wheelhorse commando 800 engine swap

this was a neat project I did for an older gentleman that wanted his wheelhorse tractor to run again, unfortunately after diagnosis the original engine had a blown rod so I retrofitted a 420cc Honda clone engine and it worked out perfectly and he was very happy with it!

[@jtothefx]

What a beauty!

[@atractorkid7]

Thanks Jesse! It was alot of work to do in a short period of time, but the guy who wanted it fixed was very happy

[@cledussnow9507]

I have the same tractor, this week I've started a swap with a GX200, I can drive it around now, working on PTO part now. The GX doesn't big at all on my hills in the yard like the Kohler, I always to to go to 1st, the Honda does it in 2nd just off idle. So far all has gone well, a lot of measuring. The stock PTO rod off the Kohler isn't even close to fitting in the same spot, in the process actually right now of making a bracket that comes off the frame. Good job!!! What did you do to the muffler, just cut the flange off and rotate it?

[@atractorkid7]

Hey there Cledus, for the exhaust I took the flange off, the muffler and engine, and turned it around, I had to ream out the mounting holes for it to bolt up but it was super easy and took me not even half an hour to do and used all the stock parts that were on that 420cc engine. The pto part was a little tricky but it was just getting the brackets to move correctly without binding, plus I had to trim the original belt guard about 2"

[@GardenTractorBoy]

The engine swap worked well. We have a Honda engine in a 1962 Bolens Ride-a-matic and is has transformed the tractor

[@atractorkid7]

Yeah it definitely transformed and brought this one back to life super easy and on a budget. I like the ride-a-matic you have, around here they seem to be harder to find