Wheel Horse 416H Restoration

[Geno 1,929]

Have you tried any Krylon paint or are you set on the Rustoleum color?  I use the Krylon Cherry Red and it dries faster. 

[km3h 543]

I am not set on any color as the colors of the Wheel Horses have changed slightly over the years, so who is to say what is the right one. Before I start the next tractor, I am going to do some experiments and then decide what the right paint and process is good for me.

I am leaning to the spray gun for the next one. I want something that dries fast and gets hard quickly. As it is I will have to let this hood sit for a long time before I can mask it and paint the black.

[gsummers 236]

When I did my 312H, I used Ace hardware brand Banner Red, a bit brighter then RustyO, but looks great. I could spray on 5 coats in about 2 hrs and within 1 more hr I was handling the parts and bolting them back in place the next day, Never seen anyone else mention this paint before, I am happy with the way mine turned out.

[km3h 543]

That looks as much like Wheel Horse Red as anything else I have seen. Good looking job, by the way.

[km3h 543]

Been scratching my head the last few days trying to figure where parts go and in which direction they go in what holes. I took a lot of photos when I tore it down and they are a valuable asset to me but nothing takes the place of see exactly how each piece fits.

Yesterday I put the Battery floor in that tractor at least 4 times before I got everything put in the right order. So I think I found a great solution.

All you need to do a perfect job of reconstructing a Wheel Horse 416-H, is to have another one just like it setting around doing nothing important. I stripped the sheet metal off and gave it a good power washing, which it needed anyway and now I won't be wondering around with my finger you know where looking for a place to put a part.

I called Matt today to get a clarification of what parts I need to leave out until I install the foot pedal. He told me that he shipped the order this morning and I should get it on Tuesday. That's good because I need to take a break and watch some football tomorrow and Monday night. Go Ravens. This is going to be the year the Orioles go to the World Series and the Ravens go to the Super Bowl. Wouldn't that be something.

[Geno 1,929]

I agree Nick, everyone should have more Horses.     

[km3h 543]

Since I need to wait for the foot pedal from Matt, I decided to put a few decals on the old girl.

I am going to get an Exacto knife tomorrow to make good clean cuts for the holes. I can't do the hood yet as I need to wait for the paint to dry and then paint the black. But I am liking what I see so far. I really like what Terry did on the decal for the gage plate. Top line says Restored by Nick Caprinolo. Nice touch and much appreciated. He does an outstanding job on these decals. I am glad I picked the Patriotic decals for this one.

[Geno 1,929]

Wow, nice work Nick. 

[km3h 543]

I got the foot pedal conversion kit from Matt today. Matt sent it out on Saturday and it arrived this morning. Very fast service. Tomorrow I am going to get some work done. Not sure what I will tackle first, but I am going to go at it all day. I hope!!!!!!

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

Lookin good. Getting close now. I like those decals!

[km3h 543]

Got a chance to go outside today and what a beautiful day it was. I installed the Foot Pedal I got from Matt and after a bit of fitting got everything adjusted the way I  think it should work. Of course I won't know until I get it on the floor with an engine in it. Actually was a very easy installation. If it works the way I expect it will, I will probably order three more. Unless I run into something complicated, I hope to have all the innards installed by Thursday. It will soon be ready to sit on the floor.

 

  

[Geno 1,929]

Looks good Nick. 

[km3h 543]

Gino

Have you installed one of these foot pedals?

[Geno 1,929]

Nope.  Is it easy? 

[km3h 543]

Yep. A lot easier than I thought. Toughest part is the final adjustment. Once I figured which way to turn things it was a piece of cake. I did have to cut about 1/4 inch of one off the rod running from the pedal to the cam bracket.

[Martin 2,131]

Nick and Geno, the foot pedal is one of the best mods you can do to the eaton equipped tractors. i put one on one of the 416s when i was messing around with the Onan that ended up on my last 416 build........

 

[km3h 543]

Martin

 

It was because of watching you redo that tractor that I decided to get the foot pedal from Matt. Your description of how much fun it was to drive was the clincher for me.

 

I am glad you chimed in here as I keyed on the link and got another look at your installation.  After looking at your application I see that I need to go back and make a small modification to what I did. I can't believe I was that stupid I left out the auto center lever and the parts that go with it. When making the installation I did not actually read all documentation. If I had I would have realized by what it was called it was needed. As it was, I had everything working the way I thought it should and left it out. It looked like it wasn't needed.  

 

This entire project has been a learning experience for me and the next tractor I refurbish will be a piece of cake because of the experience of doing this one.   

[Geno 1,929]

Rule #1 Nick, if you have leftover parts then you read the directions.  

[km3h 543]

Yea I know. I even called Matt and talked to him. I told him I had a lot of parts left over and that I drilled the hole in one as instructed but didn't need to. I think I confused him a bit or maybe he thought I was nuts and didn't want to say so. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and another lesson learned. The directions are only 17 pages long and most of that is filled with illustrations and photos. So now I am studying them with due diligence.  

[km3h 543]

I have the foot pedal completely and correctly installed this time. Really it is not brain surgery. I don't know what the heck I was thinking but as soon as I took a second look at it everything fell into place. The only problem I had was getting it to rest in the neutral position and keep the reverse lever from hitting the floor board. I finally had to cut about 3/4 of an inch off the rod running from the pedal to the Hydro Cam. Luckily there were plenty of threads at the foot pedal to make the proper adjustment. One more thing I have to do is drill a hole for the spring to attach to. It appears that this will be a very smooth way to operate the tractor.

 

   

[Geno 1,929]

Did you have to use all the parts?  

[km3h 543]

No parts left. Used each and every one of them.

[km3h 543]

Again I have been putting parts on this tractor only to find that I have to remove them to install something else. If only there was a manual that gave step by step directions on dismantling and then putting it back together listing everything in proper order. I have put a few scratches on it and will have to try to tdo some touchup later.

 

I searched everywhere for these bolts. they are tapered and don't need lock washers. Anyone have a source for them. What are they called?

 

I have searched everywhere for some missing parts. Don't know what I did with them. They must be in the garage someplace but I can't find them to save my life.

 

Need part number 11, Fuse holder bracket and number 18, Guard bracket.

 

I am going to have to tear the whole shop apart to find them and they are holding me up. I don't want to go any further because if I install the motor then I won't easy have access to install them.

 

 

Steering is in and the wiring is laid out and partially installed. Not much more to do. I will be putting the wheels on soon so I can put it on the floor for finishing.

 

I did some tweaking on the foot pedal from Matt and now it centers perfectly when you take pressure of it. This has got to be a big improvement and a more comfortable way to operate this tractor. Now I am going to have to order three more of them.  

 

 

[motox25 36]

Do you have a Toro dealer close by?  Our local Toro dealer can still get those bolts as well as almost every other bolt and screw on the tractor.  I just ordered several nuts and bolts to replace rusted out ones on mine.

[Martin 2,131]

Nick, the taper is just to cut the initial thread at assembly, they don't need to be tapered and if you look closely it's just the first few threads. The rest is parallel, McMaster Carr carry shouldered bolts that the head is similar to these.

I like to hoard used ones and replate them, like was mentioned above they are also available new but $$$$......

 

Edited September 28, 2014 by Martin