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Try this: Used for years on old colored fiberglass boats... Just rub it on.

Been working on this C-160 since last fall. Engine completely overhauled tranny resealed. Looks better than she did....but I do not enjoy sanding prep painting etc The hood that came with her was chopped a bit and has holes. I have a similar hood that is not cut. I am thinking of trying the Marvel Mystery oil or some other wipe on finish as opposed to serious stripping repainting. What would you all do...

Here’s from in South Glastonbury:

The only bummer to having lots of Tractors is maintaining the batteries and trying to keep the Mice out ....!

I decided to try these out. These look much better that what you see else where, because of fitment. Others have to be retap the holes on the bladder. Also the T has to be filed to fit into the 1/2 turn notch. I think these are so far and looks much better that aftermarket junk.

We were treated to a little sky spectacle tonight. That's the camera enhancing it, but these are more accurate to what it looked like from our deck

Snapped a few pics…phone camera brought out the color way more than the naked eye for some reason.

Here too! And an hour north in Greenwood Maine.

Scotch Brite pad then Penetrol

On my 1974 C160-8 with the Tecumseh engine I used a 3M Scotch-Brite that was the coarser of them. Maroon. Brown. I don't know what color we want to call that. In principle the idea worked out well but in reality it was a little too coarse. It worked absolutely excellent in removing the dirt, grime, dust, whatever had accumulated over the nearly 50 years.... But it was a little too aggressive on what paint was left on the tractor. I do have one other 1975 C160-8 with a Kohler engine that I'll be building in the future. That has nice straight ish sheet metal so I'm very likely to try using a finer grade of those Scotch brake pads to see how it comes out. I'm not sure on what chemical but it does kind of bug me that soaking something with oil would present serious paint adhesion problems later if I decided to strip and recoat. I just used water this last time.

I could see them for the first time here on Long Island! Went to the beach by my house but didn’t have my phone! Pretty awesome.

We see them in York County, PA. I never saw them so wide spread.

What ever one happens to be in the drawer!

@pfrederi personal experience is a simple 2 step process , use an aerosol penetrating oil to totally spay down the areas , let it sit for days , then a clean oiled soft cloth , never sandpaper , for an initial wipe down , might even break thru the grunge , then I use a mineral oil rub down , if its going to break thuu , the mineral oil will do it . at that stage , like a 6" electric palm buffer , with cleaning wax , all the time you are retaining patina and original base coating . think the older units look best with oiled patina look , never shinny just clean and rust free. recovered a lot of neglect with this process, like to leave them in the sun , to heat up and draw in the lubrication , do the same thing on mower decks . patina look and rust free , pete

Soldering the wires creates a drastic change in the stiffness of the wire where the solder ends. This will cause a fatigue failure in the wire when subjected to vibration. This is more likely to happen on a connection to a device mounted to the tractor (switch, coil, etc) than in a splice in the middle of a wire run. I had a 1973 Triumph Spitfire a long time ago that I had installed a capacitor discharge ignition system in. I had cramped and soldered the power connections. Left me stranded in a left turn lane in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic when one of the wires broke off where it solder ended a couple of weeks after the installation.

Just picked up some plug-in connectors and wire clips the other night. Tonight I'm going to go through, and solder & heat shrink my temporary connections and reroute the wires correctly.

Nice to have power out there for lights and even auto float chargers etc.

@peter lena I put Stabil in any gas can I fill. Great stuff. I try and always get ethanol free gas for my small engine equipment, haven't found a close local source yet but haven't looked hard. Pretty sure that the PO was using regular with ethanol. I'm going to be tearing it all the way down anyhow, I'm sure the seals and hoses are eaten up from it. I strongly dislike 3-1 multipurpose. It varnishes like WD-40. I hate WD-40, not good as a lube and Aero-Kroil is way better for breaking. There is 3-1 motor oil, it's a straight SAE grade. It has a little blue electric motor on the bottom of the label. It's great stuff for bearings and pretty high speeds. Especially oillite bearings. I use it on the bearings of my Craftsman/Atlas lathe. I also dislike white lithium grease, ain't good for nothing but caking up into clay. I've done some work on food service stuff or drinking water stuff, can't remember, but it was required due to its non-toxicity, so it's got that going for it. For control cables, I usually use Triflow. You get the penetration but it leaves behind a film of Teflon as well. With the research now showing how bad microplastics are for us, especially PFAS plastics such as Teflon, it probably give us all cancer but it sure does work good. I will likely be replacing the cables on my WH. I'll pickup a tube of the HD green grease and play with it. Never used it that I know of. Have used the green grease for chainsaws. --- Long day, didn't get pictures of snow plow. Kitchen ceiling started leaking at 8:00p. Father in law is coming tomorrow to see the new place and will be here for several days. Joy. I'll try again to get pics tomorrow.

From my cousin’s house near the NC/ VA state line. Visible here but not nearly as bright. Back in May when they were visible before, they were this bright here. Had a lot of green visible then too.

As good as the rest of the tractor looks it would look very odd with a patina hood. Sand it, paint it, you will love it.

Fair

Which Scotch Brite do you use Mike?

I'm not by a long shot a wiring expert so take this for what it's worth which is very little. Several years ago I read on forums involving off-road vehicles and boats that a lot of people were going away from using soldering because the wires occasionally will break off at the point of attachment. I believe it's to do with tempering and heat treatment while soldering is going on. I stopped doing any soldering at all quite a while ago and have had no problems yet. Even battery cables. I bought the correct heavy duty crimping tool and I heat shrink every connection no matter the size.

Thanks guys! I'll at least do what the owner's manual suggest, I appreciate the input. I'm off to (hopefully) get another donor mower, fingers crossed. Jonathan

I have not installed them yet but they do look much better in design.

@Handy Don Interesting… It’s almost like Wheelhorse/Toro was going to offer something to finish it but never got there. @Rob R definitely, I have two cats who seem to keep that stuff at bay. There was only one instance within the last 10 years or so I’ve had any mice get in. @kpinnc yes, my father has come up with a few good ways to deter them. If I ever get any I’ll try some of those methods.

Yeah but fun to come up with ways around that.

@ebinmaine I believe you’re correct about there being a manual on adding hydraulic lift to a manual lift tractor. I may have one, but I thinking not. I’ll look tomorrow. Finding the implement spring might be a challenge, but as you know you can find the rest of the items needed to add a factor lift assembly. I’d start by soaking the rock shaft with the penetrating oil of your choice.

Unistrut. This is a Link to the "B-Line" Catalog in PDF Format which is the most thorough Catalog I have Ever seen for the Extremely Wide variety of Unistrut Channel, Brackets, Trolley Rollers That hold 600lbs, Fasteners,clamps & tons of other different hardware. The only limit is a lack of imagination ... the possibilities are Endless. https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/eaton/products/support-systems/strut-systems-&-accessories/strut-system-catalog-2018.pdf You're Welcome

Remember when we used to laugh at anything "Made in Taiwan"... Now they're the good stuff. Norman for President!!!

I'm not familiar with that particular type of transuhmassion so take this for what it's worth.... On our heavier duty cast iron transmissions we ALWAYS change flush change disect or even disassemble the entire unit. Not sure if that's SOP on a Peerless but I'd be likely to tackle it.

I always remove my PTO brakes. Makes it much quicker to change belts . And like Don noted, less hours on the big needle bearing.

Ha ha Good Eye! Yep These gals were and still are the Best of friends to this Day! Think you know they weren't going to use these Machines and were only Posing for me the Photographer!

i've been doing my original 312-8 and its 37 sd mower using IH Red -- but other than 312 mostly everything else for tractors and mowers I've been using Regal Red -- I have occassionally used bedliner spray for underneath bottom of a couple of decks

Yet legalized in the District of Columbia. Makes perfect sense, clear as mud, exactly the same yet totally different…

Oh man... da grinder went out da window man... now what?!?!?

This is how we moved massive , heavy items! dad made this 3 x 7 or bigger sheet metal skid with a chain and ring attachment welded to the front to attach over a ball on the rear of our 1054s. (Or other tractors). The torque and power of a wheel horse could pull this thing with no problem! Dad made three of these drawbar hitches that attached to the backside of the 1054/953 tractor rear hitches . It did not interfere with the rear slot hitch either

Got the parts I needed for the headlights and replaced the filament bulbs with bright LED bulbs. I have some stainless steel tubing I may polish up and use as reflectors behind the bulbs. Question: The original wire going to the headlights was gone. What is the best way to route the new wire?

Just a thought on the rims. I had some front rims with holes and pin holes, rotted tires setting outside... I cleaned the rims as best I could with wire wheel and die grinder (get rid of any sharp edges). Used epoxy and fiberglass over the larger holes and coated thickened epoxy over pin holes. Painted them and put tires with tubes on them and have had great success keeping them in service.

Well, I knew this was going to be a learning experience... it didn't even occur to me to check the dimensions of the engine on the T100, turns out it measures 11.5" from the shaft center to the front edge, whereas the A-100 only has room for 8.5" (maybe 9" max). Oops! I'm not overly concerned, my wife actually took a liking to it when she saw it so maybe it too will get some life breathed back into it one day. Back to Facebook Marketplace I go, this time a smidge wiser. Jonathan

As I thought about things, it occurred to me that if I bought just an engine for $50-100 that I'd still be missing a number of needed parts like a fuel tank, fuel pump, ignition and seat all of which together might start adding up cost-wise. I found someone selling a newer model Craftsman for $70 on Facebook Marketplace, did some quick research and took a gamble that it'll do the trick... if not, I may already have a second project on my hands! LOL!

Thanks guys. I'm still a little fuzzy on exactly HOW this will work, but knowing that one of these replacement engines CAN work is exactly what I was trying to determine as step one, so mission accomplished! I appreciate the ongoing help. Jonathan

OK... it's needed. LOL! I found a few possible replacement engines, ones I've zeroed in on are a Briggs and Stratton 28D707 and a Kawasaki FB460V. Here is where I'm stumped. Both have a 1" x 3.15" long shaft according to my research. The Tecumseh that came with the machine has a shaft length of approximately 4.5", but the pulley that I really care about (the top one) has a 1.75" drop (picture posted earlier). Could a pulley be installed at specific height on a new engine or do I need to be looking for an engine that has a shaft length of 4.5" so I can remove the pulley pair from the Tecumseh (upper belt and lower belt) and install it on a new engine? Hope that makes sense, thanks in advance! Jonathan

You're doing great! No worries. CALL 📞 ☎️ Lincoln at A to Z. He's pretty knowledgeable about tractor-ology in general. Good guy. He may even have some additional insights for your model.

I can't say that I am surprised, but the more I dig in, the more I realize that I need to dig in more. While the transmission shifts freely, I discovered the brake was frozen and the main top pulley was in pretty bad shape so out it came. I stripped my first rusted bolt while removing the caliper (documentation is pretty fuzzy so not 100% sure that's what it's called), probably won't be the last. To my surprise I found a worm in it! LOL! I have no clue how the brake works, and found some replacement pads at A-Z Tractor but can't figure out if they'll work... part of tomorrow's learning. Current state for the poor old guy, hoping I can save him!

Thanks so much everyone, I appreciate the guidance! Jonathan

Per request I moved to here

It didn’t make sense to some people when I got my 1994 520H, and my 1984 Work Horse GT-1600, but I had an interest in the 520H, even though I didn’t need it. I had never had a real small garden tractor. Now I’m infected. While I will admit that your project is in a good bit worse condition than what I started with, I kind of do see your point in “giving it a shot.” It just seems easier and more sensible to spend money on an older piece of equipment or tool that is quality made than to spend the same money on something that is not made nearly as well and will most likely not outlast what is already 40 years old. So… I had fun with my 2 so far (kinda working on a 3rd), and glad I did it.

Change the paint. It'll feel better.

Clean it up and keep it original! But I always say that! No resto on this rare machine! Very nice early production 1955 one of the first 100 made I believe!