"GhostRider" another 314-8

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

I'm finally getting around to starting a thread for this fine machine.  You guys here advised me to get one about a year ago. Almost exactly a year ago, in fact!  I had been to the Symco Thresheree with my CC100 and a CC 782 that I owned at the time.  The 100 is a great little plow tractor and did a good job as usual.  The 782 on the other hand was not.  They can be good tractors for plowing but this one was giving me fits. After swapping seat time from the GD (gear drive) 100 to the Hydro 782, I decided that I needed to get another GD tractor for myself for plowing.  There are many guys that plow with heavy duty hydros and swear by them.  I'm not trying to discount that here or say that hydros aren't up to the abuse.  Few things are as tough as a suns strand hydro build back in the day. I just prefer selecting a gear, dropping the plow, letting out the clutch, and enjoying the ride.  For me, I feel like I can focus more on the sound of the tractor working, the feel of the tractor under me, and sight of the Brinly turning soil behind me.  If I'm cutting grass or blowing snow, I'm a big fan of hydros.  But when it comes to turning earth, I want to be on a GD.  I had been watching an ad on CL for about a month that contained a 314-8.  I had no previous experience with a WH GD and so I came on RS and was encouraged by many of you fine guys to take the plunge!  

 

ENTER GhostRider!

 

 

He was ugly when I first picked him up but with less than 750 hours and a very low price, I felt I couldn't lose! 

 

 

He was a multiple owner machine but used by the previous owner just to plow snow.  As you can see, it came with weights, chains, and the most important initial item...

 

 

the Brinly hitch!  The owner said that he had thought that he had it somewhere. Sure enough, it was in a tool cabinet in his shop!

 

 

It was rough around the edges, but I was ready to put it to work!  We had a plow day at my uncles coming up in a couple of weeks and I wanted to use it. I changed all fluids and installed a fresh drive belt.

 

I had to sell the 782 to make

room for the GhostRider and so I robbed some the plowing essentials like the AG tires and weights!

 

 

Now I was ready to go plowing!

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

The engine on GhostRider, for being a single cylinder M14, runs buttery smooth and I was amazed how slick the tranny operates!  

 

It Had been really dry and the ground was pretty hard at Uncle Bob's but GhostRider did a really good job in spite of the conditions...

 

 

This was the only pic of me actually plowing that day but my buddy took this video...

 

 

I'm plowing with a 12" Brinly which plows even harder than a 10".  The first thing that I realized was that GhostRider was going to need front end weights to keep the wheels down when the plowing got tough.  You can also see the comfortable seat that I installed for plowing purposes.  I figured that if I was going to spend a lot of time "in the saddle", it might as well be something welcoming!  

 

 

My uncle Roger can fabricate almost anything out of wood or metal.  I asked him to help me solve the weight issue and he came up with this! It weighs about 65# and sure helps keep this horse from bucking too bad!  At this time I also put a set of spare ags that I had on the front rims.

 

 

I also pulled the engine cover and painted it.  Ready to do some more plowing!

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

My Uncle Roger held a plow day at his farm in early October and I felt that was a perfect time to do some more testing and tuning on GhostRider.  Instead I only ended up making a couple of rounds on him since I was busy running and organizing the day.  One guy with a Cub broke his lift arm/link assembly and we repaired it at the shop and got him right back plowing.

 

 

We had a small group with about 15 tractors present but it was a blast!  Watch this video and keep an eye out for GhostRider. My friend Nate is driving.  I'm on my dad's Iron Horse (875)...

 

GhostRider was running good and working well.  I Wasn't real satisfied with the hitch assembly and will likely fabricate something a little more stout in the future, but other than that I know I have a winner!

 

 

After Rogers plow day, I decided to take my two oldest on a weekend run to Buck Creek, Iowa for their plow day...

[WHX?? 49,938]

Nice Jack ... make sure you show the guys that mean looking blackhood wit the "blood shot" eyes! I Won't let out about a the possble decals you might have coming for it!

 

I am going to PM you a pic of that field I got and needs turned over - about 2 acres I'd say and you would like it ... all soft sand & some times hard to keep rooled  over. not that hard pack Fox Valley clay you guys are probaly used to!

Hopefully going to Pioneer Power show  at the end of this month and will see if there is any interest in a mini meet & greet & some plowing this fall  with some of the MN guys and possibly some fibs in attendance.

Reallly cool video....looks like them tractors were going to town. Also looks like the ground was fairly wet!

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

That sounds great WHX7!  I'll keep an eye out!  The ground at

Bob's day was dry and hard, the ground at Rogers day was soft and muddy--lots of rain.  Sandy Loam would be a nice change!

 

End of October was crazy busy for me and I still had to add one more thing to it---that trip to Iowa! So, we loaded two tractors and three people into the excursion and headed south!

 

 

The ground conditions weren't great in Iowa but the fields were straight and long which made for fun plowing.  My son hopped on the 100 and plowed for almost 2 hours before he got off to take a break.  My daughter (tender age of 8) came to me and said that she wanted to plow.  She had never tried it before but wanted to give it a shot.  Since Caleb was on the 100, GhostRider it was. With the clutch and manual lift, it isn't exactly kid friendly but she took to it right away. I'd drop the plow in for her and release the clutch, then she'd do the rest!

 

 

You can tell by Claudia's clothing, it was cold (about 40 degrees).  She loved it though and ended up plowing for about an hour before she went off to play with her little friends.

 

 

She opted to ride side saddle so I could get at Least a cheek on the other half of the seat to push the clutch and run the lift handle!

 

 

My friend Dave snapped this pic of us from across the field!  It was a really fun day and GhostRider worked great!

 

 

It was our last plow day for the

year.  

 

 

GhostRider was shaping up to be a really good plow tractor.  It was now time to give him a look worthy of his name...

 

 

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

GhostRider---why "GhostRider" you might ask?  I'm a product of the 70's and grew up in the 80's.  I was at a very impressionable age when I first watched the movie "Top Gun". In the beginning of the film, the radio tower calls to Maverick as he is preparing to land his jet on the carrier.  They call him, "GhostRider".  That name stuck with me.  My family really enjoyed westerns and music growing up and of course remember quite often listening to Johnny Cash's version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky". "Their brands were still on fire and their hooves where made of steel,

Their horns were black and shiny, and their hot breath he could feel.

A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky,

For he heard the riders coming hard, he heard their mournful cry!"    When I bought the 314-8, I was struggling with a name.  I'm quirky enough to name all the tractors that I plan to keep unless no good name will stick.  We currently have: RED, Casey, Cub-Z, the Mule, Cub-Kub, Grizzz, and BlackBeard!  I wanted something to do with horses and I was drawn to Marty Robbins country song "Strawberry Roan".  It has awesome words about an outlaw mustang bucking Bronc too tough to break.  However, roan and Strawberry just aren't as cool as GhostRider! One night, I came across the 2007 movie.  The film is ok, but I liked one of my favorite recent western actors Sam Elliott in the role of Carter Slade, the first Ghost Rider.  Now I had a name!  GhostRider would be a dark menacing beast!  He had to look the part since he was already capable of acting the part. A horse that had black paint with red accents, there had to be a ghostly appearance to him and custom lettering...

 

It was time for a fresh pair of clothes--TIME TO PAINT!

 

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

After I removed the hood and fender pan, I took all the attached pieces off.  Then I used a paint stripper from the local store to remove the nasty old paint.  

 

It worked amazingly well.  It saves from me doing a several hours of sanding to reach the same results 

 

 

The first thing I did was to tape up the openInge and and make sure I was in a safe environment to use. Next I sprayed it on per the instructions and let it set for about  15 minutes...

 

It bubbled the paint up to my liking and before long...

 

I literally wiped the surface to this level with a scraper and some heavy steel wool. It won't take much sanding to bring fully to the paint phrase! 

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

Once the bulk of the paint was stripped off I used a stripper wheel on my 4" grinder to clean up the rest.  

 

 

 

Now it was time to lay down some primer.  I chose Rustoleum products for the project and I was pleased with the results.

 

 

 

After the appropriate drying time, I was ready to spray the Satin Black...

 

 

 

It is always fun to get done with the paint because assembly is next!

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

I decided on creating a "bloodshot" eye look for GhostRider and so I got my hands on some maroon plastic paint and painted my headlight bezels up.  

 

 

It took about an hour to finish the assembly of the fender pan, seat, wiring, headlights, bezels, and hood.

 

 

I used an extra late model front emblem and put that on the rear pan.  I'm still trying to decide what to do with the decals for the hood and rear fender pan.  I'm thinking of using the movie style font for Wheel Horse on both sides of the hood.  Something like this...

 

 

I would have one made up that says "GhostRider" to be installed centered on the rear pan. WHX7 and ACHTO have suggested something like this...

 

 

or this...

 

 

to be placed at the "tower end" of the hood on both sides. 

What do you guys think?

 

 

The GhostRider is still a work in progress but is getting closer all the time.  I want to add more chrome to it and I need to get the back wheels painted Silver.  

 

Next up--letter it and then build a beefy hitch.  I'm actually thinking of something that brackets off of the axle tubes like the Cat 0 on a GT-14 and links the pivot through the conventional rear axle hole.  

[19richie66 17,542]

I like the first horse.

[WHX?? 49,938]

Found that on google Jeff... just google ghost horse  or horse ghost or whatever.... all kinds of cool ones!

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

If you guys see other options, I'm open to suggestions but that first one is my favorite at this point...

[Aldon 4,828]

I like the look of the black. I'd do more of the red over to black. 

 

Make a Black Stallion.

 

you could always air bush or add ghost flame decals to the hood:-)

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

12 minutes ago, Aldon said:

I like the look of the black. I'd do more of the red over to black. 

When you get a chance Aldon, explain what you mean...

Are you thinking adding more red accents into the graphics (i.e. Red fire vs orange, maybe red pinstripping) or are you saying painting more black on the tractor in general (if so, what else do you think would look good black?). I've thought of airbrushing but I don't have any local contacts that do it. I'm sure I could find someone though.  

 

"Black Stallion" would be a great name for another blacked out "horse"...

Let's see, what's another horse that I need to add to the stable that I could do about a 90% blackout like a 70's Case 444 Black knight Demonstrator?  I suppose I need to stay focused on GhostRider and BlackBeard for now!

 

thanks Aldon

[Aldon 4,828]

I think blacking out the entire tractor would look great. You could always use a combination of flat and gloss for contrast. Harbor freight airbrush is cheap and it might be fun to learn how to airbrush flames one of these days. It's on my to do list.

 

then you could add this type of flame to hood etc:

 

 

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

That is awesome Aldon! I'll send you my hood and you can paint it

You've given me more to think about for sure!

[Detector 72]

Looking good! I've been sanding parts all afternoon, from my DA to hand sanding and it's slow going but making progress... What stripper did you use because it did a good job!  I searched Ebay for "flaming horse" and saw some unique decals, some are Mustang related but others aren't, could possibly clear over them so they would last . 

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

24 minutes ago, Detector said:

... What stripper did you use because it did a good job!  

Thanks, if you look in the pics above you will see the can and the brand, Klean Strip.  I purchased it at a local Fleet Farm.  I was very pleased with the results, especially on the fender pan.  

 

26 minutes ago, Detector said:

  I searched Ebay for "flaming horse" and saw some unique decals, some are Mustang related but others aren't, could possibly clear over them so they would last . 

That is a good idea, I'll have to check it out! Thanks.  

Do you have a thread started for your project tractor?

[Detector 72]

49 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said:

Thanks, if you look in the pics above you will see the can and the brand, Klean Strip.  I purchased it at a local Fleet Farm.  I was very pleased with the results, especially on the fender pan.  

 

That is a good idea, I'll have to check it out! Thanks.  

Do you have a thread started for your project tractor?

 

49 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said:

Thanks, if you look in the pics above you will see the can and the brand, Klean Strip.  I purchased it at a local Fleet Farm.  I was very pleased with the results, especially on the fender pan.  

 

That is a good idea, I'll have to check it out! Thanks.  

Do you have a thread started for your project tractor?

I saw some at Walmart a few hours ago but didn't think about buying any which I'm considering after seeing your results. I need to start a thread before I get to far ahead. I plan to take motor off this week and get the frame cleaned up and primed, that's the plan anyway. 

[Ken B 3,165]

Cool thread. I wish someone around these parts owned a farm where we could get in a little plow day action....

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

Detector--if the product you get works as well as mine did, you won't regret the purchase.  It saved me so much time and elbow "grease".  I suggest becoming a supporter for a nominal cost which will allow you to post a lot more pictures than as just a member.  Definitely start a thread and catalogue your progress!  I really enjoy watching what you guys are working on and rebuilding.

 

Ken--you'll have to scout around and see if there is someone handy that would be willing to do that. It is a lot of fun.  I think I take it for granted too often.

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

Got GhostRider lettered last night for the big plow day---

 

 

 

 

its outlandish I know but I like it and if I ever want to do something different, it's easy to change!  Everyone will know the GhostRider at these plow days after a few years!

[Achto 28,194]

On 10/27/2016 at 7:00 AM, PeacemakerJack said:

 

 Is that a picture of your pit crew on the dash? That is soo cool !!

[r356c 375]

Nice looking tractor!

It even has it's own theme song!

Burl Ives, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, The Blues Brothers...

My hands down favorite, The Outlaws - Ghost Riders in the Sky.

[PeacemakerJack 10,743]

9 hours ago, achto said:

Is that a picture of your pit crew on the dash?

 

 

 Yes Dan, that is my "fearsome foursome"!  I struggled a long time with what to put on that blank area where the old warning sticker would've been.  Then it came to me, "If I'm gonna be spending some time in the saddle, what would I rather see more than my kiddos?"  The pic was taken last fall, about the same time I bought GhostRider. It will be like a time capsule pic ever time I see it. If nothing else, it will be a great conversation piece! While I was unloading at Bluniers and older gentleman came up and touched it.  I looked at him and he immediately said, "I thought it was a flat screen!!!"  We all got a big kick out of that...

7 hours ago, r356c said:

Nice looking tractor!

It even has it's own theme song!

Burl Ives, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, The Blues Brothers...

My hands down favorite, The Outlaws - Ghost Riders in the Sky.

 

My parents bought an old LP when I was a kid that was by Stan Jones called Creakin Leather.  It was on that album that I first heard that song.  It was Stan who wrote it. His is not my favorite version but he is the one who penned it and where I first heard it.  I do find myself humming to tune or singing the lyrics in my mind when I see the tractor! Thanks