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A couple of my faves. A 30 footer coming in hot, hit the trailer perfect. But, the coupler wasn't latched and the trailer tongue lifted off the ball and punched a hole in the new F-250s tail gate. A 24 footer came i with the anchor dangling on 4 feet of line off the pulpit roller. Yep, it hit the winch stand and punched a hole in the bow. A guy backed his cruiser in with his wife at the helm. He yelled back it off. Nothing. He kept screaming..give it more gas. She did and the boat and trailer swung 90 degrees to the truck. The transom straps were still on.

I worked at a local marina when I was in middle school during summer break. I collected $5 (shows how old I am at that price!) ramp fee & had to verify passes on the prepaid unlimited customers. It was always great entertainment. Saw plenty of tow vehicles end up in the river, bumper damage from jack knifing trailer, etc. Working there & moving boats/trailers around I had mastered my trailer skills long before I had a drivers license.

My only suggestion is to stay above 5 feet on the width. My trailer is 5x10, so nothing with a 60 inch deck will fit on it. Smaller round hoods will fit side by side, but only one if something like a C series or classic. I have transported two tractors but only by turning one sideways and wedging it between the rails. No fun getting it out… I wish my trailer was at least 6x12. I could trade up, but it’s hard to find another with a solid steel floor as I have now. It was home built and is much heavier built than trailers in its size range.

I have found several of the lower bearing blocks for the reduction steering assembly cracked. Here is one that I have here that is cracked. If the block is worn and you try and drill it for a bushing it also usually cracks so I decided to make my own. I went and bought a short length of 1"x1.5" flat bar (over $20 for that, I guess steel prices must be up). Marked bar then cut off. I then drilled the blanks for the 3/4"x 7/8" bushings that will be installed. Then the holes were drilled for the mounting bolts and grease fitting. Bearing block bolted to steering block for test fit. I now need to order the bushings then I can finish these.

It can be like going crazy in a silo without a corner to poop in figuring out all the different trailering in different states. My size is 6x10 or 12. Not too big not too small. 10 by can easily get 4 short frames on ... 12 by 4 long frames on. Just right for hauling a single mowing tractor down the road or those quick midnight scores ... All gets back to Richard's post on what will you be using it for. Not a fan of renting... not around when you need it.

Something to behold at the public Boat Ramp, for sure. If I go fishing with my SIL & Grandsons and there anything cold left to drink, we humor ourselves watching the actions (antics??) of other guys launching or loading. Some folks got it, some never will.....

Growing up, my dad was always bringing home injured birds he found at work. The ones that stand out in memory were a hawk, an owl, and a great blue heron. I always knew he was a bit crazy, but catching either of those with his bare hands probably could have been entertaining to say the least. He always had contacts that did animal rescue and recovery, but he liked to show them off first. You just never knew what he had in the trunk of the car when he came home!

Hello from Norway. Do you guys know or think it’s possible to use this on my C-161? Is the Kohler k341 strong enough? I can’t find a sweeper to my wheel horse here in Norway so therefore I’m thinking of modifying one to fit.

Yea, you used to be able to title what they call a "special construction" trailer, but now if it didn't come from the factory with a title you can forget getting one. If it's on the road it needs a title and tags minus log splitters and things like that.

Old drained lower unit outboard oil also works well. I use that to coat all the ungalvanized parts on my salt water boat trailers... springs, shackles, etc.

Blocks bead blasted.

Power should not be an issue. i run my sweepster on a C-175 with tired KT17 that has over 2000 hours on it. (came from a JD 317) That the Husqvarna is also run by a horizontal shaft engine should make adaptation some what simpler. You just need to design a frame that would use the front and mid tachmatic. One thing mounting an de-mounting my unit is a bear. I never take it off. Tractor sits most the year. maybe an hour or two use per year so even tired old KT should outlast me. If you want I can take some better pictures of the mounting frame as hooked up....I am not taking it off to take pics.. I am too old to wrestle with it again..

He might have alligator in him… waiting at the water for supper to come for a drink…

@John2189 Thanks for the info this helps.

Good point. I sometimes forget plenty of people drive cars. My wife and I both have pickups so a trailer isn’t usually an issue. My truck is the smaller of the two (Tacoma V6), but still has no problem with 6000+lbs. I also have a trailer brake controller that is very helpful when it’s time to stop. The best trailer I ever pulled with my truck was a 7x14 Hudson with electric brakes. It was wide enough to see down both sides in the side mirrors, and handled very well.

@BillD One suggestion I will make when it comes to trailer construction, buying or building. Trailers that use a steel tube construction, these may seem like a good strong construction and they are. Here is the issue with them - There is no way to properly paint the inside of the tubing. They collect moisture through condensation, rain, etc. This causes them to rust from the inside out, so you often don't notice that it is happening until your frame breaks. How do I know this?? I had a flat bed utility trailer that used square tubing for the main frame construction. One day the frame broke right in front of one the spring shackles. A few taps on the out side with a pick hammer proved that the rest of the frame was not in sound shape either. I have also seen this issue multiple times with boat trailers that use a tube construction. The trailer that I built is made with 3" C-channel that has a 5/16" wall, all of the angle iron has 1/4" wall, and the tubing and angle for the tongue has 5/16" walls. Over kill??? Maybe, and it does weight 900lbs empty but I have no worries when it comes to frame failure.

I took a screenshot of this sometime ago. No clue who posted it. Hope this helps

That is old used motor oil. I'll let is soak and dry in the sun for a few days before storage.

It will be “clutching” whatever seat he decides to add on that machine!

I know it's not the original discussion but I'd also like to add that replacing the cylinder head BOLTS probably does not get done often enough. None of the engines I've been into are less than 30 or 40 years old and I've started replacing the cylinder head bolts and washers on every single one of them.

This one is all mower, no kart involved. LOL. Not a Wheel Horse but the next will be

Impressive, How are you collecting it from the bar?

I've wondered the same thing. I've run it by friends that are technicians. I can't speak for the specific Sciences behind it. Hopefully somebody with a better understanding than me will pipe up. I've had discussions in both directions of yes it's always necessary or no you never need to do it. My thought process is, too many to similar materials for my comfort level are in play so I'm always going to retorque a cylinder head. In the case of a big block Kohler. The block is cast. The head bolts are steel. The cylinder head of course is aluminum. Some serious differences in the rates of expansion and contraction there. I've had the cylinder head off of maybe a dozen engines? I was probably two or three deep into that when I learned that they needed to be rechecked. When I go back and tighten up 10 bolts, one to three of them will move.

Yep, I've watched some funny, some sad and some scary scenes on the ramps.

That's one smart hawk.

Your C-120 auto is roughly 50+ years old. Inasmuch as you are replacing the Parking Pawl, I'd urge you ---if not already done so--- to pull the hydro pump AND the hyd motor for inspection. There are many internal SOFT brass parts that are very like scored over the years from the STEEL shavings of the worn-down parking pawl. The first sign of internal damage is: AFter warmup, does the tractor seem to lose power? If so, the only cure is to restore the surfaces of these internal brass parts. This is not a difficult endeavor and gaskets kits are available for this Sundstrand Model 90-1136. I have personally refurbished a dozen or more of this very model and have prepared a 'how-to' file to guide the process. It is a free download... here it is: SUNDSTRAND-Piston-Piston-PUMP-MOTOR-Refurb.pdf

They also sit there for a prey to run out to consume what humans throw out of vehicles… then the bird of prey gets hit… Another good reason not to litter…

We have a lot of pasture land around us. I enjoy when hay is cut, because the red tailed hawks show up in droves. For them it’s a field mice and rabbit buffet!

Depending on your tow vehicle, load capacity, total weight, and brakes also are a factor. I have had one round hood and one 312-H with a deck together on my un-braked 5x8. It was VERY tight and approaching the max capacity.

My home made trailer I built in Florida only required an annual registration, no inspection, no title, not even a VIN. ( all about the $$$$) When I moved to NC and wanted to register it I was assigned a North Carolina VIN number which I was to stamp into the trailer tongue and some paperwork that needed to be signed by a NC Highway Patrolman. My little rural county doesn't have a NCHP station so I asked how this was to be done. I was told to tow the trailer around until I saw a NCHP car and flag them down. Spoke to a local policeman and he said just park it near the county courthouse any Monday since several NCHP officers would be there as trial witnesses. Sure enough, the first one I asked looked at the paperwork, asked if the NCVIN was on the tongue, I responded yes and he signed the paperwork without ever seeing the trailer. Got the title and lifetime registration for less than one year's FL registration.

I bought an all aluminum 5.5'x11' trailer to replace my home made 4'x8' trailer. Wheel Horses fit on better. Rear gate comes apart if you don't want it sticking up in the wind when hauling empty.

PTO pivot plate ready to assemble. PTO pivot plate assembled.

I gave $500 for my 520Xi with a 48” deck. It runs great and cut a little crooked. Something less than 600 hours. I do believe the $650 is a little rich, needing head gasket work. Who knows what will be found once it’s opened up, with oil and coolant having the ability to mix.

@JoeM @shallowwatersailor are pretty well versed with Xi series machines. Maybe they could chime in? perfect, you can bring the left overs next year!

Yes, the price for steel is going up... let's see what next year brings....

@Cee245 I’m reaching here, as I’m not sure if the xi models continued the practice of the Classic series machines or not- using common parts between different models. Point being- many parts are plug and play between a 300/400/500 series tractors. Even between manual or hydro transmission equipped machines. I said all that to say this: many “upgrades” or OE modifications between the classic and even older tractors are fairly easy because what fits one machine will fit most. I would think in the least that parts of similar year model would interchange. The big question in my mind would be how many parts you would need to change out.

I use a 6.5'X14' that I can get all my buckets or 4 tractors on.

After it was brought up this morning I remember reading that the 1965 model year was the only year to have a big block and a short frame. 1045 and 1055

I clicked on the excellent horse head in response to your post but I’m not sure that’s adequate to acknowledge what a great post you made. This is fantastic! Hopefully that takes care of Marv’s problem! Seems unlikely very many would diagnose such a scenario. Excellent. Steve

I used to work with a guy from chicarrgo. He was like that.

As a Mainer as well like @ebinmaine there are other interesting words/phrases too like “the back 40” “stove up”” and wicked cool etc…

Saw this and thought of you Eric.

Been a bit since I last posted about the 875. Rebuilt the carb, got the nasty red paint off of the Genny and regulator, rewired, moved solenoid so it doesn't start a fire when the rock shaft is lifted. New fuel shut off and lines. New battery and throttle cables and replaced the rotted battery box. Still have to tidy up the wires and decide what exhaust to run. Once the engine is running I'll have to make some hood and seat pan bushings and install the PTO parts.

Motion control plate ready to install. Motion control plate installed.

Hydraulic fitting ready to be installed with new O ring. Hydraulic fitting installed into rear end and lightly snugged.

I think it was time to do something about this leaking lift actuator! I have a spare that I rebuilt last spring, so it was a pretty easy swap. I guess some paint and step tread should be next, but this is one of my busiest tractors. WH Hyd Lift Actuator.mp4

Spent a couple hours deliberating and experimenting on the hitch pin for @Maz91 's 1971 8 speed. It would move... just a hair... either way. I set the penetrating oil to it and got out some tools. I've read multiple times about drilling out the center and driving the punch through to the opposite side. I used a hand file to remove the bunched up end of the pin from some previous owner attempts at movement. Set a center punch hole and commenced to drilling. I tried a few different bits and a few different holding techniques. Eventually I won. Here's me in drilling motion with the chickens checking in on me.