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Had to rearrange my garage area today. So much stuff in there that I couldn't work on anything. My daughter took the Ranger out for it's last ride until spring. Then I put it and the 867 in my storage building and tucked them in. Then I moved the 701 onto my lift so I can finish it up over the winter. My knees won't let me work on another one on the floor. The Bronco, 523-H, and V-14 moved back into the garage since they will still work through winter. Now at least I have room to tinker again. Time to make a new mess now I guess!

I acquired this machine as a complete non running tractor from a friend a couple years ago. Sat in the corner biding it's time to be the priority project. Finally pulled it out last month and started working on it. So... Charger on the battery and spun the engine. Sounded good. A little ether in the carb and it fired right up. Cleaned the carb, replaced the fuel line, checked the fuel pump, a little choke and part throttle, purrs like a cougar. 😁 The paint is/was oxidized a bit. Turtle wax rubbing compound brought shine back, but still has that patina that some people like. The seat was beyond repair, so separated from the pan and repainted it and had the foam recovered.. The transmission drive belt was good enough to test drive on, and I am happy to report the hydrostatic drive works like it should. 😁 Now just waiting new belts and test out the 42" rear discharge mower with mulcher . Question: The hourmeter shows 61.xx hours. I know this machine has sat in various garages for at least the last 5 or 6 years. Mechanically, I'm thinking it is right, but given the weathering from being outside, it seems low for a 35yo machine.

I recieved some custom decals from @Vinylguy today. He does an excellent job with making these.

EXCELLENT WORK !!

It is amazing how fast the past 18 years have gone. Thank you all for your support and patience over the years. It has been quite the journey. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you all.

just back from my surgeon , rated newest x rays , perfect in all respects , see you in 5 years , unless there is a related injury or pain . told him I was regularly daily walking a ball field track lay out , forward / backwards / alternating stretching , thru out , track time . showed me a perfect reference x ray , overlap . spot on . keep doing what you are doing . will keep that going . pete

Bright lights shining in my bedroom window at 5 AM got me up in a hurry. Just lime spreader getting an early start. Oh well, I'm awake and it's raining. Good day to pull out the Christmas decorations. Check some lights and set up the Nativity set that my sister made over 50 years ago.

All: The C81 I purchased from @Sparky this summer had a rear that had walked inward and I could not get it loose with my puller; in fact I cracked the flange while attempting to do so. I planned on using my HFT Portable Bandsaw to cut the hub, but the flange diameter was greater than the saw's 5 inch throat opening. Snapped the broken flange piece with a large Crescent wrench, now the saw fits. Supported th hub with a jack to help keep it from rotating the axle and the plan was to cut thru the hub at the top of the keyway - and not touch the axle itself. A little more cleanup and the entire top of the keyway was exposed. Used my puller to remove it - got to love that "Snap" sound when it finally breaks free. Damaged the Woodruff Key in the process Used the Vise Grip / Slide Hammer to convince it to leave... 

Many thanks gwest-ca I will check that out Friday when i get back into the shop You know Squonk I don't know if I wired the ammeter. The glass is broken and it has no needle need to check that! Hi guys Thanks for all your help. I tried all the suggestion. When I took the wires off the safety switches and connected them together THE OLE HORSE CAME ALIVE !!! Ok must be the safety switch, so I connected the PTO switch. Again it started right up. Then the brake switch was connected. I pushed it in with my thumb it started right up.Ok we are ready to go, not so fast CNC. Because when I got on the seat and pushed the brake padel nothing! Oh No!!! Sometimes it is best to stay cool and think about what you are doing. After looking at the tractor while cooling down I notice the bracket holding the safety switch was bent straighten the bracket and guess what everything works great. Boy is my face red!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!

Floor got poured today: New section of the shop is off limits to foot traffic for two days, all other traffic for two weeks. Also got a chance to talk to the lift guy, he said call him in two weeks and he'll grab two guy for a Saturday and come put it up.

Overhead door got hung today: Goes up easier than the 6ft doors on the other side. And I got the lift post locations marked for Wednesday.