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Finally got some seat time on Ole' Rusty. Note the "down pressure" on the blade.

Very fuel efficient and quiet

Winter trail ride. Right now there is ZERO snow, which is okay. This was back some years. The 1986 417-8 goes nice on the trails once it packs down without having to chain up. Kwik-Way weight box is nice to have.

Gentlemen, Today I added a 1976 C-160 to my stable Running my 1968 Charger 12 for the past few years has been great, but l am glad to have “upgraded” for both the gain in HP and hydraulic lift! It came with 75lb wheel weights, tire chains and a blade all for a fair price. Seller had a snowblower for it but I negotiated the deal without it. It runs great, besides a couple leaky hydraulic fittings that I assume either need a new O ring or replacement altogether. Anyway, I unloaded and put the ‘76 straight to work plowing the fresh snowfall we got here in Maryland.

The weather forecasters finally got it right for NE Indiana. Not a ton of snow, but 4" or so made for a great learning experience - first time using my C-120 to plow

I have only done one restoration with that style hood. I believe the correct color is a semigloss, but when I restored my Work Horse I went with gloss because I like ‘em shiny!! On the 400 series tractors I have I can’t honestly tell if it’s semigloss or satin? However the LSE appears to be gloss. I’m not sure if this helps or leaves you more confused 🤔!! Figured I’d throw it some pictures because I know you guys like pictures but it’s hard to tell from them?

Wheelhorse_kid and I started our next project a 854 that we have had here for a while. He got it in a package deal with 5 other tractors and a ton of miscellaneous parts. The previous owner clearly tinkered with it and built a custom tow truck attachment built out of a wheel horse snow plow frame. We knew the engine was stuck so tonight he started taking parts off of it while I made dinner. The mower deck came off and won’t go back on unless we decide to go a different route. Under the head is pretty nasty with tons of rust/dirt on the piston. The cylinder wall at the top is pretty rough. Hopefully we can get it cleaned up and useable. I was impressed with how easily all the bolts came out of the engine clearly the guy had worked on it. Maybe even trying to get un seized. The starter generator was also seized I was able to free it up some what. He discovered that the shifter shifts into all the gears but for some reason the pattern is way to the left it must be bent. It has 5 bolt hubs on it. Was that common on 854’s or did someone swap them? We both like the idea of a tow truck tractor but don’t like how he mounted it. We plan to revamp how it mounts add front weights and maybe doing ag tires all the way around. Everything will be built so that it can come off easy enough if we ever want to put it back to stock. Looking forward to working on this project with him over the winter and into the spring. Hoping we can get it up and running

It wasn't much, maybe 3" but it was the first chance for me to attack it with the reborn 76 B-80 that is now designated the year round blade tractor. I plowed this then came in for a bite to eat. I was waiting for the county to do the road. Even though it was still below freezing the sun hits that asphalt and melts/dries things up quickly. After I ate.

Free... Want more? Cut bottom off and stack... Formerly utilized for dairy products but much cooler on a ...

How's the torque for using implements? Seems a little scant...

Ha, I get all "excited" too when Don posts pics of stuff inside his shop

Yes first model/year for them. Good luck on that top end... sure it will clean up. A little inspiration

It’s been a while since I updated this thread. Jada and I completed her engine swap project!

I was a radioman in the Coast Guard. For four years, that was my language when I was on duty.

@kpinnc You can blame @c-series don , if you read back, HE started it all.

Jacked up back of tractor so a rear wheel can spin free. Started engine and let it warm up. Verified charge voltage at 14.5 with lights on or off. Idle speed is 1200 and full throttle is 3330 RPM so that is good for now. Set motion control eccentric cam sot rear wheel is stationary with foot control in it's automatic self centering position. Did final bolting of motion control rod as it's length is perfect. Set height of foot control pedal by verifying that at full reverse the pedal is just touching the foot rest by adjusting the rod end, Rod end set and locked into position on the foot control. If we get a thaw sometime and there is some driveway showing then I will take it out for a cruise around.

What tractor?

Nice - the 854 is one of my favorites. That engine may clean up OK - in your favor, both valves are shut. Mine had a stuck intake from sitting outside - nowhere that amount of moisture inside, and cleaned up fine. The 854 is a short frame tractor - The mid-frame stretch job on @WHX??'s tractor makes sense to keep the front end down ( but the reach way back to shift looks like it takes a bit to get used to). DO check a few of the common wear items.... How ugly is the 4 speed as far as function and is there water in it??? Mine was a complete rusted solid brick. I swapped in an 8 speed from a 1979 C81 - the low range may just be the ticket for you... More on that later.... A Raider 6 speed is an even easier swap AND has a limited slip differential. Ask @Handy Don. Look at the frame "F" plate where the Unidrive bolts on - it may show signs of cracking at the four 3/8" bolt holes. If so, you need to strip the tractor to the bare frame to gouge, weld & grind it for a quality repair. You do have a cambered front axle - that is a good thing. Ir has a shorter turning radius than the 1961 and 1962 models. ( Think extended cab 4x4 pickup vs. a school bus!!). Check the axle and spindles, along with the pivot for excessive wear - most of those parts can be repaired. Adding weight - put tubes in the front tires, add either Rimgard or winter W/W antifreeze and wheel weights. I made mine from 25 lb barbell weights. Now the bad news - stopping. Once you have the mass of two tractors moving, you need to be able to stop it too. The 6 or 8 speed low range helps with that .

The one guy I work with is obsessed with these things. He has those two and the whole M12 line up. I do like the 90* 1/2 impact M12 unit. I use it a lot more than he does.

We have a 2019 Cherokee that we bought used with around 37,000 miles on it. Was a rental car. All in all, we are happy with it. It just turned up 88,000 miles. It is a 4 cylinder Active Air engine with an 8 speed automatic. Yes, it is shy on horsepower. You need to anticipate and keep the revs up when you need more power. It gets around 20mpg around town and about 30mpg on the highway. I've had to replace the battery and there was a low speed noise/vibration that was solved by replacing one of the drive shafts. The drive shaft was covered mostly covered by warranty - my part of the bill was $200. It is not for hard core off roading. With the Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice tires I got for winter use, it has been the best winter vehicle we've owned. Yes, the CJ's we've owned were more capable off road and in the snow, the Cherokee is a much more comfortable vehicle. 99% of the time, it is driven on road. It will occasionally see a short distance of a fire road or out in a field. There is a computer between you and the vehicle, so you have to get used to the resulting electronic quirks. Ours is the Latitude trim level. Nicely optioned and appointed - I wish that it had a hard point front and back to attach a tow strap, though. We traded in a Caravan on the Jeep. Noticed the much smaller cargo volume right away. One other bit of trivia - I was the tooling enginger on the dies for the base steel wheel. The company I worked for was acquired by a Brazilian company at ste same time I was working on those dies. The new company had a more centralized tool engineering than the previous company. We ran into an issue where the metal was thinning in a small area, creating a visual defect. I told my boss how I wanted to fix it, but the corporate tooling group (in Brazil) did not think what I wanted to do would fix the issue. Quite a lengthy discussion in a conference call. My boss settled the matter saying that since I was on site, we would try my fix first. If it worked, the corporate engineers would bring beer from Brazil next time they visited. If my fix didn't work, I would take beer to Brazil on my next trip. That beer from Brazil was pretty tasty.

Celebrated Mrs Ks mothers birthday.

Who wants to guess what these are? Keep the responses PG please... Today I was going to mount my new Deestones on my 520 wheels. Apparently the PO used slime in one wheel, and it was a terrible mess. The slime had been in there long enough to harden, and those little balls were all in the tire. I found no damage to the wheel, and no rust. That being said the tire had begun to delaminate inside. Other than some checking outside, it was ok. Not sure if the slime broke down the tire or not, but it certainly looked that way. Took a while to clean that wheel up, but those Deestones are the hardest tire to mount up I've ever attempted. I finally gave up and will take them to a tire shop. I've mounted more tires than I can remember, and these were horrible. Maybe it's the cooler temps combined with thicker ply, but it simply would not go on the wheel.

Well we have officially resolved the issue. It was the belt width. New TSC belt functions perfect. It measured in at .620" wide. Perfect 5/8" would be .625 and it was close enough to work fine. I put in some clearance comparisons with the old belt below. Much better looking already! I measured the closest clearance to the bottom of the shifter plate for reference on clearance. First is the V-Belt Guys one that was too wide at .70" It was 2.3" from the shifter plate The TSC Belt measured 1.8" from the shifter plate. It probably had 3-4 inches more travel than the other belt. It functioned just fine over about 20 mins of driving. Thanks for everyone's help and input! This really makes keeping these rigs going much easier with the support of fellow members!

Here I saw the title and thought we was gonna learn some new French

These Imperial Eastman tubing tools have served me well for many years. Probably time to give them to son Mike. This little IMP cutter has come in handy many times.

I want to get on that list as well!! Already having a 417-A, 418-C, 418-8, and 420-LSE I just need Jim’s 417-8 and his 418-A to complete my collection of that era 400 series!! Just realized Eric wants the weight box! He can have that, I just want the tractor.

You have me really confused now. Still have one eye on the black mask and the other on that poster. Thanks Don. I'm not sure which is correct. I have done both semi and gloss. Also Satin. And yet, still confused.

I see you are also a member of the crooked front wheel club. We should have a dozen members in no time. @kpinnc Thank You for your membership and we look forward to working with you.

I have only 20v Dewalt. I have the 1/2 inch impact, 1/4 inch impact, their battery powered drill, the mini battery powered skillsaw, the 5” palm sander, and the mid duty weed wacker. all are the most recent 20v iterations. I do like them, use them a ton, and have no issues with them. The impacts work good on lug bolts/nuts and body bolts, or stubborn bolts overall. It definitely speeds the teardown/rebuild/attach/detach process up on projects like the tractors having the impacts. The fact the batteries interchange is a definite plus for doing multiple things at once. You do need to have the bigger batteries on the 1/2 inch impact as you might get two uses out of the small ones used on the drill/1/4 impact.

Fundamental law of tools - more tools is more better

8 5 7 looking for more snow.

I'll be in the market for a 3/4 impact soon. It's a PITA to fire up the compressor for a 5 min. job. as a matter of fact, I might start liquidating some of my air tools in favor of battery.

It did look like the profanity filter kicked in…😁

I enjoyed my seat time on Monday. And again this morning there was 1-1/2". In reference to downward pressure, I've never had a need for it, nor do I see a reason for it. It's snow. It's not like you are grading stones or dirt. It just looks to me like you are putting excessive wear on the blade. If you can elaborate, I'd appreciate it.

Given how badly destroyed that is I'd be looking for a whole transmission. What exactly caused this?

Then you have that cute dog with the tongue hanging out @c-series don knowing full well that pic has been hanging there for years. Doesn't get much better .

I have Makita 18 volt 3/8” and 1/2” impact wrenches. I use the 3/8 the most. I have the adapter to use screw drive bits. if the 1/2 won’t break a bolt or nut loose, i get my ir pneumatic impact out.

Todays title...or lack of had me baffled.

The one I borrow from Devin all the time is great. It's the second one from the left on the title card of the video @WildHorses posted. It's great for torque converters because it's small enough to fit in the stupidly small spaces they give us to work on them, but it has the nuts to spin those nuts.

It's either the camera or my crooked eyes, but I swear it doesn't look that way in person. But I proudly accept membership!

We always do. My Ford was built from the ground up around 2000 or so. Brake and fuel lines were new then so they're in excellent condition. However... I will need new fuel lines when I change the engine over from a single barrel carb to a 4 barrel. Aannddd...... while we're talking about loooong term projects.... I'll need the bender and cutter for Colossus too. That'll have a copper oil guage line and a steel fuel line.

Take back that M18 3/8" impact and buy the M12 Gen 3 Stubby, much more power and smaller package. I'd go with a High Torque and Mid Torque M18 and everything else M12 (Fuel in all). Watch their ( homedepot.com ) website for the "deals of the day" when tools are featured and you can get them on sale and with free batteries or other tools very often. Also follow Tool Boss on youtube, he lets you know when there are "Thermonuclear Deals" as he likes to call them, typically those are like cheapest price it's gonna get ever kinda deals. Also checkout the "Torque Test Channel" on youtube as they do comparisons of all impacts, they have a score that factors in performance and price to show you what is the best deal for the power/size/etc.

I use mine on wheels all the time. Lugs or not, makes life alot easier!

Definitely, I am a fan of diablo blades I have one on my miter, table saw, and a corded circular saw I have, used them to build the kitchen cabinets, even bought a $130 diablo router bit for the shaker door stiles. I will use this Milwaukee blade on it hopefully until I am done with the barn, might need replaced after that. It drives me nuts when people use saws all the time, have have no idea what blades do what. Maybe the most they know is less teeth for rougher work, and more teeth for finer work. No clue of ripping blades, cross cut blades, combination blades, thin kerf, dado blades, flat grind, alternative top bevel, and then you have the more speciality laminate blades.

Front side Friday ?