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A couple pics of the first horse in the barn.

Correct, trans would need to split to replace bearings. Cable swivel to connect wire to that lever. Yes, parts cost are getting crazy. http://www.psep.biz/index.htm Isavetractors is a great source for quality parts. Especially their replacement carbs

A little while back I came home with a trailer full of stuff. Some of that stuff happened to be a C-81 I got from @tigwelder, thanks by the way, it’s been put to good use. I hadn’t had a chance to mess with it and it sat in my garage. Along comes my neighbor friend. Real good guy named Jeff. He’s an old tinkerer from way back. He always messed with non-WH tractors prior. He had a small fleet of MW’s, Sears he was always tinkering on and through attrition they were pretty much used up and was in need of a tractor. Bing, an idea came into me head. I tells my friend hey I bet I have enough parts in my garage to make you a WH. How about I give you a tractor only catch is you’ll have to put it mostly together. Deal! So we did. Let me tell you guys, the sh*t eatin grin on his face tells it all. He couldn’t be happier. Now he’s gonna redo his hasty paint job and do it right and then buy a sticker kit. He bought a really nice set of wheels and tires for $50. He also bought a fuel pump. So he has about $70 in it. It’s bigger and stronger than any of those others he’s monkeyed with over the years. I was just happy to see it back and the smile on his face. It was worth every dime.

Rainy and nasty here today. Just to say I did something, I wire brushed and painted my front wheel weights to go on the repowered 310-8.

The first thing to check is: make sure your battery is in good shape, have it load tested.

My yard is pretty darn full right now.

Found a 1960 Suburban. Original motor turns & has compression, missing carb, air filter, & some ignition items too. He supposedly has the fuel tank. Needs parts for steering also. Paint/bodywork was done a while ago- it probably will buff up decent. Tires are new in front & rears look good. Transmission seems free & it will easily go into gears. It's buried in an old filthy garage surrounded by Bolens tractors. It appears like a lot of little things might be missing. Said he had a box of parts but the garage was such a disaster doubt he would find it. He said to make him an offer, he did say he wasn't giving it away though. I was gonna maybe try to hit him @$300??? He also has 1959 Suburban drop axle but it's a lot rougher. It's basically a roller. I really thought bout if I got it putting a Predator 212 in it to get it up & running while I hunt down & repair/restore original motor. Anyone had experience putting a 212 or any other Predator in a Suburban? I have a built up 212 in a minibike & it works great.

I once told my wife that I'd make my tractor collecting a trade off. She could get a new critter every time I got a tractor, and we'd split the barn right down the middle. By the time I blinked twice she had 8 goats, a donkey, 4 dogs and 3 cats. I got a corner in the barn, and feeding the critters cost way more than tractoring. I still don't know how it happened!

Get both, they where only made once, girlfriends come and go .

A small flock of turkeys along the roadside while driving for the junk yard pictures.

Some of the treasures in that yard. The Toyota from a different location.

No worry I just drank it...

Trying to get the Raider dependable, didn't get a chance to check it out good when I got it. The wiring was all rapped together and taped, the two best connections were put together with wire nuts. I just tore it a part trashed almost of the electrical and all the existing wiring. Kept the lighter and PTO switch should have trashed them too. Something was draining the battery and it was dead when I got home with it. I charged up the original battery it was only a year old. it's drained two batteries in a week. Disconnected the lighter and PTO switch and bypassed them. I'll see it the battery stays up now. The fuel pump is also giving up so I'll need one of them. I'll keep the lighter in place but it will not get hooked up. It is charging t 14.3 volts at the battery when running. i

Then check and clean all electrical connections, if good then may be a solenoid issue or starter issue. Don't buy parts till every connection is clean and tight . Bob

Thanks Eric, I think the tranny rebuild will be this winters project. I only have a small 1 bay garage and the Indian Roadmaster resides in there during the riding season. I won't need to run it very often this summer. I'm thinking I will take a double split shaft collar and make some sort of soft rubber washer and slide the washer up against the bad seal and hold it there with the shaft collar. I hope it will slow the leak enough for now. Kinda bubble gum I know but it will bide me some time until I can tackle the rebuild.

Best advice I got from a buddy was this story; Boy comes around to take Dad's daughter out for a first date. Dad says "son lets take a ride in my truck". Now this truck is a brand new, fully loaded, awesome bit of truckness...The boy heads to the passenger side and Dad says...."no, you drive". So the terrified boy gets behind the wheel and very carefully takes the truck out on the road. After a short drive with the boy being super careful with the truck, they pull back into the driveway. Dad says to the nervous wreck of a boy...."now you were REAL careful with this new truck 'cus you knew how much it meant to me right?" The boy frantically shakes his head yes. "Well", continues the Dad, "that daughter of mine means a WHOLE LOT MORE to me than this truck. So you just keep that in mind."

I see decks for sale at $100 to $400 depending on condition. Your shell and blades look pretty good, but with the center spindle needing rebuilt, you're some where in the middle. If the tensioner, idler pulley and the height setting system is good, you are probably around $200-$250. The grader blades are priced at $200 to $400.

Damn it Jim I'm halfway there.....

I’ve wondered many times as well. The snowblowers I thought went through the frame, like other early 60’s machines. They are great for hanging lead for plow day!

Yeah you will have to remove the transmission and break it open. Is demonstrated in your first post that you should be capable of identifying the opposite ends of a wrench 🔧 or screwdriver 🪛 so you would be fine doing that job. Plenty of tutorials. Several of us have been into a few transmissions over the last few years. About the only thing I buy OEM on purpose nowadays is the case gasket for when you split the transmissions. Other than that I have a long standing habit of trying to identify a part number and finding that piece for the least price I can. Sometimes local brick and mortar. Sometimes online. @squonk is a great source for NAPA part numbers if you have one of their stores handy. A quick search on this site and you will often find several part numbers of what it is you're looking for. isavetractors is a GREAT source of information... and I like Norm as a person but his prices are rarely the lowest.

It came out great Rob. Should last another 50 years.

Interesting... Im hoping one of you determines which one of you is correct. Could get flames in the wrong spot if @formariz is right and @8ntruck goes to snuff it out!!! I would not be a fan of such a system... flammable liquids next to the fireplace in the house...

Been doing some organizing in my yard.

Got my 2 patina round hoods cleaned up tonight.

Sometime if you get bored, Google "autorotation". Guaranteed to put you to sleep! Long story short, it's power off gliding for helicopters. Same principle that allows Pine and Maple leaves to spin when they drop. I trained in TH-67 and OH-58 helicopters, which are just Bell 206s with different paint. They auto with a 4-1 glide ratio, which is better than a Cessna. For every 1000 feet of altitude lost, they travel 4000 feet lateraly. Back when I flew, we practiced full touch down autos. At least 2-3 per day from altitude. The skids had "shoes" mounted so we didn't make sparks on the runway. Now, the Army doesn't teach full down autos, opting to teach power recovery at 50-75 feet before touchdown. The difficult part of autorotation happens in the last 50 feet. It's also the part that saves the aircraft. Since all Army helicopters have twin engines now, someone decided it wasn't important to learn the landing part. I would never fly with someone who hasn't practiced full down autos- not ever! Your FIL likely flew Hueys in Nam. I assure you, he knows all about full down autos!

Wheel Horse tractors are just like peanuts, you can't have just one.

First time Wheel Horse owner. Never knew there was a whole community out there dedicated to WH's. Very cool! I recently picked up a used WH C-81 or maybe it's a C-121. Can't really be sure. There's a tag riveted to the small panel in front of the shifters with the ammeter in it. The tag No is 91-08K802-29819 with s/n 617. That tag no would indicate it's a 1979 C-81 with an 8 HP Kohler. The decal on the side of the hood says C-121 8 speed but that has clearly been layered over at least one previous decal. The engine has no tags left on it, or maybe they are buried under 6 coats of paint. The only way I figured I could verify the engine is by bore diameter, so off with the head! Bore measured 3.374 so I figure that makes it a K301 8 HP, would that be correct? After cleaning up several generations of melted wires and butt splices galore I was able to get the electrical system functioning pretty well. When I had the head off of it, it appeared in great shape internally. No signs of burning oil, very lightly carboned, valves look great. It actually had good oil in it too. Pulled the fuel tank, dumped out the sludge, cleaned it out real well. Reinstalled it with new fuel lines and inline filter. It looked like the fuel pump had been replaced as it was a plastic body. Put some gas in the tank, siphoned some fuel into the line and stuck it on the pump. With just a few cranks it fired right up without even pulling the carb off! Next thing I pulled the dip stick on the transmission and it had oil on it!!! But of coarse that was just the 1/2" of oil that was floating on top of 1/2 gal of water. No boot at all at the base of the shifter. I suppose that's where most of the water was getting in. It was already apparent that the left side axle seal was leaking so that's on the list. I filled the tranny with a little bit of everything I had on the shelf. Mostly auto transmission fluid and a little motor oil. I'll run that around the yard a few times to flush things out and then put the 140 gear oil in it. Of coarse the stuff I was pouring in was also pouring out that axle seal as fast as I poured it in. All in all for the $450 I paid for it, with a solid engine, A heavy duty rear hitch and excellent sheet metal and tires, I'm a happy camper. Bought it just to move my boat around the yard and this beast will do that without even breaking a sweat. Very glad to have found this forum and look forward to sharing in your WH experiences. Crazy8

When she caught me sneaking one in the back I told her it was for her. ( It was a RJ-58 ) She still thinks she has one! LoL

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm going to enjoy this forum. I just ordered a brake lining from Bob Maynard on this site! Thanks for the praise Eric. It is a real nice tractor and once I get all the mechanicals taken care of I'll work on spiffing it up some more.

Will clean and tighten everything tomorrow. Thank you

You can also contact my via email. My email is: daveoman@windstream.net

She's really supportive of my spending on hobbies etc. 9 cars, 8 vintage motorcycles, vintage moped, minibike, 22 scale rc cars/trucks, 6 rc boats, 4 rc airplanes, 2 boats, & a Bonanza airplane. All she asks is we go to church weekly. I promised her I'd finish her shed & I been working on it but weather has been cooperating. I'll definitely have to figure out the wire fingers. I think I understand what you mean though

There isn't a steering gear on the RJs. It's kinda direct drive and they steer FAST. 1/4 turn of the wheel lock to lock All of those parts can be had but they're also the most common parts missing. Someone was repopping heat shields and belt guards so they come up on epay every once in a while Maybe that's a suburban sitting right next to it too. Grab them all !!!!!

Looks more like an RJ than a Suburban. Rear fenders were an option on all of them. RJs ended in 1959. I thought all mid engine Suburbans (only made 1960 and 61) had drop axles and a different hood? Like the pic below? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I've owned both a RJ-59 and a 551 Suburban, though both left a long time ago. That was the extent of my "burner" tractors.

@c-series don seems to have quite a liking for the type of tractor that you have in your possession. He may chime in, amongst others. I'd say what you have there is a 1978 or 79 C121. I'd also say it's reasonable to assume that your transmission has been swapped out at some point for an 80s vintage from (likely) a 310 or 312. They had the smaller axles and 4 pinion differential. Those transmissions are perfectly fine in their own right but because the heavier duty 8 speeds are so readily available I probably would not rebuild the one with the one inch axles. Throw an ad up in our wanted section for an 8-speed to fit that. Likely one of us has one or will come up with one, fairly close to you that they could sell. Rebuild that while the tractor is still running and drivable. Then when done, swap it in. That's a very very nice tractor from the appearance of the pictures that you posted and it certainly deserves the attention that you could give it.

Guys the more I dig into this the more I'm wondering what I really have here. I'm trying to identify the transmission and then tie that back to what model and year it may be. I don't trust that the dash panel with the ID tag and ammeter hasn't been changed at some point. The transmission clearly has 1" axles, I put the dial verniers on them. According to the transmission repair manual # 492-4004 in section V the only reference to 1" axles is on page # 51 where it references "8 speed 4 pinion differential - 1" axles" then it says ( used in 5086 transmission ). Pages 4, 4a, 4b is a table of transmission usage giving the year, tractor model, and transmission # used. You have to go back to 1973 before you see a 5086 transmission used or forward to 1980 in a model called 1100 special. I guess the only thing I can say for sure is that it's definately an 8 speed manual transmission with 1" axles and it has a K301 12 HP engine in it. When it comes time to change the axle bearings and seals and maybe the shaft, I'll worry more about it then.

Thank you so much for the pics and info. At least it gives me something to go on. Please contact me if you see another set.

No worries. Really. All the bearings, seals and gaskets are available from several sources. Good used axles can be had from Lincoln at A to Z Tractor in PA. You're good.

You need the part number for the gas cap too.

It runs!!!! Had 2 wires switched. Transmission and everything works. Now it's time to tear it apart send it and paint it. Any advice on painting it? 20230425_121252.mp4

Interesting! My thoughts are the the soaked stone would go out if if immersed in the lamp oil. In theory, a lit match will do the same if immersed in petrol. If you can be fast enough. As I said. "In theory". Never tried it.

@Crazy8 and congrats on the Mo-chine you got there! Did I miss the

We have a friend that runs a local Funeral Home - he is the Embalmist, he and his family live in the rear of the establishment. A ways back i saw him, he was really bumming. concerned that boys were phoning the house to call on his 14 year old daughter - he said he was not ready for that. He asked if I had any fatherly advise..... I told him "Steve, why not take the boy downstairs to the basement and show him YOUR Power Tools?? If he runs off, it was not meant to be. But, if he sticks around and asks questions, you just may have found your future son-in-law.... "

Wow what a welcome! And thanks for the input. I thought I had found a fair bit of info on-line for manuals and such but Wow it looks like Gwest sent me a Mother Load of info. I will definately check that axle bearing for play. If it's bad I suppose the tranny needs to come out and you have to split the case to replace it?? Believe it or not the one thing that is being a pain right now is the throttle cable. I can't seem to figure out how it's supposed to be routed to the engine or how it's supposed to connect to the pivoting lever thing which is connected to the govenor by a solid rod with e-clip. If anyone can shed some light or pictures of how it's supposed to look that would be great, and yes I need to be better in attaching pics. I'll get some today. Oh one more question for now. Can you share a short list of go-to web sites or other sources for parts? If I go to some of the OEM type sources the prices are CRAZY. I found Isavetractors.com. Norman does a nice job with his videos but I guess he is mainly a source for engine parts. I do have a key switch, air filter and set of points on the way from him.

Some like to change to a vertical stack farm tractor looking Mufler. Member jimmy Kemp makes some nice ones. @ebinmaine why type of muffler do you use for a stack.

Holy sh*t! I have to ask, how do you land a helicopter from heights like that without power? I thought they dropped like a rock! Oh, and thank you for your service. My wife's dad was a helicopter pilot back in the 1980's and maybe earlier and a helicopter gunner in Vietnam. He won't talk about 'Nam but he has a lot of interesting stories about flying for coal mining companies in West Virginia. He used to pick up my wife (long before she was my wife, obviously) from school sometimes in the helicopter - talk about a thrill for a kid.

I would have loved to try that, never got the opportunity. Highest tower I have climbed was a little over 700 feet. Doesn't matter how high you go, once you get past about 30' or so the landing would be the same. That's me on the hook ladder in my younger years. Second pic is 300' plus tower in Edgar Thomson Works, USS, Braddock, Pittsburgh Pa.

What did he do? Cover your beer so no dust would get in it?

A GREAT BIG THANKS to @WHX?? for stopping over to help me wet sand this morning. With his help I was able to get some parts sprayed and still have some time left to do some other things today. Got a quite a few parts sprayed but still have a bunch left to spray yet. Didn't happen with out pics.