What have you done to your Wheel Horse today?

[cafoose 3,355]

I got the blade separated from the frame on the dozer setup I got last week! Must have been outside for a long time nothing moved on it. Everything was rusted tight. I had to knock the pivot bolt out with the air hammer and knock the angle locking pin loose with the air hammer and kroil! Getting it ready for the mad max front tiller!

 

I also got the slot hitch off the C-161 8 speed getting ready for the rear tiller. It came off rather easily with the air hammer and kroil! 

 

[Racinbob 11,077]

Very cool! Be aware that you have the older style tiller (likely a 7-1211) and it uses two belts running through an idler setup just in front of the transmission. You have to move the right floor board out and use an additional guard. BUT.....by using a newer style idler on the mid mount hitch you can eliminate the idler in front of the tranny and the second guard and just use one belt like the newer style. Also, the style you have uses the slot hitch to lift it but there's no reason you can't connect the lift like the new style.

 

I'll assume that you realize that your blade frame is for a short wheelbase. Using the Mad Max tiller clone on one of your shorties?

 

[cafoose 3,355]

8 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

I'll assume that you realize that your blade frame is for a short wheelbase. Using the Mad Max tiller clone on one of your shorties?

I'm thinking about using it on my Commando 8 if it can handle it

[Racinbob 11,077]

Yupper duppers. That will do just fine.

[Racinbob 11,077]

By the way, I used that style tiller set up like I mentioned on a 76 C series. I did used the slot hitch to lift it and I liked it better than the newer style tillers.

[cafoose 3,355]

31 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

Very cool! Be aware that you have the older style tiller (likely a 7-1211) and it uses two belts running through an idler setup just in front of the transmission. You have to move the right floor board out and use an additional guard. BUT.....by using a newer style idler on the mid mount hitch you can eliminate the idler in front of the tranny and the second guard and just use one belt like the newer style. Also, the style you have uses the slot hitch to lift it but there's no reason you can't connect the lift like the new style

This is what I got and one I found mounted at the big show:

Edited July 15, 2018 by cafoose

[Racinbob 11,077]

The first 3 pictures are the idler that mounts just to the front of the tranny (p/n 7697). The other shots are of the newer style. There's a bracket on your tiller that isn't original and isn't needed. The kinda L shaped bracket with a series of holes. I'm thinking that was done for lifting purposes. Here's the manual for it that should help:

 

 

That's how it was intended but I used an idler directly under the PTO and just one belt. Advantages: simpler installation, the slot hitch didn't have to be removed, the footrest didn't have to be moved, no second belt guard needed. Disadvantage: the axle bracket wouldn't work with a snowblade. That didn't bother me because I used the tiller on my blower tractor and a different one for the blade.

[pfrederi 17,739]

Worked on one of my FAVORITE WH projects.  steering wheel removal.  So far 2.5 hours invested and have only completed first half. I knew by the rust this would be a hard pull but this one is really testing me. 

 

Start tear down horse so you can remove steering column and Instrument panel as a unit. Pic 1

 

Clean paint off shaft below shaft collar.  Then loosen set screw in collar...oops frozen and stripped....Left hand drill ...no joy.  Drove in a square easy out and surprise it actually worked

 

Get shaft braced in vice to drive out roll pin.  No joy again.  One end of the pin has something solid in it...Broken punch or drill bit maybe???  what ever it was it was hard!!  Drill did nothing.  wore down two dremel carbide cutter bits and got some of it out.  Finally with a lot of pounding on the roll pin punch it came out.

 

Now ready for phase two.  Driving the steering wheel down the shaft  then cleaning up the end of the shaft and hopefully it will slide right off. 

 

Got it clamped in the vice (last picture) have it soaking with more bug juice.  Have step ladder so i can get a good swing with the BFH and an impact socket as a drive tool.

 

Have some other thing to do now and an appt in the am.  maybe tomorrow PM finish phase 2...I hope.

Edited July 17, 2018 by pfrederi

[johnnymag3 2,520]

I think you would be much better off using heat and cool technique......heat cool    heat cool       heat cool.    do this 3-4 times and you would have that darn thing off.

 

Heat quickly, then ice cold water several times               hot/cold      hot/cold          hot/cold         makes everything expand and contract wildly.....and loosens the rust quickly. then you have made room for the penetrant to get in and help out a little bit. If you do not make space for the juice to get in, it takes forever. Rust is a $!%@#

 

Good Luck with your project, you will get it done

[pfrederi 17,739]

Heat is hard on the plastic steering wheel.

[johnnymag3 2,520]

I do realize that, ive done many of those buggers.......heat the shaft, not the wheel or collar, ,,,,,make the shaft swell, then shrink.....Just an option.

 

Good luck, you will WIN !!!!

 

john

[johnnymag3 2,520]

You can lead a Horse to the Steering Wheel, but you cant make it come off..  

 

Patience.....and persevere

[pfrederi 17,739]

Victory!!! 6 whacks with an 8lb sledge and it slid down.  One last frustration the woodruff key was stuck.  used Johnnymags method heated and quenched 3 times and the chisel got it out

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,297]

BFH usually helps unstick stubborn items. Also good for making toothpicks out of 2x4's. 

[johnnymag3 2,520]

Good job !!!!!! looks great, and I know the happiness when things actually happen the way you want them to !!!   SUCCESS

[oneroadkingman 53]

Well I hope you didn't use that bottle of lager to cool it down with LOL

[johnnymag3 2,520]

That would be a waste !!!!

[oneroadkingman 53]

Most definitely!!!

[Sarge 3,463]

Finally got fed up with this 48" SD deck throwing grass clippings forward into the K341's engine screen and plugging up it's cooling intake, took a day out of other projects and did this -

 

 

 

Finished, deck height selector in the middle position/notch -

 

 

Test run went very well at that height. I should have made the rubber sections taller and just notched the bolt/wheel locations so it could be adjusted for height. It was a bit too short for mowing on the 4th notch, but even with the grass utterly soaking wet, it mowed a lot better. Seemed to create a much better vacuum and better discharge air flow to help spread the clippings like it should. Even at the 4th height setting, nearly nothing got thrown towards the engine's intake screen - nice not to have to shut it down every 30 minutes and clean it off to prevent overheating the block on the hot-headed K341 series engines. I have one block that is junk from never having it's fins cleaned and seen far too many cracked from the intake being starved of fresh air.

 

 

The thing still has one issue - no matter what, single blades or doubled, it wants to throw too much material directly at the height gauge wheel/axle and start plugging the discharge chute up. Depending upon how wet the grass is, or how much weeds determines how fast it plugs. I have yet to see in person one of the original stock discharge chutes that fits these decks, only seen them in pictures or on the drawings - does that chute actually prevent this, or create other problems?

 

I've considered making up a baffle shaped like the originals to help prevent this, as well as another one for the left rear corner area where these decks always plug/rot out. I'd also like to take the time to tear it down and remove every single fastener head out of the interior where it can accumulate clippings - just welded studs like I did on the front skirt. If you look at modern deck designs - they avoid those things and the air flow is much better, not to mention their baffles are designed much tighter to the blade tips, making them much more efficient. 

 

Sarge

Edited July 18, 2018 by Sarge
forgot detail

[Racinbob 11,077]

I'm able to get back to some light work so I decided to drain and flush the transmission on the 854 I picked up at the big show. This is from the initial drain:

 

 

There wasn't a quarter cup in there! That's no way to treat a Wheel Horse. I dumped in a couple quarts of motor flush and ran it around a bit then drained it. I'm going to open it up and check things out. I know I need to take care of some in/out play on the input shaft in 3rd gear. Hopefully not much else.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Racinbob

[MarkS 122]

Got the C-125 out today to do a little mowing. Also used my Lawn Ranger and the cart to move some old cabinets from the barn to the house!

[pfrederi 17,739]

14 hours ago, MarkS said:

Got the C-125 out today to do a little mowing. Also used my Lawn Ranger and the cart to move some old cabinets from the barn to the house!

 

 

 

Lawn Rangers make great chore tractors...Much easier to get on  and off than their bigger brothers

[dells68 7,498]

We set up 12 of our horses at our local show today.  Our show runs through Saturday in Abingdon,VA.  Come on out if you get a chance.  The more the merrier!  A nice little CubCadet showed up for sale, but the price Is a little too high for me.  Maybe I'm just stuck on our little horses!

Edited July 19, 2018 by dells68
Added picture

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

My brother David and I rebuilt a 42 inch side discharge mower deck for use ona C160 Wheel Horse.  Took some time as old spindle hex bolt heads weee worn thin. Used bolt extractor on two spindle housings and had to cut and drill third one out!  This deck is unique as we have three different type of 42 spindles with three different type of pillows .’, but they all match up fine with spindle deck belt.

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

Bought a rough 312-8 from 1996 to cleanupand use as General tractor for $200 on Tuesday.  

 

 

 

Bought the front end end of a B 100 and 10 HP Kohler and helped my neighbor use the automatic transmission on the B 100 as a replacement for his tractor. 

 

 

Put out a new knob on the front of s Wheel Horse mule drive.