11-19-2023 - After making the difficult decision to purchase a brand new 18hp Onan engine (B48) to replace my "broken" B43 (16hp) engine, (Broken connecting rod in one of the cylinders.), I was quite disappointed to receive a brand new engine from the seller that was nowhere near ready for installation that the seller had promised me that it would be. "I will go over it, test it, and make sure that it is ready to go into your tractor." (So said the seller with nearly four decades of experience in this business!).

1) When I went to install the engine, I discovered that I had to cut the crankshaft down to the correct length for proper fitment to the hydraulic pump. 2) When I went to install the EZ-Clutch "spindle-hub" to the flywheel, it turned out that the "new" flywheel had not been machined for this, (A recessed rabbet in the flywheel face to accept the "spindle-hub". I had to take the flywheel off of my B43 engine to get this to work. 3) The "new" starter was bad. I had to take the starter off of my old B43 engine. 4) The points on the new engine were bad. I had to take the points and condenser off of my old B43 engine. 5) The timing on the new engine was way off. 6) The factory settings on the carburetor were not anywhere close to specification. 7) The exhaust headers that came with the new engine were not going to work. I had to make my own. 8) I had to remove part of the throttle linkage off of my old engine to use on the new engine. 9) One of the sparkplug wires was bad. 10) The "holding valve" that I purchased for my "short - frame" tractor, ended up being a holding valve for a "long - frame" tractor, (Yet, the seller KNEW that I had a short - frame tractor!). 11) I had to remove the oil pan drain pipe from the new engine, because it was in direct "conflict" with the hydraulic "lift - lower" cylinder. 12) The basics of basics......at the very least the engine could have been "blown down" with a shop air compressor. I had to vacuum out the exhaust ports and the heat shields because of all of the accumulated debris that had collected there. I paid for all of this to be done, and I was promised that it would be done. It wasn't....

I have been dealing with this seller for well over one year. They knew that I owned a 1978 Case 446 "short - frame" tractor. From their nearly four decades in this business, they knew exactly what needed to be done to the new engine that they sold me, so that it would "slide in to place" for my repowering project. Nothing was done.....

11-20-2023 - In this video, I mention that I would wait until spring to "fix" the stop on the hood of the tractor. I have done this now. The timing and carburetor work has also been fine-tuned, and my snowcaster is hooked up, tested out (I completely rebuilt the snowcaster last Fall), and ready to go!