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It was a great morning to spend in a tree watching the sunrise. I even had a visitor.

Can hardly describe how proud I am of him. First kid to play college sports on either side of my fam forever. Started on the O line and won a 6A championship at Carmel last year. Zero thug and zero tats although thats where he was headed with the non-parent mother of his before I won sole custody of both kids.....and she paid me for the privilege. If you are a Dad please fight your ass off. It cost me 30K but I won big league. He just changed the oil in his car and didnt push back too much when I told him to vacuum out his car cause it was a mess. I dadded out and detailed the rims on his car.....I hate brake dust. He had a 3.7 GPA at graduation. Well see when I get mid term grades from college but I'm not worried. He is fascinated by my 50 YO Wheel Horse tractors. Gawd he is awesome.

Before they became land yachts, the honda goldwing was a game changer. In 1975, when they first came out, performance was the goal, and this big, heavy bike was only slightly behind one other bike in the quarter mile. One found me yesterday for 300.00 and it has a title and always garage kept. The 'Tins' on these bikes are hard to come by and the side covers and faux tank panels are highly desirable in decent original paint. Muffler groups are the same. i could make money on the deal just selling the tins and running the bike. My go to bike has been a CB750, but the 'wing actually comes off the stand more easily and is very easy to balance because of the very low center of gravity. I am sure that there will be challenges in carb rebuilding and then on to getting fire in the hole. Parts are readily available for the mechanicals and I already have nice potential for a decent looking old school bike. Wings of this era weigh about 650 pounds quite a bit different than the monsters of today.The "fuel tank" is not really a tank. Honda put the actual tank under the side covers to lower the center of gravity even more. I have taken a seat on some newer models and they make my hip joints hurt, but the slimmer profile of the 1976 sits as nice as my 750. here is a pic of an example bike

The reason the updates to this project have been nil lately is I plan to bring it to @stevebo meet and greet this Saturday. I'll update afterwards and then it will be dormant until Spring most likely. To be continued....lol

Nope sadly to say bruins didn't want to cooperate. My wife had a real nice opportunity to harvest but got bear fever real bad and missed. Both her and I and a buddy drew tags. We have to wait about seven years to draw a tag... up to ten or more in some areas. Buddy did manage to connect on a very small one. Had some really good images of bears on trail cams but left them at the cabin. Did get this pic in the backyard feeder ..we named they Mike & Mike Spike How often you get a pic of a elk & whitetail together?!?!? This brute was seen wandering in our driveway. Again sadly we do not have a huntable elk herd In WI.

Installing a 5hp Briggs with 1 " shaft onto a Early 70's Raider.

wiring around the 9 pin and fuse block, if you have a compression tester check both cylinders. If you don't have one CAREFULLY check the exhaust with it running to make sure both cylinders are getting hot. I usually feel the the pipes coming off the exhaust ports. the 520 and 2 stage blower is a monster when it comes to throwing snow, don't think I would get rid of mine for love nor money good luck , we like pictures eric j

Past couple of weeks work has been primarily removing components to get down to the frame and body. I managed to get back out to the shop today and began the rust repair process. I made up a bending device that would replicate the curvature of the metal to be replaced. The base is two pieces of 2" angel iron welded together to form a "V". The upper portion is a piece of 1/2" black iron pipe with bracing to allow the hydraulic press to form the metal to the desired shape. The bracing I did is probably over-kill, but it worked well. Used the template to check the pieces as they were being shaped. Then the fun began; removing the rusted material and fitting the new material allowing a margin for filling with the MIG welder. These clamps provide a 1/16" gap and firmly grip both pieces to allow the MIG to fill the gap and result in a smooth surface on both sides once the grinding is done. They are from Eastwood. http://www.eastwood.com/intergrip-panel-clamps-set-of-4.html Plan to fit up the other side and weld both Thursday. (Got stuff to do tomarow)

Post em up Jim..... Any luck with the bruins? Here is a pic I took at 250 yds of Bambi's Dad. I watched him all summer. In 3-4 weeks, he will be chasing Bambi...hopefully under my tree stand.

Don't skimp and get the harbor freight ones. I got them to try and they didn't work. I just use very strong magnets and stick a feeler guage or thin piece of metal between them before I attach the magnet. That gives me a good gap to work with. Tack it, move the magnet and keep going.

Time to get out the popcorn.............. Thanks for showing us some tricks of the trade

hello men, i needed a new brake band for my son-in-laws C-160. toro wants almost $80. these days. i contacted bob maynard via this site and ordered a half dozen from him. his price for just the lining is $20. each plus a small amount to cover shipping. the old brake band looked like a petrified alligator. i cleaned the band with my wire wheel. i applied bobs recommended adhesive.(permatex silicone) the new lining fits perfectly. i used some zip ties to hold it together while the adhesive sets up. great product and quick shipping. kudos to bob. mike in mass.

First post, long time lurker - always loved old little RF tractors, so I’ve always come here to look at others awesome pics. Recently I found this old timer, I think it’s a 701? Not sure of the year as the current owner doesn’t know much about it. Obviously it’s the wrong seat and it’s missing the big cover on the right hand side, but do you experts spot anything else I might have missed? Anything that makes it more (or less) special? I have no idea about those headlights, never seen them before, have you?

Harbor Freight clamps didn't work well for my sons project either. buy the ones from Eastwood .

I need to get some of those clamps. Thanks

Here's a few I "shot" last month in Cameron Co. Jim.

Good. Tractors are heavy. . . . I couldn't resist. ......

Fall is my favorite time of the year just for that reason! Got a nice 8 point opening day or archery so I guess it is time to do some small game and turkey hunting!! Mike

You are correct it is a model 701 year 1961 the nose would have been solid someone has cut slots into it,of what I can see you are correct about the seat being wrong and missing the belt guard,the deck is original to the 701 but looks to have been cut out on the sides,it is hard to see the dash but originally it would have had a plastic dash plate.

Any year long frame will fit. The only real difference is the angle adjust lever. Those varied some for clearance but can easily be swapped or modified.

Your tractor is a 1989 model but we do not have the operator manual. For some reason there appears to be 2 manuals for 1990 so hope the models are the same. Click on the picture The push/tow instructions are on page 15 of the 810658R1 manual Garry

First off, Mods I'm not sure if this belongs here or in restorations or where. Please move to the correct spot if necessary. Emory wanted a deck for his latest lawn ranger and I had an old one laying around. Greased her up and put it on and the shaft bearings are so warm that it deafens you to ride it! Mows great, but loud! Saw this short frame deck on Craigslist. Went to look at it and figured I can switch the carrier and main drive over from the lawn ranger deck. It's in great condition, with a later repaint. Same guy also had a set of used 42" blades in an original wheel horse box with it. $125 for the deck and blades (a little high, but wait there's more!). He had one 23x8.5-12 Carlisle tru power tire $40 and a 16hp Briggs twin van guard engine. Wasn't looking for an engine, but it's now going to be part of Emory's Christmas. He started it and it ran great - love the sound of these engines! Made me an offer I couldn't turn down - $175! Well let's say I couldn't load it up fast enough. I may be wrong, but I think I did pretty good! Below is a pic of the haul. Proof there are still great guys out there on Craigslist and only about an hour from home - where horses are scarce as hens teeth!

Got back out to the shop today and fabricated the rotisserie and mounted the 953 frame. One support is an old home built engine stand and the other is just an angle iron lagged to the wall with a pipe welded to it, nothing fancy, but functional. I used a hydraulic lift table to bring it up to the proper height. This will save a lot of bending and crawling on the floor. Easy access for removing the stuff from below I used a contour gauge duplicator to get the shape and contour of the fender area to be replaced, then I made a template out of MDF so I can check the pieces as they are bent. Some laborious cleaning is next,

It's been a long time since I've undertaken a tractor project. Recently got married, moved, got a new job that keeps me busy so I haven't really had time. Now that I got the garage at our place cleaned out and ran electricity through it I'm ready to take on a project again! First one that I'm gonna take on is this 1045 I purchased a while back. It isn't perfect, but it's mostly there. Engine doesn't have enough parts on it to make it run, but it has compression so that's a start. I've been accumulating parts for it thanks to the big show and some members her so now I have enough to get it going. I'm excited to rear into it and see exactly how bad it will be! First thing I'm concerned with is possibly the hood. The previous owner put this bracket on so he could mount the hood while using the makeshift snowblower that was on it. He must have cut the normal attaching rod off. Now it looks like if I weld on a new rod, the hood will hit my muffler. Anyone have a 1045 that can give me some measurements of the hood to make sure mine is correct? Looking forward to this project! Mike

Was pleasantly surprised to find that Agri-Fab implements are at least mostly made in the US. Was shopping tow-behind lawn sweepers and found theirs to be made in the US, save for the catcher fabric. I compared with one other, and when I found a link to the owners manual, there was no hint of where it was made, but the text in the tab at the top of the browser window was Chinese! Props to Agri-Fab for keeping stuff sold here made here.

Great turn out this year! Excellent weather as well. Enjoy the pictures!

Dr. Trimble, seriously, if you live in upstate NY, you need to learn about how to dress for winter, and how to install a heat source to your garage/workplace. Start by researching Carhartt work wear and polypropylene long underwear. Oh........ and ceiling hung propane or natural gas heaters, too. It won't change once you have to move west......it's still cold there in the winter.......maybe a dryer, less humid cold, but still cold......and at altitude also. I can't quite conceive of your potential work output in a year's time with "perfect climatic conditions" A pretty scary thought for the rest of us older farts...... Regards, Steve p.s. We'll expect pics of your project from Saturday's meet..........

Me too...... but I have to wait till June

Looking forward to seeing this bad boy !!

Nice job on the bending jig. I like it. I also use clamps like that. They sure make welding up easier.

Thanks for the great pictures guys . I live in Richmond Va about 3 1/2 miles from the center of the city and we have deer here all year long. We have two does , their fawns and a young buck that visit our yard twice daily for the acorns. They are here so much that we really don't notice them , they are just part of the landscape. When I go outside they check me out and go on eating.

Any chance you can ohm the coil out right after it shuts down? Or even visually inspect it? Often times a coil that gets hot and opens up will have cracks in it. Guys can say what they want about these RER's not being a real tractor, which is true, but I still likem. Someday I am going to pick one up, strip it down, maybe some regearing, throw some stickers on it and use for the Mrs. for running around at tractor shows on!

Thanks Steve just going to do that. Take a look at Steve's videos Will, give to an idea of what we are babbling about with detents & shift forks and all that. The bad news is yes the transmission will have to get split to fix. Let us know if you need further help on tractor disassembly or anything. Not nowhere good as your vids Steve.

Well, actually, my bike will look close to that with two exceptions. The rear fender is knackered--cracked in many places and someone tried to weld it with a stick welder. the bike also has a king-queen seat with a bad cover and the rear hoop is missing. Those hoops are pretty spendy. I will take a few before pictures, I guess, but that blue paint that is on the bike compares well to the file photo and the chrome will polish up nicely. I just got it yesterday, so be patient

Sorry to beat Jim to this. he does have some great pictures also and he should still post them here. I did a how to thread on the transmission that you have...take a look at the 2nd video in the thread...it shows how the high/low thingy works and goes together. Also, check out Jim's thread here. He had the gear break apart that does the hi/low.

Thanks for sharing Ed ...reminds me of my past three weeks chasing bear! Hopefully you don't mind me sharing a couple hunting pics here I should have took more when the leaves had turned, beautiful colors, but my wife chides me for taking pics in the stand...she says I am supposed to be hunting!

Around here they can get picked off by the combines during Harvest - some are curious enough they'll walk right up to a hunter and try to start a fight . Friend of mine had 2 try to attack him when he was tracking the first one he shot - so took home 3 that day - all nice dressed weight too . I've often wanted to go deer hunting but got so many friends that do it and get so much meat dropped off I can't handle it as it is around here . The population is high enough now that some areas are allowing hunts in residential towns in their parks and such - crazy even thinking about it but even living here in a small town they come through here in the evenings and aren't afraid of much of anything . If nothing else , the body shops in this area do a lot of business in the fall/winter from deer strikes - insurance rates prove it living in Northern Illinois as well . I only had my '14 Dodge pickup 2wks before tagging one enough to crack the bumper trim on the right front corner - still need to get that fixed as it's cracked the urethane paint - I hate Bambi... Sarge

I would say it is more a way of life. And it keeps you both in shape. Enjoy.

In addition to an ohm meter, you also can check to see if the wire can carry a load. At work I use a sealed beam as a "test light" to verify that a circuit is good A circuit may show voltage with a meter, but will not carry a load. generally if the circuit can carry enough current to run a headlight (5 to 7 amps), it is good

@Bruce01 In your previous post, a manual was posted for you. to

Since your probable going to have to split it, here's a last ditch attempt Drain gear oil and fill brim full of diesel. Park outside in the sun for a few days to warn it up Work hi/lo lever with the hopes that the diesel soaked thru some gunk and frees it up. If this doesn't work, drain and at least you've started to clean the heavy old gear oil out of the tranny,

Bob is another one of the great vendors we have here. I need a new lining for my 76 but it's not urgent and I'll wait until the big show. I figured I'd glue it, reinstall and set the parking brake until is set up.

More than likely the detent ball is hung up in the high range detent. Cases must be split to fix. Actually easy once you get the hubs and every thing else off. I just happen to have one apart if you needs pics.

Take your leisure Aldon and enjoy Stevebos.....

The boat seat isn't original but it is a good deal more comfortable for sure. This manual covers it.

Actually your post ties in with good connections or cleaning up connections so you can get a good connection. Many times I have seen people with cars that won't crank over and its a simple clean the connections on the battery fix. So, the battery is a really good point to start anytime you have a voltage/current problem. Sometimes connections can look great but remember it only takes a minute or two to verify the connection that you thought was good and was actually the problem.

I have a long sidewalk with lots of ups and down, so in an effort to not smack the high spots with the blade when plowing, I came up with this. I made a new edge out of 1/4x3 flat stock, and added these small wings on the ends, I angled the wing so that when the blade is angled, the wing is pointing straight ahead. The idea is to ramp up and over the sidewalk cracks, instead on hitting them. I also thought that with a little more metal out there it might wear a little longer, as it seems the ends of the blade wear more than the middle.