Leaderboard

Finally completed my C-175 restoration tonight, when it’s light out I’ll take it outside for some better pictures. I’m super happy with the way it turned out and really have to thank my brother for all his help! I will be bringing it to the show as it is this year’s featured tractor.

What made June 6, 1944 D Day In preparation for the D Day landings the BBC ran a competition for French beach holiday photographs. It was a way of gathering intelligence on suitable beaches since recognizance of Nazi held seacoast areas was too dangerous. The term D-Day was used by the Armed Forces to refer to the beginning of an operation. The ‘D’ stands for ‘Day,’ meaning it’s actually short for ‘Day-Day’ What set Operation Overlord apart from other amphibious landings and made it D Day forever was the scope of the operation. It brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history. The operation delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history: 7,000 vessels took part. In addition to those from the UK, D-Day forces included sailors, soldiers, and airmen from the USA, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and others. The D-Day invasion was actually planned for June 5th, however, the weather was too bad for the ships to set sail. It was therefore postponed until the day after. From March 12, 1944 Britain barred all travel in order to prevent the leaking of the date of the D-Day landings. The Nazis considered Normandy to be one of the least likely places for the Allies to attack. It had one of the furthest crossing distances from Britan and had no sea port. The planners were particular about the timing of D-day. They wanted a full moon, with a spring tide. They wanted to land at dawn on a flood tide, when it was about half way in. That meant there were only a few days that were appropriate. German reaction to the landings on June 6 was slow and confused. The spell of bad weather meant the Germans were caught off guard. Rommel was visiting his wife in Germany and many senior commanders were not at their posts. In addition, the Allied deception plan, Operation ‘Fortitude,’ convinced Hitler that Normandy was a hoax, they leaked fake plans, set up fake camps and sent fake coded radio messages. On the morning of the 6 June, the Allied forces bombed Calais to give the illusion they were readying for an attack. Through the use of the disinformation and decoys British officers convinced the Germans that Allied landings would come later in the Pas de Calais region. The entire German Fifteenth Army division was held there. Such was the success of ‘Fortitude’ that many units were kept away from the Normandy battlefield until July. The French Resistance then cut telephone lines to stop news of the invasion reaching the German High Command. German intelligence wasn’t sure whether the attack was real even as it was taking place! The D-Day landings weren’t a simple matter of invading a series of beaches. They involved breaching Hitler’s Atlantic Wall – a series of ‘impenetrable’ defenses stretching 1,670 miles from Norway to Spain. Much of this wall is still intact. Concrete turret defenses, anti-landing obstacles and more can still be found all across the coast. Royal Navy Commandos and US Navy UDTs prepared to demolish beach obstacles designed to hinder the advance of an invading army. They swam to the landing sites and placed explosives to remove beach obstacles immediately before landings took place. Lacking port access floating docks were constructed to serve as artificial harbors, and transported 7,000 tons of vehicles and goods over them each day. Landing craft of all sizes made the initial assault on the beaches suffering substantial casualties. British and American air-borne divisions landed behind enemy lines, capturing the Caen Canal Bridge - later renamed Pegasus Bridge - to stop German reinforcements. Capturing the bridge was no small task, and re-enactments now pay homage to the paratroopers on special commemorative occasions. On the night of the invasion only around 15% of paratroopers landed in the right place because of strong winds. Now for some interesting trivia about D Day, some sad and some rather humorous. Lord Lovat landed on Sword Beach with his Commando Brigade, accompanied by his bagpiper, Glasgow born, Bill Millin. Millin struck up ‘Hieland Laddie’ as soon as he jumped into the shallows and then walked up and down the beach playing the pipes. German prisoners later admitted that they had not attempted to shoot him because they thought he had lost his mind. Hungarian-born photographer Robert Capa, working for Life Magazine, was the first photographer to land on Omaha Beach, on one of the earliest waves. He took over 100 photographs, but an over-excited darkroom assistant in London melted the majority of them during development. Only 11 were salvaged. Life printed them and said they were blurry because Capa’s hands were shaking with the heightened drama of the moment. Before D-day mini subs crept into the beaches and by night engineers would swim out to take soil samples, then swim back, sleep submerged all day in the subs, then repeat the following evening. The most exotic German prisoner captured by the allies in Normandy was Yang Kyoungjong. He was a Korean that had been conscripted at 18 years old by the Japanese Army in the 1938. He was captured by the Soviets after a Japanese military incursion in 1939. The Russians made him fight the Germans when they were invaded and he was captured and conscripted in turn by the Germans in 1943. Finally he was captured by the Americans on D-day. He then moved to Illinois, where he died in 1992. Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that he would go to sea with the fleet and watch the D-day landings from HMS Belfast. This idea was opposed by many and it took King George VI to stop him, by insisting that if Churchill went, he would also go. Eventually that made Churchill back down. Commonwealth personnel, nearly all British and Canadian, outnumbered the Americans on D-day. Of the 156,000 men landed in France on 6 June, 73,000 were American, and 83,000 were British and Canadian, while the Commonwealth naval contingent was twice that of the Americans. There were five beaches, codenamed, from east to west, Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah. Casualties varied widely. On ‘Bloody Omaha’ where around 4000 men were killed or wounded, one American unit landing in the first wave, lost 90% of its men. On Gold Beach, by contrast, casualty rates were around 80% lower. The allies put a huge effort into persuading the Germans that the invasion was going to be around Calais, not Normandy. They invented a whole group of armies in Kent, building dummy equipment and placing General George S Patton, who the Germans considered the best allied general, in SE England. The Germans took the bait so much that even after D-day they held many of their best troops in the Calais area expecting a second invasion. Parachute drops in which hundreds of dummies were thrown out of aircraft to confuse the Germans as to where the landings were going to be Stories of how U.S. troops stormed the beaches of Normandy have been legendary for years, with the names Omaha Beach and Utah beach standing out in people's minds. But the invasion stretched out over 50 miles of land, so we couldn't do it alone. Three other beach invasions by Allied troops happened simultaneously: Great Britain and some smaller forces stormed Gold and Sword beaches, while the Canadians took Juno Beach. The small community of Bedford, VA, population 3,000, suffered the greatest percentage loss on D Day. Of the thirty-eight Bedford residents that were a part of the D Day landing twenty of their young men including several sets of brothers gave their lives that morning.

Look what's followed me home today. Another Wheel Horse C120, this one from 1975.

Rebuilt a deck lift bar. Replaced the broken rear support rod and the front rod that was worn flat. Straightened the bent eye bolt and rethreaded the eye bolt and trunnion. Yeah I know, the my welds won't pass xray tests, but like my tractors, they work.

I had to take the pulley covers off of one of my decks. I got tired of having to reach underneath to do it. So I installed rivnuts. I bought the tool probably six months ago and this is the first time I’ve used it. Works great.

You guys bought all my good ones and left me with this junker. Now I have a good spare.

Looks great from here! If my welds had to pass xray inspection, none of my work would be worth mentioning...

My FIL served as a Merchant Marine and never talked about his service. Sadly, he passed before Congress and President Trump recognized this group of brave seamen in 2019. During World War II, the Merchant Mariners played a crucial role in shipping supplies to the Allies. However, their contributions were often overlooked. In 2019 Congress passed the Merchant Mariner Act, officially recognizing these sailors as combat veterans. President Donald J. Trump signed the Act into law in the spring of 20201. Additionally, in 2020, Congress awarded the remaining living World War II Merchant Mariners the Congressional Gold Medal for their courage and service during the war2. These mariners faced significant danger while sailing defenseless against German submarines patrolling the Atlantic Ocean, making their recognition well-deserved..

Removed sheet metal from engine. Removed muffler then removed bracket from it. Bead blasted muffler and bracket.

The 953/1054 series garden tractors were a true slap in the face to the green and yellow brands back in the day! Hi ground clearance, big fuel tank, super duty front axle, frame and rear Unidrive, big heavy front cast nose grille and hydraulic lift on a gear drive platform. You might say I’m a fan of ‘em!

BBT claims I have the same look when I'm concentrating.

I understand that sometimes our look of focus is not photo worthy. But if this were a “caption this” I’d think that he’s concerned if his photo gets published he’ll go back to the pen!

Two weeks ago I lost a dear friend. I met Bob about 20 years ago when he learned of a rare 1940s outboard motor that I owned. Bob had a collection of over 50 old outboard motors. I was happy to add mine to his collection and watch him have it running in a few minutes. His ability to bring old outboards and old Ford flatheads back to life was amazing. Bob also owned two Wheel Horse Raiders that I was able to help him with parts and repairs in return for his help keeping my outboards running. But on this solemn day, this story is about Bob's father who died in 1945 when Bob was 9 years old.

Looks to me like you already have a page on the 2025 RS calendar.

And they are fire retardant!

@PWL216 My brother used to be a body man and still has access to a booth. Some stuff I primed and painted myself, some was done by him. However I pretty much did all the sanding. He couches me along, I don’t expect him to sand the parts. After I had the sheetmetal prepared to his satisfaction we brought it to the booth and he sprayed it. He is a perfectionist and won’t spray until it’s done properly. I can paint, but not like him!! Thanks for asking!

Ahh ..nothing like getting that 50 years of patina gone.....

Outstanding work, Don!

Love those shoes Don...

I'm glad you had a good experience with Airbnb. I've heard good and bad, but I personally have not used one. We always camped when we were younger. Then as we got older, the work just getting ready and coming back home got to be too much. That's when we sold the trailer, put the money into the "vacation" fund, and as Ed said... "Now we pay someone else to do the cooking, cleaning and maintaining and just enjoy the soft beds and bug free climate controlled beach houses."

Spectacular!!! Great job Don !

I’d take a wire wheel to that PTO bell surface and see what it really looks like.

Been awhile…but still banging away on this one. Like I said it fires up and runs, but would run good and then run crappy for awhile. Occasionally it would straighten out and then once again start running lousy. Tried a different “proven good” carb from my other 414 but no change. @wallfish mentioned something about stuck valve and/or blocked exhaust. Valves (both) seem fine. Pullled the canister muffler and BAM!! Something big was in it! Had a friend that welds take it to his shop and get into it. Seems the exhaust inlet pipe goes deep into the muffler body and inside it’s welded /capped off and has perforations in the pipe (never knew that). The stub rusted off where the perforations are and that chunk was being pushed up against the outlet when the 14 Magnum was throttled up past the 3/4 mark. My buddy got the piece out, welded it back up and I reinstalled it last night. Fed it all the onions for like 15-20 minutes and it never skipped a beat! Just ran and ran and ran !

Excellent point, I always thought the e-clip, bushing, pocket scheme was extremely clever engineering. Easy to assemble during manufacture since it could be done from the underside without needing access to the outside at all!

Yes that is how it goes with a factory made bar but with a home made pin that does not have a groove for an e-clip is where a simple drilled hole and cotter pin works well.

I would have liked to see that eye bolt before straightening. I got one on my C-160 that looks like a pretzel. The power of hydraulics!

The PTO bells are competing with the snowplows for garage space. Time to build another bay!

Great job rebuilding that bar. How is the rod retained in the frame ? When I replace that rod I drill a hole where the E clip groove is on the factory one and use a cotter pin to retain it. This is the heavy duty version but retention is the same. I also drill the front pin for the clip to prevent the bar from destroying the center spindle Grease fitting.

I'm not shy about grinding them smooth it they have a little too much weld. Nice work, overall! (but I’m VERY surprised you didn’t have one of those in a bucket somewhere!)

That’s a 1964 “1054 or a 1965 “1054A”. That would be a great rig for towing stuff around

Beautiful machine Don!

@c-series don AMAZING WORK!! That’s a really nice looking machine!

first time posting but ive literally used any and all information i could have with this rebuild from these forums and it wouldve gone a lot easier if i wasnt so eager to get it done and hear it run. so to start im dumb and used the wrong ignition switch so it wouldnt even click, its old its been in my family for almost 17 years. never worked on small motors but i still cant say i have because ive had trouble finding the gasket kits for it. but i took almost all body panels and wheel hubs off. re greased re painted and changed some springs and bolts refreshed it really cause my grandpa took really good care of it. besides painting the head and top end i re did all the paint, grounds, wires (besides the stator thing cause it looked so consfusing i just cleaned the grease and threw it back on). either way its almost all new wires and gas lines paint and seat. removed the saftey switches because they werent responding but ive kept them and plan to get them working and wire them back in, along with the anmeter which this model never had but id like to put in. its givin me the hassle of a lifetime but because i was dumb i dissassembled and re assembled with new everthing besides the inside of the motor for now. only thing i havent figured out is why my starter solenoid isnt grounded on the mount plate nuit everything else is. even the bolts holding it on have good ground but i have to have a wire from the solenoid to the battery to get it to even click. it works and runs good in high so i gotta adjust the carb....also need to do a rebuild on that and the fuel pump but it runs good so im happy. only thing really neccesary i need to do is fix the throttle issue which is a simple google search away, just wondering really why my solenoid my not be getting ground when the metal underneath is bare with dielectric grease but i still have to use the extra ground it provides. other than that here she is. 1973 8hp 4spd no name. really just looking for any suggestion on things to improve, and if there is a site or seller who knows how to get ahold of a snow plow for it. thanks for looking

I doubt it looked that good when on the showroom floor. Great job.

@c-series don Excellent looking. Can’t wait to see it at the show.👀

@c-series don another candidate for a a showroom. Ya made a beauty !👍

@c-series don Love the Black Hoods!!! Beautiful job!!!

Here’s the photo of the angle install to limit the e brake travel. I can’t take credit for this, another member clued me on to this a couple months ago.

Seems like all the news media attention from the USA is focused on Normandy, France, when so much of the success of the landings can be tied back to Great Britain. Thanks for all the photos you are posting.

After my dad passed, my mom remarried at 70. Ed was a wonderful man in everyway. In 1942 at 17, he was to young to join the military but he could join the Merchant Marines. Ed passed last December, he never spoke about those years until his last year. He talked about how the German subs had intel and knew which ships in the merchant convoys carried munitions, guns, etc. They were the first to be hit by the subs. He also talked about carrying all the food supplies to feed Europe's citizens. I had never hear this talked about before. But it made since, with Europe at war farming was greatly impacted. so on american soil the new farm tractors were increasing farm yields to feed war torn Europe. As a side note I've seen some interesting tractor videos of British city girls being trained to farm. This also got them out of the bombed cities. Ed said these ships were targeted less, but not always. While the supply convoys had Navy escort ships they initially only had one or two anti-aircraft guns manned by soldiers and merchant marines when the soldiers fell. Later in the war, merchant convoy ships were equipped with depth charges. The Merchant Marines lost more tonnage of ships than the Navy during the war. He served on ships that supplied D-day, many of Europe's ports, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. Merchant Marine sailors did not receive any military benefits, even though their loss of life was high. Since that didn't count as military service he was later drafted and served on a half track tank dozer in Korea. In Korea, there were very few POW's,. Many times, It was a fight to the last man standing. if you have a Merchant Marine in your family, thank them for their service. they were a vital part of the massive WWII effort. Of course at that time, every American was part of the war effort. From Victory Gardens, Liberty Bonds,, Rationing of every commodity, every business and craft was part of the effort. My mom is 95 and was a teenager during the war. There was minimal gasoline for school busses, and none for sport events. The teams caught a ride to neighboring towns however they could and the coaches pulled youth from the sparse crowd if they didn't have enough boys to make a team. There were very few High School Senior boys around! There was no gas for teens on the weekend. Her uncle took her and a cousin to a few dances with a horse and carriage. They walked or rode a bike to anything local. It was a different America.

The ingenuity and inventiveness that went into the decoy operations is mind blowing. The planners even made sure that routine coded radio traffic (that they were pretty sure the Germans could at least partially decode) continued with plausible, but not useful, content to avoid raising suspicion. it is also staggering to realize how much logistical support went into putting those 10,000 people onto those beaches. The supply lines extended thousands of miles back to the middle of the USA. The unity of purpose and dogged focus on the objective are hard for us to comprehend in today’s world.

Watched the Neighbors planting cantaloupe today. Mother driving the two Belgians pulling a wagon wheel planter at a snails pace while Father and 6yo son insert the plants in the holes punched in the plastic by the spokes of the wheel. Their other two sons 1 and 2 year olds watch and learn from their seats on top of the planter. They usually harvest over 150,000 melons plus sweet corn, pumpkins, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Ready to launch the new Venus lander!

I've been slowly putzing around with this in between more kid's activities that I can keep straight, but finally feel like I'm making some headway. As of this weekend, I am done with all of the sloppy/greasy stuff and I'm only left rusty stuff. I like the rusty stuff, its much easier to fiddle with for an hour or so in the evening without getting all slopped up. Plus, now that I'm done with the greasy parts, I could clean out my parts washer and refill with clean solution. The E-tank has been bubbling away a few parts at a time. I do have some flash rust on a few pieces I pulled out and let sit, but nothing that 3-4mins with a wire brush won't fix before a quick wipe down and primer. I'm hoping to set a day aside here soon and do just that. First off.....I'm assuming this is some homemade bracket and NOT a WH part? I don't see it on any parts diagrams and it looks rather cobbled together. I have no idea where it came from off the tractor. I picked up a blind hole bearing puller set from Amazon and had mixed results. Some came out easy, some did not. The one above was the worst offender. I tried everything I could, but it wouldn't budge. I finally gave up and drilled a hole through the plate on the back side and punched it out. It had a lot of rust on the back side that was holding it tight. I'll just back the hole with some copper and fill it with the MIG welder before I start reassembly. Overall, the side plates cleaned up pretty nice. It bugs me that those bearings seat tight against the side plates. You can see the wear from the inner races spinning against the plate. On reassembly, and if I have the clearance, I may put some thrust washers in there or maybe just relieve some metal with a die grinder to give the replacement bearing inner races come clearance. Slowly collecting some more derusted parts. I still have some work to do on that slot hitch. I fear the pin is frozen solid in the tube. I haven't decided yet, but I may just cut it off with the band saw and weld a new tube on it. The main housing cleaned up nice as well. There is one threaded tab that appears to have broken off, but already has a reasonable repair done to it. Going to leave that alone and move on I did see this wear on the inside of the housing. I guess this is what happens when all of your bearings and bushings wear out and you wait too long to fix it. Everything gets so sloppy, that the main diff gear starts eating into the case. I believe that explains the damage I saw in the rest of the transmission. I'm sure it added a ton of drag and accelerated the wear on the other parts. As you can see, it was easy finding the "thin" spot on the brass bushings. 3/4 of them were worn all the way through to the steel housing Cleaned up some more nuts/bolts/washers since my parts washer is no longer a disgusting mess. I'm not sure where those long bolts belong. They may be part of the mounting linkage for the RM 3261 32" deck that was on the tractor. I have the parts diagram for it, but haven't got that far. Same with this guy. I don't see it on the parts diagram for the tractor, but it looks like a factory made part. I'm assuming its part of the deck, but would gladly listen if anyone recognizes what it is I should be getting a care package in the mail today from Jake that includes all the replacement parts I need, along with new bearings, bushings, gaskets, and seals. It would have been cheaper to buy an already rebuilt transmission, but then I would still have this one sitting on the shelf and I know I would end up rebuilding it at some point anyway. So that's all for now. I have more parts in the E-tank that I can pull out anytime. I'll probably get to that tomorrow, go through the parts that Jake sent me, and then maybe consider some primer and reassembly soon. Then I can move on to the frame and body work.

Sitting in my garage with two of my favorites. One is 2 months old….the other “side shot rig” is 36 years old. The one in spectacles is just OLD!

I put one of Denny Clarke’s fantastic Lawn Rangers to work the last couple of days trying to smooth out a wet ditch that I have rutted up when I’ve been mowing it. This little thing is a beast. @dclarke