Some of my 318 hacks and fixes.

[Redline69 27]

She's nothing special, just a 318-8, going on almost 30 years old, with almost 2800 hrs, and has hardly given me any grief since we bought it new. To say its' been very reliable would be an understatement. It's cut a LOT of grass over the years,and I've never had the engine apart. 

 

 Here's a few mods/repairs I've made.

 Since the original deck linkage and rubbing parts all have wear, it was cutting the grass too short, even on it's highest setting. So I figured one way to get it higher(without having to go through all the linkages and parts) was the create a 6th stop, or hole for the deck height setting. So I took off the deck height adjuster,and figured where the next hole would go. Drilled out the ends of the slot and removed the center with a carbide on my die grinder. Works great!

 

 The hood hood stop that sat on the top of the dash was a mickey mouse affair, so I make up a couple hood rests out of some thinner angle iron,and bolted them to the sides. They hold the hood firmly,and it no longer flops back and forth.

 

The seat strut crapped out, so I just took part of a broom stick, measured from the bottom of the fender bracket  to a bolt under the seat. found an unused hole in the fender bracket and just put a screw to hold it loosely in place. When I need gas, I flip up the seat and just place the handle under a nut,and that holds it nicely. Otherwise it just lays there.

 

The steering was something terrible loose. So I looked under the hood, and there was a thin piece of metal there behind the dash that held the bushing in place for the steering shaft. Someone must have caught one of the wheels on a turn,and jammed it, taking that force back to the steering shaft and bending it up, thereby making the steering gears skip. So took that top panel off,and got a nice piece of 14 gauge steel, make a proper shaped (flat sided) hole for the bushing to sit in,and bolted it UNDER the piece of metal, tightening up the steering shaft very  nicely. The steering block at the bottom of the steering shaft still needs to be repaired, but this made it much better, til I get to that job.

 

 She's taught both my sons how to drive using a clutch and gear shift. What better way to do it. After that the could drive our older 8 sp tractors and standard trans cars and trucks.

 The old 312 is in her work clothes, but it's one machine we never regret buying,and it will stay around here with us for a long time yet.

 Thanks.

 Frank 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,547]

I love hearing stories like this! 

  Thanks for sharing and the pics 

 

[peter lena 8,876]

noting your first picture, perfect opportunity to install a, 2, bolt 3/4" flange bearing to that steering shaft ,after doing that I cover the upper end of column with size to size pvc plastic pipe, painted black .next opportunity , tighten that steering wheel to shaft fit, I use s/s shim stock 5 to 8 thou, cut a strip about 3/4 " wide 2 1/2" long and shape it to the top of shaft and diameter. verify your wheel fit , use a taper pin to pick up shaft hole to wheel hole , vise grip shaft, and move wheel to line up spiral  pin hole , never seize pin and install. I also use wooden block between lower steering wheel and seat mount , for solid on/ off of wheel, no impact bounce. while I was there I also shimmed up that sloppy pto lever system, go after any of the movement gaps, with washers or Teflon washers, snug up anything you find, I also use those push in slide pins, easier than cotter pins, most important , LUBRICATE ALL MOVEMENT POINTS , what a concept, smooth easy lever engagement. reading your text was just like going along for the ride, getting after it is always better, pete  

[Redline69 27]

Hi Pete, I seen a similar steering shaft fix on YouTube, (not sure if that vid was yours or not), but I don't think I have room for something like a cast flange and bearing. It's a pretty tight space in there. Agree on the lube comment. Seems I'm always in there with the grease gun or oil can, or some spray lube.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Redline69

[Daron1965 644]

I enjoy reading about and seeing others tips and repair tricks.  Thank you

[peter lena 8,876]

redline69, having done this on 3 horses , yes, the bearing will fit, It mounts on the bottom of shelf, right where you added that support, bearings on eBay, just got another pair for 14 $ ,free shipping .   I know its a tight spot, but once you remove the upper dash level, the opportunity will come into view. that is a major control area, I cleaned up and wire wrapped all wiring, no more chafing. steering play and pto play issue .I think its a matter of getting fed up with a problem, I know I had reached the make it go away point, pete

[Redline69 27]

Thanks for the follow up Pete. Will look further into this procedure this winter on the unit.

 

Appreciate the comments Daron & Mike!

[ebinmaine 68,874]

On 9/21/2018 at 8:38 PM, Sparky said:

I love hearing stories like this! 

  Thanks for sharing and the pics 

 

Me too...

20 hours ago, Daron1965 said:

I enjoy reading about and seeing others tips and repair tricks.  Thank you

[Kelsey 91]

That's a man's tractor. I enjoyed reading about the 318-8.

[tunahead72 2,448]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 8:19 PM, Redline69 said:

... Since the original deck linkage and rubbing parts all have wear, it was cutting the grass too short, even on it's highest setting. So I figured one way to get it higher(without having to go through all the linkages and parts) was the create a 6th stop, or hole for the deck height setting. So I took off the deck height adjuster,and figured where the next hole would go. Drilled out the ends of the slot and removed the center with a carbide on my die grinder. Works great! …

 

 

Now THAT'S an interesting idea!  This is a common problem with Wheel Horse decks.  I've seen people suggest larger wheels, but I don't believe I've seen this particular solution before.  Anybody else?  Any problems with this fix?

 

[Redline69 27]

Larger wheel might work too. But all this was, the time involved in drilling out and finishing out the slot..pretty cheap fix if you have some tools.  And it works fine as far as I'm concerned. I've done it on 2 decks now. Thanks for the comment.

[Redline69 27]

I also wanted to add, that I first tried the Gumout tune-up treatment on the 318 this summer. First as a fogging treatment right in the carb. Then added some to the gas in the tank. I think it really helped get this old Kohler running tip top again.