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Been travelling a bunch for work lately and the winter just seems to be dragging on.... I needed a fix and Saturday was pretty nice up here so I dragged the machines out for a little sun and fired them all up. Just a quick shot of the herd for all you picture lovers.

Took me a while to find decent specimens but its coming together. 3 different states and 2 years so far. Only looking for 1 more at the moment which is the rj35. But I'm happy. Wanted to share these pics. RJ58 does also have a deck( not pictured), Suburbans 550 and 551. I have a kohler on the 550 till I get the lauson running correctly.

Marvin Blowing snow at 4:00 AM after Vulcan. I was shooting it over the road and noticed the street light made the plume glow. Wasn't going to do a video but what the heck. Sorry for the crappy ending. Had to stop quick and not enough hands and almost dropped the phone.

I managed to get to finishing the grouting today . just need to put some hanging brackets on so that i can hang it on wall Hope you enjoy the pics.

Here is a Wheel Horse special team: Mort's Wild Horses picture from Florida Flywheeler's Show in 2010. The front Wheel Horse is pulling a team of four on a home hitch set up! I like this setup! It reminds me of the time my brother and I talked about hooking two Wheel Horse RJ's up to a Covered Wagon and pulling the wagon as a team. We had a covered wagon as kids that we pulled with the RJ we had but it was a one horse pull!

I looked at this last summer and might have a chance to buy the whole package, it runs great with no smoke. The deck shell is rough, I don't know how many hours are on it. I'm looking for opinions on what a fair price would be. Thanks.

worked on the clutch idler arm assembly tonight. there was way too much play in the shaft where it passed through the frame, the holes in the frame were worn oval shaped...i hadn't dealt with it before powder coating the frame so it needed to be taken care of. i purchased 2 7879 bushings on ebay for $15 free ship last week and tonight after work went to the surplus store near there and looked through all the reamers he had there. usually i can pick up something to do the job for under $5. half an hour and $3 later i had a reamer to take with me.... reamer size is .5747". because there is a very slight taper, i could stay around .569 (od of the bushing) if i didn't go all the way in. because i don't have a taper chuck i just used the reamer by hand. wasn't much material to take out of there so it was fairly easy. about half way there.... the last of it i used vise grips to save my hands a little... after going in a little at a time and testing the fit, i arrived at a point where it was just a slight effort to push the bushing in. test fit of the bushing. the bushing was installed from behind as it has a flange and wouldn't have gone into the area of the frame its needed because of the larger hole in the frame interfering with it. both bushings are going to be loctited in their new home. then i repeated it again on the other side as both holes were worn. test fitted idler arm shaft through bushings inside frame showing flange of bushing.... shaft installed teaser.....

Sounds like the end user still has to build a harness from the switches to the box, and if their connections are not good or use crappy products the best box in the work will not help, also if the switches are not in good shape there is a weak link, and will it be water proof ?? rain, snow or washing the tractor, I'm sure it sounds good on paper, but I think I would pass, I can build a harness complete for less than $50 in a few hours.

FWIW 1950's wire harness - 175 feet of wire @ 5 lbs. 1999 Chrysler 300N harness = 3, 699 feet and 50+ lbs. forgot the pic

UPDATE. Get my dad D-160 to run so I can mow lawn besides using the 455

Believe it or not one of the reasons most love these tractors is because there are no electronic boxes and jigger this and computer so and so that I need an interface to see what is going on when they are troubleshooting. SIMPLICITY...... KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID..... Im much happier being able to trace wires and replace them and the associated switches as needed. No need for complications in that process

Sounds more complicated than the tractor wiring. Sorry I wouldn't be interested.

This machine is new to me. I am curious of the deal I got. I picked up a 1988 518h with 42" snow blower, 42" deck, chains, wheel weights, and electric lift option from the dealer with 1400hrs for $550. Runs great and doesn't skip a beat. Got all the original manuals and records. Good or bad deal?

Day before yesterday,I ran my 416H with 2 stage blower to clean up some snow behind my shop that slid off the tin roof.It was 52 degrees that day.No jacket required.Nice tee shirt weather.Yesterday and last night we got rain,freezing rain,then 4 or 5 inches of snow on top of everything.Ran the 416H this morning.Only difference.........15 degrees today.Had to wear a lot more than a tee shirt.So much for that so-called global warming.Come on Spring.

How yall doin, I wus just thinkin today while I watched my dog tater eatin popcorn cernils. If you swaller a popcorn cernil that aint popped yet I do reckon that it culd pop inside you. If id did pop inside ill bet that could hurt. Not sure if its true. Yall post yur ideas here. By the way I just have to say a big yeeeeeeehaaaaawwwwww to Dale Earnhardt jr for wining the daytona 500. God bless Earl

I really appreciate all the positive comments. that's what makes red square such a great place to be apart of. it's not alot of them in one spot but we like them. my boys (twin 4 year olds) really like having tractors their size ! I'll open myself up for the punches and say I'm not much bigger than them, born in late 83'.

It happens where someone left the key on accumilating the hours or a defective hour meter perhaps --

Well done, Martin.... Gotta love those surplus stores.

Jays Horse - congrats on the birth of your daughter! Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

buy it before they wash her up and raise the price!!

Smoreau got it. It's for installing the roller bearing and seal in the PTO.

Bearing install tool ?

This is a correction to my previous post. I got a free 264-6 found on CL. The PO bought it new and used it until it quit running while mowing a couple years ago. He had someone take a look at it and said that it wasn't worth fixing, since then it sat outside and a tree fell on it breaking the hood. It was built in 1995 and except for the hood it looks pretty good. Put a charger on the battery and the engine turns over. I checked out the oil and its clean. Shot some starting fluid in the carb and it didn't fire so it looks like I'm going to be working on the ignition module as well as rebuilding the carb and cleaning out the fuel system. I'll post some pictures later. Greg

Its comin together Martin and lookin good! I like those 5 rib front tires.

I do like the covered wagon idea for kiddie rides at the big show.

I've been meaning to put up a mug shot for a while now. Just came across this one from last summer as I was putting the finishing touches on my suburban.

Make sure you get those custom molded concrete block wheel weights too!

$1200

Maybe not a universal "manager" but maybe a universal BACCM. Battery and Charge Control Manager, Like a universal charger that changes battery charge voltage to appropriate winter vs summer charge levels and ... wait for it ... a battery desulfator circuit installed in the controller. Throw in a battery "gas gauge" to tell me if I store the tractor with the battery not fully charged and gives me the option to place a trickle charger on the battery, now you have a usefull accessory to extend battery life out to possibly over 5 years. That WILL save money and be worth having.

You did pretty good I'd say...

i think you would have more interest in several 'generic' type wiring harnesses. yes, they are labor intensive to make, but if you work out the lengths and do say 10 at a time they go fairly quick. the later ones use the plastic split tubing to loom the wires, so wrapping them is easy. you still need to terminate wires which ever way you do it, and that for me takes the most time....... the biggest hurdle which ever method you choose, is the variety of models, engines, options, types of safety switches and different terminals they used over the many years. I've thought about making wiring harnesses and offering them for sale, just don't think the demand is there and that people are willing to pay what is involved for them in labor and parts..... i do enjoy making them, they are relatively simple, from the most basic 60s tractors up. even the 3,4 and 500 series tractors are a simple harness. the complicated part of electrical systems on these tractors is when the wiring/terminals are 20 or more years old and have spent a lifetime outdoors.

Very interesting history lesson, thanks for sharing with us Neil.

Nice looking van. Like everyone said, Thanks for the service and knowledge you provide. And by the way? I think your 195 would look cool painted that color. Good Luck with the grocery getter. Pat

Nicely done Neil.

Hi Andy - Mark many thanks for your enthusiasm for the decal much appreciated I've now got a load of bits painted and still got loads left to do more pics to follow then the rebuild will commence !!!!! Cheers James

A common misconception..... The distance between the transaxle mounting surface at the back of the frame to the (front) footrest bar is around 20-21 inches on short, medium, and long frame garden tractors. The longer wheelbase comes from adding to the frame length ahead of the footrest bar, offering more engine mounting space. Only my opinion, but I believe fully-protected rear tires and safety switches should be requirements when choosing a tractor for an inexperienced youngster. A 1972 Commando 800 or 1973 8 / 4 speed would make a good "entry-level" Kohler-powered GT ~ and a vertical shaft lawn tractor would also offer the same safeguards and easier-on-the-wallet cost. The early automatic tractors are too quirky and unpredictable (even for some adults ) and should be avoided if possible.

For the record, I don't follow basketball at all and I don't have a clue what's going to happen but Steve talked me into this so here's my guess... Game 1............................Indiana Game 2............................Ohio State Game 3............................Penn State Game 4............................Iowa

If you are looking for a Round Hood...look for a 702...1962...lots of them around. It's not an auto-matic though...have to be able to reach the pedals.

My son Kent loves driving around on his 875. We built this one together last year......

Brandon, I'd also say to look for a square hood short frame. They're out there and not too hard to find parts for. Here's a pic of an 857 I finished up last year, great little tractors.

I agree with boovuc I have a 856 857 commando 8 and I have fell in love with these models

Great pic, makes my heart melt , reminds me of spending time with my kids when they were younger . Thats one for the mantle peice

we had a slight sign of spring, i started and ran my wheelhorse! snow removal is my farmall's job so the stallion has been sitting. i started all my small engines last weekend just to keep'em fresh. cold as heck here now.

I used to load by walking next to the tractor and just shut it off when the rear wheeks got onto the truck bed, and then pushing it the rest of the way. Now I use a small winch from Harbor freight. Trying to push a non running D 250 up the ramps was a little much. Now I just stand to the side and use the winch. I also use the aluminum arched ramps so less chance of the decks catching.

I PLOW WITH A 1968 ELECTRO12 W/SUNSTRAND&HYDRALIC LIFT, I USE A 42" PLOW,23-10.50X12 AG TIRES W/WEIGHTS&FLUID IN TIRES,NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.