So many of the people coming into the vintage garden tractor hobby today have basically no mechanical knowledge and no real appreciation of vintage equipment.
Now I can understand a lack of mechanical abilities but you combine that lack with a lack of appreciation and a lot of good vintage pieces of equipment are getting gone for no good reason.
Once the original machines from other eras are gone they are gone so I like to see the ones that we can preserved as long as we can.
Case in point is this Wheel Horse C160 hydro / hydro lift tractor.
When I first heard about it and saw pictures it was still together but the rearend was said to be locked up/bad. The guy showing it to me was getting it to pull the engine for another tractor.
When he got the engine I hauled the rest home for parts. But one evening I decided to take a look at it.
I noticed that when I tried to roll it the belt release lever was jumping and clicking. So I pulled the belt cover. The belt release mechanism was binded up,along with the belt.
Now the tractor rolls fine,so I rolled it up to the shop and set a 5 hp engine on it.
I closed the tow valve and started the engine. The hydro and rearend are fine and the hydro lift is strong.
When I was first told about the tractor with the rear being locked I figured it was the semi common issue of the diff bolts backing out and binding.
I knew chances were the hydro was fine because Sunstrands are about indestructible.
The thing is I have seem these very simple fixes time and time again but so many in the hobby today that have low mechanically skills aren't taking the time to learn and gain knowledge. They simply junk and replace because its easier. Carbs (Chinese from ebay),engines ( Preditor),scrap good tractors. All the while instead of admitting they don't know how to repair or even check and diagnose problems they call the old junk instead.
As a disclaimer just because a person is new to the hobby or just learning mechanics is not a bad thing,in fact it's great! We want the hobby to grow and flourish. We want to preserve the era and history,the times that these machines are from,when times and people were different.
I would just like to see people take there time and learn to maintain,diagnose,repair and preserve these vintage machines.
Anyway,where did I set my coffee....and what did I do with that socket....
Now I can understand a lack of mechanical abilities but you combine that lack with a lack of appreciation and a lot of good vintage pieces of equipment are getting gone for no good reason.
Once the original machines from other eras are gone they are gone so I like to see the ones that we can preserved as long as we can.
Case in point is this Wheel Horse C160 hydro / hydro lift tractor.
When I first heard about it and saw pictures it was still together but the rearend was said to be locked up/bad. The guy showing it to me was getting it to pull the engine for another tractor.
When he got the engine I hauled the rest home for parts. But one evening I decided to take a look at it.
I noticed that when I tried to roll it the belt release lever was jumping and clicking. So I pulled the belt cover. The belt release mechanism was binded up,along with the belt.
Now the tractor rolls fine,so I rolled it up to the shop and set a 5 hp engine on it.
I closed the tow valve and started the engine. The hydro and rearend are fine and the hydro lift is strong.
When I was first told about the tractor with the rear being locked I figured it was the semi common issue of the diff bolts backing out and binding.
I knew chances were the hydro was fine because Sunstrands are about indestructible.
The thing is I have seem these very simple fixes time and time again but so many in the hobby today that have low mechanically skills aren't taking the time to learn and gain knowledge. They simply junk and replace because its easier. Carbs (Chinese from ebay),engines ( Preditor),scrap good tractors. All the while instead of admitting they don't know how to repair or even check and diagnose problems they call the old junk instead.
As a disclaimer just because a person is new to the hobby or just learning mechanics is not a bad thing,in fact it's great! We want the hobby to grow and flourish. We want to preserve the era and history,the times that these machines are from,when times and people were different.
I would just like to see people take there time and learn to maintain,diagnose,repair and preserve these vintage machines.
Anyway,where did I set my coffee....and what did I do with that socket....
