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Good Sunday Morning everyone, Had a real crusty steel tank on a walk behind leaf blower. Used tanks where $50 + and new 3 times that. Guy I'm fixing blower for didn't want to spend that much. Went on Amazon looking for rust dissolver products and happened to see these 1 gallon jugs of 45% vinegar easily available and 75% available if you could wait about a week. I knew people used vinegar to clean rust but wondered about the heavy duty stuff... bought a gallon and filled the tank right to top. Let it sit 5 or 6 hours and shook it gently with BBs in tank. Drained it and rinsed it out with hot water and dang.... its like brand new inside. Ran the drained stuff through a coffee filter and saved it for next time. The stuff does sting your hands and you don't want to catch a whiff... but man does it clean. Tony

Finished up a long overdue in depth servicing / upgrade on my 76 C120. Beyond the basic oil change, gear oil change , I added the heavy duty front spindle kit along with the matching rear wheels ( same as a 520 ) , new front and rear tires ( rears filled ) , new tie rods , replaced rear wheel bolts with studs and nuts , new axle seals , new set screws on the hubs, repainted the front section of the hood ( discolored from the heat ) and added heat reflective material to the inside , removed and sandblasted the original muffler ( usually about every 10 years ) and refinished with high temp paint , went thru the carb and rebuilt the fuel pump that was getting weak , changed out the fuel lines and added a filter , installed some non-corrosive hardware on the battery ( stainless and plastic ) , fixed / welded the all too common C-series steering tower crack at the lift arm , replaced the mule drive pulleys with the desirable early cast iron versions that have the replaceable bearings , replaced the 30 year old drive belt ( old one was still good but did it while I was in there , new clutch disc , replaced the bearings in the PTO , tightened , adjusted , shimmed, and bushed all the linkages and steering , and added LED bulbs up front . This tractor was my first Wheel Horse ( and will be the last one to go when that time comes ) and we restored it back in 1992- 93 . It has plowed snow / dirt with chains on it , hauled everything I needed it to , and has been my everyday grass cutter the whole time. Other than basic service this should get me another 30 years......I wish I had taken pictures of it before it was restored because it was really bad - blown engine, sat outside for years, surface rust on everything , original deck was rotted to pieces, but the price was right....FREE!

It's been cold enough to fire up the woodstove a few mornings recently, and I decided it was time to get moving on some firewood before I run out of what was left from last year. I have some logs from a few downed ash trees near the house, but leaving that "low-hanging fruit" for a day when I have less time. Took the trailer with chainsaws and stuff back to the woods with the GT-1848, cut and hauled 3 good loads back near the garage to split (by hand, don't have a power splitter. It's good exercise ) Got about half of it split too, will do the rest tomorrow. Still have at least 2 loads already cut still back in the woods, and another half a tree about a foot in diameter still left to cut. And that's just what is near the trail - I could probably pull 10 cords out of these woods from trees already down if I wanted to.

Got the 60" deck removed from the 520-H. Cleaned it up, sharpened the blades, and got it lubed and put up for winter. It's a beast, but it makes quick work of mowing. And leaf round up and shredding part 3 for this year. Part 4 coming soon.

A face only a mother could love !

Installed the mid Tach. Tractor as of today.

thanks Tony, I have used regular vinegar with sub par results and ended up using muriatic acid. Have to give that high test vinegar a try. The owner being frugal would not want a inside coating. For those looking for a tank coating. On my own stuff i use POR gas tank coating. Just a half once on the small ones and a little rotation. This has held up the really good.

Just finished up this project! Pretty proud of it. 4tpi well pipe to 8tpi well pipe adapters. Original on the left, draft center, and final done in a higher temp chemical resistant filament at full density. Thread design worked out well with a couple drafts to get the female sizing just right.

I just had that happen to me this evening. Was out for the evening meal and the waiter came by and told me mine was paid for.

Trina and her friend went for a great hike in the Chatham NH area. This mountain is just a couple bumps east of Mt Washington. Bald Faces Circle trail up to Eagle Crag. Enjoy!!

Put a new roof on the "Fake Garage" today. This is a 20 x 13 Shelter Logic building that I put up last year, well 11 months ago to be exact. The original top only lasted 10 months before the sun wrecked the top on the south side. Shelter Logic had a 1yr warranty on the top and was willing to send me a new top at no charge "but" there would be no warranty on the replacement top. I opted to up grade to a top that has 10yr prorated warranty, for an extra cost of course. The old ends were still good so I did not change them out. Sure hope this one last longer that the first one.

Here's an option. Install one of those size fixed heater upstairs, and one downstairs. Get a 3rd one that you put a heavy extension cord on so you can move it to help heat one corner of the downstairs or upstairs more. If theirs one area downstairs that your going to be working in more, temporarily wall off the area with a tarp hung from the ceiling joist to hold the heat in that area a little more.

Oh, you mean like this? 🤣

Oof! What a beast to move around, attach, and remove! But it mows like a champ!

I built a wood stand (glued, screwed, and braced) and have been using ramps to get the tractor up/down. I let the tractor drive itself if it’s a runner and use the come-along if it isn’t. My half-ton lift table (HF or TSC type) fits under the table frame so I can then lift the stand with the tractor on it to reposition them together against the wall of the garage to make room for my car.

Well folks we finally finished up on the Erosion control project today. The quoted pic above is a reminder of the 14+ yd pile we had delivered back in July. We got the rest of the stone moved today. The driveway is back. A dozen loader buckets by the left barn side. The rest down the path which will be our new primary forest entrance. Trina used her 867 and Mid Mount Grader Blade to level out the driveway and I used the Front End Loader. A LOT of work done today.

Well at least the shed got done….. the D, not so lucky.

And the C-185:

Since cleaning the attic space over attached garage( brought on by needing access to attic floor to fish wire for new garage door opener)… I got a hankering to clean out my shop. I had brought things from the attic of the attached garage to my shop just to get them out of the way, and to go through them and keep what may be usable and toss what hasn’t been touched since we moved in in 2007. I have got a mess on my hands here… only thing to do now is fill the utility trailer for another trip to the dump. Thing is I feel like I’m in a maze… don’t know which way to turn, or where to begin.

These guys are correct, (as they usually are!) that is for a short frame and will hit the front wheels when angled. To fix this problem you should find a nice short frame tractor and buy it ! Then you can look for a plow for your 414!

With help from Terry @Vinylguy we came up with decals as a throwback to the 1965 , 1075 Wheel-a-Matic. The first hydro garden tractor to come to market .

Worked on Tach's today. I bought the rear one from Lowel. It came red but I was going to install it on the Work Horse so I painted it black. I decided to leave it black for contrast. Lock levers are painted with cold galvanizing. Rear Tach assembled. I put thin washers between lock levers and Tach itself as well as under the nuts. I don't have the angle spacers as mentioned in the manual for the 8 speed so I made up spacers that slip onto the bolts from Stainless tubing (there are 4 total, one for each bolt). Tach installed. Lock pins installed.

My uncle told me years ago you can take one cord per acre per year in a predominantly hardwood forest. Never run out. We have 10+ acres total. Maybe 2 is the living yard area. Maybe another 2 or 3 not easily accessible or we don't want to take anything down for privacy retention. We burn 4 to 5 cord a year. Trina picks trees to prune out or cull every year. If one falls it's obviously firewood. With the small area of trees we cleared for the barn last year we didn't even go in the forest at all. There's still trees layed over out in the forest from two years ago. Next spring we'll get back to processing those and choose a few more to prune out.

I know it was little, but it was huge at the same time. Mrs. P and I, the girls and two friends were at a hot dog and ice cream parlor in another town for lunch today. A man and his lady sat down and I noticed his Marine Veteran hat. I told the server I have their bill. I asked that they didn’t point who paid, just to thank them. We were the lucky ones!

Alrighty. I'm starting with a 416 that supposedly ran when parked but was taken out of service due to a clutch pulley failure. This does have the 1 and 1/8" axles. I will be using a 1" spindle forward swept axle from a 520. This has a separate clutch and brake pedal which I think I'll like. Cons are I hate this hood design. Like really hate it.

I like dash of a 520 but despise the 400 and 500 series hoods. Anyone cut up the 2 different hoods and made it look kinda OK?

I have some of my dads old wheel horse attachments, tractor is long gone. Would consider selling but I have no idea what they are worth. Any thoughts or leads would be helpful… Not sure about the working condition of the bucket but the tiller works fine.

A radiant type of propane or electric heater would be cheap and efficient, use multiple units if needed. They direct heat towards the small area you are in with no need to heat the entire building, radiant heats people and things. Of course heating the entire building wall to wall and top to bottom would give the most comfort, but for occasional use these heaters work for me in my barn that isn't insulated.

@ebinmaine for the money part we heat our house with wood via a Vermont Castings wood stove. People have often asked me why I don’t heat my shop/garage with a wood stove. My answer is this: When I work in it in the winter time it’s generally only for a few hours at a time. So I need instant gratification which comes in the form of a gas fired heater, and if it’s really cold I’ll run a diesel/kerosene torpedo heater. I think by the time a wood stove got the area warmed up I’d be done with what I had to do or it would be bedtime!

I hear you guys... there was a guy browsing in the gun section at a farm n barn on my way up nort. I had a satchel of beef jerky in my check out pile. Most if not all stores offered 10% off for Vets. When at the check out I over heard him ask for the discount. On the way out I thanked him for serving and gave my satchel to what I guessed was his grandson. Kid's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. So I don't have TV at camp to watch the Packer game so I went to the "hall... a tavrine" to watch it. I had a 40 dollar hamburger and asked the bartender if the discount was still good. She says your bill has already been paid for and pointed to muskie Bill who I hob nob with occasionally. I have no idea how he recognized me I was dressed in cognito. He wanted to get me drunk to relieve the loss... damn near win @Ed Kennell @squonk ... but I was piloting solo!

Maybe that Wheel Horse knowledgeable shop should spend a little time here! Where the combined knowledge of the members is second to none!

Thank you very much to Ed and everyone, i’ve got blade in truck bed, and i’m driving out to A-Z Tractor in Bethel tomorrow to show and get advice from Lincoln or Sam (or both), thank you all for your help in helping me get the right blade, hopefully A-Z has a long frame blade and would be willing to work out a deal for correct blade, trade what i’ve got for what i need, if i can trade the blade i can’t use and buy a blade i can use, hopefully it’s win-win for me and A-Z tractor. Gonna really try to work it out, again thanks for all your input guys🤗

I bought this table a couple of months ago for 35 bucks.About 42" x 72" Guy was using it to work on tractors. It's fiberglass 1/4" to 1/2" thick with reinforcing ribs running lengthwise. The original 4 x 4 legs were crooked and only lagged on so I made new ones and have 4 bolts holding each one on. This is heavy. To move it I got 2 Ridgid 8" pneumatic casters from Horror Fright. I can bolt them on one end. You can see the holes for the casters on the end. Also made a hitch thingy with a trailer coupler from HF to bolt on the other end. Flip it over and I can move it with a horse like a trailer. Some crummy ramps came with it but I have better ones. I can also bolt on a winch on the end the tires go on. Haven't used it yet.

The tiller looks like it was for a D series machine . Do you know what your dads tractor was? Would help determine value if we knew what the attachments fit.

Ive been using Evaporust for a few years with excellent results myself, its safe to handle, non-toxic, and works well as long as the parts are cleaned off of grease or oils. Vinegar also works very well if not faster, but it flash rusts almost instantly.

Tim ole boy. I learned a neat phrase today. To over analyze is to paralyze. MAN do I ever do THAT. Just pick up a thing. Consider its fate. Make the decision and stick to it. It'll be done before ya know it.

Oh…and a bed load of misc crap @wallfish want the motors??

Seat is super nice, just a couple small blemishes! SCORE! While dragging the C-185 onto my trailer I was asked if I wanted the John Deere 212 (of course I took it as well)

That doesn't look so bad.....I can even see some empty floor space.

I have to say @cleat that you don’t do anything half ass! I always admire your attention to detail, you’re a man after my own heart. The extra effort it takes to do it correctly really comes through in the end results. Keep up the good work 👍🏻

When I get my mind set on building something I usually go full throttle. I enjoyed the last one and want to get back out there.

Not a lot of change today. Went to the Remembrance day presentation in town today. Waiting for the paint to dry on a lot of the parts for another day or two. I did install the brake band that was bead blasted and painted a few weeks ago. Installed using Stainless steel fasteners that I will use a lot on this build (you will notice the drum is held with a grade 5 steel bolt because I wanted a stronger fastener there).

Finally got around to adding the rock shaft kit I scored on ebay on the 520 today so hopefully I can throw my new to me tiller on in the spring and see how it does!

You use logic and good planning. ???? Now that's just lunacy. 😂

Yes, I tried to sell it for Chuck at the show this spring. It didn't sell and Chuck couldn't take it with him to Tenn., so we worked a trade for my 953. I did a recon. and have it on my 520. Hoping for some snow this winter to try it out.

I'm not very familiar with the later models like a 520 H vs 8 speed. Is this section of sheet metal the same on either tractor?

Got the new to me B80 8 speed going. New seat installed I got at the show this yr. and a 36”deck I refurbished a couple yrs ago. Next on the list is some bigger rear tires .

Years ago I cast my own scuba diving weights. In those days I was always looking at the edge of the road as I biked by and picked up the wheel balance weights that fell off of cars. I did this process on the kitchen stove using an aluminum pot. Today I would do it outside with a fan plowing the fumes away from me. If you do attempt this be sure not to stand over the molten metal and let any sweat drip in it. A dangerous explosion of molten lead would result.

I wish you guys would not encourage guys to remove metal from old tractors!...