“Ol’ Red” 1979 Wheel Horse C-81

Holy crap, I had forgotten about thrust. That stuff was great. They don't have it here in KY, guess it was a new york thing. They just have that nasty, good for nothing, water displacement formula 40 junk here.

If they do not have thrust, look for Liquid Wrench, Blaster, or even WD40 Rust Release now. It actually works.

I hope that hub comes off clean Carl.

So I had to borrow my friend's torches.  Now I have to paint both hubs to match but oh well.  All of my seals are new and I keep looking at my trans pulley and can't help but wonder what would happen if I went smaller.

This would be a good time to get some 7/16 thearded studs instead of using these goofy lug bolts.

i wish i had that luck, this was mine

Oh my god look at the carnage.  I am lucky.

So per @TheBeal 's suggestion, I'm putting studs in the hubs to make installing the wheels easier and I'm getting these cool chrome bullet style lug nuts.  I'll have enough to do Mud Rat too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20pc-7-16-Chrome-Lug-Nuts-Acorn-Cone-Seat-Bullet-Bulge-Style-7-16-20/382291765233?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Those are pretty cool.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

Oh my god look at the carnage.  I am lucky.

So per @TheBeal 's suggestion, I'm putting studs in the hubs to make installing the wheels easier and I'm getting these cool chrome bullet style lug nuts.  I'll have enough to do Mud Rat too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20pc-7-16-Chrome-Lug-Nuts-Acorn-Cone-Seat-Bullet-Bulge-Style-7-16-20/382291765233?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I was thinking about the same, what are you going to do drill out the threaded hole & press in the stud?

I bought fully threaded 1.5" 7/16-20 bolts that I'm threading in from the back side. I'll probably put some red locktite on them so they stay put.

That should work, nothing on the back side to get hung on the bolt head.  Also, should one get damaged down the line, cut the exposed threads, heat it up and bolt it out.

I dread painting this time of year because I have to stretch a tarp across the garage to keep over spray off of my tractors and trike, but I'm very happy with the results.

I dread painting this time of year because it runs easy.

Oh . Painting . What fun . I still have no decided what colors to use on my first entry,...... Or second, or my next entry,...

BLING BLING!





Mud Rat is getting the same treatment.

Looking good! shiny and fresh !

Someone got her tie rods majorly upgraded and painted last night.



The beefy 5/8" diameter tie rods were worn out so I cut off the old ends, and squared up a piece that was 5" long. Then I welded some 1 1/4" 3/8-24 grade eight bolts to the ends of that so I could use these nice rod ends.  I picked these parts up a long time ago and I took the time and did it.  It was a pretty easy small project.

On another note if you looked closely in my C-125 First Start Video you would have noticed that the trans pulley for Ol Red was sitting on the right floor board.  That's because I'm trans pulley swapping it.  Both Ol Red and Mud Rat are going to have the same top speed of around 14 mph when I'm done.  The problem with Ol red is that the trans input shaft if 5/8" diameter with and odd size 5/32" woodruff key slot.  I have a 5/8" hub with a 3/16" keyway.  I'm going to try to file a 3/16 woodruff key into an adapter key or find a machine shop locally that can broach a 5/32 keyway into the hub I have.

Nice tie rod upgrade Carl! That key way size definitely is a bit odd, can't say I'd ever heard of a 5/8" shaft having a 5/32" keyway before haha.

You could just use the set screw as a key...that's what I do when I lose the key.

Nice, now when the joints wear out, you can pop a new one on! Always hated joints built into the bar.

The old ones weren't adjustable either so my front tires were slightly toed out, but once the paint cures and I get these babies mounted up that won't be the case anymore.

It makes a huge difference when you have good tierods, The Tractor looks good, I really like your build.

Current to do list is getting kinda short:

-swap trans pulley from 6.5" to 5", solve oddball keyway problem, going to try filing a step key, I have a hub and pulley
-because of this I'd have to go to a shorter belt and I want to look into my belt slip/ tension issue
-custom bumper and winch (I have steel and winch in stock, but I've been more focused on Mud Rat)
-foot throttle
-I've been dreaming up a lower skidplate/belt guard (just something I'm thinking about for a future project)

the skid plate is worth it, i wouldn't what to break a case , probably hard to find.

Definitely skid plate, should be very beneficial.

After days of being laid up with the Flu I got in the shop this morning and worked for about 3 hours before I felt competely exhausted and fatigued.

I took some alignment advice from this youtube video, installed my new tie rods and aligned the front tires.  I aligned my C-125 while I was at it too.






I got them really straight! Zero toe in or out.



Next I got some great advice from a member of the Wheel Horse Forum on how to hand file a step key to adapt from the 3/16 square keyway in the new trans pulley hub to the 5/32 woodruff key on the input shaft.

I started with 3/16 woodruff key from TSC.  First I filed the width.  I took about .015 from each side.



Next with a combination of the belt sander, bench grinder, and file I formed the shape of the 5/32 woodruff key.  I still have to do some more filing and fitting to get the hub to slide on the input shaft but I'm almost there.

@Crazy_Carl Nice great job on the key, it the best feeling when you make something and it work. but it goes the other way lol