[Dave in NY]

Looks way to good to part it out IMHO. Nice to see one that just needs some TLC given another chance. I have added a grease fitting to couple of my tube tractors as well. What were they thinking? $$$$ Money, it's always about the money. Yeah, and speaking about fuel prices! OUCH!

 

[Dave in NY]

Yes I did briefly put a 5 hp. B&S on this 1254 that I am puttering with now. And yes it was to verify that the transmission worked and/or wasn’t noisy. My version was 2 scraps of 2x4 bolted to the frame and the motor bolted to them. I used carriage bolts because that’s what I found in my hardware stash. The original drive belts even worked. I never actually tried to work it, I just drove it around a few times.

 

[Dave in NY]

Nah, that's not ugly, it's a thing of beauty! Way better than just having it sit doing nothing and then end up in the scrap metal pile.

 

[Dave in NY]

It seems quite common on the tube frame tractors for the hinge and or the bottom of the hood where the hinge bolts to it to be bent, stress cracked. People unbolt the hood support strap from the motor while working on whatever and the hood tilts way too far forward. I have heated, hammered, straightened, welded on all of my tube tractors hoods and hinges. I can look through my collection of "stuff" and see if I have a decent extra hinge. I might. I'll get back to you later today.

 

[Dave in NY]

Or if you happen to have an old kitchen chair close by.

 

[Dave in NY]

Still poking around for an extra hood hinge. I thought there was one with a 1256 hood I have, but I guess not. Found one for a round hood tractor, different style. I'll keep looking.

 

[Dave in NY]

I’m coming up empty here for a hood hinge. I’ll look again tomorrow. I sometimes put things in odd places and then forget I have them. I’m not the only one that does that am I?

 

[Dave in NY]

Progress! It looks good!

 

[Dave in NY]

Is your high/low speed range change done by shuting off the engine and manually moving the belt? I was thinking it might be that type from what I see in your pictures.

 

[Dave in NY]

Looks fine to me. Way better laid out than some of rats nest of wires I have encountered under the hoods of some LT/ GTs I have either worked on or owned. I suppose I could/should have soldered and heat shrunk the harness I recently did for my 1254. All I did was crimp the terminals. Probably the reason that free battery is still working is because it's rated as a reasonably high rate of CCAs. The more expensive, higher rated batteries seem to last longer. IMHO that is. I've had a couple of the bargain 180 CCA batteries poop out in a couple of years.

 

[Dave in NY]

I’m probably going to jinx myself here. I have a U1 that’s just had it’s 5th birthday still cranking up a 12.5 hp Kohler Command. But, it is rated at 430 CCAs and I remove it from the tractor by the start of winter and store it in a mostly heated garage for the winter. I do that with all my L&G batteries that won’t see any use again till spring. They all get a session or two of getting a couple three hours on the trickle charger during the off season too. I learned that trick back a few moons ago. Just parking a tractor in the barn or shed and leaving it till spring was pretty much a sure way to have a dead battery. Having it take and hold a charge again was iffy. Just my experience anyways.

 

[Dave in NY]

It's been a while. I'm afraid I've been distracted by a pair of new acquisitions. I traded a Simplicity Sunstar for a Bolens 1463 (1400G) and a Power King 1614. It's my first medium frame, and I've always wanted a Power King. I've got both running and driving, but that's only the beginning.

I did manage to change the driveshaft bearing since I destroyed the old one in the process. The drive pulley was really rusted on there, it took hours of soaking and heating to finally get it off. I know to take it easy, I've broken more cast iron pulleys than I'd like to admit. I found that regular bolts were used to attach the bonded coupling to the shaft coupling. Regular bolt heads won't sit in the bonded coupling's recesses like socket head screws will, so it was twisted from engine torque. I need to paw through my parts collection to see if I have another one.

Thats about the luck I have, finding things that got put back together almost correctly, but not quite. They got it sort of functional but not like it should be. Possibly didn't have the money, or want to spend it to get the right parts, so whatever was on hand got used to make it go again. I have been guilty of that same thing myself a time or three over the years. A back yard - shade tree repair.

 

[Dave in NY]

Great job on your "back yard fabrication"! One of those shredders would be an attachment that I could make use of around my place too. I have been mowing grass with a 42" deck under a gear drive tube frame tractor for several years now. I have no complaints. Well, maybe a small one. I do wish that the tractors had a bit better turning radius. That would be handy when maneuvering around things. I've often wondered if a fellow could modify the steering geometry a bit to help that?

 

[Dave in NY]

Nice upgrade on the muffler! I never had much love for those stock can type mufflers. Too much bark.