1965 Horse Redo

[CDiddy 0]

Well, I finally got the horse from the barn (literally) into the shop. First challenge was I had to take off the front wheels to get it through the shop door.

For some perspective and to keep the photo record chronological; some background. This was my grandfathers Wheel Horse. It was the first thing with wheels and a motor I ever drove. When he passed away a little past a year ago, I bought his place and the tractor came with it. It had always been shedded until he stopped using it, then it was put outside under the shed roof. I'm no mechanic, machinist or engineer, but I wanted to tear it down and fix it up. This is a first time for me.

Thanks to this great site, it was determined that it is a 1965 605 that had been re-powered from the original Techumseh 6hp with a K181 Kohler 8hp. The motor isn't froze. It's still got some compression, but feels weak. The transmission isn't stuck, it will move slow, even in neutral. Something isn't right there. So today, we started the teardown.

This is about all I got done today but it felt good to get started.

I just had two questions today...how do I get that steering wheel off??? And did anybody notice the hood decal? It looks like someone slapped a newer one on over the original?

Anyway, I'll keep adding pics as I get rolling. I'd like to see a real nice picture of one if anybody has one to share.

[rickv1957 72]

Looks like a great start,decals are newer,press steering wheel off is the best,Rick

[Kelly 1,030]

Steering wheels and wheel hubs are the two worst things to deal with, getting the pin out of the steering wheel is half the battle then you can press the wheel off.

Yes the decals are for a newer tractor it should have smaller words near the back of the hood that say Wheel horse.

[bitten 134]

Good luck and have fun.

[Suburban 550 28]

Great story and looks like you're off to a good start. B)

[sorekiwi 761]

Looks like a nice, straight old tractor!

I would almost be tempted to not paint that one - clean it up and see how the old paint looks. There are not too many out there in their origonal paint.

Steering wheels are sometimes a pain in the behind. Yours might not be so bad since it has been inside most of its life. There is a rollpin that goes through the wheel from the side. Hopefully that will pound out. I usually sit the hub of the wheel in a "V" cut in the end of a 2x4 to support it while I wail on it. Once thats out the shaft might come out of the wheel. Soaking everything for a couple of days in some sort of penetrating oil will probably help.

If the worst comes to the worst, you can always cut the shaft in half to be able to get the dash housing off. Then the wheel can be pressed off with a hydraulic press. Then you get to make a new shaft. Its nothing special, just 3/4" mild steel, but you would need to find someone to weld the steering gear back onto the new shaft.

Plenty of people here to help you through the process. That'll be a nice project. Which part of the country are you in? (Dont see any snow in the pics, you must be in Hawaii!!)

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,510]

Your off to a good start. I'm thinking that Tecumseh motor that was on it before musta been a leaker . At least under all that grease and oil you wont find a rusty frame .

Mike......

[CDiddy 0]

Thanks everyone for the replies, advice and encouragement. Keep the tips coming. I will need them.

Got on it a bit today and got it completely torn down. All I have now is a frame, a motor and a tranny with a lot of pieces laying around. I did take the time to lable all of the pieces that I took off though. Five minutes up front will save me five hours down the road!

I have yet to get at the steering wheel. I'm going to have to find a puller of some sort or try the soak and pound method.

Upon closer inspection it is a solid and straight older tractor. The only crack I found was a small one where the rear frame plate bolts up to the tranny. The paint is pretty decent and the frame is solid. Hardly any rust anywhere. Everything came apart really easy. Sparky, you are right though. There was a ton of grease and gunk on the frame. And pristine Red paint underneath! Plus I drained the oil out of the Kohler thinking the worst and got a quart of jet black (no white) motor oil. It was a small victory

sorekiwi, I'm in the heartland. Iowa. And man, it was snowing pretty good today. I've had the '47 Ford 9N out a bunch this week clearing snow. This project is hopefully going to teach me how to do that one when I tear it apart this summer.

Now, for todays question:

- the only identifying marks I can find on the tranny say ( 3800 H1) where can I find a diagram of that transmission?

-what is the best way to get the rust out of a gas tank?

Thanks to all and have a great day.

[wallfish 17,105]

You can go to Mike's site (MikesRJ) and find the manuals you need for the tranny and the tractor.

MyWheelHorse.com

[WH Raider 10 0]

I heard a good way to get rust out of a tank is to:

1)Take a handful of rocks, gravel, dirt and a little water and put it in the tank and put the cap back on.

2) either place it in a towel then in a dryer for a tumble without any heat.

OR

Tumble it yourself, or maybe you can do it Stigian style LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fz6Fc-JKVs

And then empty it out with water being very meticulous about the amount you leave in it, and if it didn't produce good results just do it again.

Hope this helps.

Dan B. :party:

[MikesRJ 552]

You'll find all your manuals on this page:

http://www.mywheelhorse.com/modules.php?na...show_doc&id=108

[zach l 2]

for your tank issue couldnt you buy some rust remover and fill the tank? im saying this cause we got some new stuff at work and it cleaned the rusty parts very nicely i dont remember the name of it though

[d180man 5]

Hi keep up the good job and the photos ! :party:

[MikesRJ 552]

-what is the best way to get the rust out of a gas tank?

POR-15

http://www.por15.com/HD-CYCLE-TANK-REPAIR-...uctinfo/HDCTRK/

[CDiddy 0]

Mikes RJ, that is an impressive site you have there. I got signed up and am glad I did. It looks like a real labor of love. Thank you for that information. I appreciate it greatly.

Just an update to anyone interested. I've been getting some work done lately. I finally got the steering wheel pulled off but man it was a battle. It took some heat, some blaster and some hammering but it is off in one piece.

Then I started in to drain the tranny. Nothing came out. Upon further inspection it looks like grease in there. I was expecting a fluid? What is wrong with this picture? So, I put the plug back in vowing to deal with it later when it warms up outside as my shop is unheated. Roughly 20-30 degrees in there this time of year.

Then I started in on the wheel hubs.... This is as tough as everyone has said it is for sure. Any tips on removing those would be appreciated! I've gotten them to move about a 1/8th of an inch I can't get to it this weekend, but Monday I'm going to try a heavy duty puller and see if it won't work. The last problem I got after was the real lift assembly on the trans housing. It looks like if you remove two snap rings it should slide right through, but I couldn't get it to budge. Again any hints would be useful.

After that I started messing around lightly on the motor. Removing cables, etc. Tried to take off the rusted on exhause piping and "muffler" Ended up snapping it off where it meets the block. It should ez out pretty well though as it was the only part of that system I could get to move. Heading to the shop now to give it a go.

I'm really enjoying using this project to pass the winter blues with. Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am!

[CasualObserver 3,408]

Check out this old topic on removing wheel hubs. There have been a few topics on that.... just search for hub puller and change the search date to 30 days and older.

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=206

[sorekiwi 761]

Glad you got the steering wheel off.

Now you get to do battle with the hubs! There is plenty of threads here about stuck hubs. Wheelhorse hubs seem to fall into 2 categories - the ones that wont come off, and the ones that wont stay on. Good luck!

All this pain is just to prepare you for part 3 of the test - the hitch pin in the rear of the transmission. Another bear, but once these three items are tackled its plain sailing from then on!

Looking forward to seeing your progress. B)

[rickv1957 72]

Looks like you are making progress, Rick

[dobeleo 7]

Wheel Hubs:

It took me 20 minutes to remove each hub with a puller. I ended up heating up the hubs too, heat for a while, smack the puller a few times, tighten up a little, little more heat, and they came off. I was afraid i would break the hub flange with the puller (casting) so be careful!!! I already broke one cast part that I thought I would tap a little with a hammer (was impatient and had a few beers)

Have fun

[CDiddy 0]

Well, I got at it again today with the hubs. This is about round five. My pops and I rednecked together a homemade puller yesterday and it was pretty innefective but the ready rod I used just isn't hard enough I think.

I've been laying the blaster to it pretty regular and giving it a few whacks with a piece of wood and a hammer. Long story short, I missed the wood and ended up with this.

The first word out of my mouth was just like Luke Skywalker when he found out ol Darth was his dad....NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Followed by a few F bombs. Then, regret set in. I think I'm done working on those for a while until it warms up outside.

To make myself feel better, I started in on this helpless little gas tank so I could say I made a little progress on something.

Before:

After:

So, can the broken hub be salvaged? It broke pretty clean. Or is my best bet to find someone to sell me one and just move on? You have to run into a few bumps in the road now and then right? It will be that much sweeter when I get it done.

[btrrg1969 11]

I would weld the sucker , you still have all five wheel studs .If you stick weld use nickle rod and pre heat the metal and let it cool down slow ( cover the part in sand ) this will keep it from cracking or you can braze it , then pull the torch away slowly , again to let it cool slowly . Dont forget to V your parts for a stronger bond. Good luck

[rickv1957 72]

JB weld will hold that piece just fine,Rick