This Was Going to Be My Winter Project....But...

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

Had finished the Raider 12 and there was the lift, sitting there EMPTY..........

 

This is my $400  "barn find". It's a 94 416-8 with a little over 1100 hours. 

It had been sitting for about 4 years after the PO bought a zero turn.

The guy I work for part time told me his uncle had a Wheel Horse in his shed and he might want to get rid of it.

He sent me some pictures.  It really looked like a brown lump.  But he did clean off the ID tag.

The shed turned out to be more of a "run in" with a dirt floor (and it didn't face east)

Took the power washer to it and YEP There was a Wheel Horse underneath.

New battery, fuel lines,spark plugs and an air filter and it ran like a champ.

Even mowed the front yard with it.

Couldn't stand looking at the empty life so.......Let the fun Begin!

[953 nut 55,065]

13 minutes ago, RJ Hamner said:

shed turned out to be more of a "run in" with a dirt floor

             At least it appears to have been kept dry and not rusted up too badly.            

[ebinmaine 67,266]

Good find and nice job getting it running!!

 

[peter lena 8,580]

looking like a thorough tear down, that,s the way to do it. also a great opportunity to mount a flange bearing on that steering column. i like the two  bolt steel flange with grease fitting for about  7 $ on ebay. if you are not going to get in the engine, i use a  frequent  hot oil change to flush out the milky crap build up from incorrect oils. rotella  30 wt really does the job , and the oil looks good , without the milky residue typically found in these engines. adding a thank you ,for recovering a solid unit, as we all know , these tractors do not exist today, keep them going, good job, pete

[peter lena 8,580]

almost forgot, when you remove the top of dash to get to the bearing area, note the  very sloppy fit of the PTO lever fit along lower battery side area. i picked up some fender washers and nylon washers to tighten up that sloppy lever start, that tightening also pulls in the side of the lever arm against the side of the cowl , making it very solid and smooth , giving you mechanical advantage. also thoroughly lubricate related movement points, it works like butter. having done this a number of times , you have to work your way into this repair, why not get the most out of your effort and  totally  improve it ?  just my own experience, pete 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

That's a couple of interesting improvements. I am going to make a note of them for the rebuild. Thanks for the input. 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

Got to spend a few hours disassembling, marking and bagging parts.

She's looking pretty naked. 

Couple more small pieces to go before I get out the Oil Eater and the power washer.

The one item I am wondering about is what to use the clean the wiring harness.

Its a combination of mud mostly and the assorted grease and mouse droppings

Any "helpful hints"???

[ebinmaine 67,266]

Been a long long time since I've bought an e but there used to be spray cleaners for electric parts like a starter or whatever.

I wouldn't get too worried about using a garden hose and wiping most of the harness but maybe that electric parts cleaner in the terminal ends?

 

At reassembly... Probably reapply some dielectric grease.

 

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Was wondering what others had done in this situation. Rebuilding a harness for an early model isn't bad but rebuilding this one could be (for me) a nightmare

[ebinmaine 67,266]

5 minutes ago, RJ Hamner said:

That's kind of what I was thinking. Was wondering what others had done in this situation. Rebuilding a harness for an early model isn't bad but rebuilding this one could be (for me) a nightmare

If you need to do so...

Mentally separate all the circuits from one another and rebuild one at a time.

 

It's alot more than an older one for sure but same general principles apply.

 

[Pullstart 62,783]

I have a long air nozzle that I taped some 1/4” clear tubing to the end of in a siphon manner.  I mix up some simple green and water, put the tubing on the dip and blast away... then wipe it down and switch to just water for cleanup.  It’s a great all purpose cleaner and I believe a little water quickly dried is much different than storing it in a rain storm and weather.

 

great progress RJ!

[ebinmaine 67,266]

1 hour ago, pullstart said:

storing it in a rain storm and weather.

[jebbear 377]

3 hours ago, pullstart said:

 I mix up some simple green and water

I totally agree with @pullstart, from the photos your harness looks to be in pretty good shape other than the mud. Simple Green is pretty good stuff for this situation and generally just for wiring and connectors, water shouldn't do any harm since there are no electronics or circuitry involved.

 

[WHX?? 48,763]

Just saw this thread and chiming in to follow. Your just a glutton for punishment after your last project ain't you Bob!  Good luck & we have faith in you so keep us posted!

[Tractorhead 9,064]

19 hours ago, RJ Hamner said:

- snip -

 

 

- / snip - 

 

in the above pict, i think i see the pink wire in the middle upper front, short under the connector, looks like to be a bit depressed.

maybe it was clamped or scratched somwhere, that looked a bit of insulation was gone.

i would protect this by insulation Tape, to prevent shorts.

 

maybe i‘m wrong too.

but on the pict, it looks like so.

 

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

Wow. Great eyesight

I’ll have to check that out. Everything was covered with so much crud there were places that you couldn’t tell what color the wire was. 

Thanks

 

[ebinmaine 67,266]

So .... What's going to be your actual winter project? Now that this one is turned into a late summer and fall project?

 

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

2 hours ago, WHX24 said:

Just saw this thread and chiming in to follow. Your just a glutton for punishment after your last project ain't you Bob!  Good luck & we have faith in you so keep us posted!

Well I started with the Wheel Horses as a kind of hobby/therapy. Some might call it self abuse or as you said “a glutton for punishment” but it sure beats the heck out of sitting on the couch with the remote in one hand. Besides look at all the neat new tools I bought and the others that I want and tell the wife that “I REALLY NEED” to do this next job.

The only problem that I have now is I am out of room. I am not sure WHERE I’m going to store this one. Let alone the 79 C81 under a tarp in the back yard. 

As I used to tell the sailors that worked for me.....This is the Adventure Part!!!

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

So .... What's going to be your actual winter project? Now that this one is turned into a late summer and fall project?

 

 

That would be the C81. But then again ya never know what I might run across in the mean time. 

[ebinmaine 67,266]

5 minutes ago, RJ Hamner said:

beats the heck out of sitting on the couch with the remote in one hand.

Agreed.

Trina and I have been together for a little over four years and neither one of us had cable at the time and still don't. No TV hook up.

Last year I even canceled internet.

All I have to connect to the web is my almost smartphone...

 

 

2 minutes ago, RJ Hamner said:

ya never know what I might run across in the mean time

Yeah you just jump in the truck and take a little jaunt up to Maine. I'll give you enough parts to build a Frankentractor. That'll keep you busy. I dare you.

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

I made a rolling table to rebuild transmissions and I bought a nice engine stand to rebuild the Kohlers. Well this one has an Onan that won’t fit on the stand. It’s sitting on my tranny table now. So.....today’s project is to build a rolling table for the Onan. 

[ebinmaine 67,266]

1 minute ago, RJ Hamner said:

I made a rolling table to rebuild transmissions and I bought a nice engine stand to rebuild the Kohlers. Well this one has an Onan that won’t fit on the stand. It’s sitting on my tranny table now. So.....today’s project is to build a rolling table for the Onan. 

Nothing wrong with that at all !!

 

Of course now you have to buy more Onan powered machines to make use of said table.

 

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

 

Yeah you just jump in the truck and take a little jaunt up to Maine. I'll give you enough parts to build a Frankentractor. That'll keep you busy. I dare you.

 

Ya know..... I haven’t been to the Kittery Trading Post in years......ya never know!

[ebinmaine 67,266]

5 minutes ago, RJ Hamner said:

Ya know..... I haven’t been to the Kittery Trading Post in years......ya never know!

Just for the record, I'm totally serious.

 

.. in case you needed any incentive I live about 70 minutes pretty much straight north of KTP.

I have most of enough parts to build to either B or C Series and I only want to make one more.

 

 

 

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

Its down to the bare transmission and the frame.

Been just a tad warm so haven't spent a whole lot of time in the shop.

I needed to get the hubs off the axles and figured I needed a good way to get them off without destroying any more hubs.

Got to talking with Ed Kennell and did some LBR Engineering (LBR = Looks About Right)

Finally got all the parts I needed, did a little welding and tried it out tonight

The end result was the the hubs are off the axles and nothing got broken in the process