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My new favorite penetrating oil out of a can is Sea Foam Deep Creep. One issue with the bolts that you are trying to remove is that they are steel bolts threaded into aluminum. These 2 metals do not get along together and usually end up corroding. When you reassemble use some blue Loctite, it will form a barrier between the two metals to keep them from corroding. These two metals not getting along is also why I always use never seize on spark plugs that are installed into an aluminum head.

Well, I did it. Not the B80 O posted about yesterday but a pretty nice 417A. Came with a relatively complete second tractor, 2 total decks, 2 total front blades. It has no leaks, fires up almost instantly and for its age looks pretty darn clean in my opinion. Now the fun begins cleaning up the deck for some paint and spring duty. Might get to plow with it this winter. I need to find a manual so I can get some new plugs, filters, etc. I'd like to get a 'new' seat but other than that i'm excited to start tinkering and using it. The pictures aren't great, I just wanted to get it put away so I could return to family stuff.

Hello all and Happy Saturday Night!! Perhaps 2 or 3 years ago I dragged this one out of a small field with 4 ft high weeds on the side of a small engine mechanics place that works out of his house. It had been there ALONG time... let's say 10 years+... and before that it was at "some guys" house outside again in the weeds... Yes I paid for it and another parts tractor that is seriously J U N K... Today I dragged it out "of the weeds"... pulled carb bowl and gave it a blow out with carb clean and hit the points with a flat file She started right up and sounds real good.... freaking amazing You cannot beat a Kohler K or a Wheel Horse-- PERIOD Tony

When I get a nasty bolt I spray it with Deep Creep and walk away. come back in a while and hit it with PB Blaster and walk away. Come back and hit it with CRC Screwloose and walk away. Come back and take the bolt off. Then go sit down and rest!

Yours has the smooth hood, should be a 1985...?. Tractor Supply, 10', enough for both front wheels....$25.00

One more pic

Seems like your plethora of products for dealing with rusted bolts somewhat rivals Peter's lube collection! Plus you must have the patience and time of a monk.

Got her home today. I usually don't name my tractors but she came with two big boxes of parts and one had a tank stand for a C-160 and a B-80. So no more no name... she's Aunt B... Overall she's in pretty good shape. No gas tank and some other minor stuff. Nothing a trip out to the magic parts shed won't fix. Pop the head off tomorrow and other wrenching and the new to me list. See what this "rebuild" looks like. Go thru those boxes and see what shakes. Looks to be both horse parts and others. The gasket set is for a sweet 16.

I love your dogs Don... Here's my Lucy playing on a tractor...

Looks like it's been rebulit but never saw fire. Bore looks fresh valves ground or at least lapped. Points pitted and never set & no wire from points to coil. Appears to me no one ever tried to fire it after rebuild. Points in Terrible shape but cleaned up and throw a new condenser at her. Working on fuel line and wiring now.

Bonus hood... looks like the hood collection got added to @Pullstart Me thinks the seller was trying to clean out his parts on me. I can live with that. Really good shape and strait. Off a long frame hydro... 10 or 1277?

Here’s my Lucy wondering why she can’t go play with the chickens while I changed the oil in my buddy’s Farmall.

Did anyone mention tapping the bolt with a punch? It’ll shock the threads loose. Also mentioned lately is a manual impact driver. They work wonders, shocking the threads and turning loose a bit at a time. An added benefit, is they are tapered to slip in your hand, instead of insisting on snapping the bolt.

So yesterday, I weighed in at 5.6 lbs down for the week. Must have been a scale issue, because today I checked again and I’m down 9.2 lbs! 32,200 calories! That’s 57 Big Macs!

This is the first year since 1989 that I have not had a WheelHorse tractor not outfitted for Winter duty. I may have jinxed myself and other North East members with all these extremely heavy wet snowfalls we have been having around these parts. Back in 2000 I found a slightly used OTC for the 520-H that I have enjoyed since then. There comes a time when you just need more weight and power to deal with these types of storms. Back in 2018 I found this tractor and got a quote for a Curtis cab fully loaded with options. With recent price hikes I was not prepared to pay at least $ 2000 more for the same exactly equipped cab. Turn the page back to the 520- H with OTC cab and found that there was a new cab for the older model JD 3320 open station available. Having been completely satisfied with their product I decided to order one up with a few options,LED work lights and inside rear view mirror. The glass windshield and wiper are included in the package for this JD model. A few things to do wiring wise but overall I have been battling these recent storms in complete comfort. I really can't say enough about this unit and if anyone is considering a somewhat affordable comfortable cab for ANY brand of tractor this Company is Great to deal with located in Indiana. The best part is they are made in the USA.

Is now on You Tube starting with episode one.

Making a handle with a plane his father made at his age while using the bench that I made.

Same here, Her name is "Rocket" & she'll be 15 this spring. She "Meow's" me when it's bed time, sleeps with me, wakes me up if I sleep past 6:00 AM, where I go she goes including the bathroom for any reason, will throw a fit & howl if I close the door & she can't get in, & would probably dehydrate if I don't "water" her from the kitchen faucet. When she goes I know I'm not going to be right for a long time. Sorry for your loss, She was beautiful. This "little" guy learned real quick that Rocket runs the show. Just over a year old here, already 150 lbs. He's probably 160 lbs. now & still gives her a WIDE berth... & this is Effy, she couldn't care less...

I have a 418-C which is the same tractor with a Magnum engine, it is a great snow mover, love it. You may want to cut the bolts on the wheel weights before you hit your shins on them.

Wrap it around the center of the tire tight when flat, blow it back up, done. ( about 100 links is a good starting point, if too loose keep removing links till tight ).

Right. The manufactures spec’d it to be numbers, to reduce the “I have it on 120 but it’s coming out of my faucet at 112” claims. Hot should be close to 120. You are correct that 130 can easily scald. I prefer to install new water heaters with a thermostatic mixing valve to allow the greater tank temp, but allow output temps to be set wherever desired.

Copper line looks puny and is in an area where it could get damaged. Every nat gas line here in NY is black iron. No brazing soldering, flaring or compression fittings. Drip pan is nice but it that thing lets go the that pan will stop working in about a minute.

@AHS I like this MANUAL impact driver recommendation.

They are properly called drip legs. They come from old school days when pipe was hand and even machine threaded to keep thread cutting oil out of the valve. They should be used at all appliance connections. Looks to me he had a LP system (copper lines) that was converted to 2 lb natural gas. Hence the regulator to take it down to 7" water column. Actually, guys there is nothing in the code books against the connector. Yes just condensation from a cold tank when started and should go away after run time. Just like the vapor that comes out of a tractor exhaust when first started in the cold. Yes very corrosive. this is why is best not to completely empty a tank or run it too low. Unheard of here to have it installed in an attic. Guess it the norm in warmer climes. Good to see they had the presence of mind to put it in a drip pan.

I went to a tankless. Very efficient. Only down downside is it takes a little longer to get hot water to the sink (plugged up water savers) faucets. Faucets with bigger lines like the tub/shower are better. It will run hot water from every faucet wide open for as long as you want. It’s NG and is exhausted from a 3” PVC pipe out my garage wall.

Big Brother may be watching Richard .https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/deer/faq/#feeding-deerIs-Feeding- Deer-Harmful.pdf (ncwildlife.org)

I aint turnin the heat on for him. Hope he brings a coat!

You said that on initial start-up that the fwd/rev lever made the wheels turn .... I believe that would mean that the tow valve is in 'run' mode and you could/can go ahead and run it and worry about loosening the valve later. By changing the oil/filter that eliminates the possibility of water being in it, so I'm thinking its probably OK. Those tow valves can be a real booger!!!

@Achto is having fun with Seafoam Deep Creep lately. @AHS is using a very particular WD-40 Company product. NOT the original formula but a penetrant. I've used Kroil. Expensive but good. My preference the last couple years has been good ole fashioned Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil. Inexpensive. Effective. Readily available. Patience is the key!!

Do not use starter fluid on a gas engine. Use a fuel system cleaner or WD40. The propellant in the spray cans is usually butane or propane and won't hurt the engine. You could run a jumper from battery + to the coil + as a temporary ignition.

No surprises, gave up raking it, it has over a 3' soffit, I usually knock it down from behind when it does this. It's all about temperature, sometimes it melts, sometimes it curls, sometimes the whole thing goes but hasn't done that for quite a few years. Pretty much a no win situation, I've gotten used to it...

Dan's video he shared is fairly good though he sort of glossed over attaching the inside chain clasp (the hard part) When installing tire chains I find it helpful to securely jack up the rear end of the tractor, deflate the tire, install the chains as tightly as you can and then inflate the tire to tighten the chains a bit more.

Maybe this photo will help:

@Pullstart Winter is back here too, got the C-161 out tonight & blew out 2 days worth of wet heavy snow, (about 8" or so) temps are supposed to drop & hopefully this base will freeze. SEAT TIME, YAAAAY

I appreciate all the feedback, pictures, videos and advice. I am going to look at it tomorrow. Hopefully I will post a new thread with pictures tomorrow!!!

She’s getting fluids changed .

Yep, right next to Dad. This is as close close as he'll get when she's next to me..

My cats favorite above all places to be…..

Very nice tractor you got there

My heart sank a little about 30 minutes ago, mid plow lost my ability to change gears. Was close to the garage, so I pushed my little B80 back in. All kind of worst case scenario ideas where running through my mind. Turned out the locking nut for allen screw that holds the gear shifter in place worked loose. Was able to get it back and going without too much trouble. Guess I should probably locktite that nut. Maybe tomorrow. Gotta finish plowing.

@kpinnc @c-series don I can see the GT 14 peeking out in a couple spots.

A leak will keep on leaking. I'm going with condensation contributing to the hiss. Roof rafters not insulated might be a bit of the cause. Not a fan of that gas line . Is this LP?

If you get a good one it will last a long time as one of mine has, the others gave up in less than a year and you are never near the barn when that happens. I have had good results with these over the past five years.

Agreed, ORIGINAL formula WD is not. WD-40 Company does make a Penetrating Oil. THAT I use and recommend. I've used the two quoted above and recommend them as well. My experience with PB has been nothing but strife .... Likely this'll be a key. Remember... Tighten loosen.... Repeat. Often many times with tiny incremental increases while working back n forth. Like Paul experienced, some just won't be removed. It took decades to get stuck. It may take weeks to be undone.

May be time to rake the roof edge before it turns into a surprise!

That latch is the over-center style and works quite well. Per the picture above, the regular chain link on the right goes over the the latch and down into the LOWER notch by the left pinky finger. Rotate the latch to the left, down into and below the link that is held with the thumb and finger. Slide the small oval lock up into the UPPER notch. It is now closed. A bit of advise. Use a zip tie to keep the oval lock in place when done - I had one loosen - once. Deflate the tire and mount the chain AS TIGHT as you can get it, re-inflate the tire - the chain should be tightly in place. Be sure the cross link connectors are facing out - if not, your chain is inside out. Bill

Maybe I’m used to the frame mounted engine on the C-100, but this one really bounces in the saddle. Back and forth with a vengeance. Exaggerating a little here, but I don’t think it should move like it does. Sounds like these might be on my short list of upgrades! Thanks for all that info! Spoiler alert! I can’t budge that tow valve. I’ve been spraying WD formula # 40 on it and sometimes PB Blaster every time I go out there. It’s got me a little flustered as I don’t want to round it off. I’ve already scraped and scratched it up. I haven’t put heat to it yet, but I did put an air hammer to it a bit while trying to turn it with vice grips. Nothin! I’ve put that on the back burner, for now. Thank you for that! 👍🏻 I hope to get some more wrench time this weekend. I want to get that fender/seat assembly installed and maybe the hood too. Then when I get the rims back with tires on she’ll at least be all back together. For the first time since I’ve had her! Then I can give her a better test to see what she’s got and maybe what she doesn’t got! LOL

Funny this old thread is getting action. Here are some photos of how it came out finished. Great tractor, long gone but not forgotten.

Winter has finally arrived in this part of Maine. We had a few storms earlier but I wasn't able to get the WH out to blow snow. I thought I was ready when I moved it into winter shed, but when I went to start it in December I got a handful of gas from the two year old Chinese primer bulb.Then the nipple snapped off the plastic fuel pump (same origin, same vintage). Maybe someday I'll learn. Anyway, the new Facet electric pump was ready to go for the most recent couple of storms. Wiring is still kind of temporary. I wired the pump through a rocker switch the PO installed for headlights. I want to wire through the key/ignition switch but hesitated to hack into the already sketchy wiring. Facet suggested wiring through the oil pressure switch. I was thinking of wiring it through the unused terminal on the 520-H key switch. The wiring diagram shows it should be life in the "run" position. Any suggestions? Also got out for several walks. About time for snowshoes, but my friend is impatient as I fumble with the camera.