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@gwest_ca ? @Retired Wrencher I know that 1966 and older are all short frames except for the 953 and 1054 models. 1967 is when they started the split. 867 were short. 1067 and 1267 were long. 1968 to 1973 I believe most were long. I'm not sure if they were short frames in that time. Maybe Commando?? 1974 and 1975 the B Series were mid length. 1976 and 1977 the B series were long frames. 1974 and up the C Series were all long frames. There are of course exceptions along the way such as GT14 or D series or Lawn Ranger or the 1978 and up B series which was a lawn tractor.

Lower steering shaft flanged bearing ready to install. Lower steering shaft flanged bearing installed. Frame overview showing mid Tach and Lower steering shaft flanged bearing.

OK guys. Biopsy was today, and we went to bed last night knowing snow was due. We woke up to this scene out the window... Not significant in the least but enough to scare the living daylights out of 98% of British drivers. So an early drive to the hospital saw me arrive with ten minutes to spare and no great stress. Two of us were scheduled for the same exam and he was absolutely terrified poor chap. We had to change into a backless gown and sit in a public waiting area until we were called. Sandra bought me new slippers and a new fleecey dressing gown, which I thought was a bit much for a day case in outpatients. But I put them.on in the changing room and toddled outside to wait. The other guy just had the cotton gown on, no socks or shoes, or underpants. He was shivering like crazy but it was hard to tell if it was fear or his bare rear end on the plastic chair. I was warm and toasty lol. The test itself was absolutely fine, bit of a scratch inside for the local anaesthetic and bit of discomfort from the ultrasound probe. But it was nothing. Now need to sit tight for a couple of weeks to get the results back. Fingers crossed it's just something and nothing. Mick.

I have been able to get a little more work done on the Patina Special RJ. I installed the gas tank today . I also finished my Harley Davidson Softail Chrome heat shield that I use for the Wheel Horse exhaust pipe cover. I have used these on two other Wheel Horse RJs as opposed to an original or remake heat shield. These are cheaper on eBay than a remake RJ heat shield , they add "BLING" and the broom handle clips fit perfect in the black slots that Harley Davidson has on these shields. I drill two 1/20 holes in the center spot of the underside bracket H/D has on these. I also still have an old Briggs muffler I am goi g to use on this one! My next couple steps are to put the gas line, throttle cable, align the drive pulley, place a belt and a repo drive belt guard. If you look at the hood I decided to bolt down the gas tank straps (I used the originals) but did not want to weld them back on. However, I did have to bolt them on the top as the heads had to be smooth and short underneath to allow the tank to set correctly. The Kohler K91 motor is a good one I had running well before installing.

Where I live now, we can burn without interference. Of course as anywhere else, one is liable if it gets out of control. But, when I lived in town we had the same rule about a cooking fire. So we just carried a pack of hot dogs outside when burning brush. …And I wonder where my kids get their attitude.

Been working on this for a year, taken completely apart. Sand blasted and base coat clear coat.

or this for leaves and compost

Saw this and thought of you Eric.

Much better to pile them up and let them become compost. I have been doing this for years and Mother Nature has given me an abundance of free organic fertilizer.

We were not home for 4 days, so the bird bath needed filled. About 15 minutes after I filled it, this dude showed up for a swig. He had it all to himself. None of my bluebirds jumped in.

That is the hardest part, not knowing the results for so long. I pray the results will be negative and all a big waist of time.

For most of us steering wheel, rear hubs and other roll pin removal remove is a right of passage. They can require much effort, verbal coaxing, head banging, etc. You’re on a roll! Go buy a lottery ticket

This is a big quantity because I can it, and give it as gifts. It cuts down easily for smaller batches. Divide by 8. You can sub maple syrup or molasses for the honey. Great on anything from ribs/chicken to french frys. I always keep a squeeze bottle in the fridge. WAYNE0'S INSANE-O SAUCE 8 CUPS KETCHUP 4 CUPS HONEY 2 CUPS SRIRACHA SAUCE 1 CUP CIDER VINEGAR 1/2 CUP LIQUID SMOKE 1/2 CUP WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE 8 TSP EACH OF DRY MUSTARD GRANULATED GARLIC SMOKED OR REG. PAPRIKA ONION POWDER GROUND BLK PEPPER GROUND GINGER 4 TSP SALT MIX ALL INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE NON-REACTIVE POT. SIMMER 10MIN. MAKES 12-12OZ.JARS

Couple of my faves here in the Appalachian Mts. Think I'll warsh the car and change the oral today. We like our RRRs.

You can also drain them completely. No ethanol, no problems.

Always pleased to see the great work Trina has perfected on the annual Wheel Horse calendar!

I like cars… so the black cat is Indy like the racetrack and the tan/yellow cat is Cam like camshaft. They do have other colorful names especially if they are underfoot etc…I’m a bit jealous of @c-series don as all my cats do is eat, sleep, and shed. Sometimes they sit near me. I would expect with all I do for them they would mow the lawn or vacuum at least.😁

Finally managed to get just about all the painting done on the c121. Need to do a second coat under the hood though. Waiting on a few parts to come in and the fun begins. I’m Looking for another meter to go in place of the old amperes gauge.Guess I could do a simple volt meter since this is going to have 301 gen start ? AZ tractor parts has this type available

I’ve been down this road for years in vintage motorcycles and have restored many from the frame up. As time has passed my appreciation for originality has grown and restorations just don’t appeal to me like they once did. I’d favor a nice original over a perfect restoration nearly every day of the week. But tractors aren’t quite like motorcycles and most were used as intended and all too often neglected at some point along the way. I know the right one is out there, I’ll just be patient.

I wouldn’t give up on ANY possible source--you never know. Two years ago I bought a 225 hour 312-H with a barely used 42” recycler deck at the Big Show. It was a bit more than other similar units but it in good mechanical as well as excellent cosmetic condition. I was doing someone a favor by shopping for them so I needed a no headache unit that I could pass on easily and confidently. The show had seemed like the extremes before--beautiful refurbs for $$$ or projects for $ that would need work and $$ to bring up to snuff.

I made some good progress on rehabbing a pretty tired and worn 1963 dozer blade and getting it set to go on the 854. I’m going to experiment with plowing this winter instead of using the walk-behind blower. The last couple of years the blower was needed only a couple of times while I had to push-shovel a lot of 3-4” snowfalls that were quite wet. This frame/blade came to me through @ebinmaine. The angle lever and rod as well as mounting brackets were already gone before he got it. The ’63 42" dozer was a unicorn. Last frame with a foot release for the angle lock, first frame with cast iron ends on the trip springs. It mounted via two separate angle iron brackets with ¾” shoulder bolts for the frame pivots. Here’s the OM and IPL, if you are curious! Since I don’t know if this is a long term relationship, I prepped and painted only the face of the blade. At some point in its life, the lower blade must have worn past the wear edge because a PO layered in a new 4” band of sheet steel to rebuild the lower edge and then attached a new wear strip. Not a bad piece of work, but s/he never painted it! You can see the new band extending above the bolted on wear edge in the picture. I’m too lazy to want to have to bolt/unbolt the frame to mount the blade so from @wallfish I got one of the newer “inside” brackets. I’ve adapted the frame by adding a ¾” rod through the frame end holes and used a 1.5" spacer bushing on each side to keep the frame centered on the bracket. I drilled and cottered the spacers to the rod so it’s a reversible adaptation. I’d previously added a front attach-a-matic to the 854. It usually holds a front weight that helps me feel secure on the uphill parts of my property. But I was concerned about possible interference with the old-style “triangle” frame. Whew, it just misses! BTW, as many of you know, the nuts on the bracket bolts are a close clearance. The perfect use case for my recent birthday present--a set of Craftsman Pro ratchet/open end combo wrenches! The solid lift link (I’ll add a picture after it’s painted) is 10.5” on center for the ⅜” holes and it’s bent to have an offset of about 1” outboard at the plow frame. It attaches in the second from the end hole on the rock shaft arm. I’m waiting on a rod and Heim ends to build the angle actuator rod and finish the angle control lever. More pics and measurement progress then!

Today I attempted to fix a spot that the paint underneath was peeling on the 308. I also tested the throttle after I tightened the pivot. So far so good on that it stays at full throttle instead of creeping down.

Looks like an Allies Chalmers blade. I've had 2 of them adapted to work on a WH and because they are heavier they work better.

Also did the top end, lapped and adjusted valves, rebuilt carb and fuel pump.

I’m fairly sure that’s not one of the 2 types of mid-mount grader blades Wheel Horse/Toro made. But it looks like it could be modified reasonable easy if you have the skills and a welder.

Just might need to get posted in Restorations - looks like a good "Paint Stripper"!!

I took the last deck off and prepped for hibernation.

Turns out the tractor did not have the correct coil (no internal resistor). Most likely the reason for smoking the points so quickly. New coil, points (+ rod) and condenser installed! With the new cam push rod, the static timing set the points gap back to .020

Thank you Trina! Looks very nice!

Mid Tach ready to install. Mid Tach decals installed. Mid Tach lock assembly ready to install. Mid Tach installed. Mid tach grip installed. Overview of frame and Tach assembly.

Yes I forgot about that. Back in the day Grampa used use to put grain alcohol in ice drill tanks for moisture in the day of finicky two strokes. That is if @Achto didn't empty the bottle ... 'Course he didn't mix gas and oil proper either just dumped in whatever he thought was right... and usually drain oil ...

@Ed Kennell have a lot of red tailed hawks in my area , when ever I knock off anything , mouse / mole , etc , always put it on top of a fence post , next to the field behind me , maybe a half hour , its gone , often hear them screeching in my area , pete

For those of you that have a letter r anywhere in your vocabulary that would be door yard

I have both steel and plastic gas tanks in my fleet. I never use any additives. Zero. No ethanol. No additives. No problems.

Eric, the chicken hawk reference comes from watching Foghorn leghorn as a kid. So funny to see the little hawk trying to drag the big ole rooster off to the stove. Mick

You're good to go. You figured out yourself how to reposition the steering wheel so it's straight. The shaft wobble is typical and not really hurting anything. You might minimize it with a new nylon bushing #24. I have replaced it with a flanged brass bushing on a couple of mine. I only do that when I have the tractor apart for other reasons. You have to remove the steering wheel to do that. If I go that far I replace the shaft collar #26 with a split collar to make future removal easier.

Very nice. Another advantage of the slot style is that it sits a bit higher than the Brinly-style sleeve hitches.

Got a Kohler #30 carburetor in process. Here's the innards.

@kpinnc @adsm08 @ebinmaine @squonk @953 nut @rmaynard @tunahead72 @SylvanLakeWH @Bill D @pfrederi Thanks all for the input everyone! was just curious if the amount vibration was normal. Both have sat outside before I got them long enough so rubber stuff like the shift boot was pretty nonexistent on both the 312 and 308 but more so on the 308. I figured if anything else was rubber like a dampener, it might be long gone too.

Pretty standard for a garden tractor restoration. You can figure several hundred dollars just in paint and hardware alone. Tires are another $250 to $500. Engine $800 to $1200. Transmission can be $200 + It's VERY easy to get in a couple thousand dollars if a FULL restoration is done.

I kinda enjoy the vibration. I'm nearly 80 and some days that is the most stimulating feelin I get.

My lawn spiker , 5-75# 12" blocks. Grader Blade. Pulverizer - original use was to work lawns to plant grass. It works well on driveways too. There all home made. We just use what we have on hand.

Ok I took the flat muffler off the Kohler K91 motor I am working on for my RJ Patina Special. I broke the top bolt (snapped the nut) which as rusty as it was I figured one or both would snap. But bottom one came off nice. Lo and behold the exhaust port appeared to be threaded! Like Wallfish and WHX indicated I will use an NPT tap and clean the threads better but I used my dremel tool to clean the threads and ran a short 3/4 pipe I had just to see if it was going to work it way in ok. 👍 looks like I am in business for an RJ exhaust pipe set up.

I'm going to chime in here. Before I start I'm going to drop my credentials. I have been an auto mechanic for 18 years, 2 years in tech school, 5 years working for myself, 13 years as a tech at a Ford dealer, 9 of them holding Senior Master Technician status. My primary specialty is gas engine drive-ability and electrical/electronics diagnosis. The first thing I have to say about your situation is that for any technical matters the absolute best outcome you can hope for from contacting Ford CRC (customer service line) is to waste your time. It would literally be more productive to pick your nose and wipe the results on the windshield. Now, on to technical matters. It looks like your Flex is FWD only, but that doesn't matter much, the Flex only has one style tank. Some other cross-overs like the Edge had a saddle tank for AWD and a more regularly shaped one for FWD. In saddle tanks there is a transfer tube that goes up over the hump in the middle and allows the fuel pump to pull from both sides. Damage to that tube can prevent the pump from pulling from the other side (looks like the pump is on the passenger side of the tank). The fuel level sensing system on these saddle tanks is goofy. There is a traditional level sender/sensor attached to the pump, a simple float and variable resistor card. There is a "fuel level sensor" on the other side. Same basic idea, just no pump attached. These units each report the level on their side of the tank and then the instrument cluster computer averages the two signals and puts that value on the gauge. So for example, if you have 1/4 tank in the side with the fuel pump, and 3/4 on the side with just the level sensor, the gauge is going to show you have 1/2 a tank. From the Ford Shop Manual: Since high resistance is low fuel, and the system defaults to an empty indication when the pump side of the circuit goes open, that, along with the stalling, tells me the pump side is running out of fuel, while the other side probably isn't. You say the gauge suddenly drops from 1/4 to 0 but refueling says you have about 4 gallons left. The Flex has an 18.6 gallon tank, so you are taking on about 14.5 gallons at fueling. That's roughly consistent with a 1/4 tank reading. All that is consistent with a damaged transfer tube. The tube is only serviced as part of the tank assembly, and I don't know of any way to test it, aside from removing the tank and inspecting the portions of it that are visible with the pump and level sensor removed. I'd suspect that you find a crack on the level sensor side, probably 1/4 to 1/2 way up the depth of the tank. Last thing: DO NOT rely on the DTE (distance to empty) display in the cluster as a reliable measure of how far you can actually go before needing fuel. Ever. It is not an accurate or reliable indication by any stretch. It is the computer's best guess based on a rolling average of calculated fuel use over the last 500 miles and CURRENT driving conditions. This means that (and I have seen this happen) if you are near the end of the tank and you have been on the highway for a few hundred miles, then suddenly move into a stop and go or city-type driving situation it is possible for the number to go negative. If you reverse that scenario it is also possible to run out of fuel while it still shows 75 to 100 miles left to E.

Beautiful work!!!

I was looking for some WH goodies on Evilbay and came across this ad by A-Z Tractor Aftermarket 3 point hitch they have designed and are marketing. This is a 3pt hitch manufactured to work on all Wheel Horse garden tractors with the cast iron transmission. This hitch mounts on the rear axle just like the snow plow bracket. This hitch can be mounted with the snow plow bracket or with out it. The hitch uses the lift cable that is made for lifting the rear attachments. The hitch will fit on gear drive tractors or hydrostatic. All it takes to mount the hitch is 4 bolts and 4 nuts the same as the snow plow bracket. The hitch sits on top of the axle housing as to the snow plow hitch is on the bottom. This is a category O 3pt hitch and works with all 3pt hitch garden tractor attachments. The hitch has several holes for changing the lifting leverage and leveling adjusters on both lift arms. There are anti swing chains with adjusters. This hitch has been tested in many conditions and has held up under every test. Note! If you purchase this item and have any issues we want to know so we can correct them. This is a new item something never offered by wheel horse and A-Z Tractor has designed and manufactured this item. We also have a 3pt scraper box that works great with this hitch and plan to offer more attachments in the future.

This is probably the route that makes the most sense for me and my situation. I saw that new 3 point hitch from AZTractorParts on ebay, which looks enticing, but I can't justify the cost. I have less than that in my tractor including all accessories. 😅 Thanks, all!

No Is the PTO pulley turning the belt when it's engaged? If so, you'll need to check the 90 deg gearbox, both the pulley and the sprocket and the chain. Then the bigger sprocket on the back of that impeller shaft that the chain goes to. Basically follow that entire drive train from the engine all the way through until the problem is discovered.

Two small but important parts on a Wheel Horse RJ are the brake rod # 3545. ( # 90 in RJ manual drawing ) and the clutch spring anchor # 3585 (# 104 in the RJ manual drawing).

You don't need a machine shop to thread those exhaust ports, you need a NPT tap. Tilt the engine over so the port is facing straight down and tap it up so the chips fall right out to the floor.