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Been making some progress. Went with a M18 starter that I didn't remember was on the shelf for the reverse. Floor boards will make it difficult to Flintstone it in reverse. The floor boards help to lower the look of it. Got the hood fab stuff mostly done but still need to build a front mount. Wiring all set. Engine runs nice and did take it for a test ride. It's getting pretty busy under the hood so probably gonna a pain to work on. Stuff is gonna need to be removed to work on other stuff. Still have lots of bracing to do and get the pedals figured out. 1 for brakes and 1 for the reverse belt. The handle bars will probably drop an inch or few

Hooked up the broadcaster to the C121, ready to overseed the paddocks after the hay has been cut and the buttercups sprayed. Also been busy machining the double pulley on the 36” RD deck, due to a broken lower flange, and unable to locate a replacement over here.

Shop upgrade just finished up.

Not so much by plan. It's "geared" so it should be maybe top out at about 10 MPH currently. Enough to be faster than your average tractor simply because it would be embarrassing to get passed by a B-80. When it's geared down like it is the torque converter doesn't get up to enough speed to change those variable pulleys very much. That's not to say it won't be geared different in the future because it probably will. Better to find any weak points and work out some of the kinks at 10 MPH than it is at 30 MPH. The setup with a jack shaft allows for plenty of adjustment by changing sprocket sizes.

Does this count? I did use the WH's this weekend, just forgot to get some shots!

Many moons ago I thought it would be neato to have a mid mount grader blade. @Chris G helped me out with sourcing one. Got it here. Showed it to the BBT Trina person and immediately lost possession of said neato to have mid mount grader blade. But..... She does GREAT work with it maintaining our front dooryahd. I mentioned the other day we'd had some heavier than normal water flows screw up the driveway. Here's what it looks like after she rode around on her Tractah for an hour or so....

On these Limited Slip transmissions, the Limited Slip only works when going in a straight line. It is a regular, one wheel drive transmission when turning. I believe the guys that Pull the sleds with these horses are the most responsible for being able to switch from 10 pinion differentials to 8 pinion. The 10 pinion differentials have pinions that "float" ie. not on shafts in the housing. The 8 pinions in the 8 pinion differentials are on shafts and are a little larger...larger teeth also. The Limited Slip transmission is plenty strong if the horse is used for what it was intended. Changing drive pulley sizes, increased engine horse power, wider, oversized tires changes the dynamic of the tractor. There was also a time when you could not replace the spring that holds the pinions in place. Those springs are being made available again...thanks to Lowell. When you think about it, the Limited Slip transmissions are stock on some horses from 1967 to 1973. That is 53 - 54 years old. There is still a lot of them out there...not to shabby.

Too bad he didn't say " Tecky powered Lawn Ranger"

A few more pictures. Thanks for coming along for the ride on this project. Hope I did not disappoint.

Rollin' down Hwy 41 on my way home today I was passed by a FedEx truck. Some thing caught my eye, so I put the hammer down in order to catch up with the truck. After a second look I could not believe what I was seeing so I had to snap a picture. Looks like one package did not quite make it all the way into the truck.

Would need electric winch for self planting. A bit difficult to crank the winch to seat yourself.

It’s not actually a chicken tractor. It’s a ‘78 Wheel Horse model C-101 8 speed. The hood says so.

Speaking as one of the many “fast” B-80 owners …

Concur.

I'll allow it

@davem1111 I’ve now done three frame up restorations with the guidance and help of my brother. He is a perfectionist in the trade. One of the things I learned from him is it’s all in the prep. He won’t paint anything until it’s properly prepared. Pretty much everything is glass beaded or sand blasted down to bare metal. Then a good primer that is sanded until it’s baby’s ass smooth. Paint, wet sand and clear coat. Yes it’s a lot of work but the end result is worth the effort. Don’t get me wrong, not everything I paint is done to this extreme. However you can’t expect good results without proper preparation. It’s unfortunate that since the early eighties and especially into the nineties Wheel Horse didn’t prime or prep the metal properly. This is why you see paint peeling off in sheets. You didn’t see that with the older tractors, it basically had to ware off!! Didn’t peel.

Cut the yard Friday evening. Trimmed and blowed Saturday… So today I jumped on trimming the 2 Holly bushes that I despise… Decided to get the rolling stock out and run them around a little. The 1984 Work Horse GT-1600 got called up to work. I really trimmed those Holly bushes up good. Now they are out of my hair for good. Picking up all of those prickly leaves was a pain in the fingers. After hauling the Holly bush limbs to the curb for pick up, I decided to cut some neighbors limbs that were hanging over the fence into my airspace. The Work Horse and the 10 cubic feet Agri-Fab trailer made fairly easy work of that.

Rhododendron has 's back...

How many grandkids will it lift?

Did some one ask for picture??? Well , the time that we've been waiting for. At least I sure have been looking forward to this day. Stick a fork in this baby cause it is done....finally. First lets take a look back at ground zero. A few hrs. of labor and a couple of dollars later.

Finally got my 414 back on four wheels after being on jackstands for quite awhile. Hung a 42RD on her and once the lawn dries out she can do some chores.

yup. I have a zero turn for my mowing, but want this for doing my front yards and around my shrubs. The smaller deck makes for a nice looking cut. Plus I now have a mower to go along with my wheel horse tiller, snow blower and dump trailer

Easy catch.

Now how would have that puller you made me faired with that kind of treatment Dan? I know just perfectly fine cause that puller is beefcake lol

Post up the serial number on the decal I circled in blue… I won’t be able to decipher it but someone here will.

More chore work!

Oh. My. It’s pretty fast! Maybe it needs an 8 speed! A second belt from the trans to the truck pinion made the grip a huge improvement. The belt needs more guard / guides. It is the most funky feeling rocking on a leaf sprung sideways axle zooming a 30’ structure sideways! Somehow the black hood plastic fender got a big crack in it and some duct tape, so @SylvanLakeWH sorry to say it wasn’t sacred here! It got trimmed and mounted. I need steering, and I need it fast! I’m really looking forward to taking my chickens for a ride!

It's a Mr. Cool brand, bought through Menards

AC and heat 24k BTU

Spraying an assembled carburetor will do exactly nothing. A Nikki carburetor used on Wheel Horse Onans needs to be taken apart. You can try removing the top of the carburetor while in place, but be careful that nothing falls inside. Often this shortcut will get it going with no purchase of parts. If you want to do a complete cleaning, the intake with the carburetor needs to be pulled. With the intake off, remove the carburetor from it and inspect the intake for leaks between the two halves as well of cuts in the edge where heat shields may have been rubbing. Leaks between halves are rare, cuts in the edge happen often. If you have those cuts, cut some clearance in the heat shields. There is a welch plug just above the idle mixture screw that you can pull to clean behind it, or try blasting holes to flush it out, often it is clean behind it if you want to take a chance. Be sure that you have new genuine Onan gaskets and a small 1/4” drive torque wrench for reassembly. I always suggest a valve adjustment when you go to the work of removing the intake. Also it is a good time to bead blast the exhaust and paint with a high temperature paint. Depending on the year you may need two or three gaskets for the valve covers and two exhaust gaskets.

And some of us went our of our way to get one!

That looks like a 200-Series lawn tractor https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/4265-mower-vacuum-lawn-42in-48in-2001-2004-79203-iplpdf/

I think a 2-blade 37" deck is required. One of these is an OM (operator manual)

Wanted to let everyone know that I finally had time to get the steering uninstalled and turns out the block is fine and the fan gear isnt worn down. It turns out the bearing or bushing that goes on the end of the fan gear was completely gone, that is why it was rocking when turning within the steering block.

Common dirty carb symptom on the Onans.

Gorgeous Dan! Looks showroom, probably better!

Looks good. A little C4 or tannerite might have been more fun but it looks good. 😜 We spent yesterday in the basement after I made a run to the transfer station in the AM. Cleaning up all the supplies and such from the Saturday events. When that was done I moved on to opening the packages I hadn't been able to touch all week and organizing where that all went. Got a carb to rebuild for a good man and several others for myself so I decided to bite the bullet and ordered an ultrasonic cleaner. Just an afternoon very well spent decluttering the various areas down there.

Ohio tractor prices seem to vary with how hard times are. When the high unemployment covid checks were being issued, the price went up, but then crashed. Individual circumstances like divorce or as another example a collector dad paying for a wedding can bring a bargain around once in a while.. A former student of mine found a bargain of a truck ---a Dually with a 454 for 8500 dollars. Original paint and very very nice but running a bit rough with only 100K. I drove it to his vacation cabin for him and noticed that there was no difference in acceleration when givin her the onions. New spark plugs, wires , and distributor rotor and he has a beast . Sure, it will pass everything but a gas station, but the way he will use it and reduced insurance premiums will pay for a bunch of fuel.. Just first generation computers and no running on four/eight cylinder nonsense that can cause more problems. So when you buy a tractor like that, you are just renting it at no cost anyway. You can always get back what you paid and probably a bit more. You are also a custodian of history and you can see that with what the old sears suburban tractors are bringing. i never owned a more miserable tractor as something needed repaired every week. But they are relics now and are on price similar to Wheel Horse

Me too, man! So, I get the feeling there will be tears shed if I decided to part this 520-8 out, so I'd like to fix it up. But so far I've only done some half-a$$ed rattle can painting. If I'm going to do this one I'd like to do a decent job, but don't have the experience. I know this is the right place for advice on restorations, so I'm hoping to get some good advice (but I need to do it within budget, which right now is pretty small. Maybe I can sell the 416-H I have to fund it. So far all I've done is pulled the deck and sprayed some PB Blaster on the blade nuts. The spindles seem to be in good shape, so that's a big plus. It's missing the deck belt covers but I have a spare pair from another 48" SD that was too far gone to rescue. Mostly I need advice on proper rust removal, prep and painting of the tins. I have a cheap air gun from Harbor Freight and a mid-sized compressor, and a can of Regal Red I bought when Rural King was out of rattle cans but had that. Haven't tried it yet. I'd like to get a really nice gloss on this baby. Also, need to replace the starter relay, and the engine is doing something weird where the governor keeps revving and dropping over and over again, mostly at low throttle. Hoping it's just the carb. Tires are dry rotted but they all hold air except the right front. Maybe I'll start a restore thread on this. I may do some minor work, get it running well, and sit on it till I move and retire in a few years. BTW, it only has about 620 hours on it.

@grnlark did a fantastic job making mine. A very fair price as well.

I run a 36RD and move it from my B-80 to my C-105. It gives a much nicer cut and distributes clippings better than either of my 42RD decks!

It sure is a beauty, Dan.

Another side shot for the week!

Oh, so it’s to get you on the tractor too? Nice!

Welcome to Red Square That is not a valid model number. Have any others? What tractor is it mounted on?

Three words. Sure!

I’ve never known of any reason not to love a limited slip diff.

She followed me home today....

Installed the PTO and modified the belt guard to fit the PTO.