Leaderboard

Finally scored my next project! Was holding out for the single 16 Kohler of some variety in the 8 speed and patience finally paid off after a wash and oil rub down! I'll do a post after I get it going! Happy to have a worthy winter project!

Been looking for a while. One finally surfaced on Ebay. 25 pages including confidential dealer pricing.

Options include: A. Use a primer bulb. B. Use an electric fuel pump.

Found this on CL this morning, the owner said it was his father's & wouldn't part with it. His father passed away 5 years ago so he decided he'd kept it long enough. I haven't fiddled with it yet but the tank is clean, turns over nice & has good compression. I'm betting it's a runner, either way the parts are worth more than what I payed for it. It's a K181S & it's Blue...

My main go to worker ...

Never had a check valve work. I don't even mess with the original fuel pumps anymore. Quality electrics on the critical machines and I've been using the cheapies on the others. Even though the cheapies are working great I just took delivery of a three fer real cheap just to have spares.

Agree with Jim. Primer bulbs work. If I suspect the fuel pump check valves or diaphragms are really leaking bad, I go directly with an e-pump in place of the primer bulb. Draining the carb during normal use (one start per month) is not necessary. For long term storage there are several thoughts. One is to drain the entire fuel system, then blow air thru the tank, lines, pump and carb to clear and fuel. I never drain the fuel systems in my 2 and 4 stroke engines in outboards, tractors, trimmers, splitters ,etc. For off season storage, I treat the fuel with Marine Sta-Bil and start and run the engines monthly till they are heated up to operating temp.

I have to disagree Richard. What could be more on topic than designing and building a braking system to replace the poor factory Wheel Horse brakes or in this case the lack of any brakes. And this certainly highlights the simplicity and ease of working on these machines.

Sorry about the double post, must be an echo in here.

I enjoy seeing the talent of those who frequent this site. Fortunately, I haven't had issues with my 520 and have not needed help with it but always read as others seek help and/or offer solutions. I enjoy the other sections of this site and reading about folk's activities and situations as well as the bumps and bruises and gardening. I'll throw my two cents worth in "doing it yourself" projects. Almost 20 years ago I drew the plans for our house and then built it. We were living in the Philippines at the time so before we returned to Missouri I had granite counter tops made for the kitchen in our new house then made sure I built the kitchen to fit the counter tops. The marble floor in the picture below was purchased in the Philippines and I laid it. (The grout isn't a cement based grout like we normally use, it was a fiberglass based "grout" with colorant in it.) I wanted a new house to resemble a one hundred year old house. I made all of my own oak trim and used glass door knobs, I built the fire place surround and the clock standing in the corner. The clock is made of narra wood. It's the "oak" or "walnut" of the Philippines. Here in southwest Missouri, at least in our county, permits are not needed except for wells and septic systems as these are regulated by the state. I went to the court house to apply and pay for a permit and none was needed. Our subdivision has rules and guidelines but that's it. I was rebuilding a barn for a customer (the round barn on clear creek walnut grove mo) and the county inspector rejected the stairs I installed. I explained to him that I built them as dictated by the blueprints that were approved by the county and architect. He didn't care, owner told me to tear them out and rebuild to inspector's requirements. 30 oak trees were removed from the farm and a sawmill was brought in so we would have oak to replace wood in the barn as needed. We laid and finished 4,500 square feet of oak flooring. In fact, we took out the old oak floor joists and installed 2x12 to bring up to code. This barn is on the historic register so the entrance foyer and bathrooms cannot be attached to the building but built next to it.

My Favorite back in 1990 on a new 1989 312-8 with my one and only daughter. Post em up.

Pick only one ehh??!? Man..... I like that one alot because it shows our main go to workers.

You guys are terrific. Lots of good ideas and wisdom based on experience. Thanks

You didn't say what model tractor Joe but all my 520s have this problem and sadly a check valve didn't solve the problem. The only one I have with an electric fuel pump has no problem. Just turn the key and listen for the fuel pump to change pitch and then fires right up. It's the only way to go.

I just put an electric pump on Mongo. Ran good last winter but this year no fuel. Checked the lines, pulled off the fuel pump and everything looked fine. I had an extra pump and fuse, just needed a relay to activate the pump. Fires right up now! Poor Mongo, I have an electric lift, electric PTO with a soft start module, and now an electric fuel pump. Somebody is going to hate me someday for all the extra wiring but it IS a beast with that Magnum 18

Primer bulb on mine for years and use rec fuel. No issues. Cheap fix. Quick starts.

Nice - gotta love those corny cartoons too.

I have electric fuel pumps on nearly all of mine and no starting problems.

My Moms house has been empty since she pasted in August. We noticed a faint smell but initially wrote it off as empty closed up house or something. My mom built this new house 30 years ago so she wouldn’t be retired in the 70 year old house that constantly needed repair. About 6 weeks ago it seemed a little stronger and had the gas odor. It was especially strongest in a closet at the outside wall where the gas meter was on the other side and the piping went up that wall to the attic. I contacted the gas company and they came right out with their leak detector. He found several small leaks on the piping threads and valve stem outside at the meter. He also poked holes in the ground following the piping to the street. This all checked good. This house sits on a black clay gumbo hill. So it made since the outside piping got torqued with the swelling and shrinking clay. He checked in the house and did a pressure test and said all good. So we relit the pilot lights. I stay at the house when I come to the farm and go hunting and visit the tractors I have stored there. Just to clarify, the house is in town and the farm is a couple of miles out of town. We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the family there and all was good. Then the Monday after Thanksgiving I came down to go hunting and smelled gas again. So I called the gas company again and lost a hunting day waiting for them to check it out. This time all was good outside but he detected gas where the piping goes through the wall into the house and inside in that closet. He put a gage on house piping and it showed a small slow leak at 12 psi. So he pulled the meter and said I needed a plumber since it was on the house side. Plumbers were backed up 2 weeks for non emergency work. I opened all the doors & windows and ventilated house out good. So I had no heat or hot water at house while hunting. Ruffed it with a small portable electric heater for the bedroom, microwave food and a cold shower. Hunting was really like deer camp again. Since the house is in the city I cannot work on the house gas piping. I met the plumber this morning. They put a gage on it, 12psi and soaped all the fitting they could get to. The fitting at the dryer gas valve has a tiny bit of bubble so they replaced that. Still had a slow leak. So we went back to the pipe that enters the brick wall at the meter. I chipped out the mortar around the pipe They tried to unscrew the nipple but It just twisted. So we had to cut a hole through the closet sheetrock to get at it from the inside. Its interesting the pipe was good through the brick but heavily rusted in the air space between the back side of brick and foil wall board on house framing. I think we caused the big hole you see in pipe picture when we removed it. It was black pipe so they replaced it with a galvanized nipple. I asked if we should wrap or coat the pipe but they said no. Amazingly we just got the City Inspector over on a Friday afternoon and he signed off on the repair. Now I have to wait till Monday or Tuesday to get the gas company out to reinstall the meter. One ten inch pipe nipple, two plumbers for half a day and the lady at the office coordinating the City Permit and inspection. $912.00 We really missed what could have been a very bad situation. Last year at about this same time the Catholic Church in a rural community outside of town exploded and burned completely down. They had a similar situation where gas was smelled one evening when they were practicing Christmas songs, but the gas company found no leak and pressure tested ok. A few days later a lady entered the church to prepare for morning mass. When she lit a candle the church exploded. Sadly she died a few days later. Because there was a death the State Fire Marshall and Gas Company did a lengthly investigation. But with the building burned so intensely they could not pinpoint the cause of the gas leak. 3pm I’m sitting in my deer stand writing this and it’s a little on the breezy side for a good evening hunt. Maybe the wind will calm down right before dark and the deer will move like they sometime do.

Yeah the seat really sets the whole thing off and was the main selling point! I didn't realize we had an ugly seat thread... I never knew the seats came any other way those pokes in the rear keep you awake and alert so you don't fall off so I just assumed they came that way I might have to break down and get a really nice seat for this one as it will be the main user...

Update, boys!! I finally installed the new Blue TSC belt. Wow, that was actually more difficult than I thought it'd be. Had to bend the little guard on the clutch pulley that was pretty thick steel. Just squeaked the old belt through with a bit of oil to help lubricate it through the gap. The PTO housing was tough too - had to bed a guard, remove the PTO brake assembly, and even then the belt barely shimmied through. Then when I thought I was done, I saw the belt goes around the bar that holds the foot rest - ha! So had to remove that too. New belt on and everything put back together, and I have great news: this totally solved my problem!! Not only is it much easier to engage the clutch now, but it even changed where the clutch pedal engages! If you remember before, I mentioned how I'd push the pedal down to disengage, and the clutch wouldn't engage again until the pedal was almost completely vertical. This made it really hard to let off easy and I'd buck the whole tractor. Now, push the pedal all the way down, and it only takes me letting off maybe an inch of travel and the belt engages! @Ed Kennell it now behaves exactly how your video showed, which is awesome. Thanks again for sharing that with me. I did notice that removing the belt, the belt slipped right off the pulleys, but installing the new belt, it was much harder to get it onto the last pulley - think this means it is slightly tighter/smaller. I can also now easily allow the belt to slip as I release, which slowly puts me into motion instead of going from 0 to 100. Facing uphill, here and there I am still getting the slightest "buck" when in 3rd gear High, but I think that is inevitable without weight up front and probably will lessen as I get used to how to shift this thing correctly now. I will say, even with ear plugs in, as I was slipping the belt, I could even hear it for a second or two slipping/squealing. Is that normal? Maybe it's just because it's a new belt, or maybe it's normal to also hear the belt slipping... could have sworn at one point I could smell burning rubber but not entirely sure. Thanks guys for your help here! Feels great to finally get a win!!

I only use gas that does NOT have corn squeezin's in it. The method you suggest above is how I long term store my tractors, (anything more than 4 months) Large quantities of gas will not go bad as quickly as small quantities. A half gallon of gas in a tank will keep much longer that the few ounces that are in the float bowl.

Ether starting fluid is very hard on your engine, It shouldn't be used. To find a gas station that sells non-ethanol gas use this link, https://www.pure-gas.org/

You can make one like this Don. I think used 1/4 inch aluminum so it won’t gouge the lever. G10 composite would work well too.

That is exactly what happens. Draining the carb is not the problem. The problem is caused by a small leak in the two check valves in all diaphragm fuel pumps causing the pump to lose it's prime. The pump requires a lot of cranking to evacuate the air and pull the fuel back to the pump. You can install another check valve to prevent the drain back, Install a manual valve that you must remember to open and close, Install a marine primer valve to reprime the pump, or install an electric fuel pump that is located below the fuel tank. On some model tractors simply keeping the fuel tank full will keep the fuel level above the fuel pump and prevent the prime loss. And yes, all that cranking is killing your battery and STARTER.

Use non ethanol gas

Actually Mrs K spent the day at her sisters with her 99yo Mother. Left me home alone with no one to talk to but Red Square. Glad you were listening Richard.

Brings to mind a high school summer job working for a part-time house painter. One customer wanted their house, barn, and several outbuilding painted. Even the roof of the barn which was wood shingles in pretty good shape. The boss got with the paint supplier to get the right stuff for the roof. Probably took the three of us a few weeks and being up that high on ladders and walking on the roof was plenty scary. WAY before the days of safety harnesses. Still, after we were done the place looked fantastic!

I found a local source so i can get some

Got the plate made today now just need to get it bolted down.

If weak battery is ruled out as @Bar Nuthin points out, try a Marine primer bulb. I bet it fires right up... Heres mine:

Did I mention I like being a batchellor…😁

Wheel weights are on! Thanks @davem1111!

@OutdoorEnvy nice catch!!! That seat cleaned up nicely!!! Maybe a worthy entry in the Ugly Seat thread... Enjoy the winter project!

Ya know why the cannibal wouldn't eat the comedian? He was afraid he would taste funny. Here I go again.

I would love to have a blower attachment to my Wheel Horse, but I "get by" with a combination of a cordless blower and a walk-behind blower. Any blower that isn't a hand-held or back pack style isn't going to be able to get the finer, detail work close to the house. Out in the open my walk behind works great and makes quick work of all yard debris. I prefer the walk behind over a backpack style because of the greatly reduced noise and vibration; with having back injuries I don't like carrying extra weight around. One can get quite crazy with blowers like this, there are ride on models as well, but this 1,200 cfm unit works great for me, sips fuel, and is as quiet as any Honda clone. Lastly, I've rented this out a couple times which paid for it and some cold beverages after a few weekends.

I've been running some of those cheap carbs across four machines for a decade now. They work just fine but please disassemble them and clean them out if you haven't already. Every single one of them had a cosmoline/gritty paste inside of them.

Blower housing and static guard ready to install. Blower housing and static guard installed. Top air guide and muffler heat shield installed. Air guide #1 installed on rear cylinder. Dipstick assembly installed into tube seal with a light coat of grease then bolted into place. Air guide #2 ready to be installed on front cylinder. Air guide #2 installed on front cylinder. Thanks again to cseriesdon for this nice straight cover. Engine air guides and guards complete.

Agree E-pumps are the way to. Only negative..do not let them run dry.

Be foolish to do that Alex. no way can one come even close to putting up a structure like that for even close. Ain't that right EB? Still just the vintage look can certainly not be duplicated. My BIL found a old barn and had it dissembled and reassembled on his ranch. Don't know what it cost at the time but most likely less than a new pole type structure. I'll tell you what is popular in WI now is to turn these old barns into venues for weddings and such. @Achto and I attended a wedding in one last summer and it was pretty cool but can't imagine the cash outlay the owner had to suffer to make it that way. Even an elevator for the caterer and handicap.

Never keep track of the money spent on Wheel Horses, it ruins the fun. Even if you enrolled in a remedial math class so the numbers would add up correctly you probably don't want to know. The only mistake bigger than adding up the expenses would be sharing that useless information with your wife.

@dmoore Nice find. I enjoy looking at vintage manuals. Brings you back to a better time. Thanks for sharing with us.

Agreed. Some incredible minds around here.

@Blasterdad I have a saying about old Kohlers: if it has compression, it will definitely run!

That is "Lylla" my '72 Midget.

Could have been on a generator or water pump?

Well, the bottom dropped out on the temperature last night. Got into the low teens. Today's job was to hook the compressor to the lake house plumbing and blow out the lines. I had drained the water heater, surge tank and opened the drain valves I put into the pipes last weekend. Was not expecting any issues, especially since the heat has been set to 50 degrees in that house. How long could this take? Hour, hour and a half tops? Sound like a set up? You bet! I got the compressor hooked up and the only line that cleared was the cold line to the kitchen. Nothing out of any hot water pipes or anything in the bathroom. This is a slab house that was replaumed at some point. All of the pipe runs are in the attic. Apparently, it was cold enough and there was enough wind off of the lake that the attic dropped below freezing - causing something to ice up. Solution - crank the heat up, open the access hatch the attic, and placed an electric space heater in the attic. A couple hours later, things cleared up. Best of all, the plumbing was holding air pressure, so nothing was broken by the freeze.

We replaced our roof shortly after we bought the place kinda required by the bank, even though it didn't leak. It was a very very old standing seam metal roof that was getting rough despite not leaking and it was rusty and needed painting. So little history on the place we bought it from Amish who owned it for about 2 years. Before that it was a rental for probably around 4-6 years. And before that the guy who owned it, his daughter lived in the house I think for a fairly long while. He built a house next door around 1980 that he lived in until about 8-10 years ago. So this guy I met him. He actually has a footprint in some concrete with a date of 1942. His parents bought the property sometime in the 1920's and supposedly the standing seam metal roof was on it then. So the roof was 100 years old when I bought it and I am very inclined to believe it because under the metal roof was wood shingles. I replaced it with another metal roof, but it's a exposed fastener roof. The barn roof looks to be pretty decent, it should be good with some paint.

This is the new Frarny MSATCBS (Mechanical Stability Antilock Traction Control Braking System) that will soon be the required replacement for the one wheel braking system on all Wheel Horse tractors. Patent applied for by Fred Flintstone, designer and Barney Rubble, mechanical engineer. Price installed = $35 Replacement pads = $0.50