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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.

I was tiling a bathroom on a hotel recently and i had a few old broken tiles left over, so i thought rather than just throw them away i would put them to good use . Here are a few pics of what i managed to conjour up , The mosaic even has some chrome wheel nuts which i took off some plumbing fittings I thought i would use the display when showing my tractors at the shows

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk Upgraded it from a 8hp to a 12 HP that aughta liven it up a bit lol Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk

Ok... Since everyone is getting a little tired of the white stuff ALREADY... Here is a little something to help keep the thoughts on spring time... Here is the idea. Post your To -Do list, now, then follow up with photos once the To - Do list is completed.... I'll start it.... Here we go: Remove wheel weights/touch up any bare spots Remove chains, spray them down for storage Remove Cab Remove Snow Blower - prep for storage. paint any bare spots, put new scraper blade on, straighten any dings on the auger, replace belt if needed. Tighten all loose nuts, bolts, retainers, ect. :tools-wrench: Change engine oil.. BTW, I've put 54hrs. on the tractor since the blower went on. 4hrs. over my oil change period. Change Hydro oil.... < Question for this. I wanted to switch to Synthetic, but am unsure of the "flushing" quality of the hydraulic cylinder.... If it is not fully flushed, would it cause issues down the road? Grease all zerts Give the GT a nice bath, do a nice mild wet sand on the paint, prep paint with Autopia auto detail products..... < Great stuff. Remove headlights, clean inside the lens, put a seal around the lens to keep water tight. That should keep me busy for a couple weekends and let's not forget, photo's to follow...

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.

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.

Wow what a blast we had tonight during our first field trip. The club loaded up in vehicles and headed northwest to the powder coater. The singing and conversations in the vehicle was very entertaining! Once we arrived we were greeted by Gene Hochstetler and the kids were able to see some of their parts already completed. They were then moved over to another rack that had freshly sandblasted parts hanging from their tractor. Gene was able to explain how the powder is made, what it is composed of, how it is applied, and how the gun magnetizes the powder so it sticks to the parts. After he did a quick demonstration it was then time for each kid to apply the powder themselves. I told them to keep track of which parts they sprayed so that I know who applied it correctly! Once all the parts were covered off they went to the oven for just over 15 minutes. We looked and learned more about the process before our new shiny parts came out of the oven. This is when the kids were able to admire their work. The time flew by and they all seemed to enjoy the experience. I overheard kids saying on the trip back that this was the best field trip ever! It definitely put a smile on my face. The kids looking at some of the parts as soon as we arrived. Looking and learning about the process and which parts they will be spraying. Admiring the parts that were previously done. Applying the powder....... In the oven they go...... Pulling out the finished product...... Checking for quality control...... One final picture with Gene before we said our thank you and good byes. What a great time for the kids and adults. Great memories were made and now to get things back to the club barn and some reassembly will begin. They are definitely excited!

Go for it Lane!

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

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

Bearing install tool ?

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!

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.

Something relatively simple that could be plug and play for less than a hundo would be good. Unlike some of the folks on here, I hate tracing and repairing harnesses. Especially when commander hack-n-wack was in there before I bought the unit. My 520 was a wiring nightmare when I got it. I knew this going in. It had 10 different splices and jumpers all over. I don't like to sit and build harnesses. I am a big fan of "clean" wiring. JMO

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.

what I got so far.

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.

For the price of that GT you could get a good used farm tractor.

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.

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

Karl & Chasm thanks for the info-great map- This Ancestry search thing is getting wild! First I find a Tavern in the area-"New Midway" owned by my ancestor where George Washington spent the night during the "Whiskey Rebellion" And now I have found that during the invasion of Pennsylvania by Robert E Lee, the opposing forces of Gen. Howard used my ancestors farm at "South Mountain" for his Headquarters. It's beginning to look like a trip to the Big Show would be in order-then a Historical trip on the side. I'll have to find a way to make it work. Thanks- Al This page tells of the action around "South Mountain" 2Nd paragraph after the picture mentions the "Cookerly" Farm. http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/civil_war/south_mountain.htm

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.