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Once again, I want to thank Trina, @ebinmaine’s wife for her work to put together another 12 months of Wheel Horse Calendar. The effort is greatly appreciated by all of us here on RedSquare! As always, the calendar is free to download. Thank you Trina so much for your beautiful work!

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!

Awesome! Trina REALLY does enjoy the calendar production process. I hope everyone likes it!!

Spent an hour or so on the phone last weekend diagnosing a non startling K241. Sparkplug tester flashed and the was spark laying on the head. Checked for fuel flow sprayed carb cleaner in her made sure there was compresson checked points etc... nothing... Guy drove 14 miles got a new plug ...she ran.. Not the first time i have run across a plug (especially Champions) that will spark laying on the head and let the tester flash but will not fire under compression.

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!!

You found a 1960 model 550. Nice Find !!!!! Engine is a H55 Lauson/ Tecumseh if it's original The throttle/choke controls and that belt guard are very nice to have with it as they are common to be missing The engine could be swapped with a Kohler K91 engine and it would be a model 400. The 400 and 550 were the same tractor except for the engines. 550 had the electric start option but it appears the starter is missing. That's the correct mower deck too. It connects into the rear lift as well for lifting it. In front of the shifter is a dog point screw that holds the shifter in place and the shifter also pivots on that point. Loosen to remove and inspect the shifter and screw, maybe post some pics if you notice anything funny with it. It could just be something as simple as tightening that screw.

I try to have my winter projects in my small heated basement shop. But if I do have to work in the uninsulated pole barn, I use radiant propane heaters. Works fine if you are not moving around. You could just buy a half dozen WH tractors with P220 Onans. Instant heat when needed.

Trying to decide what to do with this C160. have had the engine running no smoke or strange noises. She drives but given no shifter boot I imagine tranny is pretty ugly in side... I like the mechanical repair part and will pull the head ans she what she looks lkie. I have good machine shop near me so she may get full overhaul...problem is I do not have any need for her. All my horses have assigned implements/duties with a couple back ups for mission critical stuff (mowing snow plowing). It looks to me like the sheet metal is beyond a Marvel oil rub down. However i do not like painting and all the prep work that goes with it. I paint for corrosion control only (rattle cans on sheet metal, brush on tranny/frame.)

Hey guys I bought my first wheel horse over the weekend from the Florida flywheelers antique tractor show. I was hoping y’all could help me determine the model I bought and what engine it has. Does not run currently but I am going to pull carburetor and give it a good cleaning to see if it will start. Shifter fills a little funky kinda loose and gears seam hard to find. Any info will be appreciated.

I do not know (and do not want to know) anything about Onans but if there is a Non Champion plug that fits get it!!!

I’d do plugs too, and check compression / leak down. We have air, fuel, spark. Do we have suck, squeeze, bang, blow?

I would find out and when 200 a components become available do it. Otherwise you be "Green Acres" all over again with electrical management.

Been at our Ky. property the last few days commencing clearing operations on the driveway project there. Made some progress working alone. Got about 1/3 of the length of the driveway roughly cleared. Before picture: After picture taken from a similar location: Picture into the woods where the driveway is to go: That leaner in the upper left is about 2/3 of the length of the driveway. The driveway will be somewhere between 700 and 800 ft long. Got a rental mini excavator and a big skid steer scheduled to be delivered Friday, so I can start dirt work. Hopefully, I'll get to the point where I will be able to use my 8N with a box blade to do most of the remaining work. Not ideal, and will be slow going, but the price is right. In search of a chipper with 4" capacity. Getting one of my Horses and a cart down there would also be pretty handy to help with the almost lifetime supply of firewood I'll be generating. I've gotten a half dozen nice cedar poles from the cedar trees I've cut down - 8 to 10" diameter, 12 to 20' long. Not sure what I'll use them for, but they are whispering that they want to be used for some sort of rustic out building of pole barn type construction. I've even got a draw knife to skin the bark off of them. Not too thrilled about actually doing that job, though - sounds like work.

Figured id share some pics of the deck to my B80 that i freshened up last week. I finally perfected a media blaster i sorta made and was dying to test it out. Stripped deck and blasted it with fine coal slag from TSC. Shot deck in some summit epoxy then mixed up some red. Bought a gallon of that majic oil base enamel. Ehh paint is hit&miss. shot a hood over the summer came out lousy, lotta orange peel, however the deck came out decent. By no means show quality more of a "driver condition". Any car guys will understand. I did that rustoleum rusty metal primer on backside because well for obvious reasons. Again wouldnt enter it in a show but considering this tractor was saved from going to the scrapper, not to bad. I scored a second B80 that i stripped down and was gonna start resto for my winter project however Today i scored a C100 on MP for $50 complete. Has not ran in years however deck is rust free. My question is this. Does it pay to strip this one down and do this one since it apparently has a larger wheelbase. does it pay to now spend a week or so stripping this one?????it appears beefier with a better trans and a headlight? Torn on what to do, ill let the forum decide!

As the others have said, 1960 Suburban 550. I have one also

Just received a GT14 tank from @cafoose To see if we can get a suitable replacement printed.

Eric, here's my last 2¢ worth and what I'd do. Bite the bullet and upgrade to 200 amps. Also bite another bullet and insulate. I seriously doubt that the current wire size (pun intended ) is sized to do that so it will be pretty much a complete service changeover. You'll be happy in the long run. Propane, natural gas and wood are clearly out leaving only electric as your choice. I actually prefer electric. I've always loved a wood stove but it's messy and I'm getting too old to keep a supply of wood around. For us, propane is out. We simply don't like that it is heavy and can pool. I don't remember the total size of your barn but I don't think it's overkill to use 3 of the units your looking at. You might find them struggling if you don't insulate. Replace your 100 amp panel with an appropriate 200 amp panel and run separate 60 amp circuits to each heater. Use #6 copper. Their Q&A mentions that #8 is OK but I'm old school. With over 50 years in the trade it was always code that #8 was good for 40 amps only. I'm staying old school there. Per the specs their 10000 watt heater is rated at 240 volts bringing the amperage to 41.7 amps. Most likely your voltage is closer to 220 with and, since it's a purely resistive load, would lower the amperage some but also the wattage and BTU output. That's irrelevant in this case. There, you're done and will be happy with it. You'll have plenty of go juice for your equipment and stay warm using it. Another nice thing about those Vevor units is that you can cut them down to 7500 watts. Once the building is warmed up I'd bet that will be plenty to maintain.

Need-um "Bang" at the right time.....

Thank you Trina... might be more 📷 in your future!

SkyHook

It'd be an extra step to clean for sure. But.... Not unsolvable. Hot water. Decent degreaser. Pressure washer. It'll take a layer of whatever off the paint.

Me thinks he is just venting on us 'Fish. Go ahead and vent guy that's what we're here for!

Not sure why that means the rest of that 520 is scrape. Sell it to someone that can fix it or swap the engine or use it for parts.

Give it to me and I'll make sure it has a loving home. All kidding aside, an ad on classifieds and you will find her a new home quickly.

It should. I installed a Commando 8 pan on a C-160 with a little work. My 76 C160 isn't supposed to have the flip up early pan but it does

I'm thinking of ordering 12x10 1/2, unless somebody has a good reason not to.

High ceiling. Put in ceiling fans cause that's where all the BTU's are gonna be!

Tunnel ready to install. Yes I know the back bit is missing that connects to the front fender bracket on both sides but I have a fix for that being installed soon. Dust cover ready to install Lift latch plate ready to install. Tunnel sat onto frame. Left lift bushing installed (right one was left in as it was really stuck). Tunnel, dust cover, and lift latch plate bolted to frame using stainless fasteners. Progress as of now.

The D-250 has a 10-speed manual transmission. Back to D-200

A clean linen tablecloth would make for a more presentable portrait.

Agreed with all above. Mice are VERY difficult to predict as far as what works in one area versus another. My parents in north central Massachusetts have decent luck with Bounce Brand dryer sheets but in my area they literally use them as bedding like noted by Paul. We do not use poison here because we have too many predators and we don't want to damage them or kill them. We've had reasonable luck with mouse traps of various types using peanut butter for bait. Sometimes though, we have a good year for rodent production and they just go out of control. During those times I have resorted to using sticky paper that's tacked down somewhere. I try to avoid using that because there's a couple things that bother me quite a bit about it. I have no issue culling an animal when it needs to be done but I'm NOT fond of them sitting there starving or dehydrating to death for a few hours or days. Eliminating a primary predator of the thing that you are trying to catch is a risk. Other animals get caught in those traps such as snakes. We have no poisonous snakes in this area and in fact, don't have enough snakes at all. Glue traps need to be monitored so the wrong animals can be removed when needed.

I have em…we’re already off when I picked it up.

Here is pics of the machine It sold over the weekend without even "going for sale" I put out a post on facebook wheel horse group just to get an idea on value (much like i did here) I had a local guy offer 3k cash for it, and it sold Long story short, I brought it to him , he handed me the cash as soon as it was out of the enclosed trailer. One look and he knew it was a good one But, in talking with him (i sold him some wheel horse parts in the past) he showed me his collection of 5xi series tractors....... well, I ended up buying a 522xi from him, and a nice wheel horse wagon!!! I expected to come back with alot of cash, but ended up coming back with some cash, and another tractor w/ wagon He was really happy with the the 97 520H, and so far i really like the 522xi. Power steering is nice, kohler vtwin power. Only downfall of the 5xi tractor i dont like, is the all my attachments for my older wheel horse machines wont fit.....otherwise I like it alot!!

Mike paint the J D red and it will sell quick!

The John Deere 200 series were the replacement for the square fender 110 and 112 and debuted in 1975 and were built until 1987. They were solid, durable tractors with heavy duty frames, Kohler single cylinder engines, 2300 Peerless 4 speed transmission and all but the 208 had variable speed. The line included the 200, 208, 210, 212, 214 and 216. The last two digits represented the horsepower, except the 200 which had a 8 hp Kohler. The 200 and 208 were one or two year tractors. There are thousands of the 200 series tractors out there since it was a very popular model in it's day. I had a couple of 210s, a couple of 214s and a 208, which I wish I still had. Mike, just send that 212 my way...... See this link for more info: https://www.wfmachines.com/threads/200-series-tractors.134673/

i have a C175h with a Series 1 engine that's 1983 model #01-17ke03 # 26795 with black engine KT17s # 24223 ---- Also have a C175h with Series 2 Gray engine that's 1984 model 11-17ke01 #28385 #3299 .... However, the Series 2 engine did not have tins on it when I acquired it therefore no engine I.D. number -- I believe the Series 2 engine spec is #24323... I have notes in my file that Series 2 are spec # 24300 or higher so that would include your # 24336 ???????????? the photo below has design that apparently indicates Series 2 -- Also note the Gray engine color ------- Bill

This is what I use. Bear grease is good if you can find it and don't mind being followed by the varmints.

Agreed. Unfortunately they are expensive heaters. If you do buy them they can be controlled by a remote mounted thermostat if necessary.

No forced air after you turn it off and still have very hot engine and muffler. It's not unusual to see blistered or darkened paint on tractor hoods. I don't believe they would do this for appearance when it actually looks worse. And the extra tooling to form louvers isn't cheap, there had to be a pretty compelling reason.

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.

Gave up on traps…I use Tomcat poison blocks in their supplied block holders. Have a couple in my shed and one on the side of my garage. I just replace the poison block whenever it’s been eaten or is almost completely eaten.

The low oil switch only prevents the starter from working if the oil level is low. Have you tried loosening the fuel cap? The tank may not be vented.

If you’re gonna do it, I would suggest a central heating system with ductwork. That would definitely be the most efficient and spread the conditioned air better making the whole building more comfortable. The only thing I would consider is maybe heating the upstairs separately. I say that because I see you creating more dust downstairs, and you would not want, say grinding dust circulating up into the dojo…

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.

Well said. Italic word added.

And the JD that I was asked to take as well. I’ll post up more about that in the other brands section later.

And the C-185:

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)

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 .