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Worked on both of the C-85's today. Had to install a seat with brackets, which meant I had to find a donner tractor in my back yard and get loose rusty bolts. There was no hardware for the tractor seat when we got it but the parts tractors had what we needed. This also included a battery tray and hold down bolts. We have never had this tractor running and it didn't want to start without blowing shop air through the gas line. Once running I was amazed at how good the AMP meter worked, the needle was nice and steady and showed a good charge. The second C-85 got some attention too as it was noticed the one of the head light bulbs was a Westinghouse and not a General Electric, so I made a trip to the donner tractor again for a head light swap. I am sorry but that kind of stuff bugs me ..... they both gotta' be the same and correct! My son wants his painted, but these are survivor tractors and should be kept that way. I will replace the choke cable on his and throttle cable on mine but for now they are running! Wild Bill in Richmond VA

Stefan @Tractorhead reminded me that it is about time for a bit of an update on my recovery from the stroke. My mobility is improving and I am regaining some leg strength. I am able to stand while doing routine tasks like brushing my teeth and shaving as long as I'm leaning against the bathroom vanity for stability. The physical therapy folks have given me several exercises to do while standing at the kitchen counter and I am able to use the walker rather than the wheel chair for short distances in the house. The resistance level on the stationary bike has been advanced from 1 to 3 and I am increasing the time spent on it each week. A couple of years ago I built a wheel chair ramp in our garage after my wife broke her ankle and on Friday the physical therapy lady had me walk down the ramp without the walker, I was only using the hand rails on the ramp for stability. After a few trips up and down the ramp my legs were giving out on me but it was very encouraging to know how far I have come in a few weeks. I am looking forward to the day when I will be able to return to what passes for normal in my life and hope all is going well for everyone.

It was pretty muggy this evening but I finally got around to removing the grenade gears from my Bronco. It's the last big block Kohler I currently have on a tractor, and something I should have done years ago. Only issue was some moron decided to dead lift the engine off the frame onto the workbench. Said moron knew better, and previously even built a crane as to not have to do that anymore. Then I got in a hurry. Guess I'll walk funny for a couple days... Gotta swap hydraulic cylinders tomorrow. The original has been weeping for a while, so I have a freshly rebuilt one ready to go.

Busy day... finally had to replace the original ig switch on the 1045. What a PIA. I re-wired it from stem to stern when I got it but of course the new switch was completely different term layout. Working with these 70 Amp switches is never fun. Hats off to Mr. David @new2horses for prompt shipping of the show replacement. He's invited to my camp anytime I don't care if @wheelhorseman does have better chow...

Playin' with Kohler carbs today again. Here's the internals of a different one that's in the ultrasonic cleaner right now for a Redsquare Supporter.

512-D on leveling duty today. Went really well until the diesel was gone.. now she won't start. Recovery mission incoming

Fitted up a tiller to Alice. Early 80s vintage tiller and Alice is a 74 C-120. No rear rockshaft. Couldn't figure why the tiller had this bracket on it but research said it was some kind of lift service assembly to put a late model tiller on an earlier tractor. Or vice versa? Almost makes me think it's for a tractor that has the rear rockshaft? Lift height was questionable so just extended the cable with chain to the lift plate.

Wow! or backwards - Wow!

Hey now Kevin, that's pretty slick!!! Those old Racers tricks are battle tested and approved BTW, did you know that " Racecar " spelled backwards is " Racecar " ?

Frankensteined a C-161 motor into my C-160, and I love it. I think the vibration isolators are on their last leg, but a little dampening while at PTO speed is nice. Also this muffler is 8 billion times quieter than my old one.

Some more detail work. Got a free afternoon and spent it grinding filing and priming the grille and upper grille for the mini IH 1468.

Some more pics of the decal project on the 420. I did get carried away a bit and did the shift console for the 417-8 and 418-A as well while I had everything out needed for that. Always a little more to do but the 420 needed to go to the next level after previous owners neglect. Trying to make it better than when I purchased it for the next owner eventually.

Here is a couple of pics to hopefully help with that first step to getting all your tools organized. @Maynard Bob, the impact sockets, and impact wrenches are in the top drawer of a box similar to the one you now have. In other drawers you can put the air tools you don't use as much (air ratchet for example), but normally when I need an impact socket I either need an air impact wrench or a battery impact tool which I keep in a different drawer. It can be a little frustrating to organize your box from scratch if you don't know exactly how you want to set it up, but hopefully in this thread you'll have enough pics to have fun setting your up.

Ha Yeah, I foamed a small walk behind snow blower tire a while ago. It worked for about 2 years then got flat on the bottom! LoL BUT, the foam keeps it like that so it can be flat on the top too. I forgot to prop it up to take the weight off when sitting for a while. Forget exactly what I did but opened something or poked a hole in it or something before it was completely cured and that $@!t spit out and splattered everywhere

Oh I built one specifically for such things, and didn't use it.

There are a few of these at the Big Show on the corner, but I never see them go anywhere. I’d love to see one in use! Bring it to Uncle Jim’s plow day! At the Portage, WI show, a dude built a big wheeler trike Suburban mashup that he was riding around. Sweet stuff!

No . Only older WH tractors had a limited slip trans But traction issues can be solved with weight placed in proper positions and or better traction tires. (wheel weights, chains, AG tires etc. ) If it's that "hilly" I would be more concerned about having an oil pressure engine. Like with an oil pump instead of splash lubed. Splash lube engines could experience lubrication problems if on constant angles which are to steep to properly splash lube.

Two workers and one just waiting for a Lazy Sunday…

Shift work, hard work, lookin’ this good!

Finally got around to fixen up the seat I found at the big show this yr.for a great price ! It was in pretty good shape, just needed some love.Stripped it all down painted the pan and cleaned up the vinyl and re wrapped the foam cushion. I think it came out pretty good.I’m planning on putting it on a 12 Auto,this is the seat it originally with I believe. This thing really has some weight to it !

A project like this is always fun to see the end result. Thanks for filming it as you go. I'll look forward to more installments. Here is a photo of one from a local show a couple years ago for inspiration. Made to replicate the W-9 it was sitting next to. No idea who built it, never did find them to ask about it.

Removed balance gears yesterday, so today I replaced the front hydraulic cylinder and removed the drive belt release lever. All back together now.

Well didn’t exactly do anything to any of my horses but I did rearrange their stable so all 11 fit in and the wife can have her garage back. The little things.

Well it only made it to 97* here. I was out working on the shed where it was only 95* with a wind chill of 94*. Got my manual/book cabinet over my toolbox and built a shelf for the back wall. Now to decide if I want to paint it all. Also started on some led backlit wall signs. Yes they are backwards because thats the side that gets painted. They will be turned around and put in a wooden box. Led strip lights and a colored diffuser behind it hopefully will look good. We’ll see.

Trail cam by @Pullstart's place:

I like going through the drive through and giving the person the exact change. Screws them up real bad! Too many goes in ta's!

I can lift the aluminum Onan's onto the bench fairly easily, but the cast iron 12HP Kohler in the 312 was heavier and yes I had a sore back for a couple of days after lifting it. Stupid thing is that I have both an engine crane and a tractor with a loader and still tend to lift these engines by hand.

I put grab handles on…and the plow.

Keep up the good work, Richard You'll get there, we're praying for you.

Four words. Carbide blade.

Yes it is thanks really im no dummy, I’ve worked on lawn mowers since I was probably 10 or so. Then cars, then fork lifts at work, then D8 and 9 cat dozers. Terex two stoke diesels and many more

I could a' sent BBT the powerlifter down if'n I'd known....

Great to read about your progress. Each day little closer back to normal is a fantastic result until now. But please don‘t forget, there may be day‘s they didn‘t be that successfully, thats normal and a part of Life. Ups and downs be normally like a hike in the Mountains, we be humans and no Robots, that is a reason we be not every day in same constitution. Each little Progress brings you closer to normal. Sent some Prayers with stenght and passion.

This is the foam as it arrives as a slab.a its just under 2 inches thick. You need to think about the best way to lay things out before you start cutting. I wanted the power tools secure, but that left gaps where I could fit in smaller tools. By using the foam it keeps weight down too, it would be easy to stuff the drawers full of loose tools and not be able to lift it.

Nowadays the cash register tells how much change to give. With out that most clerks are lost. Doesn't help that using plastic instead of cash doesn't give newbie clerk practice.

I went a week or so to my local Lowes for a quart of now-hard-to-find oil based primer. I did not need it tinted at that time, sanding and recoating white porch railings. Yesrerday, I went with a large blue/gray paint chip from failed paint on the garage right when they opened to get the same primer, but tinted. The not-yet-old-enough-to-vote kid tells me that even though the label says it can be tinted, he has no formula...... I told him it's just PRIMER, not a top coat.... he balks. He starts whining that it will be too light- I tell him to "sneak up on it". Add the color, mix it and see what you got. if it's too light, add 1/3 more. Now he really pushes back. I tell him to MAN UP and JUST DO IT!!! So he goes off in a huff and mixed a perfectly acceptable color....... Some employees are not capable of thinking outside their box.....

Got my '74 36" RD Deck torn down today to replace the 3 bearings. everything came apart a lot more easily than I had expected. I was prepared to go hunting for new pulleys (cast iron double-d) and just a little finesse and lots of kroil, they slid right off! Yay! Now to run over to the local car shop tomorrow and borrow his shop press to replace my bearings, new 5188 bolts on order coming next week for the new gage wheels, clean and coat the deck (Mo-deck) and I should have my C-100 mowing again. (Mows much better than that 2014 Columbia/MTD does, and that POS needs a bit of work on it, as it is starting to show its age, have to have deck lifted to the next to highest notch to get a normal cut height, when it used to sit at the middle notch... Plus, maybe surprisingly, maybe not, that 20 HP Kohler Courage uses more gas than my C-100 for the same work, despite the deck size difference.... 10 HP Kohler is just so efficient... and actually has MORE power than that 20 HP. )

@Wheel-N-It Van here are some pictures of my stack brace. I used 1/2” square tube, smashed into a flange at the block. For the pipe clamp, I used n old racer’s clamp trick. Weld a couple 1/4” tubes to a sleeve, then cut the sleeve and tubes sectionally. I also TIG welded the 90 degree elbow to the 3/4” pipe to prevent it from rotating. A good quality conduit lock nut could do the same job. Ultimately, I imagine we have about the same weight to support, your heavy pipe and my Cherry Bomb.

@mrtortoise , seriously ? have a local hard ware store near by ? go to the small part bins and match it up , while you are there pick up some flat washers for your linkage ends to firm that movement spot up , also add sone aerosol lubrication to all related , impvement areas .make the rust rust run out rust and sloppy fit is a common problem , when enhanced . it works much easier , pete

Thanks for the good news Dick.

That brought this up on the Youtube feed. These guys are entertaining

Good to hear you are making progress!

I love those little stand up socket holder thingys...

I could use some leveling of the deck practice, but it does what it needs to do again!

Got the girls washed up

I've been converting all my equipment to impulse pumps. Here's one on my KT 17.

Good question. I've had all kinds of tool chests and boxes over the years. With the size of beast you have there remembering where everything is will be the problem. It takes a good while for muscle memory to learn the locations of the main tool groups; spanners, sockets, drivers etc. I bought myself a labeling machine, prints waterproof labels on different sized of tape. Now I label my drawers to assist the ageing grey matter. I hate having spanners and tools rolling round in drawers so I prefer foam inserts with cut outs. You lose a bit of room obviously but my power tools will stay in good shape longer now they are snug in their cut outs. My boxes need to travel with me to do home repairs and servicing mowers etc. So weight is an issue, if your chest is likely to stay in the shop you probably won't want to do the foam inserts and weight shouldn't be a problem. Mick.