I have an ORC on my tractor. I probably couldn't get it back off it I wanted to. I was thinking about building a cutter head and using piano wire or guitar strings for the cutters. But I am not sure how they would hold up to cutting. Something like 3/8 cable is made up of several smaller strands of wire. What keeps it from fraying after a few hour's use. Maybe take a welder and fuse the ends so it doesn't fray. And that's awfully thick. More like beating the grass to death than cutting it. I don't have to worry about hitting anything solid. And I'm not looking to get a clean manicured look. Just something to keep the vegetation at bay. Use RoundUp around the house and outbuildings and such. But that's too expensive to use on fence rows and ditches. Once a month around the house is all it takes. I go through about 2 gallons of generic RoundUp a year. Pooh Bear

Sounds as though you did find something cheap that will last into the future. Hard to go wrong with a JD 316. Here are a couple of links that you might find helpful. http://www.deere.com/en_US/homeowners/products_non_current/316.html The Onan is a very good engine but you need to take care of it. Change the oil every 50 hours and check it often. Keep the oil level at the full mark all the time. Parts for Onans are expensive because they are now discontinued. However, if that tractor is in excellent condition, it is worth repowering. Small Engine Warehouse has been known to offer a 20 hp Honda engine that is spec'd correctly for your application. Here is a link that might be useful: 316

NOTE: If the bumper on your truck is stock, supplied and installed at the factory, you will probably end up with a non-bumper condition! Most rear bumpers on pickups are held on by 4 little chrome headed bolts, or by flimsy brackets with little bolts. It is for this condition that they sell trailer draw-bars that bolt to the frame rails, and should be used for any towing. One fellow, while driving down the interstate, saw a boat just like his, passing him up, and setting on a boat trailer, just like his----was his! the bumper had broken off, but was still attached to the trailer hitch. Yes, you could drag a RR tie behind it, but, do you know how heavy a RR tie is? MMMM.

John, You are quite fortunate to find a tractor with a three-point hitch and PTO on it. The three-point is a very desirable option. Too bad about the hood not being original because your tractor came with headlamps that had glass lenses in them and those are highly sought after because they are not available any longer. I would guess that this donor hood has a bump out on the front left side because Power Red hoods were used after the muffler was put under the hood and the bump out was there for the tailpipe to exit. Case HIGHLY recommended the optional weight kit for the front of the tractors whenever using the tiller. If you are handy, you can make your own front weight. There are several ways to go about it. Making use of old cast iron barbell weights is one way. You can either buy an old mule bracket from a parted out mowing deck (same bracket that clips your deck onto the front of the tractor) off of e-bay for a few bucks and then weld a piece of the barbell rod onto it (re-inforce it) so you can slide the weights on and use the barbell retainer to hold them in place. The Case front weight used four of the stock cast iron wheel weights (30 lbs each) for a total of 120 pounds on the front. Case also recommended using tire chains if you do not have Ag bar tread rubber on the rear. And lastly, there was an optional Speed Control Valve (SCV) that mounted on the right side of the dash tower and it gave finite control over the forward speed of the tractor while tilling. Hi Range is used mostly for travelling and very light work. Lo Range is the one you should be in for most work. Since you likely have no service history on this tractor, you would be well advised to do the following. - change the oil in the trans-axle. There is a drain plug for this purpose and a fill plug in the middle of your PTO to put oil back in. Keep your eyes open for signs of water in the oil. It should look like oil when it comes out, not some greyish slime. If you get greyish slime, then allow it all to drain out and put the drain plug back in. Put three quarts of diesel fuel into the transaxle and drive the tractor around for a half hour or so before draining all of that out. You may have to repeat that a second time to get all the crap out. Once you're satisfied that it's clean in there, then fill the trans-axle until oil starts coming back out the fill plug. Use any decent quality 20W50 MOTOR OIL. - next, you need to change out the hydraulic fluid. Since you have a PTO, the easiest way to do this is to remove the quick coupler from the hose that is attached to the PTO valve. Stick that hose into a clean five gallon bucket. Remove the spark plugs from the engine. Push the PTO valve to one of the positions other than the middle one. Use the ignition key to spin the engine over to see if oil is spurting out of the hose. If it isn't, then stop. Pull the PTO handle to the opposite extreme and spin the engine again. You should now be getting oil from that hose. Keep spinning until the oil flow stops. Put the coupler back on the hose. Refill the reservoir under the hood (red tank) with the same decent quality 20W50 MOTOR OIL. Do not use any other type of oil in the hydraulic system other than 20W50 or 15W40 motor oil. Put the spark plugs back in, start the engine and drive it around. Check the oil level. It should be 1 1/2" below the top of the tank. Lastly, change the engine oil after allowing the engine to reach operating temp. In above freezing conditions, use ONLY straight 30 weight oil. Do not use any multi-grades. Change your oil EVERY 25 hours of use. You can buy an inexpensive hourmeter to help you keep track. Places such as Harbor Freight have them. Just find a good ground for the negative lead and run the other wire to the Positive lead on the ignition coil. Find a spot under the hood to mount the meter. Always check your engine oil before using the tractor. Do not allow the level to drop below the low oil line on the stick. Change the hydraulic oil every second year. It's cheap insurance to protect an expensive pump and an even more expensive drive motor. If you have not found a source to buy the Operator's Manual, then post here. You need to put a grease gun to this tractor and the manual shows you where.