cleat 5,973 #1 Posted July 7 Tractor just home. Engine as received. Tractor de-greased and washed. Wire harness as received that was heavily butchered and modifies with a toggle switch for on.off and a push button start. Ignition coil was dead when I got it and I assume they may have put +12V to it. Wire harness rebuilt and a new ignition coil installed. Tractor cleaned up and running. I will run the old gas out of it and put in fresh fuel before adjusting the carb. Steering block was worn so new bushings installed there and on upper steering shaft. Clutch idler was repacked with grease and now runs quiet and smooth. PTO ball bearing and grease seal replaced. PTO needle bearing greased. Proper PTO pin installed. New roll pin installed into shifter as a loose fitting straight pin had been installed by PO and shifter was very loose. Shifts great now. 6 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #2 Posted July 7 Later model steering wheel installed. Mainly because I will use the original wheel on my GT1600 project. Fuel cap without gauge installed because the original one was missing the clear cover and would let dirt and water in. Good used hitch installed to replace very bent one that tractor came with. 11 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #3 Posted July 7 42" deck torn down for repair. This much crud was removed. I guess PO was not big on cleaning. Deck is not too rusty but has lots of cracks. This is where the height adjust quadrant bolts on. Both end of the baffle are cracked off. There are more cracks where brackets attach as well. Here are some pics of it apart. Lucky for me, the pulleys all just lifted off and spindle bearings are all good. Idler is like new. idler tension bar is heavily worn but I have a good used one here for it. Looks like deck wheels are both new. It was missing the rear rollers but I have lots of those. Deck is cleaned up and ready for welding. A good friend of mine will do that for me. 9 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moparfanforever 844 #4 Posted July 7 Nice ride!! Good to see the lengths you go to on your tractors fixing them. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #5 Posted July 7 I bought this one for parts but it is too good for that so it is getting added to the herd. It is going to be kept as a survivor as opposed to getting a full on restoration. Everything will be brought up to snuff, mostly is right now. Tractor runs and drives great. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee1977 6,659 #6 Posted July 7 Typical cracked and rusted area on a 42" side discharge deck. The one that with my 520 the area under the height adjuster was completely gone.. They should have added a reinforcing plate under the height adjuster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 8,627 #7 Posted July 7 @cleat nice pick up on that , would take advantage of that deck break down , and do a spindle re / grease , those bearings are easily to remove seals , clean out and 550 flash point grease for silent running , also do the idler pulleys , know you have plans for every detail , pete 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 12,028 #8 Posted July 7 2 hours ago, cleat said: I bought this one for parts but it is too good for that so it is getting added to the herd. It is going to be kept as a survivor as opposed to getting a full on restoration. Looks great from here! ...As your work always does! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bds1984 1,429 #9 Posted July 7 6 hours ago, cleat said: It is going to be kept as a survivor as opposed to getting a full on restoration. Maybe we should all put in a bet to see if that will be so. You do excellent work and I am not so sure you'll want to not restore this rig. I swear the 312-8 is the MOST common wheel horse there is. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,496 #10 Posted July 8 5 hours ago, kpinnc said: Looks great from here! ...As your work always does! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 25,557 #11 Posted July 8 Always great to see your well done and well documented work!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Retired Wrencher 5,455 #12 Posted July 8 Cleat. Well done. Looks like you brought it back to original. Enjoy the ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OutdoorEnvy 1,522 #13 Posted July 8 Great save! Good on you for getting it back to original function with the wiring. That can be the most annoying part. Looking forward to seeing it in action after the deck is done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #14 Posted July 12 Tractor buffed and waxed. Hubcaps also cleaned and waxed. They are in almost perfect condition. I made up tie rods mainly because the originals are non adjustable and steering wheel was slightly crooked (Damn OCD). Engine tins straightened and cleaned. Tractor runs and drives very good, just needs a slight carb adjust once I run out the old gas and get some new non-ethanol high test in it (I finally found a station that has gas that I tested to be non ethanol). 2 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,496 #15 Posted July 12 8 hours ago, cleat said: made up tie rods mainly because the originals are non adjustable and steering wheel was slightly crooked (Damn OCD). Not a thing wrong with being very particular about the way you do things. Excellent touch. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,225 #16 Posted July 13 11 hours ago, cleat said: steering wheel was slightly crooked The 300’s I’ve touched both needed alignment help. The worst one felt like I was trying to turn a big vehicle that lacked power steering. Turned out the steering arm on one spindle was bent. On the other, ordinary wear was causing it to wander it bit. When set with only a very slight toe-in, they are a LOT easier to steer and adjustable tie rods are the bomb! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #17 Posted July 13 I give all of my wheel horses about 1/8" toe in. I measure by placing a straight edge on jack stands to the height of the center of the front hubs up to the sides of the front wheels. I then measure just ahead and directly behind the front tire from side to side. Therefor my 1/8" toe in is from front to back of the tire as opposed to the wheel but that seems to give me good handling and reasonably good return to center. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,750 #18 Posted July 13 12 hours ago, cleat said: (I finally found a station that has gas that I tested to be non ethanol). How are you testing it. I buy mine at a station that has a dedicated hose on a common pump. I’ve always wondered if there’s other shared piping that’s diluting my ethanol free purchase. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #19 Posted July 13 (edited) I do the water test. Here is one you can buy. https://www.amazon.ca/Super-Tester-Flex-Fuel-Ethanol/dp/B073HLSVHX/ref=asc_df_B073HLSVHX/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293020548866&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12504774167050051998&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9104757&hvtargid=pla-568587015246&psc=1&mcid=25b1728df5af343582f9b9bc6eea6cae I copied it and made my own. No dedicated hoses here so I pump a bit into the truck first to flush the hose before filling the gas cans. Edited July 13 by cleat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee1977 6,659 #20 Posted July 13 If ethanol gas was pumped before you will get about a gallon with the change over to nonethanol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,496 #21 Posted July 13 14 minutes ago, Lee1977 said: If ethanol gas was pumped before you will get about a gallon with the change over to nonethanol. I asked techs up here. It can be up to 2 gallons depending on the pump set up. In my area we have a mix of stations with dedicated hoses or not. I make SURE to have 5 gallons or more put in my car before filling the non ethanol cans. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,973 #22 Posted July 13 When I test the gas in my cans it shows zero ethanol when I get gas at the Mobil in town so I guess I flushed enough out of the hose. My truck holds 136 litres of fuel so plenty of room to flush the hose. The truck is flex fuel compatible so some ethanol won't hurt it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,739 #23 Posted July 13 Guess I am lucky my local station (6 miles) has a dedicated HiTest non ethanol pump... and they pump it for me... 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,225 #24 Posted July 13 (edited) 2 minutes ago, pfrederi said: Guess I am lucky Doubly lucky -- station close by AND “full service” on dedicated pump! Edited July 13 by Handy Don Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee1977 6,659 #25 Posted July 13 (edited) On 7/12/2024 at 10:11 AM, cleat said: Tractor buffed and waxed. Hubcaps also cleaned and waxed. They are in almost perfect condition. I made up tie rods mainly because the originals are non adjustable and steering wheel was slightly crooked (Damn OCD). Engine tins straightened and cleaned. Tractor runs and drives very good, just needs a slight carb adjust once I run out the old gas and get some new non-ethanol high test in it (I finally found a station that has gas that I tested to be non ethanol). The only Wheel Horse that I bought that had that much paint still on it was my 1977 C-120, and I bought it new. Edited July 13 by Lee1977 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
