GrumpyOldBastige 1 #1 Posted June 28, 2014 Last month I acquired a 312-8 for free. 8-speed, 12 HP Kohler, not all that pretty. The catch is that it was dead on arrival, and needed a lot of work. It came with a plow/attachment, and two mower decks. One was rotted, and the other was not. One had good blades, and the other did not. One had a passable PTO belt, and the other did not. So, it has a Frankendeck 37" assembled from the good parts of the two. I don't know that I'll use the plow, only because I have a snow blower, and my driveway isn't that big. Anyway, back to the mower at hand... It needed: (With help from my father in law) all safety switches replaced brake shoe new seat starter solenoid PTO belt (snapped last weekend, had to get a new one anyway, $60 ouch!) some rewiring (reading schematics is awful, I hate electronics) fuel pump ($145 OUCH! OEM Kohler part) new fuel lines (ok this was an easy one) some stuff I'm forgetting It still needs: headlights taillights a new drive belt... current one is questionable cosmetics to be able to start 100% of the time And with all of this done the friggin thing only starts on the first try... maybe 40% of the time. MAYBE 40% of the time. Into it for $600 and this happens... now I know how vintage British car owners feel. If you've ever seen Gumball Rally, I'm the guy in the Jaguar XKE... never out of the gate...lol My user name reflects the tractor, not me (I'm 30...come to think of it so is the tractor). Its primary use is to mow my 2/3 acre lawn. Gets tiring with a 22" push mower, but there are some areas that I still need the little mower for, that the Horse can't get to. I went with this instead of a new Ariens or Deere because the Horses are supposed to be durable, tough little buggers. Now that I've had it apart, and see the architecture of it, I get that. What I don't get is how a new electrical gremlin shows up every time I hop on to mow. Couldn't start it at all yesterday, so I had to use the push mower for the whole lawn. For $1000 and a trip to Home Cheapo I could have had a new one that starts all the time; my father in law said I'm still better off with the Horse and that the new ones are built like crap. Even still, every time he goes to mow, I quote: "one hour fixing, two hours mowing" Posting in the electrical forum about that issue, so gallop over there if you have any ideas. Hope to learn stuff while I'm here. Looks like a nice place. Glad to join the Red Army. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,315 #2 Posted June 28, 2014 What your doing is all part of the fun . Your undoing 30 years of neglect by previous owners. Should be worth it in the end! Mike......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shorts 182 #3 Posted June 28, 2014 Every time that you think about a $1000 box store tractor ask yourself what will it be like in 30 years, then put a smile on and repair the horse problem aon know that it will last another 30 years. Most of your electrical problems are probably age and/or dirty connection related and can be fixed by disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the connections. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 11,063 #5 Posted June 28, 2014 Just take your time and tackle one issue at a time. You'll quickly learn that the simplicity of Wheel Horses is one of their strongest engineering points. Soon you'll have all the issues caused by the neglect of the PO remedied and you find that a 30 year old Wheel Horse is far better than ANYTHING sold in the big box stores. One thing you can be assured of is that everybody here will jump at the opportunity to help you out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amanda 81 #6 Posted June 28, 2014 welcome to Red Square Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,130 #7 Posted June 29, 2014 If you need some help...let me know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrumpyOldBastige 1 #8 Posted June 29, 2014 Wanted to share a couple pictures with serial numbers on them. The stickers are incomplete but hopefully someone can get enough off of them to tell me what I am playing with. The other pictures are just of the tractor. It lives in my garage now, but I'm sure that wasn't always the case... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,315 #9 Posted June 29, 2014 So here's what you have: 21-12K806 1989 312-8 Garden Tractor 8 Speed Kohler M12S-471527 ./ You have a Kohler Magnum 12 under the hood. Mike............. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrumpyOldBastige 1 #10 Posted June 29, 2014 Excellent, thanks for the info. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Digger 66 3,478 #11 Posted June 29, 2014 Every time that you think about a $1000 box store tractor ask yourself what will it be like in 30 years, 5/10 is more like it . Good to have 'ya here ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric C 109 #13 Posted July 2, 2014 Well, at least the seat looks band new! Welcome aboard. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrumpyOldBastige 1 #14 Posted July 5, 2014 I put the new seat on... Paid way too much for it, $170 at Tractor Supply. Posted again in electrical about the no-start condition. I have a 500 pound lump of iron wasting space in my garage. There's no reason I should have to go to my push mower when I have the tractor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
