I decided I wanted to work on something that was NOT a car, so I bout a 2 wheeled tractor. I have been around Gravely my whole life, my dad has a 8183 4 wheel rider. So I know they are great machines and last forever.
I was browsing flebay and saw a bid listing for this one and a commercial 10 with a few attachments (snow blower, snow cannon, snow plow, rotary plow, sulky, 2 30" decks). So let the bidding war begin. My brother and I ended up paying $100 more then what we originally agreed to go to (always happens when you really want something). So off to Ohio at 3pm to pick everything up and come home (4 hour drive each way).
The next day I unloaded everything and started on the 1966-1975 7.6 hp 2 wheeled tractor that I deemed mine. There is no tag on it so I dont know what year exactly it is. I didnt know much about it when I bought it but know I realize it is pretty much loaded, just doesnt have electric start.
This is the day I unloaded everything and decided to work on mine. I took the hood off so I could clean everything better and easier. I sprayed it down with Chemical Guys Signature series Orange Degreaser and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I pressure washed it off.
After it was clean I wanted to see if it would start up. So I cleaned out the old varnished gas with acetone from the tank, replaced the fuel line and didnt really have to clean the carb because they drained the gas the last time the PO used it. Put new gas in and nothing... Redid the timing and still nothing even with a new spark plug. Well off came the magneto. I opened it up to fined it was recently fully rebuilt and the points where corroded just enough to not make contact anymore. Also found under the magneto mounting plate it was so dirty and corroded that it couldnt complete the ground side of the circuit to the spark plug, so cleaned that off and used dielectric grease and put it all back together.
First pull and it started right up. So now I know it runs and runs strong. I started to tear it apart and sandblast the smaller stuff in my cabinet.
I wasnt sure how to do the main tractor...hummmm. So it was time take a trip to Harbor freight for a 110 lbs pressure abrasive blaster and 2 50 lbs boxes of 70 grit black aluminum oxide.
It worked extremely well. It took a few minutes to do the jug and block. Took a little longer for the main part of the tractor because it blows through the medium fast and you need to clean it up, sift it and dump it back in the tank.
This is after 10 seconds of sandblasting fast.
Then we painted the jug with black grill paint.
I didnt feel like bending over to blast the tractor so out came the engine lift.
Then came rest of the tractor with Fiesta Red.
After all of that the oil pump was leaking oil out of both seals. I ordered the seals and gaskets and replaced them to fix the problem. I also decided to push my luck and take the head off (head bolts snap commonly on these) and luckly no bolts snapped. The jug is in good shape and it has a .020" over sized piston in it, so its been rebuilt 1 or 2 times before. Not to bad for a ~45 year old motor. The engine can be rebuilt up to .040" over so its still good. I also adjusted the valves, they were touching the lifters because the jug settles over time. Now they have a .015" gap on intake and exhaust.
Thats all I have done so far. More to come.
I was browsing flebay and saw a bid listing for this one and a commercial 10 with a few attachments (snow blower, snow cannon, snow plow, rotary plow, sulky, 2 30" decks). So let the bidding war begin. My brother and I ended up paying $100 more then what we originally agreed to go to (always happens when you really want something). So off to Ohio at 3pm to pick everything up and come home (4 hour drive each way).
The next day I unloaded everything and started on the 1966-1975 7.6 hp 2 wheeled tractor that I deemed mine. There is no tag on it so I dont know what year exactly it is. I didnt know much about it when I bought it but know I realize it is pretty much loaded, just doesnt have electric start.
This is the day I unloaded everything and decided to work on mine. I took the hood off so I could clean everything better and easier. I sprayed it down with Chemical Guys Signature series Orange Degreaser and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I pressure washed it off.
After it was clean I wanted to see if it would start up. So I cleaned out the old varnished gas with acetone from the tank, replaced the fuel line and didnt really have to clean the carb because they drained the gas the last time the PO used it. Put new gas in and nothing... Redid the timing and still nothing even with a new spark plug. Well off came the magneto. I opened it up to fined it was recently fully rebuilt and the points where corroded just enough to not make contact anymore. Also found under the magneto mounting plate it was so dirty and corroded that it couldnt complete the ground side of the circuit to the spark plug, so cleaned that off and used dielectric grease and put it all back together.
First pull and it started right up. So now I know it runs and runs strong. I started to tear it apart and sandblast the smaller stuff in my cabinet.
I wasnt sure how to do the main tractor...hummmm. So it was time take a trip to Harbor freight for a 110 lbs pressure abrasive blaster and 2 50 lbs boxes of 70 grit black aluminum oxide.
It worked extremely well. It took a few minutes to do the jug and block. Took a little longer for the main part of the tractor because it blows through the medium fast and you need to clean it up, sift it and dump it back in the tank.
This is after 10 seconds of sandblasting fast.
Then we painted the jug with black grill paint.
I didnt feel like bending over to blast the tractor so out came the engine lift.
Then came rest of the tractor with Fiesta Red.
After all of that the oil pump was leaking oil out of both seals. I ordered the seals and gaskets and replaced them to fix the problem. I also decided to push my luck and take the head off (head bolts snap commonly on these) and luckly no bolts snapped. The jug is in good shape and it has a .020" over sized piston in it, so its been rebuilt 1 or 2 times before. Not to bad for a ~45 year old motor. The engine can be rebuilt up to .040" over so its still good. I also adjusted the valves, they were touching the lifters because the jug settles over time. Now they have a .015" gap on intake and exhaust.
Thats all I have done so far. More to come.
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