# New Holland S-14 Restoration Project with Pictures



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

As a youth my father had a new holland s-14. I idolized that tractor, with snow plow, tiller, and belly mower. Full hydraulics, the thing was an unstoppable beast.

I decided to hunt one down for myself about 2 years ago. Unfortunately, they were very hard to come by. I found the ariens s and gt series, clear up through 20hp, but it had to be a new holland.

Finally, about a month ago, I found one. It was far from the picture I had in my head from my childhood, but I can fix that.

This is what I started with and where I wanted to end up:

















Got it home and off the trailer. Runs well, too. If you've ever heard one of these start, its the most unique cranking sound I've ever heard. I've had dozens of tractors, none sound like the new holland.





































It came with a bolens soft cab, but it looked ratty. I wanted something a little bit nicer. I'm not crafty with metal or plastic, and the materials are a bit pricey, so plywood it was.



















Before long, I had something looking a little like this:




























I needed to get some paint on it though. To me, a tractor should stay true to it's original colors, and ford blue when it should be olive didn't sit well with me. Plus the paint was in less than great shape. So, I took everything apart. It's not the best paint job in the world, but I'm by no means a skilled painter, and I used a roller. A brush just left streaks and looked really bad.




























After that, the old seat needed to go. I wanted something a bit more comfortable. Found a nice one on ebay for a pretty good price. Back folds down, arms fold up. And if you've ever tried to steer left handed with a 350lb blower on the front, while your right hand works the hydraulics, you'll learn quickly you need a ball on the steering wheel.



















Things were coming together nicely, but boy was it loud. So I found a muffler on ebay from a ford jubilee, new in box for under $20 shipped, so I stuck that on too and it's much quieter.










Things were coming together nicely...



















But being out in a snowstorm, at night, can be quite hazardous if you're not seen. So I put on two rotating yellow emergency lights, plus yellow side markers and an extra set of rear red lights at the top of the cab.










Got them wired and running just last night, too. Here's a quick video of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTgCwjtsApw

And when you're spending hours blowing snow, it can't help to have some tunes. I decided on a 400w amp and 2 speakers designed for a motorcycle, the same set I bought for my motorcycle 2 years ago which have been absolutely great for me. I also bought a wall mount rv radio which will be going in up top between the speakers angled down, which will be going in this weekend.










And here's the switch box that will go in. Top is running lights, then emergency lights, then windshield wiper, heater fans, and radio.











That's where I am now, but I'm far from done...

I have 3 small flood lights coming in, two for the front, one for the rear. Honestly you can't have to much light I think.

I have line lasers coming that will project a red laser line 40ft in front of me on both sides, that will tell where I will be if I continue on my path. Convenient if the driveway is lost in the snow and you want to make sure you keep on track.

I'm still trying to find a windshield wiper motor/blade at a reasonable cost, to help clear the blowback.

Last, but certainly not least, is the heat ducts. Two dryer vent hoses that will go from the front grill around to the cab on each side, both having an 88cfm 12v 5" fan.


----------



## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Nice work there it looks really good.


----------



## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

nice work. fun to see what can be done. I have an S-12 Ariens inhereted with a house I bought this year; very similar. your work on the cab is very impressive, looking forward to seeing more.


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

Honestly, if I had to do it again, I'd do it very differently. I'd make the base as wide as the top and just build more floor next to the floorboards. It's anything but a snug fit wedged together. I also have flat rubber strips from the bottom of a garage door that I'm planning on using to go around and cover most of the seams.

I forgot to cut a hole for the fuel tank, so the hole that's there is an after-thought. While the cab's on, I can't open/close the hood, so I'm wiring a remote positive battery terminal so I can jump the thing without having to unbolt the cab and tilt it back to get the hood open.

People tell me the wide top makes it look like it was out of a cartoon.


----------



## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

not that I recommend this, but I was starting/jumping mine by literally pressing the live jumper cable from a car into the hot lead directly on the starter motor, while grounding the other lead to the frame. mine didn't have any wiring or switch to even try to start it when I started working on it, so in my frustration and haste I figured out this would work, if I wore saftety glasses,gloves and could get past all the huge sparks.


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

The starter is separate from the generator isn't it? Even if it isn't, on mine it's really tight to get in there. I was going to tap there for switched power, but it ended up not having power when running for some reason.

I also need to craft myself a weight box for the back as well, even having the tire weights I don't think there's enough for traction in the snow when the blower is up due to weight.


----------



## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

on mine the starter motor is on the side right near the oil dipstick. I think the generator/stator/alternator, thing that makes electricity is built into the spinny flywheel mechanism.

No power - you mean the generator isn't making juice? I test this on mine by putting a volt meter to the battery when running, and I think it is somthing like 13.84, or at least more than when the battery is idle. 

I try to make taps for power off the on/off switch for the tractor, I have this switch as basically just a lead to the coil, and tap off that (off the switch not the coil). This way if I forget and leave the lights or something on, if I've switched the machine off, I can't be draining power anywhere.


----------



## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

What can one say other than outstanding


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

The mess that is the electrical box. I am getting a bit of feedback on the speakers when I turn on the rotating lights. I don't like that at all, so I may rewire it in the future.

But, everything works. I have 2 spare leads running up top, one for the wiper and one for the flood lights.


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

Got the switch panel cleaned up a bit, and the radio mounted.


----------



## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

fatjay said:


> The starter is separate from the generator isn't it? Even if it isn't, on mine it's really tight to get in there. I was going to tap there for switched power, but it ended up not having power when running for some reason.
> 
> I also need to craft myself a weight box for the back as well, even having the tire weights I don't think there's enough for traction in the snow when the blower is up due to weight.


Nice job......looking good....I kind of like that tapered look.
You can fill the tires with washer fluid and gain about 50-60 lbs per tire.


----------



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Looks awesome! Only thing I'd be careful of is how much electrical stuff you are running at one time. Most small engines alternators top out at 15-18 amps, so you will end up running down the battery if you have everything running at once. The PTO clutch uses power as well, so figure that into your total draw. IIRC, they draw 3-5 amps when engaged.


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

Got a test run today with 5-6" of heavy snow. I need more weight in the back, and chains. And a stick for when it gets clogged. Did 6 driveways and got stuck a block away at my parents when I couldn't make it up the hill to get home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M26POyDSwMs


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

Figured out how to keep it from getting clogged. Go, and go like hell, and don't stop. If it bulks up in front, keep pushing, it'll work it's way through. Going slow or stopping is how it gets messed up. It likes to be treated rough and will work well when it's done like that.

Got my traction issues solved, too.


----------



## ErnieS (Jun 1, 2011)

What IS that white stuff? Why would anyone live there?


----------



## film495 (Nov 1, 2013)

I found the same thing on my single stage this week. Used it for the first time. There were a couple inches of very heavy wet snow, and to keep the auger flowing I had to go like 5 miles an hour or it would clog. Made very quick work of my 250 foot drive at that rate. I tried spraying oil and WD40 ino the area where it clogs up, but it didn't work well for me as I have a lot of pitted surface rust. I'm going to try to get the sticky rusted areas freshly painted, and put some good auto wax in there to slick it up a little more. Does that can rock back and forth? It might be a little less prone to clog on you if you spray some Pam or wax the chute; so I've heard, haven't actually seen it work in practice yet.


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

My chute is up all the way. Sprayed it with silicon spray and it kept it pretty clear. Just can't slow down. Went much better than Sunday's practice run.

And another storm rolling through this Saturday, so this fun isn't going to end any time soon it looks like. I'm glad, our last few winters were quite uneventful. The 10" we've had so far has already passed last years total snowfall.


----------



## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Replace the blocks in the back with sand or gravel. More weight in a smaller container


----------



## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

The trash can has a lip around hte bottom, which sits right on the hitch. Also with 2 cinder blocks in the bottom, I can put a 50lb bag of salt on top that I can take out and disperse without losing my weight.

Had the 3rd snow in a week, this one was 3" of snow and one inch of solid ice. I wasn't sure how the blower would handle it, but it worked quite well. However my driveway, which I'd cleared as it was falling, was left with just an inch of ice on my driveway, which didn't come up with the snow blower. I put on the plow and it did pretty well though.

I put some cheap 10w led flood lights on the front. It made a night and day difference. Pardon the pun... They were $15 each, I didn't have very high hopes for them, my experiences with LED's in the past have been terrible. It's been years, though, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Here's a link if anyone was interested:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008XZAQDU/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They went on easily:









This is the best shot of the light I could get. It doesn't look as impressive as it is though. There are zero other light sources on, I turned off the porch lights, garage light, headlights, etc.










I spent about 3 hours out in the sleet/snow/slush with them and they do appear to be waterproof. I have a light in the rear that is not covered by the overhang of the roof.


----------



## OldBuzzard (Jun 23, 2011)

fatjay said:


> Figured out how to keep it from getting clogged. Go, and go like hell, and don't stop. If it bulks up in front, keep pushing, it'll work it's way through. ...


Yep, single stage snowcasters like a LOT of snow. The more you feed them the better they like it.

Single stage 'casters get a lot of 'bad press' mostly because people don't know that.

The 2-stage ones are nice for light snow, but for the DEEP snow, there's nothing better than the single stage.


----------



## Mikeburg (Oct 15, 2012)

Thanks, Found this to be GREAT!


----------

