early Christmas present help !!

[briankd 817]

my wife asked me earlier this week if i would be interested in restoring another tractor. today i was with her and she pulled into my buddies mower shop and told me to stay in the car. after 10 min they both came out and she says go with him to see what he has . showed me a charger 10 auto with 42 inch deck he had covered up outside looked great he got it from original owner that bought it new but don't know if it runs .also seen a c141 auto but was missing some parts body . then a c121 caught my eye all complete but the seat and seat springs are gone no big deal. i don't know about the auto's much and are they easy to fix and get parts. gear drive to me a piece of cake to do 

theses two auto's i looked at the transaxle covered in grease and oil .since they don't run hard telling if they any good. I am more partial to the gear drive. he going to dig around his place to see what else he has . this c121 there looking at i can't find a serial number tag on it no where any idea's the year ? the one pic is kinda fuzzy . the tires really decent shape been sitting in that spot for 5 years he says 

 

[WHX?? 48,834]

First off your wife got any sisters who like little red tractors? 

I wouldn't worry about the hydro thing too much on the sole fact there are fellas here that can walk you through any problems you might have. 

It is a bit risky when the tractor doesn't run and you can't check the tranny but if the price is right. 

Parts are out here yet as well as complete working hydros. 

Good luck and keep us posted. 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,057]

The ID plate should be up tight to the bottom of the dash housing or

 

Your second picture may show the plate vertical with 2 screws holding it on.

[briankd 817]

21 minutes ago, WHX24 said:

First off your wife got any sisters who like little red tractors? 

I wouldn't worry about the hydro thing too much on the sole fact there are fellas here that can walk you through any problems you might have. 

It is a bit risky when the tractor doesn't run and you can't check the tranny but if the price is right. 

Parts are out here yet as well as complete working hydros. 

Good luck and keep us posted. 

my wife says the charger 10 ugly she says it has that dumb lever hanging off the side i said that is what operates the pto clutch . the charger 10 has a techy in it that made me shy away from it . this c121 i can get for 200 bucks maybe another 50 would get the hydro 

Edited December 11, 2020 by briankd

[briankd 817]

i would really like to find a mid seventies C160 but they are scarce around me there was 2 WH dealers in my area back in the day. guess no one bought them all you see is 8- 12 horse tractors and a few 14 horse tractors 

[WHX?? 48,834]

You musta missed that thread with the nice C-161 with a eight speed Brian.... and only a state away for you! 

I'm prolly gonna have one of those male dreams about that one tonite!  What can I say ...bucket list tractor! 

Edited December 11, 2020 by WHX24

[953 nut 55,338]

49 minutes ago, briankd said:

charger 10 auto with 42 inch deck he had covered up outside looked great he got it from original owner that bought it new but don't know if it runs

A one owner  at the dealership is the best bet. Chances are it was well cared for.             

[SylvanLakeWH 25,608]

You said it best ... get both for $250... 

 

 

(And it would be advised to avoid the visuals from @WHX24 when he starts in on his bucket list tractors... )

 

 

 

 

[D_Mac 8,623]

Still kick myself for selling mine. But then again I kick myself for selling all of them. If I had a place to hold them all I would keep them all. Anyways I have fun bringing them back to life and moving on to the next one. Good Luck with it.

[briankd 817]

51 minutes ago, D_Mac said:

Still kick myself for selling mine. But then again I kick myself for selling all of them. If I had a place to hold them all I would keep them all. Anyways I have fun bringing them back to life and moving on to the next one. Good Luck with it.

 

that is what my wife said you can restore it and sell it maybe make a buck . i told her heck if I'm doing all that work i am defiantly keeping it . i will need something down the road to play with when i retire . I may have to sell off my other things I have like my snowmobiles and trailer kind of getting old to deal with the subzero weather in the U.P. of Michigan anymore. seems like you never have enough room to put stuff it all piles up .

[WHX?? 48,834]

12 hours ago, briankd said:

never have enough room to put stuff it all piles up .

Amen to that! 

[Pullstart 62,922]

Just keep in mind, that 8 speed sitting outside for all that time can have a waterlogged transmission with some hurtin’ done.  The hydro, outside elements don’t harm it near as much.

 

 

[briankd 817]

well i found what i wanted .figured I need something different. waded around the snow and mud today and found 3 different tractors figured i may as well go with a hydro. first one was a 78/79 c141 but had the sustrand hydro . went seen my old WH dealer and he had this black hood that he just got in and hasn't did anything to it yet . he says it has the heavy duty eaton in it . it is a c141 black hood . at first i never cared for them but now it kind of grew on me so I bought it .300 bucks figured I couldn't go wrong 

it runs great everything works as it should . he says the hydro lift works also never had a tractor with that before .this thing is in great shape has the steel seat pan tires are decent shape . i pulled the stick on the engine and looks like it has new oil in it . I'm not going to do anything with it as of now. will put my 48 inch deck on it and run it a bit and then latter on will tear it down and paint it all up .

pics could be better my phone is crap. it will be delivered to me tomorrow since my trailer put away for winter will get some better pictures then . whoever had this seemed to have taken care of it 

my wife says this is my Christmas present from her this year 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by briankd

[briankd 817]

 any one what years was the black hood tractors made ? i didn't get the serial number off this today but will have it tomorrow . 

[peter lena 8,647]

briankd, don't know the entire run years but I bought mine ,new in 82 , still have it , regular maintenance is key , pete  

[cschannuth 3,816]

11 minutes ago, briankd said:

 any one what years was the black hood tractors made ? i didn't get the serial number off this today but will have it tomorrow . 

I believe 1978 was the first year and I think they went until approximately 1984.

[briankd 817]

well got this home and fired it up in garage and WOW did it smoke the fumes even with garage door open bad. the fumes filtered into the house wife not impressed . think needs carb adjusted a little rich and the old crappy gas . looking at the front end both tires lean in at the top may have bent spindles also one of rear tires a shade smaller makes it lean a bit . has anyone tried to straighten spindles ? if  a guy would get them straightened would they stay ? looking at the pic's it don't look that bad 

as above I  said wrong this a c145 not a c121. will go thru it run compression test, points, condenser . change oil and filter in hydro adjust the carb up. right now when it runs it sounds like it has straight pipe on it pretty loud for a factory muffler .don't know why that is maybe carb adj will help and a tune up 

looks tom me according to serial number it is a 1982 model 

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by briankd

[ohiofarmer 3,276]

After you do the carb work and fresh gas,look for any sign of oil leaking from the head gasket..Pull off the head and check how much carbon [even chunks of it]  might be present.I got one in that was so bad that the chunky stuff might have been getting into the valve seats. Anyway, if the gasket is in decent shape, you can paint it with some aluminum paint and even use some extra aluminum glop from the bottom of the can. just as it is hardening, i take my finger and smooth it out. then clean all the threads on the head bolts . Add a drop of oil to the bolts and run them in the engine block a few times to clean things up a bit. after all that , you can replace the head.  

  Compression tests are not all that great to do on engines that have compression release.

  i forgot to mention about the piston and cylinder. I bought a pretty and original paint c-141 that ran, but smoked. that tractor was worth every penny even if the engine needed work.. The engine bore was shiny smooth , but looked great. As the piston descended into the bore, it became apparent visually that the bore got bigger at the bottom. Also if you can move the piston with your fingers in the bore, it becomes apparent that there is wear. Another thing to check is to put some penetrating oil on the top of the valves when the piston is at TDC. The valves should seal and not allow the oil to leak down around the valve seat.

 This is just quick shade tree advice, but it can tell you a lot about the state of your engine. Of course, there are more precise ways to evaluate an engine, but by then you are on the way to a re-bore and rebuild

You never know what you are gonna get. I bought two non-running black hoodswith some attachments for almost nothing] that were pretty filthy and looked like they used them to plow the field with all that dust. The one that looked like a beat parts tractor for the other had a nice tight piston bore with an .015 oversixe piston[indicating it was rebuilt] and she runs sweet now. Another one with chunks of carbon in he head got that way from poor compression caused by loose head bolts. so do not think it is any one thing with these tractors. Poor carburetors, point gap affecting timing, loose head bolts, valves needing cleanes and/or adjustment can all cause smoking. There can be more, but this is the low hanging fruit that is easy to spot.

  So do not worry and take your time.

[ohiofarmer 3,276]

On 12/10/2020 at 7:17 PM, briankd said:

i would really like to find a mid seventies C160 but they are scarce around me there was 2 WH dealers in my area back in the day. guess no one bought them all you see is 8- 12 horse tractors and a few 14 horse tractors 

Well, i am in SW ohio, and the 160's and such sort of came from everywhere as in 3 in the area are everywhere. I think i saw one at a good price in lima OH. Anyway, I have a nice one and found it 25 miles from home also found two 14 HP black hoods and a decent c121 -8

  I just looked and found a c-161twin that looks nice for a good price in a neighboring state...

[briankd 817]

7 hours ago, ohiofarmer said:

The engine bore was shiny smooth , but looked great. As the piston descended into the bore, it became apparent visually that the bore got bigger at the bottom

i have a bore scope that i will be running down there this engine is spotless no oil leaks it fires right up hardly cranks at all. i prefer the kouler over the briggs tho. 

hopefully the shows will go on this year so i will go and look for parts and maybe find some extra ag tires and rims for this . seems like there is always something else going on and this may sit for awhile in the shed . took me over 2 years to get my c-120 done then had to replace the crank because some moron turned it wrong i have to get that 12 horse back together before i start on this.

this maybe my last tractor i have absolutely no more room to put anything. will need to add onto my 20 by 20 building. i don't like stuff to sit outside    

Edited December 20, 2020 by briankd