PeacemakerJack 10,743 #1 Posted September 3, 2019 Many of us are picking up new horses throughout the course of a given calendar year. Ironically, we get some of our best deals when an uneducated PO says something like, “I don’t know what happened with this but it just doesn’t work like it should” or “last fall it was running fine but this spring it wouldn’t start!” While I will concede that SOME tractors possess a truly broken engine, transmission, or other massive failure item, MOST just need some TLC to get them running good again. I purchased a 418-A last week Friday for a friend of mine named Cindy. Her husband Dale is dying from heart disease and she approached me about getting her old JD 185 going. It has a bunch of stuff wrong with it and because it is a lawn mower tractor, it seems useless to me to spend time, money, and effort on it. I asked her if she minded giving me some time to look around and find her a tractor. Last week @19richie66 came through with a tip about a nice looking 400 series machine in southern WI. A little too far for him to swing by and check it out!😉. I contacted the owner and he said it works great except the PTO bearing is seized. When I arrived, I was less than impressed with the whole operation. The battery was dead, which isn’t uncommon but he had to literally kick the brake lever to get it to move far enough to engage the safety switch. Once he got the tractor running, the idle was all over the place and he had to kick the brake pedal back in order for me to take it for a test drive. I could get maybe 2mph forward but about normal speed in reverse. Hydraulics worked fine but, sure enough, try to engage the PTO and it would kill the engine dead! The voltmeter said that the battery was at least receiving a 14 volt charge. There was decent looking engine oil on the dipstick but the hydro looked low on fluid. In spite of it problems, I still saw the potential in this diamond in the rough. It also helped that he had offered me a package deal if I took a pair of Big Wheels (953 and 1054A) off his hands. I told the boys that that we were going to use this Labor Day to get that tractor running like it should be for Cindy. After pulling the tunnel cover we found it full to the top with debris and crud. Upon cleaning that out, and pulling the fender pan we noticed that lots of moving points were just plain rusty. The gas cap on the fuel tank was broken and while dumping out the fuel, I noticed that there was some water in it. While the boys boys were cleaning the fender pan and fuel tank, I worked on finding the problem to the brake pedal. I was convinced it was the pedal but it turned out to be the bolt that holds the return to neutral plate. Lots of deep creep and changing out some hardware and we had that thing working like a song. In the above pic you can see how far the plate was capable of moving with the speed control arm because the return to neutral was somewhat “seized” and not allowing full travel. After freeing that up we had normal brake, e-brake, and speed control lever operation! This was just some of the junk that we cleaned off of the hydro, tunnel area, and underside! The next thing that is typically wrong when these older tractors don’t like to run well is the carb. Caleb pulled that off and we noted by the condition of the air filter that this thing was getting some LONG OVERDUE tune up parts. While he was dismantling the carb for cleaning, I pulled the spark plugs. They were the wrong plug and they had two different plug gaps. The one that was close to the recommended .035” looked like it was burning wheel. The one that was squished to about .10”—NOT SO MUCH! It was sooty and black looking. Caleb then said to me, “Dad, check this out!” There was water floating in the float bowl! I showed Caleb how to lightly bottom the idle air mixture screw and pay attention to where it was set (this one was less than 3/4 of a turn when the recommended start point is 1 1/4 turns from bottom. Meanwhile I had Judge and Zach polishing the chrome hubcaps and sheet metal. Doesn’t help it run better but it sure looks better running when clean! Next up was a run to town to pick up the tune up supplies and lunch. After lunch we dumped the rear end oil which was nasty and likely in there for decades. Changed filter and put in fresh oil after lifting the front of the tractor up with the chain hoist. The boys thought that was pretty cool. Looked like Dan @Achto doing a wheelie. By now the carb was ready to go back on after being cleaned out really well and new fuel line installed. Correct plugs with .035” gap were installed and all shear metal put back in place. The battery was on the charger and this thing was ready to start. Once we got fuel pumped through the system it started right up and ran really good. Needed a little tweaking but it drove around like a champ! It is amazing how the little things can make such a big difference in how something runs or doesn’t! It turned out that the PTO wasn’t seized by the bearing but rather a belt rusted tight to the pulley! Once that was removed, the pulley seemed to work just fine! Tomorrow I’ll hook up the deck and test it mowing some lawn! A great days work on a fine little machine. I’ll be sure to add pictures soon of the finished product. 16 9 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZXT 2,401 #2 Posted September 3, 2019 Good on you for helping out your friend! That'll be a far better tractor than that JD could ever think of being. It's also cool that your kids are learning on these things! That'll pay dividends later. Glad that all it needed was relatively simple! Hopefully its shortfalls helped you negotiate a bit! You know we're going to need a picture of it all cleaned up with its polished wheel covers. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 69,802 #3 Posted September 3, 2019 Fantastic work there my friend!!! I'll be looking forward to more pics too!! We used to tell people in the old school auto parts stores: You can't do trouble shooting until you do the maintenance! 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,144 #4 Posted September 3, 2019 Nice there... I'm betting it's glad it found you guys. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tractorhead 9,066 #5 Posted September 3, 2019 Sometimes just simply „tuneups“ required, to get machines back in Service. good to hear it run‘s well. Have some Fun with it, i agreed to @AMC RULES, the Horse must be lucky, to be at your‘s. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 63,599 #6 Posted September 3, 2019 Great work Stertz boys! Josh as much as I know you love a big wheel or two, I bet handing this over to Miss Cindy will be the most rewarding! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 11,501 #7 Posted September 3, 2019 Excellent Josh Not only did you save a nice machine you did a wonderful thing for Cindy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #8 Posted September 3, 2019 58 minutes ago, pullstart said: Josh as much as I know you love a big wheel or two, I bet handing this over to Miss Cindy will be the most rewarding! Absolutely! It is my sincere desire that she will not only like this tractor and that she will feel comfortable operating it but that it will serve her well for years to come. It is definitely more blessed to give than to receive! 3 2 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee1977 6,934 #9 Posted September 3, 2019 The rear cylinder fins will look like the hydro. My 520-h was completely pack with dirt, grass, and oil. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #10 Posted September 3, 2019 The culprit was located as I was setting up the deck for Cindy’s tractor. I was trying to figure out why that belt got rusted to the PTO in the first place... suddenly it all made sense! The bearing on the V-idler pulley gave out and seized up and choked out the system. The PO, didn’t know what had happened and assumed it was the PTO bearing. So, I set up Cindy’s tractor with a different mule that I had which has good bearings. I changed the engine oil and greased everything up good. Then I was able to do a test run on it...it worked great! So, a little more cleaning and a fresh PTO belt were all that was needed before delivery. Cindy was overjoyed to take possession of her new “horse”. She is a horse lover by nature and at one time years ago had over 20 horses that she boarded at her farmette. She still has two horses and now a third! She loved the fact that it was automatic and has hydraulic lift. I spent about 30 minutes explaining it to her and then let her play with it a little. Dale was having a good day and even though he didn’t remember me, was very interested in the machine and especially in my old Chevy truck! He’s a fan of Chevy trucks! It was so good to see him up and around because a few months ago he was bed ridden. Cindy had tears in her eyes as she gave me a HUGE hug thanking me for getting this tractor for her. It was so worth it! 4 7 11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,542 #11 Posted September 3, 2019 AWESOME! What a great story and great ending. 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,772 #12 Posted September 4, 2019 Great story! And a great example for your boys 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,144 #13 Posted September 4, 2019 (edited) NOW!!! About that green thing??? Edited September 4, 2019 by AMC RULES 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,542 #14 Posted September 4, 2019 Well..... it is being replaced and hauled away 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #15 Posted September 4, 2019 Craig...maybe you could find one of those pics of a warning label that states something like, “please dispose of properly” 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 49,951 #16 Posted September 4, 2019 On 9/3/2019 at 12:55 AM, ZXT said: Good on you for helping out your friend! That'll be a far better tractor than that JD could ever think of being. It's also cool that your kids are learning on these things! That'll pay dividends later. Jack.... Glad to hear you & the boys are doing good things! Nice to know at least one of us is going to heaven! What's your intentions for the big wheels? Craig beat me to what to do with the JD! Hey Ritchie you sniffin CL for tractors on Mafia turf... What's up with that! Does this mean I can get another tractor for my Cindy!?!?! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 56,803 #17 Posted September 5, 2019 12 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said: Craig...maybe you could find one of those pics of a warning label that states something like, “please dispose of properly” 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 69,802 #18 Posted September 5, 2019 @953 nut Well played Richard. Well played. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dclarke 4,051 #19 Posted September 5, 2019 What a great thing to do, Josh! You and your crew sure do excellent work and what a good feeling that had to be to see Cindy driving that 418 around. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #20 Posted September 5, 2019 Denny—as you all know, this is a hobby for me. I really enjoy working on/playing with/restoring/refurbishing/ these machines. It is soooo cool and a blessing to be able to use the hobby to be a help to someone else. She was overjoyed but I couldn’t express how much fun it was for me to get it set up for her. As has been said, it has been really good for the boys too. I want to foster in them a giving spirit which is tough for any human. We are all selfish by nature and have to learn to be giving. I wish I could say that I was always giving but I have failed more times than not. I have to once again give a shout out to Richie for helping me make this a reality for Cindy. The RS Forum contains such a great group of guys willing to help one another, I hope that we never lose that... 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCM 9,931 #21 Posted September 5, 2019 @PeacemakerJack You chose a great 1 year only 1987 418-A to give a 2nd life to someone in need, good deed my friend. 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coulter Caleb 532 #22 Posted June 7, 2020 Got a cool update for you today on the tractor. We delivered the tractor in September but we had a lot of rain in September. Then we had an early snow before Halloween in October. So she parked the tractor and left it until today. We went over there and went to get it started for her and give her a fresh tutorial on how to start and operate the tractor. So we go to start it and it has a very weak battery so we got Warrior( dad’s Chevy pickup truck) and used jumper cables to get it started. Dad then with that used the method of dumping gas in the carb. It would fire and run for 5 seconds then die abruptly. After 5-6 times me and Dad were getting very frustrated... So we thought we had tried everything and were about to give up when Dad suddenly took off the gas cap for the tank and the gas tank was bone dry... After we got over our headaches we filled the tank up and got it running for her. She had a great time mowing her horse paddock... It was great for both of us to see her, a long time horse lady, on her Wheel Horse taking care of her paddock. Dad started cutting but once she got on the tractor, she kept on going... 1 3 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 69,802 #23 Posted June 7, 2020 23 minutes ago, Coulter Caleb said: took off the gas cap for the tank and the gas tank was bone dry For an internal combustion engine to operate correctly one must have something... To combust. Don't feel bad men. I've done worse. More often than I'd care to admit. VERY nice work getting that tractor up and running and to an appreciative owner. 4 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 8,943 #24 Posted June 7, 2020 You dont want to know how many times I have killed myself trying to start the string trimmer only to realize I have the switch off...... ugh ! 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 49,951 #25 Posted June 7, 2020 All I can tell you @Coulter Caleb is Super C is in the house! Uncle Dan had a long haul to get it but she's home! 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
