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Flew home yesterday from a 2 week job in Washington state, needed to get some tractor time in! My vitamin T was very low . Cold and windy, but if ya dress right it’s doable. Rode for about an hour. Worse part is taking off gloves to snap you guys some pictures . Let the B-80 have the day off so the 315/8 could get some exercise.

This here Meeha Mirror dog is well known for finding a warm place to chillaxalate. She's OFTEN in the sun 🌞 or so close to the base of the stoves you'd think she's cooking herself. Single digit temps outside but it's wikkedd toasty here.....

Agreed about involving the kids in Wheel Horse World -- in the two photos riding our new 312 tractor is my son in 1989 at age 8 -- then working on the mower deck is his son - my grandson, age 14 in 2021 reassembling its rehabbed deck 32 years later

Cleaned & regreasy Pete the PTO bearing & replace the noisy thrust bearing. Different seat & springs underneath it. Gonna call it done. Needs a bath yet... still road salt on it from the score. Some small items yet. Make a strap for the battery box. Install a slot hitch & cable. How's inventory on rubber Kev @Pullstart? I think I'm gonna take the ags & tri ribs off a Raider 12 that is going on the auction block but I will need some run of mill turfs to put on it. Aunt B is gonna be another house plow mule ... eight on a eight... I fell in love with it so can't flip it now. Thanks guys for all yer help on it. -5 here but got seat time ... she didn't mind.

Took an air boat cruise through the mangrove's.

Meh... No bugs...

J & N California. Junk and No good. I used my old Indak and plugged in the five wire plug into back of the switch tight before replacing in the B80 dash. I mounted tractor, moved choke and throttles and turned the key. Started right up just like it us to do. I must be loosing the wheel horse sense I use to have! Loose wire connector must have been the problem!

I sat in the massage chair the other day to relax a minute. Great Grandpa Bruno Mars figured it was his chance to relax too.

Been working on a 1975 David Brown 885 tractor today. My mates latest acquisition. It's been a little neglected by the PO and left standing outside for some time. It's what is called an orchard/vineyard tractor. Quite narrow. About 4ft wide. Paint is a bit worst for wear but nothing drastic. Only really rotten part is the seat base at the back. Starts and runs well with no smoke except for the normal diesel exhaust fumes. We drained off the hydraulic oil, or should I say milky liquid. The filter was rather past it's sell by date and the bottom of it's cover and the fine mesh screen inside had quite a not of gunge. All cleaned up now. Got in touch with a father and daughter tractor spares outfit I know and new filter will be available Monday. Helen, the daughter, said her father is starting to sort out his old stock of DB parts, so to make a list of what is needed and let them know. Maybe a decent seat base available. The air filter was next. The oil bath type. Again the cannister had a good layer of crud in the bottom. The oil was rather mucky as well. Seemed over filled as well. The wire filter was washed in petrol as was the cannister and all put back together with fresh oil. I'll try and remember to take my camera next week and get a photo or two.

LoL. That coupled with a big diesel and rolling coal on someone would be a wise@ss teenager's dream! LoL Loud bangs and clouds of black smoke at every corner !

I have an Eaton Detroit locker in the rear axle of my Jeep & an Eaton True Trac in the front. It is supposed to "ratchet" but really doesn't, in town if you make a couple of sharp right turns in a row it will suddenly "unload" when you straighten out & sound like a bomb going off under your truck. I've had it happen a couple of times, the most memorable of which, scared the sh*t out of 2 ladies on the sidewalk, ( they actually flipped me off ). A locked rear axle is NOT street friendly, in the rain or snow you really have to be on your game or you will be facing the other direction or in the ditch real quick. And as @Pullstart mentioned, it will eat your back tires up VERY quickly. The Eaton True Trac is a limited slip, I would go with that or something something similar if you don't want to run an E or Air locker.

Back about 30 or so years ago I had a '73 Chevy pickup with a plow. I went through several junkyard small blocks plowing snow. I found a Caddy Fleetwood rust bucket for $50. I pulled the engine and put it in the truck. I had to fabricate motor mounts and put in a tranny adapter. Never had an engine problem after that and in low range I could move a mountain

Planning to go drag racin with that there F250? I had a Chevy pick-up with factory Posi traction and when you were on slippery pavement or just got onto the throttle hard the rear end of the truck would kick out to the right. The Dodge I have now has a limited slip differential and I don't have that problem.

This is a good example of where an application of never-seize will make it easier next time.

Awwww, THANK YOU ! I was kinda hoping no one would notice... My birthday cake's are starting to turn into fire hazards...

Has anyone ever used OffroadBelts.com? I found a much needed 4L445 for something like $2.85 and $4.00 shipping! I ordered two!

I bought a few starter generator raw edge cog belts from them on that were great.. also a Kevlar drive belt for a 953. All were great and they shipped quickly. Price is about the same as Tractor Supply but they actually have what you want in stock.

I was gonna say Kev you need fencing I got plenty. Sounds like you have it covered tho. My apple trees didn't pan out. Soil just too dang sandy. Rabbits didn't bother mine but shrews did. I use a piece of that corrugated drain tile in 4 or 6 inch. Slice it open with a box cutter and can put it on or take it off as needed.

That's almost Summer weather in Maine.

The circuit board has no effect on the engine operation. It simply monitors the state of the safety switches. Should start and run without the board plugged in if you want to rule it out.

Brakes? Mostly done!

I got to playing around in the JB Weld and got the transmission Tow Valve new and improved fastener system installed. We've been cleaning the transmission fluid pump occasionally for a few days. Today The Paint Department has been coating it. I went with black because the maroon yuckyness was very tough to remove and.... stained the aluminum. Awesome. ...... Oh well.

Every winter we have a small herd of deer that gravitate to our backyard area and the woods immediately behind us. Drives the dog nuts which in turn drives us nuts but the deer are nice to watch. Colors can vary a little like many animals but this year we have a VERY dark one hanging out. This is by a long shot the blackest brown deer I've ever seen. Oh, and... Thanks again to @WHX?? For the cameras... 🙂

This makes it tough to insure pollination when the variety is not known. Maybe wait to see when they bloom ( early, mid, or late season) then plant a pollinater close by that matches the bloom time. I have had poor results with my apple trees due to the mild late winter temps that cause the early budding that then freeze. I have Gala, Honey crisp, cortland, delicious, and jonathon. On the other hand, my pear and plum trees produce very well. Deer are not a problem for me, but I do need to protect the trunks from the rabbits. Make sure your rabbit protection is well above the max snow level. When the other food sources are buried in snow, the rabbits love to chew on the fruit trees.

And some shots of her in action. Unfortunately the outboard spent more time not working than working - dodgy HT lead. Have a video somewhere to upload. The boat is also featured in this months Small Boat Magazine - an American publication. https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/sea-bestia/

These guys hang out at the old Army Depot down the road from me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_white_deer

Added 4 drawers to the sofa, nothing high tech, but that's kind of the theme anyway. The best bit is the materials were free, left over plywood from another already paid for project.

Never Ever hit a hard hammer with another hard hammer unless you’re wearing full face protection at least! Two hardened surfaces coming together like that are more than likely to splinter. Slivers of razor sharp metal hitting your eyes, or any unprotected part of your anatomy is not a pleasant experience! If you must hit a hammer with another hammer, make sure one is copper or brass. Or better yet, weld a handle to a slug of mild steel and hit that with your hammer!

Snow machines have them too. This one doesn’t yet, but it probably should..

EB, I’d suggest either an air locker, e-locker or limited slip like Richard recommended. A full spool posi is asking for trouble, until you actually need it. It’ll chew your tires to oblivion in a quick hurry, unless that slip is available when you don’t need posi. *edit* story time! When I turned 16, I managed to ride out the wreck of a three wheeled Jeep Cherokee, all the way to the tree that stopped us. It had been a salvage repaired vehicle, so it’s hard saying how bad it was before I made it my own. Once I was vehicle shopping again, I stumbled upon a square body S10, on a Toyota frame, with a 350 Chevy, 35” bald tires and 1/2 ton solid axles. It was perfect! The chop shop corner greasy haired shiester dealer let me take a test drive with my 28 year old buddy. We were in the quiet part of town at a 4 way stop and I stomped on the gas. It spun us around about 270 degrees, all the way to the front yard of the quiet neighbor’s place. I was too dumb and irresponsible to admit my guilt, so we just high tailed it out of there and brought the truck back to the dealer. Crazy thing is, the signed title from whoever traded it in, was sitting in the glove box. We were VERY tempted to simply drive it to the DMV and sign the rest of the title to ourselves. Hindsight, I’m glad we brought it back. I’m glad I asked my mom to come down and take a look at my new truck. I’m glad she found the huge crack in the frame that I so overlooked! I ended up finding a VW Jetta instead of that big ole lifted AMAZING pickup. That’s not my only Lincoln Locker truck I’ve driven on the road, but it was definitely the most memorable one!

Not so much with the drag racing but there will be occasional forays into the middle of nowhere. There are numerous places in the woods up here where there's a greasy mud hole on one side and dry gravel on the other. It would be handy to have the main drive axle locked together on both sides. Fact is, I need to replace the carrier itself and the spider gears as well. I figured while I was in there I might add posi traction to the equation instead of leaving it at open diff.

I’m not sure what went wrong with those early 80’s B,C series. The paint didn’t adhere well to the cast aluminum dash tower. Perhaps they needed to do something different to prep it?

Next up is sanding and painting. I only had two days left before needing to take the boat to work for the Xmas race. This meant the next part was a bit rushed! Cheap spray paint was the order of the day, not the best but it would do for now. I had problems masking up as the paint was a bit soft - really not the time to be rushing!

Here's what works for me to get the stubborn pulley(s) off of the mule drive.

It's an open differential then. And since its an 8-pinion, dang near bulletproof. The LSDs definitely improve traction, but are more susceptible to damage from misalignment due to wear. Even more so when linked to a big Onan P220. Some have welded up the diff so as to make the rear posi track. While that may benefit competition pullers, it degrades regular use of the tractor because the steering sucks. Sounds like yours performs well as it is.

I Use the Valvoline VR1 in my Kawasaki and older flat tappet engines in 10w30, i use Amsoil or Mobil1 full syn in my Commands, and 10w40 VR1 in my Onans. I dont really use any conventional oil anymore in anything, but the VR1 has the high zinc that old flat tappets like.

Right again Don. I tried to move the coil mounting plate behind the starter @Darb1964 but it made it worse. Only thing that worked was adding shims like the PO did... gotta be the wrong starter...runner...

LOL Give me time!! I enjoy the hobby, but the biggest thing is my kids seem to enjoy garden tractors Im in my mid 30s and i got 3 boys. 5, 4 and 2 They all seem to like to "work" on them, wash them and mostly drive them around in the yard I figure, if you can buy them for a good price, get them running ......its a cheap hobby that keeps the kids outside and lets them be boys Go get dirty, go play in the woods, go drive the tractors, haul fire wood to the house, get in trouble (within reason LOL) Just go enjoy being young....... This hobby seems to work out for me and my kids (so far). I just pray everyday that my kids continue to enjoy these things (outside, dirtbike, golf carts, garden tractors etc)

Gigantic intestinal fortitude right there Mike!! Thanks for the pics.

I’ll have 5.3L Chevy auto tensioners later today. They will be on the return side of the small pulleys I ended up with a cogged automotive V belt on the way to the parts store this afternoon. I’m working on the brake disc now. As cool as the teeth on it were, safety and balancing told me take ‘em off and true up the disc.

The truck I've had the last 6-7 years has the G80 GM locker which is a mechanical locking rear diff, limited slip. From research it's mechanically activated when there is more than 100rpm difference in the wheel speed. I wasn't sure what I would think of it when I got it but I really like it. It works well and keeps the fishtailing side swinging on an open diff from happening. It kicks in when needed so takes the thinking out of it. I know this isn't ideal for offroading and rock crawling for a dedicated offroad/overlanding rig. But for use outside of those it is pretty nice and I would plan for any future truck to have it as well. Something like that may be cheaper and simpler to install compared to the others that have electronics, etc. to also hookup.

And the finished product! It cost around £300 and about 60 hours of labour - mostly head scratching and tea drinking.

I did a water heater replacement yesterday for a second (?) cousin and her husband. He’s a pretty big hunter and they work odd shifts, so they both kept me company during the job. Loading up, I found these three apple trees jumped in my truck for the deer habitat project. One of them is nearly as tall as me! He started them from grocery store apple seeds, so we have no idea what the outcome will be, or what flavor the apples. They will be planted come spring, and wrapped in a heavy cage for continued growth.

Same here Zeek. I am so grateful they have the means to buy and preserve these remaining farm lands. I really enjoy the view from my back porch.

Don that was the beginning of the paint issues that we remember from car manufacturing. This is only a supposition: Perhaps there was some sort of a prep for the aluminum that may have been no longer available or too expensive to justify.

The contacts are just cheap brass with no plating so corrosion can happen. I use No-Ox on all electrical connections to preserve them. Some use dielectric grease, but I don't use that because it might insulate too much and may not have as much corrosion inhibitors.

I just read somewhere that panel is grounded with the mounting screws... Maybe a bad ground...