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I know I'm half a year ahead of schedule! I picked this 1974 D-180 up early last year. It had a pretty hard life, and the previous owner gave his best attempt at keeping it alive. Hydro was strong so I serviced it and put it to work mowing all year. I decided if it would make it through the season then it would get some TLC. By fall it was burning about a quart of oil an hour but it made it. I have no clue how many hours are on it, every hole, bushing, bearing on this tractor is pooched. If you look closely, somebody used two 1" NPT Pipe Flanges to rebuild the mounting points for the upper 3 point cylinder. Hey it works! I rebuilt the steering gearbox and re-bushed the front axle along with making new spindles. I had the 482 Kohler bored .20 over (it was .10 over already) and gave it a rebuild with the intention of putting it back to work on snow duty. I then dawned on me that this tractor will be 50 years old next year - and these old D's are becoming harder and harder to find anymore. So I decided to customize it a bit and go for what a maybe a dealership would offer for a 50th anniversary model if Wheel Horse was still in business today (In another universe, maybe!) As D's aren't known for their looks - and I can't leave anything alone. I took approximately 2 Inches out of the grille and bezel. I updated most of the wiring and lights. Gave it a new set of Carlisle Ags along with Vredestein front ribs. It got a new seat and I painted all the accents aluminum. I patched, rebuilt the 48" deck and put new blades, wheels, and hardware on it. The Blade & 3 point scoop somebody adapted to it also got some attention. Lastly I stripped it most of the way down and painted it with IH red acrylic urethane enamel. I always forget to take pictures during my projects but here's a few: Before: After: Thanks for reading!!

Took a few months. Man, I love this tractor.

A stronger spring won't stop that damaged belt from jumping. You may as well plan to buy a new belt as that one will not last very long with that frayed underside.

Most DC electric motors will also act as a generator. When the switch is turned off the blades spin for a while and will slow more rapidly if there is opposition to the power being produced by the blades spinning the motor. I don't think it is a deal breaker, with the holder for the diode being open it will do no harm in my opinion.

I mean, not to accuse wheel horse products at that time of being corporate, but it crossed my mind that it was put in there so they could sell wheel weights instead of us frugal people filling the tires. Just my 2 cents

Probably not blade braking, but I think you are on the right track. I think it prevents current from being put back into the circuit from blades that continue to spin after the motor is shut off.

Also nice that they have a backhoe, should one become needed on your side of the road!

Uh oh... There's gonna be some RedSquare boys in big trouble from the WHPD... "Boyz... I sees youz gots profuse amounts a' liquid in them tracta tires... manule rules say youz can't do that..."

Washed some of the field off of Putt Putt, and let a few others soak up some vitamin D for a bit while I pulled Norman out of storage.

This is a 69 Raider 10 - K 12 Kohler implant. I am thinking the dealer had this on the shelf so when the tecky blew up he went to the dealer, and they had this one on the shelf. As I said earlier post on this tractor this is a service engine also. You may see a 3/4" bolt where the axel pin would be. There was so much play in the front axel The pin did nothing to stop it. So, the 3/4" bolt. Problem solved. The baggiest problem was getting it to run right. Lots of carb spray. Took the jests out today, sprayed them, for the first time it ideal down to a normal rpm. WAHOO. So, I put it to work. Also just in case you never saw this before I found this at an auto parts store.It is muffler cement from JB weld. Comes in a tube no mixing. I know they make good stuff used it many times. Before and after picks. A nelson original muffler. Wanted to save it so that is why I did it.

Double You CAN'T take shortcuts on these 8 speeds and expect good results. Shortcut number one was the wrong belt. Shortcut number two isn't gonna be a strong spring. Use the right spring. Get the right belt. Call it a life lesson. The wrong parts on that tractor are going to cause serious transmission damage when you keep forcing the gears in.

So all this time i've been diligent about keeping the pounds on me to help with traction... Have I been unwittingly violating the terms of my 45 -50 year warranty on my tractors...

May help? There is a switch schematic.for 104270

Ok now I'm happy with the lettering! I'm thinking the surface still may need work, but I may be picking knits. The surface is super smooth you cant even feel the lines,but ya can still see a little unevenness in the pattern. What do ya'll think?

Spring has sprung in my part of PA also:

Actually it doesn't do anything. It just sits there waiting for someone to push it and wonder why the engine shut off.

Had a severe corona infection and then, to top it all off, a tendon rupture in the left shoulder...🤪 That set me back a long way in many things. Now that I'm back on track, I have more time to come here ... aaaand continue to push my Ford restoration project forward...

1986 GMC K2500 HD 3/4 ton 4X4 350CI 4-Speed which I bought new. The last year of the carburetor and less than 200 HP. So replace the top end with roller-hydraulic camshaft, Brodix Track 1 cylinder heads, roller rockers, stud gridle, Edelbrock Air Gap intake and throttle body fuel injection. Started this project and I got distracted with my Wheel Horse Hot Rod project by @Achto. After the Hot Rod project is done I need to complete this project.

Ahhh let's keep our eyes on the bikini shant we Kev?

Sir Skunky said we was going for BBQ , it was the young lady at the BBQ who did not know where it located.

This debate has been going on for many years and I thought I put it to bed several years ago. Doing this from memory, the radial load that the bearings can support (both the inner ball bearings and the outer needle bearings, is far above what we can put on them. I cannot remember which bearings I looked up (probably the needle bearings since they are still available) but I remember something in the order of 5000 pounds was the design limit. The problem with weight on the wheels (or in the wheels) is the force on the gear teeth inside the transmission due to torque either starting or stopping. For an equivalent weight on the rims v inside the tires, the former will put less stress onto the gear teeth simply because the weight is closer to the center of rotation (ie the axle). In either case I have not seen too many readers hear complaining about broken teeth inside the tranny which means that the WH designers built a considerable factor of safety into the design. Remember back when these machines were designed, computer modeling of the parts did not exist. Material was cheap and fuel economy was not a pressing issue so the designers built in a big margin of safety. Bottom line, go with either weight or fluid fulled tires. it will not make any difference to the machine unless you are building one to compete in a car crushing contest.

There’s a lot to love about one of those! Congrats!

Correct push rod length has been determined. After 10 months, it's time to finally assemble the engine.

Yes that's where I was going with this but thinkin it would help if a guy knew the electrical characteristics or ratings of it. I'm going to get in touch with a guy that I met at a show who is into GE Elect Tracs. See if he can shed any light on this. Get some numbers off the motors & research them too.

So, I'm scratching my head. I went to my local Lowe's store to buy a couple pieces of black iron pipe to make a pitless adaptor puller for my well. The supply was low, and prices were astronomical. The clerk that was working the department said that they had been having trouble keeping black iron in stock. Well that tells me that a lot of it is being sold. But the fact that the price was more than triple what it was just two years ago doesn't make sense other than the fact that they must have been told that gas was going to be phased out. But they are still selling gas appliances and water heaters, and lord knows how many gas grills are lined up in front of the store. Fast-forward to two weeks ago. A surveyor was painting marks in the road and on the shoulders in front of my house. When asked what he was doing he said....wait for it... "the utility company is extending their natural gas lines" . Hmm, I guess the utility companies haven't gotten the word that Lowe's doesn't have any black iron to hook up to it.

Noticing the very tactful omission of any names in this post. Well done!

Same problem to get any trailer titled here in Pa. It has to be hauled to one of the "special inspection stations " . If it passes, then with this documentation you can apply for a title. After the title is granted, then you can apply for a license. Then with a title and license it can be inspected at any vehicle inspection station. Easy Peasy and $500 to put that $200 4X8 Wheel Horse hauler on the road. BTW, it must be easier in @ebinmaine country. All commercial trailers here in Pa. have a Maine tag.

Happy Birthday Tim! You sure know how to make a happy kid! Oh and you’re pretty awesome at restoring tractors!

Is it me, or does that look like a character from a Mad Max movie???

502?!? What who where when? I might as well keep the blade on ... calling for snow end of week. No offense Ed but you can stick yer daffies where the sun don't shine!

Put a new hitch reciever on the C-81 today, then put on a set of wheel weights I picked up last summer. Put the grader blade on & touched up the driveway, knocked down the "turn around berm". It was too nice out to stop so I decided to rake the front yard too. Put her in the shop so she could spend some time with her big sister when I was done.

Cleaned the points and put a charger on the '73 Auto12 that I got in a package deal last year. Pulled it into the shop and put some fresh Rotella in it and gave it a once-over. Don't know yet what I'll do with it but the price was right. Strong k301, hydro strong and clean, 10 pinion LS with 1 1/8 axles but no center lift on this frame. Wiring has been replaced but with nylon terminals, no heat shrink anywhere. Cheap clamps and just ugly fuel lines so lots of potential but I'll have to think about how I'll end up putting this one to work...

He was great to have on the site, love to use his posts an an answer to questions if I don't know the answer.

@953 nut yeah. that looks like the thread I was looking for. thank you. I'll take a look at the GOOP, too. @peter lena the mower spindles and snowblower all turn easily by hand and I try not to overload the snowblower. I also don't know how many people owned the machine before I got it.

It also could have been a way of covering their butts is a transmission under warranty failed when the owner had non approved weight such as filled tires.

Most likely had to do with the way calcium chloride rotted out the rims, and that water would freeze in cold conditions. They didn't mention RimGuard, windshield washing fluid or similar products.

my radio cut out for about 30 miles. Nothing but me, clinky cold things ‘tween my legs and some beautiful exhaust notes. I felt a little mad max-ish!

Guy made a good living at it. He may be retired now for all I know (he's in his late 70's -early 80's now) But his son is still doing it. Buy a couple of wrecks for 5 grand, put 5 grand in and sell them for $20-30,000. They were a hoot. I used to do all of the AC work for them about 20 years ago.

I understand that they have more important violations to tend to but...Quite personally I think that law enforcement has gotten quite laxed on enforcing DOT regulations on cars & trucks in WI. Regulations (that I now understand) were put there to keep the roads safe. There are a lot of vehicles that I see every day that would not pass a DOT inspection. -Tires sticking out more than 2" past the fenders - Suspensions altered more than 3" up or down - Load exhaust - Mirror tinting on windows - Etc,etc I rolled into town one night with my newly finished hot rod Chevy Luv truck. I was in town for about 20min before I was pulled over. (Granted I did have a slight driving violation history ) Any way... I rolled the window down to see what I had done this time and before I could say a word there was a tape measure slapped across my steering wheel. I looked up at the officer & said "I believe 13" is the minimum size, mine is 13.25" " Next he checked the hood scoop height. "1/8" under max, correct officer???" On to the tires that stuck out past the rear fenders "But officer the wheel flares that are molded & now part of the fender stick out 1/2" past the tires" Next up exhaust - the officer could not produce a decibel reader to prove or disprove if it was louder than legal limit. There were plenty of other things that we spent the next 1/2 hour checking over, in the end I received a 5 day warning to remove the dark tinting from my side windows. It was the best time that I ever had while being pulled over by an officer. I don't think that he had quite as much fun though.

Hopefully the pics I found of it all laid out helps someone when trying to rebuild theirs. Everyone on this forum has helped me all the years I've been a supporter here. Without this "supporting family," I'd have no clue on half of what I know now. Anyways, here are part numbers I came across ordering for the 1312 50" sickle bar: 100963 seal, 103118 seal, 6203 RSJ bearing, 203FF sealed bearing, 3/4x16 jam nut, #10 24 x3/8 cover bolts.