thebunns

Here are a couple of shots I took this afternoon on my way to plow out a shed that stores equipment. Vic

My 80 year old TD-14, the one that has plowed my 1/2 mile steep driveway for the last 20 years has allowed me to live in the mountains all those years. Vic

I agree! Just for laughs, I tried starting my little 2 cylinder Chinese Rhino at 0 deg. (18 deg. C). One quick shot of engine starter (ether) & it started immediately. Vic

It worked! I did add a heat rod in the dip stick hole along with the propane heater. After all that I cranked on the motor for about 20 minutes before it continued to run. Vic

I've had the block heaters on both my -14 & -14A for two days at zero deg. fahrenheit (and below). Neither one will start, I believe because the oil is too thick. Tomorrow I'll put a 40,000 BTU heater under the pan of one of them for half a day and then try & start it. Vic

I would think that a winch full of cable would be up towards a ton. Mine has about a half spool of cable on it that I've never used but I put 450' of 1/2" cable on my -14 and it almost filled the spool. Vic

I've always thought (maybe told) that my -14A weighs around 12tons with the blade on front & the winch on back. Vic

If you order from VBelts Direct in Las Vegas, I doubt they will care about a new number. Vic

Hardtail, To your second question---I don't know! As to the first these tractors, made in China were sold here (mine came from Jerome Idaho) as demonstrators. Hobby Horse Ranch sold it to me. Mine had 7 hours on it. I got it in 2003 to plow my driveway but found out real quick that I needed my TD-14 & -14A with their blades built up 18" to do the job. It usually takes both to have one running come spring. That Rhino turned out to be quite light. I've bent the blade digging rocks out of my driveway & the tracks have to be kept as tight as a violin string to keep them on the rollers. Good enough? Vic

The glow plug on my Chinese Rhino went bad & when I put a new one in its design was such that I twisted the hot wire off by merely tightening it in the manifold. I found that one shot of ether just prior to turning the motor over makes it start immediately. Vic

A tip for the future---if you want to know if the decompression valves are closed during diesel operation, put the lever in diesel mode, pull the spark plugs & turn the motor over. Stick your finger in each hole & if no air comes out, the valves are closed. Vic

Fair enough! I was told once that if the exhaust is on the right, it's a -14 & if it's on the left it's a -14A. Google (and quite a few posts in here, I imagine) says that the -14s were built until 1949. The radiator cap is the same as the one on my 1953 -14A. Vic

That's a TD-14A, correct? Vic

I have fuel pumps on both my TD-14 & -14A crawlers rebuilt by Central Fuel Injection in Estherville, IA. They have worked fine for several years. Vic

The "DD" gasket fit just fine. I reassembled the motor & it fired up immediately! Vic