Andres' Air Horse Restore

Andres and I have been talking for a few weeks about restoring his Air Horse.  He's from Dallas Texas and had a delivery service bring it here, it showed up a little before lunch time today.  He's a pilot and has a plane as well and will be flying his plane up here prob next week so we can go over what all needs to be done.   

It will be the biggest Wheel Horse job I've ever done or will prob ever do here by far, you will see why as the before pics start showing up here.  I think it will also win the prize for going from the ugliest to the prettiest while here.  It does run so I started it to pull in front of the forklift to raise it up and before I could get it there the fitting came out of the gas tank.  At least it was in the building when it happened and not being unloaded or pulled in the building...  There's a bright side to everything.  

It's almost time to go (7PM by my unchanged time) but here are a few pics for now.  I took over 25 today and that is just scratching the surface of the before pics and what needs to be done.  I'll add more tomorrow.  

 

Turns out that this is a 1970 charger 12 that came out with a Tecumseh 12HP.  Pics on that are further down the road.

I have about 40 pics so far, will do them 8 at a time, with some explanations.  The pics show what's going on and gone wrong.  Anyone who's worked on these a lot or restored a tractor will see a lot of other things that I may not mention...  This one's as bad as they come guys.   

Not sure why the lift controls were moved or the step was cut up yet.  The cross brace that holds the steps and bracing for the tug is gone.  A lot of metal is split and cut up all over.  Not sure why it has the mid attachment hook up on it either.  The main drive belt is mostly gone, it was under the bracket already when the belt guard came off.

I meant to do more posting yesterday but the phone started ringing and I was out here till almost bedtime again... 

Here comes a lot of pics, 8 or so per post.  There are numerous problems with the tug that will be in the last post today.  We didn't see any of that coming, we just thought someone took some of it apart and either didn't know how to put it back together, or just didn't have the time.  I've been talking with Tiffin Aire (peeps that make the tug portion) since late Monday and it will need some very expensive parts to get it fixed.  They are working up a firm estimate so we'll see if this one ends up being fixed.  It's looking like it may go well over the budget but we'll see.  I talked to Andres today and he is aware of this as well.  

First pic is it has a Spec Kohler engine on it that was not made for a Wheel Horse, that's been happening a lot here lately...  Pic 2 - It has a mid attachment on it that shouldn't be there.  Pic 3 - The hydro steering is not what belongs on an Air Horse, the top dash piece is broken out and a home made cover over it.  Pic 4 - There was a home made bracket that was holding the hydro steering gear and it is broken in two.  

Last 5 pics are getting it strapped down and getting deeper into what's going on.  These are hard to keep on the forklift, it's a balancing act and the swivel ability on the tug makes it even worse.

 

Some closer pics at more of the damage and bad modifications.

More pics of the damage, modifications, and cutting up of parts as it started coming apart.

I got enough yellow paint off to see the Charger 12 decals, and got to the original model tag and cleaned it up to verify it.  As mentioned in the 2nd post it's a 1970 charger 12 that came out with a Tecumseh 12HP.

 

A few more pics of damage, parts removed so far, and where it was as of last night.

 

Now on to the tug portion.  

Pic 1 - Both steering rams are leaking and the lines under the plate are home made and a mess as well.  Pics 2 + 3 - The assy that opens and close as well as lifting the front wheel of the aircraft are worn so bad they are beveled on both sides.  I think that's why someone took it apart in the first place and the left side was tied up with rope.  Pic 4 - Those arms are a part of a welded assy that is very expensive.  There's not enough meat left on the assy to safely try to fix the holes back to where they would be safe.  Pic 5 - the Hubs are wrong and the axles too short to use the correct hub.  Pic 6 - The left tire is split and can be pulled right up to expose the nylon under neath.  Pic 7 - Right tug tire is aftermarket and wider than the left.  Pic 8- Left tire is a standard narrow front rim from a Wheel Horse, inside valve stem gives it away. 

These two pics are from Tiffin of new axle hubs and axles that should be on it.  The tug and these are made to lift and move 20,000 pounds.   

 

There are 6 more posts above that were posted today.  

I have an idea of what has happened here.  The tractor is not the tractor that was originally on the tug.  That would explain the incorrect parts all over it, the mid attachment, the wrong steering gear, wrong home made mount for it, wrong rear hubs + axles, and all the damage, cutting, and modifications to the tractor support this.  It was a regular Wheel Horse Charger 12 modified to work on a tug...   Now you know the rest of the story.  

I can fix all of this and make it new, but it may well exceed the budget given.  More to come as we wait for estimates.  

I love my Air Horse Geno did for me, if this is not going to work out, another nice tug that I would look at is "iTowBot" at www.towbots.us Remote control airplane tugs. Not as cool as old school wheelhorse but still a good tug. It even has red paint!