bowtiebutler956

Thanks Neil. No they're not the fatory water slide type. They are a very, very thin vinyl, and here is a link to the place I get them from. http://stores.ebay.com/ENGINE-DECALS?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 Jim is a member of an old engine forum I'm part of, and he has gone to great lengths to make these decals as precise as possible. Matt

Thanks Wallfish. My wife is quite supportive of my engines, but only the nice, clean, and pretty engines are allowed to live in the house! The dirty, greasy, smelly ones have to live in my shop! The ZZ is a real beast of an old Briggs, and they weigh about 140 lbs. !! A little hard on the back. I also worked on the 70's model engines in my dad's mower shop as a kid in the early 80's. Now I like working on engines that were born before my dad! Thanks Thanks. A "thing" for Briggs engines, Ian? Whatever gave you that idea? I can have a rotten day at work, and be in a foul mood, but sit down at my work bench rebuilding an old Briggs, and feel like a new man, in no time at all. Matt

I love those Gutbrods! They just look like a really well engineered tractor. Thanks for the action shots. Matt

Very nice machine! I've never seen, or herd of one before, which makes me really want one! Matt

Your not late Richard, your right on time. I've decided, that if all possible, I'm going to try and leave the bore standard. With the engine not having a wear ridge, and only very mild scratches, it would be nice to leave the cylinder nice, and thick. It would also be nice to have a 40 rear old engine that runs great, and is still STD bore, STD crank. I don't have much of an update today, but I did have something show up in the mail. My new seat! I believe this is the same design use on the later Wheel Horses, and I really liked it. I'm not going to mount it yet, but I set it on top of the old seat for a reference. Thanks Matt

Thank you guys for the very encouraging words. I got the starter back on the 444 today, and brought it to life. This thing smokes BAD! The previous owner told me it smoked, so I knew in advance. The hydraulics, and drive work perfectly, and I love the way this Beast looks with the blade, and tiller on it. After taking this video, I removed the cylinder head to find a badly blown head gasket, and the crown of the piston closest to the exhaust valve is burned away enough that I can see the top piston ring! No wonder it smoked so bad. However, I'm happy to report the piston is STD, and the cylinder doesn't have any noticeable wear ridge, although there are some light scratches. I might be able to get away with just a hone, and new piston, rings, etc.... I'll know more once I get it all disassembled. Thanks, and here is the video, and pics. Matt

Love it!! Thats a fantastic machine, and a very lucky dog. Matt

Your not late to this party Andy! This ones going to be an ongoing party, until its finished. Thanks for the kind words, and did you say D-200's, as in plural? You have more than one?! The D-200 is the biggest, baddest Wheel Horse ever made, or at least actually made by Wheel Horse, as the D250 was a Gutbrod. Very Nice!! I would love to see some pics. Matt

Thanks Neil, and hangman. I was thinking you guys have some awesome GT's in that part of the world. I really like some of the Gutbrod tractors! Matt

I love the Saga, or mini series of how this monster came to be! The RS's longest ongoing thread in existence! Also one of the very best! Matt

Thank you Nigel, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out as well. I really look forward to putting this beast to work plowing, just to see how capable it is, and it will be nice to just hit the hydraulics, rather than manually lift the plow, tiller, etc.. Thanks, I appreciate it. Actually, I just finished ordering a set of 9.5-16 AG tires, which are a couple inches taller than these. I haven't done much yet, as I took the starter/generator in to be rebuilt, and it was damaged bad internally, so they had to order some parts. They said it would probably be ready tomorrow. I did get a couple hydraulic hoses made to replace the rusted out ones, as I don't even want to try the hydraulics with those on there, so I got new ones made. Matt

I think for the time being, I'm going to rebuild the engine, and fix anything that needs fixing. Then see how it looks with a really good cleaning, and some touch up. You read my mind on the tires neil, as I'll be ordering some 9.5-16 AG tires for it today, which are bigger than the OE 8-16 tires. Will also be putting tri-ribs on the front. Thanks It just feels right, doesn't it. Thanks, and thats a mighty fine wish list you have there. Matt

Very nice work Ian. The new decal, and plate look good on there. I will look forward to seeing you build a 3 point for this horse. I cheated, and bought a tractor with one already on it. While I do enjoy welding, and fabrication Ian, I'm not near the engineer that you are. I do like that GT14, as there is just something about those bigger tires, and taller fenders that make them feel more like a big boy tractor. Matt

Thanks Ian, and yes it is like the GT-14, and even has the same K321 Kohler, although yours grew a couple extra ponies. There is just something that makes it feel more like a big tractor when you sit between the rear fenders, rather than above. Thanks you! I think the 222 likes having a bigger, older brother. Matt

Fantastic work Nigel!!! You have a great imagination, and the skills to make it happen. I love the way it looks like an old original machine. Thanks for the pictures. Matt

Hello all. Just thought I'd post a few pics of my latest project. I picked up a 1974 Case 444 Garden Tractor. This is a large garden tractor. It has a hydraulic 3 point hitch, with a hydraulic PTO. I got it with a hydraulic tiller, snow/dirt blade, mower deck, and a very rusty Brinly plow. The starter generator isn't working, so I dropped it off at my local rebuild place to be fixed. The Kohler K321 will need rebuilding, as the previous owner said it smoked, and leaks alot. First, I'm going to get it running so I can check how everything works. I will replace those rotted rear hydraulic hoses before using the hydraulics! I've been wanting a GT with a full 3 point for awhile, so I'm really going to enjoy this project. Here are a few pics from the 9 hour drive yesterday, to pick it up. There is a couple pics of it next to my 222 as well. Matt

While not quite the beast the 6x6 is, thats still one tuff looking Wheel Horse! I always liked the look of the tall rear tires, and with 16hp now resting under the hood, I'll bet its a very capable machine. Matt

Thank you sir. The paint is nothing special. Its just an industrial enamel, that cost about $20 a gallon in my area, however the hardener for the paint is almost $20 for a pint. The paint is mixed 2:1+10%. 2 parts paint, 1 part reducer, 10% hardener. I spray it with basic HVLP spray gun, running at about 45psi. The hardener is very important if you want a high gloss, durable finish. Thanks Matt

Very nice lineup you have there! I really like the Gutbrod tractors, and wish they had made it over to my side of the world. Matt

Very nice old Gravely! I always thought they had a very interesting design with the engine in the back. Matt

While I like both the Cub, and the Bolens, I really like the little Mayfield Merlin, as I've never seen one of those on my side of the pond. Whats not to love about a garden tractor with running boards! Matt

I wouldn't make any of my usual John Deere jokes around the owner of that JD !!!!!! Matt

Thanks Neil. The paint has alot of scratches in it, but the color is still good. I figure it earned these scratches in the paint from working, and I plan to work it as well, so for now, the scratches stay! It would have been nice if they had put a bulge in the hood Richard, that would have been awesome! Your right about the wheels Richard, I should be ashamed of myself for leaving them looking this way! I guess I've been having to much fun working it. This tecumseh is a strong engine, and it runs this tiller with ease, not to mention it has a nice bark out the exhaust stack I put on it. Thanks Tom, and yes the front weights are homemade. The weights were off a junk JD F510 I had laying around, so I modified an extra mule drive I had, so they just snap into place. I did this, because with the tiller, (or rotovator I guess is what its called in your part of the world) on the back, it was very light in the front, and didn't like turning very well, not to mention Big Wheelies if you arent very careful. Mark, I didn't know they existed either, until I went to buy it, and found it had a Tecumseh. I was disappointed in the beginning, as I thought it had the wrong engine, but I bought it from the original owner, and was assured it was the original engine. After running its numbers through Toro, I found it was indeed a Tecumseh powered machine. Now I'm very pleased with my purchase, as I realize these aren't very common. Matt

Thanks Richard, and yes there is another one over at Red Square. The Model Number on mine is 1-0385, and here is a link to the Toro site. It shows this model with the Tecumseh engine. https://lookup3.toro.com/partdex/index.cfm?adv=yes&xCaller=Toro For some reason this link doesn't take you directly to my model, but if you type C-160 in the box that says Product Name, and click on Submit in the upper right hand corner (not Lookup), then it will take you to the C-160 model numbers, and just select 1-0385, and you will see in the parts diagrams that its listed with a Tecumseh OH160. You are right about the Tecumseh's Richard, and parts are very expensive as well, especially if its the electronics, like the ignition module, or stator! Matt

I thought I'd post a few pics of my favorite Wheel Horse. Its an all original unrestored C-160. The thing that makes this one somewhat unusual, is that it was factory equipped with a OH-160 16hp Tecumseh, rather than the Kohler K341. I guess Kohler was unable to keep up with production, so Wheel Horse made a few with Tecumseh engines. The hood hinges are taller on these, as they needed extra clearance for the OHV Tecumseh engine. I included a picture comparing this hood to a regular hood. Some of the manuals refer to this model as a C-162, but they were still badged C-160. I bought it with a tiller, lawn deck, and WH dump cart. I drove 550 miles to pick it up, and included a couple pics from the trip. Its original seat is in amazing condition, and still had some of the plastic around it. I use this as my dedicated tilling tractor, and intend to keep it as a worker, so no restoration is planned, at least not yet. Its hard to resist restoring them. The Tecumseh engine runs very strong, and starts very easy. I did replace the dry rotted tires with some 23x10.50-12 AG tires in the rear, and tri ribs in the front. Thanks Matt