312-8 quick cleanup not a restoration

[cleat 5,957]

Forgot to quote

Edited July 13 by cleat

[cleat 5,957]

4 hours ago, Lee1977 said:

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. 

I bought this machine for parts but it is way to good to part out.

I believe it is another member of the herd now.

I don't think this one is getting a total rebuild either as it really doesn't need it.

A bonus for me is the maroon decals as that is what I change mine all to during a rebuild so it will fit right in.

[cleat 5,957]

Put in some fresh gas, did quick carb clean and adjust.

Running very smooth now.

Put in the storage building (stable) with his buddies.

 

520HC is hiding under the green tarp.

GT1600 is in pieces in the shop.

All others shown.

 

[cleat 5,957]

Deck has been welded up, welds ground smooth then sanded.

Bottom painted with high temp black because it seems slightly more durable.

 

Topside primered (I missed a bit because I ran out of primer, there was just a little left in the can), then painted.

 

I am starting to get the hang of the spray gun.

 

 

Edited September 12 by cleat

[cleat 5,957]

Started deck assembly.

Spindles have already been rebuilt with new bearings as required then greased, and threads cleaned up on both ends.

Sharpened and balanced blades installed with never seize on the threads.

Spindles bolted into deck housing with never seize on the bolts.

 

Front bracket, shaft, and leveler installed.

 

Rear brackets, wheel support, rear rollers, and quadrant installed.

Rear brackets are not tight to allow for alignment when the rest of the deck hardware is installed.

 

I made up a little reinforcement plate for the quadrant to help prevent it from cracking again.

 

Belt tension assembly installed minus spring as I just painted it.

 

Front rollers installed.

 

Wheels installed.

 

I am at a standstill right now as I just painted the pulleys and tension spring so they will require a day or two to dry.

 

 

 

Edited September 18 by cleat

[tunahead72 2,412]

19 minutes ago, cleat said:

 

... I made up a little reinforcement plate for the quadrant to help prevent it from cracking again...

 

 

...

 

 

Nice touch. 

 

[cleat 5,957]

Belt tension spring installed.

 

Pulleys need more time for paint to dry.

 

[drodg33 101]

That deck looks very good.  Great job.   

[ebinmaine 67,486]

6 hours ago, drodg33 said:

That deck looks very good.  Great job.   

[Brockport Bill 1,662]

that's great work doing deck rescue !!!!!!!!!!!!!

To me doing a rescue of a wh mower deck is very gratifying mostly because its so unfortunate to see the way many were poorly maintained or left in weather so they either rot underneath from grass or the top from rain soak -- here are a couple my grandson and I have done 37, 42s, 48s -- and although a few we used a 90 degree angle grinder to sand with a sponge disc to remove rust, I have found the $ investment to have professionally sand blasted produces the best result to then prime and paint.

[cleat 5,957]

Coated spindle shaft and threads with never seize. Blade nut threads were never seized as well.

 

Loosely installed all 3 pulleys then impact tightened nuts.

 

Belt installed. This belt is worn but will work for now.

 

Belt covers installed. I did not paint these as they are in pretty good shape.

 

Draft bars and hitch installed.

 

Leveler cotter pins installed then rear brackets tightened.

 

Leveler rod assembly installed and nut ran half way up threads for initial adjustment.

 

Rubber bumpers installed.

 

 

[cleat 5,957]

Mule drive pulleys have been greased.

It has not been painted but will work great.

 

I will bring a tractor to the shop and mount deck to verify proper tractor to deck belt and to run the deck and see how it sounds.

At this point I will not cut grass with it to keep it clean until I decide what I am doing with it (I have 4 other decks).

 

[cleat 5,957]

Deck installed with correct belt.

Runs nice and quiet as expected.

 

[pfrederi 17,739]

Too nice to mow with...

[kthomas62 44]

Amazing work! Inspiration for us all!!
Kevin

[MainelyWheelhorse 440]

On 9/18/2024 at 2:07 PM, cleat said:

Deck installed with correct belt.

Runs nice and quiet as expected.

@cleat Nice work! 

[manahale 43]

Great Restoration. I see you are up by the Common Ground Fair. Almost made it this weekend but my wife wasn't feeling well, so I'm working on my 312-8.  I like the idea of using never-seize wherever I can. I wish the original owner of mine had done that. I cannot get the nuts off of the spindle. I've soaked them in PB Blaster, Shocked them with a hammer, put heat on them. Nothing works. It's hard to tell as there is very little thread showing at the nut, but is there a chance that this is a left-handed thread? They are original Wheel Horse blades.

 

Edited September 22 by manahale

[cleat 5,957]

I have never come across any left hand threads on any of my wheel horses yet so I would think yours should come apart the regular way.

 

[ebinmaine 67,486]

Just now, cleat said:

I have never come across any left hand threads on any of my wheel horses yet so I would think yours should come apart the regular way.

 

 

Is there any reason not to use MORE heat?

 

1 hour ago, manahale said:

PB Blaster, Shocked them with a hammer, put heat on them

 

With all due respect. Junk the PB. 

There's a pile of tests that show it's inferior to quite a few other penetrating fluids whether commercially available or home brewed like 50/50 ATF and Acetone. 

 

 

 

[manahale 43]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

With all due respect. Junk the PB. 

There's a pile of tests that show it's inferior to quite a few other penetrating fluids whether commercially available or home brewed like 50/50 ATF and Acetone. 

Really? Just bought a $12 can of PB this morning. Drat. Gonna try the ATF and Acetone. I'll let you know how I make out.

[cleat 5,957]

A good quality impact gun will likely loosen them.

I used to use high quality air Impacts but now mostly use a Milwaukee M18 high torque and it has never failed me yet.

 

[cleat 5,957]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Is there any reason not to use MORE heat?

 

 

With all due respect. Junk the PB. 

There's a pile of tests that show it's inferior to quite a few other penetrating fluids whether commercially available or home brewed like 50/50 ATF and Acetone. 

 

 

 

I would not get too crazy with heat.

If you overheat the bearings you will damage them.

I would not want to soften the metal on the shaft or nut either. 

I use Kroil as my penetrating oil.

Expensive but it works.

Home depot sells it in the US I see.

[bds1984 1,429]

3 hours ago, cleat said:

A good quality impact gun will likely loosen them.

I used to use high quality air Impacts but now mostly use a Milwaukee M18 high torque and it has never failed me yet.

 

Usually I am with you on the M18 but I met a crankshaft pulley bolt this summer that wouldn't budge.  I've never heard of a torque multiplier before, and now I own one that'll go up to 3,600 ft/lbs.

[manahale 43]

1 hour ago, cleat said:

I would not get too crazy with heat.

If you overheat the bearings you will damage them.

I would not want to soften the metal on the shaft or nut either. 

Also I would say that the idea is to heat (expand) the nut and not heat the threaded stud.

[cleat 5,957]

This tractor did not come with the gas lift for the seat so I installed a used lower bracket and gas lift that I had kicking around.