Bill, Paul and Kevin - unfortunately I could never really bring myself to using one of my "restored" tractors. They were like a piece of art. If I damaged, dinged, scratch, got it dirty, I had to fix whatever it was. It would usually take me about 6 months to go thru the tractor completely, so I could usually get it to one show before I sold it, and then got started on another. My take on "restored" is that it means something different to everyone. If someone says something is restored, then to me the next natural questions are, ok what did you do to it, is it more than just painting, what'd ya do to the engine, tranny, mechanics, wiring, clutch (PTO and drive), on and on and on, so you could really find out what was done. You could never really tell what may have been done or not done to an engine, and most of the units don't have hour meters so it was always a trust thing. Of course if the unit has a black engine (before the Quiet Line era) with a decal/sticker on the flywheel housing you knew it was at least a replacement. To me restoring generally means repairing what ever needs repairing, changing the usual items that fail (like the hydro pump cork gasket), renewing the PTO and drive clutches with new bearings, the usual new points plug, condensor, carb kit, throttle shaft if needed, decarboning the head/piston and get a look at the cylinder, and doing what's necessary. Back when I was restoring these units I usually always had a unit around to test use besides my main 1450. I had 2 acres to mow, one of which was a wetlands area that only dried up in the middle of the summer. The 1450 with a 50inch deck was the only unit that would handle it well (never had a 1650 to try). The other units I had always were a comparison to my 1450 which made it tough. I never had a 7hp unit but a couple 86's. I felt like they were fine for grass with a 36" deck. Never tried one in snow but felt like they could work ok but not well if it was a foot or so. Didn't feel like they could handle a thrower really great. Just seemed like the engine didn't have enough torque. Used several different 10hp units and could tell the difference. Felt like they were marginally enough. All the 12hp units were good all around tractors. Didn't care much for 122's with the gear drive and no quick attach latching, but like the way the 12hp runs. Had a 1200 that scared me when I ran it around without a mowing deck. It was a later production with the lower aluminum grill housing instead of the early cast iron, and with that weight difference to was just to easy to pop wheelies. Of all the gear drives I liked the 128 the best, just seemed like a nice fit for all around use. Had a fair number of the hydro units narrow and wide frames. Felt like the wide frame was just a little more tractor even tho they were basically the same as the narrow frame units. None of these worked very well in my wetlands area, not that the 1450 was great unless it was dried out. We're talking bog grass sometimes a foot tall, and unless I had enough speed even the mowing deck on the 1450 would get hung up between 2 bogs. I had to stop and either chop out the bog with a pick ax, or sometimes I'd put the tractor in a slow forward speed (tires would be spinning slowly in the muddy soil) and I'd lift and push and tug to get the deck past the bog. Dang that was tough stuff. Also, switching seasons, the 1450 really handled the QA42A snow thrower the best. 12hp hydro was ok but I just felt like I needed the extra hp in the 14. I never could find a decent 1650 to pick up that wasn't abused and to far gone for me to want to restore, and never had an '82 series either. Ooh, and I had a few 147's with electric lifts which I never cared for. I always found myself looking down to see what I was doing to the deck when I moved it up/down. I guess I never really trusted the electrics. And there was something about mixing electricity with snow/rain/slush that I never liked for using them in the winter. The 14hp was nice but the electric lift just didn't compare to the hydro lift on the 1450. Now, all this said here's a pic of my favorite IH CC advert.
