Homelite rebuild

[Mowingman 0]

This is the AC built homelite I got a few years ago, I did a quick restoration job on it then (quality was nearly the polar opposite of Fastpaul's projects) but since it needs engine work Ive decided to re-do it again, thoroughly. don't be fooled, it looks much better in the pictures. The seat pan needs work, decals need to be found or made,body work etc. etc. it's going to be repainted New holland blue /Ford white, with clearcoat and hardeners. the front tires have slow leaks, so I'm planning on putting carlisle ribbed tires on the front and carlisle tru power ags on the rear. Here it is with my homemade "C-50" cultivator on it, which I named C for 'Cultivator', and the bar is 50" wide, to go along with the tractor. (T-16, Tractor- 16 horse)

The front end on this thing has always puzzled me, as it doesn't match up with either the AC or simplicity homelites in Smilinsam's brochure. It came with a simplicity or AC deck on it, and had an aftermarket mid PTO. However, the dash has the electric PTO setup on it, making a cobble job the most probable explanation. But, the symmetry of the cut out and the lack of grinding marks makes it seem like a factory job. any ideas out there?

This is the mower deck as it was when I painted it this summer, the previous owner had already patched it up pretty well. my only regret with it is that I didn't weld the areas that had pockets between the old metal and the patch (sand traps aren't just on golf coursesB))

this is the engine that's going back in it, I am currently waiting on a new head. The original turned out to be junk, and the spare one I had had stripped threads. I priced out a new head vs. plug inserts, and it came pretty close for labor etc. and, since I want this to be the last time I have to pull the engine for a LONG time, I'm going for a new part.

since I've never seen another AC T16 restored, I don't know where to get decals, but I'll probably have to go to Sign-1-1 and blow some (more) of my money.}:):) I'm also looking for a steering wheel, and the layout of the shifter plate decal. If anyone has information on this stuff, or has a restored AC homelite, I'd appreciate some help with colors, decals,or parts. Thanks, Nick

[Nick 0]

Looks pretty clean. Have fun with it.

[johnmonkey 4]

very nice machine you have there. jh

[comet66 0]

Nice straight tractor, sounds like you're doing it right. Keep us up to date on it.

[IronPony 3]

If that Homelite equals the 700 series AC, I have both the Homelite tiller and snow blower that fit it. Sorry but I don't have the hitches to go with them. The tiller has the square hitch vs the round one on AC/Simplicity. Dan aka IronPony

[Bunky 3]

Nice Tractor I haven't had a Homelite and I think that it might be my next search...

[RayS 80]

Nice tractor!

[Mowingman 0]

thanks for the compliments Dan (ironpony), I looked up both the AC and Homelite brochures for the 700 series and I believe you are refering to these:

the problem with the blower would be that I don't have the electric clutch. I saw in the classifieds that DLCentral has a briggs clutch for $150, and B-16_IC has a warner electric for $50, apparently NOS. Ad reads, qoute: "It is for a tapered keyed shaft, center bolt attached,Warner Electric clutch. The magnet flange is not square, four holes 3 3/8" x 4 9/16" c-c. Pulley is about 6 1/4". It looks to be brand new never used. I do not have an idea what this fits. Only thing other than Allis Chalmers written in pencil on the box (that I can read) is 2354."

Does anyone know if this would work? The biggest problem I've had so far is that since no one else has a homelite like mine, I don't have alot of info on it. I'm probably going to repaint the engine bay and battery stand, etc. and put it back together quick so that I can use the blade and push snow, and then do the rest of the repainting when its warm out. Bunky, this is a tractor that came to me by random chance. It turned up at the local recycle center, and I ended up getting it for $25. In the last 4 years I have never seen another one like it at the shows, hopefully you'll have more luck.

[UCD 14]

No it will not fit. You have a straight shaft The clutch is for a tapered shaft. I do not believe it is for any tractor engine it is for a pump or generator engine.

[FastPaul 0]

Nick thats a real nice looking rig,Don't see to many Homelites ,Well worth restoring.Keep up posted

[Jonnysac 56]

Very nice Nick. It's looking good!!!!

[Willy 2]

Looking good I like the cultivator. I have some shovels And after looking at your I may try to make one. Nice looking rig.

[PhanDad 3,766]

I'd say someone adapted a Simiplicity style front axle to mount to your Homelite. They cut the front frame where the front of the Homelite "axle assembly" bolts. I believe they mounted the axle "backwards" since the axle bends forward and the grease fittings point forward which is opposite of Simplicity. Does the axle still have the "tail" piece? Does the axle rotate on a slope or hit the sides of the frame? The deck is definitely not A/C Homelite - they are low profile, right discharge decks, very similiar to the A/C 300 (or 400??) deck. In this post there are closeups of my A/C Homelite front axle mounting, the electric PTO, and idler plate for the A/C Homelite: http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24447 With your custom front axle, I don't think any of the front drive A/C Homelite attachments would work for you without some modification. Anyway, you have a great looking custom A/C Homelite! Excellent restoration.

[Roy 0]

Bill, My what good eyes you have to spot that the axle is mounted backwards. ^ Thanks for pointing it out to us. I had missed that completely.

[SmilinSam 4,156]

quote:

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Originally posted by PhanDad
I'd say someone adapted a Simiplicity style front axle to mount to your Homelite. They cut the front frame where the front of the Homelite "axle assembly" bolts. I believe they mounted the axle "backwards" since the axle bends forward and the grease fittings point forward which is opposite of Simplicity. A/C Homelite attachments would work for you without some modification.

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No No No.....;) What he has is a 73 1/2 - 74 Homelite. The axles were different on those than the 71-73 models. The factory photos he has posted are all of the 71-73 types. The mule drives for the mowers and blowers were the same as what was used on the 400 series AC tractors for the later models , while the early ones were totally different. This accounts for the so percieved notch in the front of the frame. The early models had different spacings ofr the implements to be mounted, therefore you couldnt mount a AC or Simplicity implement without modifying the implement hitch. The later models had the same hitch spacing as the Simplicity and AC tractors. The assumption currently is that this was done knowing that AC was going to buy back Simplicity and production of the tractors was going to be shifted back to the Simplicity style. Probably done so Homelite buyers would not have to trade all their implements in when they traded for a new tractor. All this is speculatve, but is the best guess available at this time. You are right though, the deck is not correct for the tractor. Should be the same right discharge type as a 400 series Allis Chalmers. The left discharge could be used if you added a clutch of some sorts to the shaft on the bevel gear box and drove it from there like Simplicity.

[PhanDad 3,766]

You learn something everyday. I searched the SimpleTractors site for some pics of these 'special' Homelites. Didn't have any luck. Looked at the couple of pics of the Allis 400 and it's front frame isn't cut out and looks similiar (but not exact) to the early Homelites. I'm really curious to see more photos of this style of Homelite, including the mule drives for the various front attachments. A/C turned the front section of the hood 180 degrees for the Homelites; it sure looks like they turned the front axle 180 degrees as well. Does anyone know where pics of this style might be posted?

[tracktor312 0]

hey everyone there is a nice looking homelite on ebay in N.Y.

[dcw06 0]

Nice looking outfit! Really like your cultivator,got any more pics of it?

[Mowingman 0]

thanks for the history sam, I saw this in Roy's post and thought it might be something factory:

As far as the cultivator, these are the only other pics I've got of it for now, the main bar is 2" square tubing, and the offsets are 'L's made from welding 2 6" pieces of tubing together. the pieces on the the sides are weight holders for barbell weights, which helps to force it down into the dirt, and equalizes the pull left to right ( sometimes a problem with the hitch setup.) this is the preliminary hitch setup:

And here we have it with the bar finished

partially sandblasted,

And everything on the parts tree

and the end product:

We've finally got some snow, now I just need to get some pictures of using the blade. After I got the engine back in it kept running out of gas, turns out there was some junk plugging that teeny tiny outlet hole in the tank. I also got a simple digital tach/ hour meter so that I could run it at full power without worrying about going to far over high idle. As far as tires go, has anyone had problems keeping traction in soft soil with ribbed tires? thanks

[MarksA-C 93]

Thats a interesting parts rack! Your tractor looks great!

[MDB 134]

Very nice job,you should be proud of this project8D^

[dcw06 0]

Thanks for the pics! Like your paint drier too!

[SmilinSam 4,156]

Heres some pictures I save from ones I had in the past: [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9311005/600/null/image.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9311036/600/null/image.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9311051/600/null/image.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9311023/600/null/image.jpg[/img] Heres some line drawings of the rear lift sets for these tractors... [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9320508/512/null/image.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/9320522/512/null/image.jpg[/img]

[PhanDad 3,766]

Sam, thanks for posting the pics. I found them interesting. I think I've seen one of the 73 1/2's in the area based on the squarish looking idler assembly. It definitely had a Homelite hood, but since I was unaware of what a 73 1/2 looks like, I didn't realize what I was seeing. The pic of the mule drive prompts another question - if the idler pulley assembly is fixed and non removable, can a snowthrower be mounted to 73 1/2 tractor? It would seem the fixed idler pulley assmembly would be in the way of routing the belt forward rather than backward. That's why I turned the idler assembly 180 degrees to get a snowthrower to work on the front of my 72 A/C Homelite. I guess the idler assembly was cut from Mowingman's tractor. Again, thanks for posting the pics.

[SmilinSam 4,156]

The idlers are removable.The idler assemblies on all these Homelites, early and late simply pinned to the front of the tractor. There were different idler assemblies for the blowers than for the mowers. I still have the idler assembly here with a 42" blower that fits the 71-73 1/2 tractors. It pins to the rear two sets of hols on the axle hitch while the blower itself pins to the front set of holes. The mower mounts opposite of that. Something else to note, take a careful look at the pictures I posted. See how much thicker the steel on the early frames were compared to the later ones?