman smoker. I usually smoke three pounds at at time for 1 1/2 or 2 hours then package it and put in freezer. The bacon is cold smoked so it is not ready to eat and still must be cooked. I like to smoke the bacon when the temperature is in the 30's or so. Something to do during cold winter months.

One time raised hogs for meat our butcher left the rind on the roasts cutting it into 1" squares, tender juicey roast with cracken,

Nobody mentioned it was a two part special!

This is the patient. I bought it used about 15 years ago.

I will rotate and check today. I didn’t do any testing but it sounded like it had lost some compression when I tried to start it last time. I don’t own those types of testing tools but I can measure the piston with my micrometer. It did have spark because it ran twice on the gas I primed the carb with. I think I need to check the fuel system also. I took it apart to give it a good cleaning and inspection. I also want to replace badly worn parts if I can find/afford new ones. It’s kind of cold and dark here in the winter so I try to do inside work like this now. Plus it’s fun to learn new things I’m not a mechanic but I did do a total tear down and rebuild of my Ford 5000 back in 2020 and it’s still running so I am pretty good at following manuals. The thread is in Swedish but you can see pictures here. https://www.maskinisten.net/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=326605

What a great story. It’s great seeing tractors that have progressed throughout a family over the years. I look forward to following your progress on it.

New classic car dealership still under construction but today is opening day. Still waiting for the white belt and shoes. Checkered sport coat and slacks! Newest addition: 1992 Deleware & Hudson. Never run before. Ran it enough to make sure it ran and the whistle worked. Got to get some oil and smoke fluid for it.

Looks like she needs just a little paint Richie?

This is the one that got me in to this crazy addictive hobby.

Another...

Geez! How time gets away from me. It was 2015/16 when these two were given to me. The pictures really don't show how bad they were. Pretty much scrap metal. By the summer of 2018 I had combined the two of them to build this. Now, 4 1/2 years later and it still hasn't been started. I have an issue with the recoil start that's eluding me. I decided to pull the engine so I could continue the chase in a warm space. I got away with bringing it inside because it has absolutely no fuel smell at this point. If I can get the recoil fixed all I have left to do is the fuel lines and coil wires.