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Have power will travel Made a little trailer out of scrap for my $60 generator. 310-8 will have mobility resonsibility.

Mail-order Tractors In 1931 Sears marketed an Economy tractor built by Parrett Tractor. In 1937, Sears contracted with the Peru Wheel Co., Peru, Ill., to build a tractor for them. Peru proposed a plan using rebuilt Ford Model A engines. The frame and most of the castings were to be produced in house. The Economy’s transmission was a standard Model A 3-speed with only a slight change in the shifting lever to make it easier for the driver to shift gears. The transmission is connected through a short drive shaft to a speed reduction unit that reduces ground speed in third gear to 3.5 mph. Sears marketed its New Economy tractor in 1938, but as with many new products, it had a few flaws. The major problem was that the over-the-hood steering shaft connected to open-gear steering located at the front of the tractor, quite like that on the Farmall F-12 – but the Farmall used a closed worm gear. The Economy’s front end gearing was very light duty, and dust and dirt collected in the grease of the open gears at the top, causing hard steering. Worse, the front wheel steering stops were weak. If they broke off, the front wheels could turn a full 90 degrees, a less than satisfactory development. By 1939, the entire steering mechanism had been changed. Instead of the over-the-hood steering rod, a different steering gear box was located near the transmission with a steering rod going forward to a steering box over the front wheel. The Economy used a hardened steel worm gear completely enclosed and running in oil. The new gearbox had adjustable roller bearings to allow for proper adjustment. Otherwise, the tractor was virtually the same. Sears offered its Economy tractor without an engine and transmission (but with a radiator and 4-blade fan) for farmers who might have a suitable Ford Model A engine and transmission on hand. However, the company recommended the buyer purchase a governor, fan belt, carburetor, and air cleaner. Sears also offered a complete belt pulley arrangement and PTO, as well as headlights for night work. In a 1939 ad, Sears offered “a 2-plow tractor at 1-plow tractor cost.” The tractor sold for $495 (about $7,600 in today’s terms); the buyer paid freight from the factory near LaSalle, Ill. About 500 Economy tractors were built in 1938-39, most of which were sold in 1939. Not a bad deal for a not-half-bad tractor.

Today I mounted the weight box on my 418-8, and built a wooden insert so I can fill it with concrete. Then bent some 3/4” round stock to sink into the concrete for a handle to lift it out. Next I jacked up the rear tires to install tire chains, that’s when I noticed that the hubs were loose. So off came the wheels and that’s when I realized that now was probably the time to also address the slightly leaking brake drum seal! When I bought this tractor I remember tightening the set screws on the hub. Now since they are loose again I guess I’ll replace them. Good news is that I think I have the seal in stock! I ran out of gas for the day, tomorrow is another day!! Here’s a few pics.

@ebinmaine I never thought of just replacing the set screws? I might give that a try, it’s certainly cheaper than replacing the hubs! @paulyv56 Yes it’s a Harbor freight lift that I made a wider top for. I have to say that it’s one of the best tools I’ve ever bought. Having a bad back, it’s a real game changer. Being able to stand up and work and not bent over or on my knees or back is a huge help. I got it on sale for around $600 bucks.

With sub zero temps last weekend I did not bother heating up the garage to do any work. Had other engagement's yesterday but today I was hard at it again. First on the agenda was to raise the fender up to gain some more clearance for the tires. The hinge/riser was busted loose from from the fenders, so I only had to break the spot welds loose on one side. Once broken loose I replaced the broken cross piece, cut the 90 degree bend off from it and added a new piece to raise the fenders up 1/2". Drilled holes in the added on pieces so that I could blind weld the the hinge back on to the fender. This gave me good clearance between the tires & fender. With this done it was time to break down the tractor to fit the next piece. The next piece is a reinforcement that I made for the F-plate. The F-plate on this tractor is not cracked & I hope to keep it that way despite the abuse that I plan on putting it through. The side plates of this reinforcement are made out of 7ga metal. The plate that bolts against the F-plate is 1/4" plate. Reinforcement bolted in place. With these alterations done I fit things back together so that I can move on to the next fitments. My new front tires came in so I was able to mount them on the rims and set the tractor down on all 4's. So far I like the stance that I have with a lower front axle and the 6" wheels. Now that I have it on the ground I can start measuring things up for the adjustable hitch and wheelie bars.

I often times need small amounts of spray paint for project in the shop. I was finding the paint nozzle would be clogged. (I'm hesitant to turn can upside down to clear the nozzle as I figure at some point I'll use up all of the pressure in the can,) What I have found that works for me is to pop off the nozzle, put it in a little lacquer thinner to soak for a few minutes, then blow it out with an air gun, That seems to keep them open and working. I've also found some cans that have lost their pressure. I cut a valve stem off an old inner tube and it fits just right over the stem sticking our of the can then I can use the air chuck to re-pressurize them. I am careful not to over pressurize the cans and seem to be able to save this high dollar goods. By the way. I forgot to mention to wear latex gloves when re-pressurizing spray cans. Some paint usually is released and it can make a mess. Not wearing gloves usually results in me scratching paint from around my finger nails while visiting in-laws or sitting in church Sunday mornings!

This is playin' with model railroad season. I've been working on a model of our house to add to the train set. The house is made from dollar store card stock and lighting is from unused LED Christmas lights. Trees are small twigs I cut from bushes and glue quilt batting then using hair spray sprinkle home made "leaves" that I make from sawdust and ground foam. I've worked on this project about 2 1/2 weeks part time, The "rock wall" is made from blue Styrofoam used in housing construction, I cut "mortar joints" with a piece of bailing wire wrapped around soldering iron. After that I paint each rock. I really ought to be using the shop to prepare the mowers (four of them) for next season but I'm not in the mood yet.

So Dan comes over Saturday to try and press a steering wheel off the shaft. The Dash that was on it had a broken dash plate mount and did mot have the tabs on the bottom. Ended up pressing the metal hub right out of the wheel. Oh oh right? So he stumbles out to the parts shed and comes back with the whole correct assembly with a nice wheel. Beginning to really like this build ...the parts shed is getting cleaned out... We also found some nice wheels for the wheelie bar. Plan was to use brake drums but bearing loaded wheels off a HF tool chest are perfect. .

I made it a part of my front weight carrier. need that weight to counter the side push of eh 56 inch blade. You have to slot the hole in the plow frame part to allow for raising an lowering the blade. Leave it snug on the sides...

If you have loose hubs you need to replace the keys too. If the hub is moving around the key is worn.

When I first bought this house, this is what I used to plow the circle and 1/4 mile driveway. 1947 Bolens Huski Gardener, the thing was a beast and worked great. Just sold it a couple of years ago because it just sat after getting into the Wheel Horse addiction. I won't mention that I still miss the 66 GTO I had.

Not sure what I'm more envious of Don, your tractors or your shop! Beautiful 418-8!

Man is it cold outside! Since work has been a little slow recently, I've taken some time to rebuild little 2 stroke O&R engines. These can be done right in my upstairs office on the desk. Citrus cleaner is used so the house doesn't stink. 4 engines done so far. I was lucky enough to find a big stash of NOS parts a long time ago so having those plus a good amount of parts engines, I can make them like new. Just started another today for a Tiny Tiger generator. One of the finished engines will go on that and then rebuild the one that was removed from the gen head. Most of the tool engines are already been done. Think there's about 50-60 tools in the collection and probably still need to do about 10 more. These things were like Franks Hot sauce, they put them on everything.

That actually looks much simpler and stronger than the one I made using an old mule drive frame. I do switch this tractor to the front tiller and to a deck during mowing season, so the switch over is easier. tiller

69 Caprice. It was a "Grandma car" 327 2bbl and single exhaust. Back end was caved in when I got it. fixed the body, painted it. Put 4 factory rally wheels on it and a complete 4bbl set up from a Chevelle SS. Added dual exhaust. Looked factory. Won a couple of plaques at All Chevy Sunday in Syracuse a couple of years in a row.

The only one I know of that WH made was on the XI machines, It used a peg and hole. The mule drive on the xi machine goes in horizontal, so there is no side pressure on the latch. I made a few like the one you have and they work great. If you other one is working well on the dirt blade I call it a win. If you wanted to reinforce yours a second set of connecting bars would help. Using a peg and hole one on the vertical mule drive arrangement does put the stress on the latch. Just a note. WH factory xi stabilizer this one I came up with that is similar to yours. And I can drag the front end of the tractor over by the plow.

We can bend up to 3/8" in 12' lengths. 1/2" in shorter lengths. Cool tools to play with.

Hhhmmm... I'm going to add a vertical control bar to my winch mount based on @pfrederi and @Ed Kennell designs... should be easy enough with hole pattern and plow frame location... spring project though... lots of slop on the way...

Well, with all the storms and cold weather here at the moment I decided to extend the home Central heating circuit down into my attached garage worksop. I thought a single radiator would do but for the sake of it I fitted two similar sized units on the internal wall, just in case. Got it all piped up this afternoon and it's lovely and toasty down there now. Can't imagine why I didn't do it sooner, I thought it would be a pain to link into the system but it was really easy. I've just bought an Armortek model kit to build and I wanted to be comfortable in the workshop when I get started.

Ha, Toothpicks work for that! Learned from my grandfather. ( But -- depending upon what it's holding )

Just few day‘s later my wishes was heard.... over the night 12cm Snow and it was just stopped 3 Day‘s later.... Had a lot of Snow-plow-fun and can even test my new Bucket on the Beast.... All in all them both be a perfect symbiosis in Snow Plowing. The Horsie in Plowing and the Beast later at removing the Snowhills out in the Fields.

Yet... you did I remember several friends in High School (early 1970's) who had GTO's (Goats) and I was very envious. I could never understand how they could afford cars like that, but maybe if I had spent more time working for money than doing sports and spending time with girlfriends I could have... but I don't regret that. Didn't buy my first car until I was in college. It was a puke green 1970 Chevelle with a straight six, which I don't really miss (but could have had some fun modifying if I'd had the money). Paid $125 for it and that was a stretch for me at the time. During college I worked a variety of part time jobs and had some "extra" money after college costs, and bought my 1965 Mustang from my brother-in-law at the time. He was more excited about Corvettes and had 2, and needed to downsize. He had had some front end work done on the car, and even though it had the straight six, for some reason they put front springs in that were probably meant to support a V-8, and it was "nose high" which I hated. I bought a proper pair of springs and replaced them. Compressing coil springs is a bit nerve-wracking.... Did a lot of other work on the car over several years. It was a lot of fun to drive. Sold it a while after marrying my first wife. No more Mustang, and not too long before no more wife either. Should have kept the car....

875 got busy this weekend. Fri, Sat, and Sunday pushing snow around. 20240119_143404.mp4

That seat and frame bracing is a work of art Dan. Should be some way for the rest of the world to see it...not just us couple privileged s. U Tube ?

This picture was back in 1995, I was a Junior in high school, I still have the car.

That’s why I have a back up tiller tractor 😜😂 my C-165-Automatic! This tiller I bought used when I was 15 years old (almost 40 years ago) paid 100 dollars for it and it’s on its third set of tines. I am in the process of restoring another tiller for the 418-8. No idea why I have two rototillers and no garden?🤣 I only till 12 horseshoe pits once or twice a year for my fire department’s fundraiser.

Yeah, I’ve had a set of those for quite some time. I keep them with my ratchets and extensions, not my sockets. Especially I don’t keep them near my 10mm sockets, I don’t want them cross breeding 8 point sockets with 10mm legs!

One thing is a for-sure no-brainer; drag racing or pulling will let you know what the weakest link is. Correct it and you will find the next weakest link. Those beautiful new front tires and wheel should never wear out with the front end two feet in the air.

Ain't it tho. I thought it was great to have access to one that would do 18 ga. when I worked. Does that get welded to the F plate then or just the tranny bolts?

The press brake at work can.

Here yo go Jim and Dan

Or extend the wheely bar frames forward and attach to the frame torsion bar fashion. I assume this is all clamped to the axle tubes.

I had a Wheel Horse 418-C that I’ve missed from time to time. It was a great snow plowing tractor with the hydraulic lift and faster ground speed than other hydro tractors. I also had an orange and white John Deere 110 Custom Color (Patio) tractor. I had no special love for it, but when I sold it the eager buyer drove overnight from 800 miles away. He saw my online listing, sent an email immediately asking me to verify the serial number, and then tried to wire me money to hold it so he could come after work the next day. I knew there was a chance i had something special at that point and I’d probably sold it too cheaply, but that’s the way it goes. when he got to my house the next day he hurriedly paid me and got the thing loaded in his pickup before sheepishly telling me that the 1968 serial number on my/his tractor might have made this one the first (or at a minimum one of the very first) Patio tractors made. Deere didn’t officially put these out until the 1969 model year but mine was a late ‘68. And it was an original factory paint job on the thing complete with the special textured stamped seat bucket. I think it went to a great home, but that one might have been neat to have kept. Steve

I had a mini bike that Dad cut thin tin strips and put in stripped holes to keep chain guard on... worked like a charm... poor man's tool and die... single use. Not a "repair" but quick and functional. No pics... photography had just been invented...

Sorry, no pics, but a '48 Merc,'55 Ford, and '57 Dodge have to be up near the top of my wildest ride list. All back in the days of smokin tires, US 30 Dragaway and the Old Reliable Chevy.

My first car, my beloved '81 Mustang. Bought for $1,500 in 1987 when I was 18 years old. Drove it all through college and a few years after. Sadly it did not survive 15 years of upstate NY winters and road salt.

Yah nice fab on the braces.

I don't usually follow much in the pulling section. I don't dislike it, just rather never had much personal interest. That being said- you've got some really great mods here. Very impressive metal fabrication! This machine not only looks great, it's got some major improvements!

Took a quick spin in the woods today…needed some seat time therapy. 315-8

@JCMThat cheerleader was on the wall of my bedroom when I was a teenager. Let’s just say I had an intimate relationship with her for years 👋😜

I've been asked a few times for pics and measurements of the link arm that attaches the governor to the carb on our Kohler engines. These are from a 1967 Kohler 8 HP on an 867. Length is 2 1/2" I don't know the wire diameter. Measurements were accomplished with an official tourist trap metal ruler from Mt Washington that's 40+ years experienced.

Completely bolt in.

And much heavier duty.

Front-facing transaxle mount? Pretty sure there was no front connection for a dozer--transaxle and rockshaft only. This is what I made for the 854 using an attach-a-matic I picked up at the Big Show. I chose to bolt it together rather than weld it so that I could keep the sides of the attach-a-matic fully clear.

Methinks the “weak point” is now the four bolts holding the transaxle to the frame! Maybe add a brace from the rear hitch cross-pin forward to your frame reinforcement?

I've tapped a few out to 5/16". Fine thread seems to work best.

Well, that is correct. I watched the entire video of Taryl with ten identical engines with different additives in each one. He started each one once a month. The engines sat in a cold barn outside.He also put a fuel sample from each test in a glass jar with a tiny hole punched in it so he could observe the evap rate and what appearance changes the fuel experienced in a year. All the engines were brand new Robins. He started them on the first of every month That fuel in those jars really lost a lot of volume. The regular unleaded gas performed better than any additive..I run a lot of fuel because my yard is large. The compromise I am happy with is to run ten percent in the high fuel use times and the last chores of the year get done with ethanol free. i also fill the tank all the way to the top and put a seal over the top to minimize evaporation. My genset always has ethanol free in it. even then, starting up the active ones once each month or two is not a horrible idea that. a small amount of old school outboard motor oil does not hurt either, although that is just based on observing that chain saws do not seem to attract deposits. Said chain saws always get the fuel dumped out for fresh before use because they can set along time without use and who knows how much stuff evaporates out.. Those plastic bags from the grocery store seem immune from the effects of gasoline, but keep them away from sunshine or ozone. Probably the worst engine as far as turning carbs green are the honda clones from Harbor Freight. They have this tiny dirt catching bowl situated before the fuel enters the carb and it must be designed as a water condensate trap. Also the Chinese metal content formula may not be the best to store fuel. When it comes to storing " dry" project motorcycle tanks, I just rinse and shake a fifty percent oil and gas fuel through them and let them open to air out all the gasoline, It really doesnt cost much to do this to every tank in the fleet..Same for the saved metal Wheel horse tanks.for future project use

Once upon a time when I had a walk behind 11hp we found a 50ft garden hose somebody forgot to put away - must have caught the end almost every foot wrapped around the auger ( almost like it belonged in there ) before it broke the shear pins - push it in the garage fire up the heat - this isn't a quick fix had a few choice words for myself .

Literally, skied through the trees... For years when we skied with the kids I would ski ahead and ski through a tree... it was great fun until they got old enough to figure it out... I still do it to amuse Mrs Sylvan...