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The Threshing Bee Wheat and oat plants have a head of edible grain at the top of a long stem. After the grain is cut and dried, the seed heads must be removed from the stems. This is called threshing. Threshing on farms with small amounts of grain was done using a tool called a flail. A flail has a long handle connected to a short heavy club with a flexible joint. It is used to break the seed heads apart. Bundles of grain are laid on a tarp or a tight fitted floor and the heads are beaten with the flail. A man with a flail could thresh about 7 bushels (420 pounds) of wheat a day. When the threshing was completed, the straw was raked away and used as bedding. As farmers put more land into production and the size of wheat fields grew, cutting, binding, and threshing grains by hand was too slow. Between 1850 and 1900, harvesting equipment and methods changed and became more efficient. The grain cradle was replaced with the mechanical reaper–a horse-drawn machine that could harvest 10-12 acres a day! The threshing machine didn’t seem to take off after one core design breakthrough. There isn’t a single individual who is always called out as “the inventor of the threshing machine,” nor a single date, Instead it was a series of inventions across decades: Andrew Meikle built the first successful machine in Scotland in 1786, but Joseph Pope invented a popular one in the US in 1820. Joseph Pope contracted with an engine maker to be his manufacturer. From May through October 1823, the Philadelphia National Gazette ran advertisements stating that “Messrs. S. V. Merrick & Co. Engine Manufacturers, Philadelphia,” had been invested with the privilege of making and selling his machine; prospective customers were encouraged to “apply” to them to obtain one. The days of the standalone thrasher were short-lived. Larger thrashing machines incorporating fanning mills were soon gaining popularity. By 1900, threshing machines had increased in size and were powered by steam engines instead of horses. Neighbors often went together to buy a thrasher and held trashing Bees where everyone helped out or they would hire engine crews and threshing machines to share costs. Because of these changes, the labor required to harvest of grain dropped from 23 hours per acre in 1850 to 8 hours in 1900. Modern combines thrash grains in minutes.

I worked on this friend’s Jeep this week, taking care of faulty brakes, finding her some better tires in the u-pick yard, and hanging out with my niece. She was so excited to help, and knew that we were taking the air out of the system! I EVEN FOUND A 10MM SOCKET AT THE SALVAGE YARD!

After tossing some Regal Red at the blades and allowing them to tack up a bit, I mounted them and then the light fixture. Other than smoking a brisket, two pork loins and a turkey leg for a birthday party shindig tomorrow, my day’s goals are accomplished!

I think you have the wrong band. Hole should be on the left. A double hole band is needed, or try drilling another hole.

This round nose showed up on my door step around 9:30 last night. According to the belt guard it may be an 854, not sure though. The engine that is in it is a K161, not a K181. The realest in me says "Part it out". The dreamer in me says "You don't have an 854" A P.O. smashed the crap out of the carb & air cleaner. Fuel pump and the hood are missing. Either way, I think that the HY pump was worth the price of admission & the rear tires are not in bad shape either.

and he wonders why his health insurance is so high. Good thing Mrs. P has the ambulance on speed dial.

There's a reason to sleep with one eye open...!!

Nope, I’ve never questioned the cost of me! I do know, with the life insurance policy on me, I’m worth more under the dirt than above it!

I'm a big fan of this.

here is my tribute, this is my 1962 R32 lawn ranger with the back wheels off, that is the first day I got it

Great way to put that. Go sit down and don't get hurt. But I'm not sitting down. BBT got to counting up how many times she's broken a bone over the years. I think it was 17 or 19? You couldn't get her to set if you had duct tape and the best rope.

Ehhh....

Kevin accumulates frequent visitor points at the ER, every tenth visit is on the house.

Kevin, you keep this up and you will need to change your screen-name,

As Monty Python would say: "Just a flesh wound..." Some curds, wee bit o' bourbon, parts from @WHX??'s shed... good to go.

My wife & I had friends from Tonawanda near Buffolo, Ny. She always called a foot of snow "a dusting"!!!

Best compliment I’ve heard all 3:00 hour!

NYC Metro under flood watch with ~2.5” of rain forecast from midnight tonight. Our sump pump has had a real workout these past couple of months. Lawn has been de-thatched and pre-emergent crabgrass killer & fertilizer applied and it’s already greening--earliest I can remember doing this.

Assuming you have the original spindle assemblies the 103119 bearing assembly is not available from Toro but Stens and other aftermarket suppliers still have it. Before investing in new bearings make sure you can still get blades. They were not available for a few years but are now. The unique center hole is what makes them different. and only available from Toro. https://www.partstree.com/search/?type=part&term=8969 The alternative is to replace all the spindle assemblies to a later design that uses blades with a round center hole and readily available blades and individual bearings.

That is a keeper, not too many 854s have the highly desirable swivel seat option.

It is a KEEPER Dan! Save it. Whoever had it before was probably looking for a hood! This type of Drop Off happened to my brother several times!

Somehow, I feel that Elmer & Cecil would have approved.... but they just might say " Ya might be wantin' ta dust a coat of Red on that hood..."

Sometimes you must improvise to meet the desired goal, great job! Incidents happen, last week while adjusting my disc harrow on my 414-8 the disc dropped a little and it took 5 stitches to close up the top of my trigger finger on my right hand. If you do stuff, stuff happens. Glad you got it mounted, a great idea.

Now time for the safety folks to look away. I had to get creative, and it was a bit wobbly at times but I trusted my balance. Enough said.

Then, I thought about a shorter frame, then I remembered this clapped out one I had from a bundle buy where a seller just started adding more and more stuff to my truck. It had been chopped, drilled, welded, and modified for another engine. Every movable part on the frame was rusted up tight! A little bit of prep work and my yard art stash was ready to be hung!

Yeah, I have tried a 520H with a KW Loader more than Once, The Owner of our rental House In Black River, NY (also a next-door Neighbor) Had a 1994 520H. In Late 1999, He Bought a 523Dxi, two Months after I bought a White GT2055. By the following summer, 2000, I got a great deal On a 1994 John Deere 425 with a 40-loader, 60-inch deck, and 42-Inch Hydraulic tiller (I had to pay the remaining balance a guy owed on his Deere 4100 Compact), which was $3,300. That 523DXi and JD 425 really seem to speed up the 1/4-mile driveway Project we were doing. My original intention was to buy that 18-acre place In New York once I retired from the Army. But the Boss (wife) Made me retire a little earlier than I expected, at 21 years of service and not 30. So we moved to a House we already owned On 5.5 acres, back In Illinois. But even before the White, we did have a Garden tractor with Power steering, which I still have an Ingersoll 3016PS. Kwik-Way didn't produce a Loader for the Ingersoll 3000 series, But I only found out about it a year after the purchase of the 3016PS. They made one for the 4000 series at the time I grew up with a JD A with a Loader and non-Power steering, A narrow front is not fun with a loader to begin with. If I were a good fabricator and wanted to put a Loader on my 1992 416H, I would probably look at adding one of the electronic Power steering Kits from either Cub Cadet or Simplicity (the same manufacturer made the electronic Power steering system for both brands), and it's more of a power assist. Not as responsive as hydraulic power steering, but still better than manual steering On a wheel Hose 300, 400, or 520.

I forgot about the Eaton 7 being in that. But a Hydro is better suited for Loader work on these smaller Garden tractors, as you don't have to either ride the brake or slam into the pile like You end up doing with a gear-drive horses.

if it were hot, mine could cool it off! The whole reason for the hanging tractors fiasco, I finally got my ceiling fan hung.

I think he may not want to put it on the 518H because they have the smaller Eaton700 transmission. They don't hold up well in loader type appreciation.

Poor thing looks cold.

There is an alignment issue.......rod is pushing band to the outboard side......it should be in a different Brake band, or a longer pivot...to push straightforward. There are different bands with multi holes as mentioned. My .02

I have seen those still running at 30 years old. And the bearings are still available.

Not so modern for us and a lot smaller operation. I remember riding on top of what a meg-shift digger that was made from a cultivator. it fluffed up the potatoes then we walked along and picked them and filled burlap sacks. The guy was cheap as the come, small pay and It was bring you own lunch or eat a raw potatoes. Did it a couple times then started working at a local garage assisting the mechanics. A way better gig for a 15 year old kid.

Mine do!

You May want to use the 518H for the Loader tractor, Just so You don't have to ride the Brake when driving into a pile of material. My White GT2055 with Kwik-way Loader has a Hand hydrostatic lever. The downside of the Hand Hydro-Levers with a Traditional 2-lever loader control is that you need 3 Hands sometimes. So I would Look at Building a Joystick control for your Loader while not a Wheel Horse. This Can give You some ideas for a Joy Stick control for a loader: https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/x585-h4-joystick-quick-attach-mod-grapple-build.1367007/page-2#replies BTW those Cad Plan Loaders. There is another company that Makes Pre-Cut Kits for those plans http://www.metkit.com/ I'd actually suggest looking for a Used Wheel Horse 5Xi series with power steering or a New Holland clone(GT20, GT22) as I think they end up being better Loader tractors Than most of the C's(C195 being the exception) 300, 400 or 500 series tractors just because of their weight, size and Power steering on most Models. I really think in the Last 20 years a slip bucket is more suited for the C's ,300, 400 and 500 series like a Johnny Bucket Jr if You don't need to Load carts or a pick-up trucks or Transport material over a 4 ft object such as a fence or wall . Those are all things I have needed to do. But I also added a Johnny Bucket Jr as well last fall for Mulch work as the Loader Bucket size and arms can get in my way for Mulch work under the Blue spruces

We have in stock the discontinued spindle assemblies , # 109964 , as found on the late model 36 inch rear discharge decks. These are complete new assemblies. Price is $130.00 each + shipping. Please do not comment on this post. Private message me here , or call / text during normal business hours if interested.

Shame on you ... sitting here on a fresh eight I got no money in at all ... well very little anyway. Know I got the rest too you don't go gettin crazy anal orginal on me. Dingus is wasting good round hoods on stupid ceiling fans. I know yer sitting on a choice square pan...

The WHs used the same steering mechanism for many years

I got at least one 8 HP carb. If it'll work.. and if you restore/ re- whatever... it's yours.

I thought about that, I did. It’s not too late, but it’s been sitting in the shop like that for close to a year or better.

I went back and forth about what tractor I planned to to use. My main worker is a 314-8 and I use it for all sorts of things, but it certainly isn't the best option for a FEL due to being manual and I still want to use it for other things. So I had been keeping my eyes peeled for something like a C160, GT14, or just in general something with a single cylinder w/ hydro. I had been scouring the FEL build threads and kept seeing mentions about how beefy the 5xi series of tractors were. I had never seen one in person, so I didn't give it much thought. Then I stumbled onto one while driving home from work one day, and the deal was way too good to pass up. It took about 30 seconds for me to realize that this was the correct tractor for the project. They are beastly. Its a shame they never got to evolve them like they did with the classic tractors. The power steering, shaft drive, factory pedal controls, Eaton 1100 with the Hi/Lo, and MUCH heavier duty than my 314-8 made the decision easy. Just looking at the weight difference tells a lot......314-8 is listed at 624lbs, the 522xi is listed at 1022lbs That being said, if I had found a classic tractor option before the 522xi fell in my lap, I would have went that route as well. I mean, the "best" option would realistically be buying something green or orange that was 4wd, diesel, and designed for a FEL......but what is the fun in that?

Did you have a 1067? I picked one up a few years ago from the original owners family. Steering wheel replaced with a off market one and just the metal seat pan and replaced gas tank. It runs and operates very good. I have all the original paper work but the brochure doesn't even show the 1067 in it. I couldn't pass it up because it ran so good and the price was right but I haven't had any time for it and my health not great. I just start it once in a while and take it for a ride, but that's a dangerous chance for me because just paddles not running boards and my legs are very weak from MS. I have a bunch of other projects, thinking about moving it but just can't make myself do it.

Some of these early life experiences have really meaningful impacts on our lives, don’t they? At 14, i worked for a couple weeks picking strawberries. We got paid by the heaped quart basket. I was hot, dirty, thirsty, and stooped over for hours. Impact on me? I was doing it for pocket money but realized that for most of the others picking was their livelihood. My respect for farm laborers has never waned. I also saw that the highest advancement the itinerant pickers could hope for was to be a field foreman or maybe a year-round farmhand. I had the opportunity, through education and support from my family, to reach for a higher economic level. I’ve never forgotten that.

Our files administrator @gwest_ca could help you upload the manual to Red Square so others can use the information.

They don't "have" to be pretty, they have to "function" correctly. Some people like them looking shiny and new, while others like them rusty and sweaty. And still others like them somewhere in between. Some even like horses a different color altogether. Then even some chop them and make other things out of them. There's no right or wrong, it's yours do as you please. The only thing most of want is to Honor the tradition that is WHEEL HORSE.