Achto 27,587 #1 Posted January 1, 2023 Winter has set in, the holidays are over, time for me to get to work on this years rehabilitation. I've posted a few of the repairs that I have done already on a few other threads but I'll post the pics here as well to keep a good record of this resto. Ground Zero. I acquired this tractor from @PeacemakerJack a few years ago and put it on moth balls until a few weeks ago. When I tried to start it the results were less than satisfactory. Fact I thought that the engine was locked up. After I removed the belt from the starter/gen I found that the engine turned over just fine. The S/G was actually locked up tight. This is what I found when I opened the S/G. After some soaking I was able to get the rotor out of the S/G. While I was waiting for the parts to show up for the S/G I moved on to trying to get the engine running. First step rebuild the carb. After the carb was rebuilt I hooked up an IV bottle and pull started the engine with a rope. Took the tractor for a drive & a quick shake down. Engine runs well but does smoke a quite a bit. Transmission works well in all gears. Steering is sloppy. Received the parts I needed for the S/G. After a proper clean up it was coated on the inside with with a self etching primer to keep it from rusting again. Outside. Of the S/G received a couple coats of self etching primer followed by a few coats of gloss black. 3 18 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,902 #2 Posted January 1, 2023 I recall gazing out @PeacemakerJack’s guest bedroom basement window at this machine. Never thought to ask about it, but was excited to hear who ended up with it a few years back! Looking forward to the rehabilitation process! 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330 #3 Posted January 1, 2023 Very nice! Gonna like to see the progress. I have a few parts here if you are in need. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,260 #4 Posted January 1, 2023 36 minutes ago, Achto said: Took the tractor for a drive & a quick shake down. I too will be watching your progress. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #6 Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) I was missing the dash panel for this tractor. Luckily @WHX?? had one that I could use to get the measurements to make a new one. Old next to new. Moved on to some known challenging things to accomplish. First the steering wheel. The wheel that was on the tractor was the wrong one plus it was a POS any way. It ended up being completely junk after I had to split the hub in order to get it removed from the steering column. Challenge #2, remove the hitch pin. Surprisingly it tapped out with little effort. Bad news is that the right hand tranny case is damaged where the hitch pin goes through. Good news, Jim had a tranny that I can rob the right hand case from. Challenge #3, remove the hubs. The right hand hub was an extreme challenge. I had been soaking the hubs with Sea Foam Deep Creep for the last couple weeks. I installed a puller and rattled the pusher bolt in with an impact until it stopped. Then I switched to a 4ft breaker bar and used a 5ft crow bar to hold the hub from spinning. After giving it all I had and pounding on the outside of the hub with a big hammer I had no movement. I decided to leave the pressure on the hub and soak it with more Deep Creep. I walked away to leave it sit over night in this state, so it could think about how much trouble it was causing me. This morning I went back to work on the hub. A little movement from the breaker bar, more pounding, little more movement on the breaker bar, more pounding, etc until finally a BANG. Woo Hoo on our way. Kind of. This little bit of movement on the breaker bar and pounding method continued every inch of the way, but I finally won. The right hand hub & axle look in very good shape. I was able to rattle the left hand hub off with an impact wrench but the axle & hub do not look as good as the right hand side. Some one tightened down the set screw but never installed a key. Should be salvageable though. Awesome repair on the ball joint for the drag link. When a PO installed the boat seat, they hammered the rear lip behind the seat down flat to fit the seat. In this pic I started to try to coax it back into the correct shape. Got it back into shape after slowly massaging it back into shape with a hammer & dolly. With some of the more challenging things out of the way it was time to move on to some disassembly. Glad to see that the serial number is still in place. After some more tear down it will be time to get things cleaned up and time to get some new parts coming. Let the $$$'s fly. Edited January 2, 2023 by Achto 3 15 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonytoro416 1,034 #7 Posted January 2, 2023 Can I ask where you got the puller or did you make this one? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,318 #8 Posted January 2, 2023 Nice work! Keeping it stock? Or going custom? 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #9 Posted January 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Tonytoro416 said: Can I ask where you got the puller or did you make this one? Made this one myself. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #10 Posted January 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Sparky said: Keeping it stock? Or going custom? Staying stock with this one. 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeremi3210 717 #11 Posted January 2, 2023 Gotta love the 953's gonna make it a plow boss or just a ride around. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #12 Posted January 2, 2023 12 hours ago, jeremi3210 said: Gotta love the 953's gonna make it a plow boss or just a ride around. All the above. 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,534 #13 Posted January 2, 2023 Nice work so far Sir! 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #14 Posted January 2, 2023 Todays progress report. Tractor torn down to the bare bones. Man there is a lot of tractor left after you tear one of these down. I'm used to there being nothing left but an angle iron frame. A PO must have gotten a new drill and a set of bits for Christmas or some thing. This tractor was littered with unnecessary holes. Some time spent with a welder and a grinder, all the extra holes are closed up. Now I'm trying to decide which hood to use. I have one that is pretty solid other than the hole in the top which would be an easy fix. Problem is that it has had some bad history and fits like a saddle on a sow. The other hood fits well but every mounting hole is busted out, not as easy to repair. 6 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,260 #15 Posted January 3, 2023 Since we are in the midst of epiphany I would go with the holey hood. Bad joke, hope God doesn't strike me dead! The bolts should pull it into shape for you. 3 1 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #16 Posted January 9, 2023 (edited) Moving along on this project. Welded up the one corner that was bad on the hood. Patched the hole that a PO had cut for I'm assuming an exhaust stack. Then after many taps with a hammer & dolly I was able to get the hood to fit on the tractor like it should. Pulled the head off to find a nice surprise. Everything was super clean with a puddle of oil on top of the piston. Not a good thing.. The cylinder walls are polished to a chrome like finish and there is a nice ridge at the top. Knowing what needed to be done I proceeded to tear the engine down for rebuilding. After measuring it looks like .020 over on the cylinder and a stock rod should set things back in order. In the back ground of this pic you can also see that I was able to get some blasting done as well. Edited January 9, 2023 by Achto 6 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,508 #17 Posted January 10, 2023 Nice progress. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330 #18 Posted January 11, 2023 Going all out. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #19 Posted January 11, 2023 9 hours ago, stevebo said: Going all out. Unfortunately it's at the point of needing to go all out. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 11,368 #20 Posted January 11, 2023 I'm sure it's going to come out great, Dan 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,821 #21 Posted January 11, 2023 On 1/8/2023 at 6:44 PM, Achto said: and a stock rod Wouldn't a new stock rod be a bad idea if the crank big end is worn/out of round? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #22 Posted January 11, 2023 (edited) 24 minutes ago, WHX?? said: Wouldn't a new stock rod be a bad idea if the crank big end is worn/out of round? Crank measures out within specs. I took measurements at 12 different spots & it is only .0003" out of round. Tolerance for out of round according to the manual is .0005" so a stock rod should be good. Edited January 11, 2023 by Achto 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #23 Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) Been busy with other BS the last couple of weekends but I have made some progress. New paint & bearing for the idle pulley. The body work is done on the hood. Ready for primer & paint. A pail full of sand blasted parts. A few parts received some silver paint. I have come across one dilemma. This tractor has replaceable tie rod ends but I'm having a hard time finding the correct replacements. The existing tie rod ends have 1/2-20 internal threads with a 3/8-24 male stud. The only ones that I can find that are close have a 7/16 - 20 male stud. If anyone has a source for the correct ones I would appreciate the info. Edited January 24, 2023 by Achto 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horseoholic 169 #24 Posted January 24, 2023 Would these work ? #2710 / #9097 Ball Joint Replacement for Drag Link GT 14 / 953 / 1054 Wheel Horse - Wheel Horse Parts and More 1 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,587 #25 Posted January 24, 2023 9 minutes ago, Horseoholic said: Would these work ? Perfect!! Thanks! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
