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Could go in the vintage thread or this favorite thread. Memories of some of the great times with family and friends involving these machines. I still clearly remember the day my Dad pulled into the driveway with one of these brand new. I was five years old.

You guy's forced me into a few more pictures @Brockport Bill . Favorite picture is the 520- H, favorite tractor is the 312-8 new in 89. You all must be tired of seeing this picture of the 312,,but those newer members may enjoy it. Come on @c-series don I have been patiently awaiting, pick two favorites and post them up will you. It's time for front end Friday now.

it all began in 1989 - our brand new 312-8 - with then 8 yr old son plowing snow

Geez. Just two! Ah ok! The Ralph 1054 brigade and the RJ!

I purchased my first wheel horse from him in 1995. It was a 520H that I still own today. Great business with wonderful service.

Found one more of my fav's to throw on here.

420-LSE Worker / Trail Boss.

As mentioned in another topic I'm still alive and kicking. After being unemployed for a while I'm back to work now for about two months. My previous occupation for nearly 12,5 years was at a industrial rental company (welders, generators, compressors, lighting etcetera) at several positions. That came to and end so I had to go look for something else. Long story short, I found a job at a agricultural mechanization firm. They were looking for a mechanic and we came to an agreement. Besides being Claas dealer (tractors, combine harvesters, silage equipment) they also do maintenance on some others tractors and machinery. Since I started working there I've done several jobs and learned a bunch. Good news is I actually enjoy what I'm doing again and have a lot less things and people riding my you-know-what. Below some pictures of what I've been working on. Brand new water tank. Needed some extra lights, snorkel on top, removed the pneumatic braking, switched around a few hydraulic functions and made a control box for the added functions. Snorkel. Simple control box. Combination as used for dust control. Brand new Claas Arion 630. Had to be stripped and painted (externally) in company colors. From the original green and red to black and blue. Brand new Arion 630. Taking fenders and hood off. Bare tractor. New color. Later the rims were painted black Added some valves and hoses for extra hydraulic couplings at the front of the tractor. Also set up for dust control.

Nell, our collie cross kelpie disappeared this afternoon. She'd managed to open the garden gate and went walkabout. We searched all over round the lanes. Checking the fields. Carol and a neighbour even drove down to the marsh. Asked several people we met. No one had seen her. I was beginning to fear she had been dog napped. That's getting a common thing over here. While Carol was down at the marsh I stayed at home just in case Nell returned. 2-3hrs after she disappeared farmer just round the corner brought her home. 10 minutes before she had walked into his yard. So the little devil had not been to far away all the time. Must have heard us calling her but maybe she has selective deafness. Mods to the gate catch will be done tomorrow.

Hi, I’m Braxton Pohlig. My Father and grandfather formerly owned the wheel horse dealership in Mechanicsville VA, Pohlig’s INC. I have used this forum for many years but have not been very active with it until about 2 years ago when I got back into WH. I’m glad to be back and would love to hear any stories from Pohlig’s or any old pictures anyone may have. Love seeing them. Thanks!

Besides these jobs I have done a bunch of sevice work to several tractors. So all new oil, oilfilters (engine and transmission), new fuelfilters, airfilters, cab filters and so on. 250hp tractor on the engine (pto) dyno. Clever tool to drain oil out of the planetary geared hubs without making a mess. Finding and repairing a leaking tank. Had to drain half of it first unfortunately. Nearly new (50 hours) wheel loader needed full service and a few extra work lights. So far it's been a pleasure to work there. Lots to learn and no day is the same. I'll keep you updated! Greetings from the Netherlands, Mark

Today I replaced the front wheel bearings on my 414-8. Changed the grease in them with Lucas Red & Tacky and greased the tractor. I lubed all joints and lube points and adjusted the pto brake. Then I changed to the ag tires for plowing. Plowed two garden plots and hopefully will start planting by April 1.

I was in RC stuff but always stayed on the ground. I found that when an RC car dies you go pick it up. When an RC plane dies you go pick up pieces. Very cool truck @D_Mac !! I've had the opportunity to drive the Ford Bronco version of that truck. Very impressive little vehicle. Some of my old cars.

Use extreme caution. That is a gateway device into another, unavoidable activity... Like our beloved red tractors, the only treatment is continued use.

So my nephew got one of these for his birthday. At his party we were all taking turns driving his car around. I had so much fun with it I went out and got one of my own. These little guys are so much fun. Many many upgrades are available for these. They come all set up right out of the box too. Built for crawling not speed. I got the Land Rover Defender. They also make a new Ford Bronco. Upgrades include everything from tires and wheels to shock absorbers to new gearing and bearings. For 150 bucks you get a lot bang for your buck. Anyone else have one ? Love to get any feedback. I customized mine by adding decals and a little paint. I also installed the head and tail light kit. I have some tires and wheels ordered and looking to order more.

I put the shaker on solid mounts before I start tilling. Interestingly, the shaker mounts were fine but the rear motor mount was loose on the frame. That explains the excess shaking

I have 1974 c-120a with the Pohlig's sticker still on it. I think I purchased a new 36" RD deck from Pohlig's sometime in the distant past. Loved driving by the dealer ship with all the red machines parked out front.

We had a Windstar when our twins were little, an absolute TANK in the snow, hauled 2 kid's quad's in it once, a snowmobile another time, & a of course! Only real drawbacks apply to all of them, a to work on. Ours got hit by lightning one night, the Mrs. went to take the kids to scool in the morning & the stereo was on full blast & the rear brake pads on one side were melted to the rotor.

I forgot about the sliding door benefits. Ed's right, they are great and you can open them fully in the tightest of parking spaces. Regarding the Honda Odyssey if you're interested in that route... Even though I love mine and highly recommend them, there are a few caveats worth evaluating as you shop: Up to 2018 Honda was using the previous generation 3.5L engine. The engine is smooth, efficient, and mostly bulletproof but was fitted with Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) which allows it to run on 3 cylinders under light load. Like most of the other manufacturers that do this, Honda didn't get things 100% right and some of the vans wear out rings on the shutdown bank and consume oil. To say it's "common" isn't really accurate, but it isn't unheard of either. Prevention is easy by addition of a "muzzler" to keep it from going into 3-cylinder mode. Fuel economy barely suffers. in 2018 a new engine was used and the problem went away even though they still implement VCM. On pre-2018 vans the green "Eco" lamp on the instrument panel is a telltale when the engine is in 3 cylinder mode. On newer vans there is no telltale and Eco mode does other things independent of VCM. VCM is not user-selectable in any case under factory configuration. Up until - again - 2018 Honda was using their own 6-speed auto transmission (2011-2017) and 5-speed prior to that. Heat management and fluid degradation is a real thing in these if not maintained well. So service records are beneficial. In 2018 Honda started using both the ZF 9-speed and their own new 10-speed planetary transmission. Both have been extremely robust in this application. For whatever reason Honda makes these vans easy to maintain. Everything has a drain and fill plug and DIY is easy. I don't particularly relish doing PM, but even a trans fluid change is easy on most Hondas as a drain and fill is a neat and tidy procedure. On the 9 and 10 speeds it's still doable, but you need to be able to monitor transmission temperature so you get the right amount of fluid back in it. Apparently not a big deal. Honda uses a timing belt that should be replaced at around 100-120k. It's an interference engine so you take your chances if you skip this service. Having it done is not cheap, but it's apparently not a horrible job for a DIY person. I had ours done along with the waterpump at an indy and figured it was an acceptable cost when amortized across that many miles. None of these issues are a big deal in my mind, but worth mentioning so you go into this with both eyes open. You won't find a van that uses interior space more efficiently than an Odyssey. Other vans... Only Chrysler has fold-in-floor second row seating. It's enormously convenient if you use the feature frequently, but the seats are not as comfortable for adults as competing vans. If your 3-4 people use case is only occasional you may find this to be worth the tradeoff. There are four of us in our family so our second row seats are always in the up position. Most vans have easy to remove seats but they can be kind of heavy. I take ours out when I vacuum the van and find it pretty easy despite me being a wimp. I am of the opinion that the most reliable van is the Sienna. New ones are all 4-cyl Hybrids but previous versions were V6's. I liked the Honda more when we bought ours, but I know we would have been completely satisfied with the Sienna. Kia/Hyundai and Chrysler aren't for me. But there are Chrysler dealers and servicing shops pretty much everywhere you go so you'd never be far from help of you did have trouble. Regardless of how reliable a Honda or Toyota may be, the same can't be said for their dealership network. The Chrysler Pacifica is available as a Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. This means it's a hybrid V6/electric van with a big battery that will allow it to go about 30 miles before firing up the engine...if you plug it in. if you never plug it in and just drive it like a normal gas van it will get around 30 mpg and go further than the gas tank will take you in a non-hybrid van. The battery eliminates the Stow and Go second row capability since it lives under the floor where their storage wells are normally located and it might wipe out the towing capacity. These should be available used with a $4000 tax credit if you buy from a dealer. New the credit is up to $7500. You would of course have to do your homework to figure out if you're eligible for these non-refundable credits...in other words, if your tax liability is less than $4000, you don't get the whole credit. I mention the plug in capability because it may make sense for your use case and few people seem to understand what a PHEV is and what vehicles are available with this capability. If it doesn't fit your use case, then it doesn't. This will inevitably open the can of worms about all the bad perceptions about electric cars and how they will be the downfall of western civilization... Happy hunting, Steve

Check out this thread... Your Family Business is on it!!!

It is a very violent event when the rod stops turning and grabs hold of the journal. The rod breaks - at speed - and the rest of the rod pieces go flying off inside the block. Bought a C81 parts tractor that way - it broke the camshaft, ripped off the piston skirt and the bottom of the bore in the block - and punched a fist sized hole thru the back of the block under the coil mount. The short version - take the engine completely apart and inspect all components for signs of damage. Locate all the pieces of the connecting rod puzzle.Move onto measuring the journal diameter once the aluminum is removed to see if it has been cut before. Measure the block bore, top & bottom, for diameter, taper, and out-of-roundness. IF salvagable - have the block and crank and camshaft professionally "inspected" for cracks. (Magnaflux). THEN decide if is is trash or treasure..... I think fellow Forum Member @richmondred01 would agree - you have to be through and positive that it is repairable.

My favorite tractor is the 854 And my first tractor a 1968 Commando 8 I like the short frames.

That can be as important as the money.

The drive belt idler on the 310-8 was sounding pretty bad so I pulled it off to see if I could save it. Not likely, so I ordered a couple Stens HD replacements since that looks like a step up from OEM and I'm sure one of the others will be asking for one when they get out this spring. They'll be here tomorrow

I like this idea.

I like the idea in principle but basically what it comes down to is, too much weight. You can either haul the machine OR the load. But not both.

That plate with the decal turned out great. I tried to get it as stock looking as I could even with the “fold” groove. It’s looking great.

Thanks Kevin…Zach is totally excited about this. He was reading your post on my phone, then asked momma for her phone, scanned the QR and was amazed when it redirected to his thread😃😎 next up—making up some cards!

You can prolly pic one of these up with low mileage and a Diesel Eric! CHEEP!! Rolling workshop, camper, greenhouse. Possibilities are endless!

Good for you! A second childhood has advantages over the first one, much cooler toys to play with, How does your dog like it?

This is certainly harder than I thought. So many tractors and so many pictures. First picture is my restored 603. Second is from when we had washed up all the tractors here that were going to a show. The majority are mine but there are a couple that are not. The show was local and between 4 collectors we had 40 tractors. I know you said 2 pictures but this picture of @WheelHorse_Kid the day he finally took his 604 out of the garage after rebuilding it mostly by himself from a pile of parts that we bought is one of my all time favorites. So many more I could choose from.

This might be tough for those that have a large collection, but post up 2 of your favorite and why. The 520-H in deep snow with a 44'' 2 stage is my favorite picture. That was the most snow that I have ever had to clean up here in Maine since we moved here in 2008 and was very impressed how it handled that storm. This year I had no machines ready to do snow removal, but I believe the snow totals so far this year surpassed that.The 420-LSE next to the brook just looking relaxed sitting there with water flowing by is another favorite. Thanks All.

So to my surprise without asking Uncle Sam sent me my Medicare card. Very nice but it’s weighing on my mind. Where did time go? Wasn’t just the other day I arrived at Kennedy Airport and thought all cars in the US were yellow ?

I'm glad you found her, ( she seems to be happy to be home too ). Our Lab/Dane mix would go deaf every time we let him out, nose on = ears off.

I need to indeed! It supposedly ran not long ago, but the batteries were dead. I need to bring the bus batteries and some fuel there one day and fire it up! He’s owned the farm two years plus or minus and they parked it in the lean to barn when they bought the place.

Oh... does that sound really familiar... same exact scenario Up until you got a good one... that never happened for us... Never again will i own a Chrysler, Dodge, Daimler, Fiat, Stellantis (or whatever they are this week)... They absolutely knew they had a major defective transmission and did nothing to address it with their customers. For years... Horrible customer service... Contrast that with Honda. One issue with 6 Hondas. A rear hatch lift cylinder lost seal at about 45,000 miles. Out of warranty and I just wanted it fixed. Did not ask for or expect any consideration. Service advisor calls and says " That shouldn't have happened. I'm going to replace it no charge to you and make a case file with Honda so they know it occurred..." Picked up the van and they had washed and detailed it for us as well!!!

back Braxton!

It would have to be custom built but it can be done. We had one at work. We put a work bench, generator nd welder inside as well as tool cabinets and parts shelves.

Crank will need to be measured with a micrometer not a dial caliper. It will also need to be measured at several points fore and aft on the journal. There are probably a hundred stories on FB and YT said "I cleaned up the crank and its fine!" As well as the ones that have a chipped cylinder from the rod hitting it and "it will last forever" Fix it right and it will last for years Or slap it together and have a time bomb.

Here is one source for connecting rods, available down to .020 undersize. https://isavetractors.com/connecting-rod-for-kohler-k241-engine/

You're gonna have to source a rod anyway, might as well be a 0.010 undersize and have the crank correctly ground to match. Find an engine shop and have the bore checked as well. When you reassemble everything, you've got 20-30 years of durability on your hands with proper servicing. Check isavetractors. They carry full rebuild kits. Take the block and crank to an engine shop, and order the corresponding kit. Don't be afraid of it. Using the Kohler service manual, and following it to the letter- you almost can't fail. These engines aren't complicated, but you have to stay within the tolerances specified.

Got it dirty… chores turned recovery!

We've had 2 mini vans, a Windstar and a Venture. When we entered into the 'Mini Zone' I told my wife "you know, this is the death of manhood." She came back with "no, this is the beginning of family man"! We liked both of these in different ways, the Ford had a 3.8L and had more power and better MPG than our Venture with a 3.4L. We have quite a driveway on a hill in Vermont and they both did pretty well with the studded snow tires we put on them. C-85

Dan n Uncle Jim don't you be listenin' to no Sylvans... Stop by anytime ya want. I'll make up some 🤠 ☕.

I'm with Don on this one what with all the show pics and Kodak moments but it's a toss up between these two... if she asks it's the first one. Good thread Plunge...

About one year into it in this pic. Lord I need help. 😂

First day ever driving the C-145. And a beautiful picture of the 310-8 in the sunrise

The day it all started... My brother gave my son the C 105 to use in his lawn / snow business... 2015... Where it's ended up... IMG_1588.MOV