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I just talked with Richard's wife, and she says he's fine and should be home later today. I'm not going to elaborate any more than that. That will be up to Richard. He's doing well and we'll hear from him soon I'm sure of that!

This little saga began in November. I have had hand tremors for several years and started a new prescription to deal with them. In early January I developed shingles and my doctor prescribed two medications; they stopped the shingles in their tracks. A few days later I began having tremors throughout my body, two of the medications were having a battle and neither one could be stopped clod turkey. My doctor developed an accelerated plan to get me off both. They weren’t shown as being incompatible. This resulted in me being sedentary for about three weeks. In all likelihood this resulted in the blood clots forming Monday, January 26. I was feeling good and spent some time exercising. The next morning was normal, then after lunch I experienced a severe pain behind my right ribcage. Paramedics took me to our local hospital and after some imaging I was transferred to the hospital in Asheville, NC, The following morning doctors removed several blood clots from my right lung. One of the clots was six inches long. Further imaging showed no further clots. They also discovered that I had Atrial Fibrillation and stopped then restarted my heart putting it back in normal rhythm. Under normal circumstances I would not have been released the same day but with the impending snow storm they sent me home. Thank God for all of the wonderful medical professionals who cared for me.

As a Senior Citizen it is my obligation to keep the medical employed. After four days in the hospital I am now home and well, God is good. Details to follow.

Firstly, forgive my mess because I'm stuck indoors and I'll clean up when I can open the garage again. I welded a hitch reciever to my welding table for using my mini crane and for using my tire changer. But I got to thinking that it wouldn't take much weight on the crane to tip the table. So I made a folding outrigger to support it. I won't lift anything heavier than a Kohler or Onan, and I'll stay inside the 90 degree space formed by the outrigger. My back just won't tolerate moving an engine from the tractor to the table. We'll see how it works soon. At least it looks neat... and Rubble approves! Or maybe he just likes the heater...

In reverse ... Guy was asking for help the other day on slow reverse on a hydro. and @Racinbob commented that horses are not supposed to go fast in reverse. Designed that way for safety reasons I suspect. Some new machines including late model Toro verticals had a key switch under the seat with a light on the dash for reverse operation when the blades were spinning. So this 520 FEL I have was always a slug in reverse. Didn't matter how the motion linkage (Matt's pedal kit) was adjusted. Seemed like it took a hour to back away from the gravel pile. The other three 520's in my herd have this issue as well but not as severe and not as aggravating as they are all snow machines and don't see a lot of reverse time it seems. Since it was in the shop for other work & maintenance something was gonna be done about it. Started by marking the full forward and full reverse positions of the motion lever on top of the hydro. To get the control plate to move the lever to go to full forward was obtainable but only allowed a small amount of lever travel in reverse. The problem is the eccentric cam would bottom out in the control plate before the lever reached it's max reverse limit. Simple enough to elongate the reverse slot. Took a little more than 1/8" out was all that was needed. The motion lever now hits it's stops in both directions & a full cleaning & lubrication of all linkage makes for a very smooth pedal greasy Pete would be proud of.

So I’ve visited this site many times over the last couple years and got some really great info but finally made an account last month. I’ve had a 77 C120 for the last couple years that I used for mowing and snow removal with a blade. A month ago I bought a 1990 snowblower attachment for it and it worked out great but I quickly got tired of switching between the snow blower and plow so I decided to buy another tractor. That turned out to be a 1973 “no name” 10HP 8 Speed. After about a week I got it running, trans unstuck, notched the right foot board to accommodate the blade angle lever, and the usual catching up on maintenance from years of neglect.

I had a factory set on a 1277 so these are from memory, “might be a bit different!” (Standard 12v tractor lights) Used a knuckle, that’s what I call it, on the end of a 30” x 5/8” steel rod, drilled tapped 3/8-16 utilizing a stud and cap nut. Two wire assembly to assure a solid ground Crimp on connection for hassle free hood removal There’s two 3/8-16 bolted to a threaded rectangular plate between the frame, mimicking factory Closer look at the stainless hardware, that is a metric thread in the knuckle, (euro part) The soft bend sweeps buy the cradle front tightly, has to be just so, plumb to clear I preferred the standard 12v light assembly with options to twist in all directions, do not care for the little bug eye looking factory assemblies! The 5/8 hot rolled steel can be formed quite easily by hand just make identical measurements on both sides. Basic & simple See the hood is very close and the button I put in from a very unstable method used by who-ever owned this hood, bought at big show over a decade ago! Don’t find these as often anymore but I perused eBay, they were actually IH Red!

Part 2660 Final install, fits good & tight.

Drove around in the snow. It'll be gone by Wednesday, so I had to play a little.

February 1, 2004, “Nipplegate” controversy at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. A singularly sensational event occurs during the halftime show of the Super Bowl. While performing a duet with Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake briefly exposed one of her breasts in what was later described as a "wardrobe malfunction."

Last year I purchased this Simplicity 5212 for $40. Someone swapped in a 18HP Briggs. Came with 4 different mower decks and only the 36” was in good shape to actually use. The others were either rotted, seized or both. Would only run half choked and battery wouldn’t charge. I replaced the chinesium carb with and oem carb and it ran perfect. Then swapped out the regulator and the charging system came back around. Then I found out Allis owned and sold Simplicity in 83. This tractor is an 87 but I decided I wanted to make a replica.

I've been getting back into scale model building a bit. I started when I was 8 and did quite a lot for 5 or 6 years. After that I've been poking at them every few years since. For several decades I've been collecting and storing the future projects. I'll be keeping this thread as a record of what I'm up to. Please do feel free to post your own. One of the things I've wanted to build for many years is a model of what my Ole Man drove from back in the mid 1980s. Oil tankers that delivered #6 factory oil. 3 years ago this April I bought an IHC 4300 tractor by AMT and Testor's reissue of a 1960s tanker trailer. I got to measuring the trailer. It's designed to be built as either a single axle short tank or add the extension and use 2 axles to make a longer trailer. Still..... really not that long even for 1960s rigs. Then I got to wondering.... what if I had two trailer kits.... If the tank rear is meant to glue on either the front section separately or the rear section in combination - why can't I use a second kit for a rear extension?? So here's something neat. Look at the tank tops here. The left side is 8.25" long. The 2 right pieces are the back half of TWO trailer model kits. If I add the second back half to the first back half added to the front half ... It comes out to a scale model size of 21.5 inches total length. I remember pretty well that Bruce's oil trailers were 45 feet long. An odd length even back then. This model scale adds up to 44 feet and 10 inches!! This is the model kit of the tractor that I have. My Ole Man drove International S2500s. This is a 4300. Same basic shape but this model is a little longer nose. That was IHC's fancier road tractor back then. The 2500 series was the worker of the fleet. I'll take the chrome off the grill and only use one exhaust stack. The sleeper will be removed in favor of a large hydraulic pump. That basically turns it into an S model. I'd like to go weathered & worn. Never done one.... Tank will likely be a faded aluminum with stains. Internet find picture: This was one of several late 70s IHC S models that the company had. At least 2 were green on a red frame. That's what @Qball drove. Odds are almost 100% he drove THIS TRUCK. Stay tuned.....

January 30, 1933, With the stirring notes of the William Tell Overture and a shout of “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” The Lone Ranger debuts on Detroit’s WXYZ radio station.

Holee molee Batman we got a bleeping buch of snow! I haven't seen this much since 1999, when we got over 20 inches. We are now at 10 to 12 inches, and it's still snowing! We usually get wet heavy snow but this stuff is powder. I've never seen that here in NC before. And the first day we are supposed to get above freezing is Tuesday. Even then only about 40 degrees. I hope to get some better pics tomorrow but this was 5 hours ago:

Reminds me of driving in my first snowstorm. I was heading to the gas station in my pickup with no weight in the bed, thought I’d impress my friend in the passenger seat. Gave it a little gas, thought I’d drift around in bend in the road but lost control. Slid across the oncoming lane (thank goodness nobody was coming!) hit the telephone pole with the passenger door. We didn’t get hurt, we were probably only going 15-20 mph. So I drove back home and went in the house. First thing my dad says is we have no power in the house. Then he said, and this is the part I’ll never forget “ First snowstorm of the year and our power is out. I’ll bet some A hole hit a pole and knocked out the power!” I then had to sheepishly admit it was me!

Thank you all ! This is the first chance I've had to check in on my family . 61 years old & still working too much, but it keeps me going & the 's happy too. You guys are the best!

Gotta get all you us ole timers on Karl's emergency call list. Never know when you might climb up in your tree stand and forget to come home.

@Ed Kennell I didn’t need one when I was young either! Winter of 1984-85 when I was 14 with my Work Horse. My parents got me the plow for Christmas that year. Note the red hat, it’s an insulated winter genuine Wheel Horse hat! I wish I still had it.

Got to play today in the garage and work on this weak corner of this 48" deck. Wasnt sure how to go about making the patch with all the angles and round overs but it worked out. I cant weld worth a crap to be pretty, but it holds and solid. I just got a 220 Harbor Freight flux core mig welder. But Im learning. I plan on get some 75/25 gas to see if I can do better maybe. Plus thin gauge metal aint my thing, I can do better with the thicker stuff. Lol

Well it finally stopped around 1:30AM. I decided to measure a few spots and it fluctuates between 10 and 13 inches. For central North Carolina, that is huge. As I said before it's been 20+ years since we had snow like this. I'm gonna just have to drag out a tractor or two tomorrow and play in it!

Ooooooooooo, Me likes model building! Did tons of those kits when we were kids. Not sure how we survived sucking in all of that nasty glue vapor. Then somehow got started with doing originals like this one. (For those that may not have seen this before)

Yesterday I was in town and saw they began to demolish the old Baptist Church, daycare and gym buildings. There is a large commercial playscape at the daycare that about 25 years old, but is in pretty good condition since it had a shade structure over it. The is a excellent Nonprofit called the ARK. https://arkofhighlandlakes.org that service our greater Highland Lakes area. One of their many programs is a large duplex housing community which has program to mentor and train families to transition them from the street and poverty. The director had previously said they would like to have a playscape for this property. So it hit me and I got the wheels turning to try and recycle this playcape. The demo contractor project manage was agreeable, with a few conditions that we could agree to and a fairly fast removal time line. Thankfully this is a large property and it will take them 3-4 weeks to get enough dumpsters for all the building material. The ARK directors asked if i would take on this removal project and temporary storage. I was able to contact the playscape manufacture and got and original layout drawing and a few removal recommendation. They said they can provide new parts for a few of the domed windows and parts some vandals had dammaged. This morning I took some tools and tested removing bolts from the main frame which went well. Unfornatualy the short Allen bolts with the flat round domed flush nuts on the panels just spun when I tried to remove them. If anyone has a suggest how to get these out, there is roughly a 100 of them. My one idea is to get a battery powered grinder and tried to cut a screwdriver slot in the domed head or grind the head off without damaging the pannel. There are about 20 post or legs with concrete footings. I dug down at a few of them and found there is about 1 ft. of gravel fill above the concrete footing. The demo contractor offered to provide a machine (skid steer or excavator) to pull them out when we had everything else removed. I have two thoughts on post removal which hopefully can be done without bending up the post or other legs One is to dig down to the top of the post to get to the concrete so a choker sling can be attached to pull up right at the top of the concrete. The other is get a jack hammer and hit the footings around the post to see if the concrete can be broken up some. (which would be a lot of work) The ARK will help me get a couple of volunteers for the disassemble/removal. My first order of busines is making some sketches with a numbering routine to mark all the parts for reassemble. I thinking of using a paint pen for marking, and appreciate any suggestions for marking that will last a while. I don't know if we will get the shade structure as someone else (a demo boss?) was looking at it. So this will keep me busy for awhile. then installation will be an even bigger future project.

The one thing that I don't like about snow blowers is that it is usually cold out when you need to use them.

dropped my wife off at the constitution joint center , this morning , for a thumb bone issue , been to same center for hip , back work . the work is very thorough , with back up home therapy assistance , my overall opinion of this is very good , and most important is ACTUALLY GOING TO GET IT FIXED , the fear is very evident to someone that refuses to get help , that also grows in the wrong way , always having a reason NOT TO GET IT FIXED . you can sense the fear , and excuses . on the way back , stopped at walmart , just a regular day . pete

Thank you! I'd love to have an overhead setup but my garage doesn't have support big enough in my opinion, and I don't have the avaliable steel currently to build one. There is a decent one at Harbor Freight but it's outside my price range at the moment. I got the idea of making the crane setup from Don @Lee1977. I can move it to the tractor whenever needed outside.

I know a lot of guy want to keep things "original" but if it was mine, I would chop the wires out of the block and get individual weatherproof fuse holders. I went a step further on the 520 I had. I got some 4 wire flat trailer wires with a long pigtail and moved everything including chopping out that crappy 9 pin Molex connector to the opposite side of the tractor to get it away from the exhaust heat. I used electrical wire markers and 2 trailer plug sets. I marked one plug "A" and the other "B" and documented which electrical circuit was in each plug and what color the wire was. This maintained the ability to disconnect the engine side of the harness.

One of my faves in the '50s. As kids, we spent 90% of our daylight hours outside. Except on Saturday mornings when The Lone Ranger show was close to coming on the TV when we raced home to watch. I still remember my baby sister that was falling behind in the race home yelling "don't turn it on till I get there cause I don't want to miss it". My gang...where's Eddie?

Wasn't there a penalty for "Unnecessary Holding" called on that play??

January 29, 1936 First players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

My wife came out to the shop to see what I was doing and took a couple of pictures of me on the tractor. Of course no shoes are allowed yet, have to keep it clean. My truck and her Explorer are sitting under cover waiting for spring whenever it finally gets here. Hopefully by mid April.

So sorry Joe. Listen to what your body is telling you. 11 yrs. ago I started getting acid reflux after eating out for my wife's birthday. I never get acid reflux so I let it pass. 3 days later I'm at work and start getting it again. Plus I'm really feeling crummy. I had gotten a flu shot the same day I started having issues. I thought I was coming down with the flu. I went home at noon. Had to pick up an item at a friends house. On the way back as I was stopping for an intersection, both of my hands fell off the steering wheel. I managed to drive the remaining half mile home. Told my wife what happened and she called my doctor. He says get to the hospital. One blood test showed a marker for a heart attack. I get shipped to the city for an angioplasty. I had the "Widow Maker LAD blockage and got 2 stents. At work with other guys if I get tired I stop. If any of the young guys say anything I tell them they will most likely be in the same boat someday. I fix stuff with what I know. I tell them push that or turn that. My hero days are behind me.

You mean to tell me @Pullstart isn't obligated to keep the medical field pushing ahead with medical advancements? I just wish our hospital would get rid of the guy in charge of purchasing so we can get a boiler fixed before we actually have to have it!

Thanks Randy great news ... I'm still gonna put him on report for going AOL & chew his rear for making us worry! Don't worry not gonna send him to Captain's mast. May confine him to a computer & extra duty with this day in history posts tho...

i havent got it yet, but it 20 miles away. But, what powers it? Obviously a belt. But what hooks it up? Here’s pictures. I think i should go up and get that!!!

Wheelhorse is getting there

My sons bought small spacers for his tractor, last night I installed one side. Had to remove the hub set screw and replace with a 1/4” shorter one so that the two bolts heads wouldn’t hit. The 7/16 x 20 x 2” bolts can be a pain to find.

Anyone know a guy like Earl?

Finally the tractor is 100% usable but not 100% done so there will be more to come. Right now it’s being used as the snowplow when I don’t have enough snow to use the 120 with the blower. It’s gonna get all the main sheet metal pulled in the spring and going to get just a quick scuff and shoot and new decals hence the “Budget Resto”. Don’t want it to be too nice that I’m afraid to use it lol. Then the 120 will be next on the docket but that’s just paint.

They are very handy!!!

Yep, Phil will see his shadow this morning. 13* and bright sunshine here in PeeeAaaa.

Yep, About 10% better than the Meteorologists.

January 31, 1990, The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, shakes and french fries.

Got the 523H out to play in the snow. She kept staring over the fence at the cows... No way my other tractors would have driven so well. Those ATV rear tires and fat floaty fronts did very well in the deeper spots.

January 28, 1985, Music stars gather to record “We Are the World” The special instruction Quincy Jones sent out to the several dozen pop stars invited to participate in the recording of “We Are the World” was this: “Check your egos at the door.” Jones was the producer of a record that would eventually go on to sell more than 7 million copies and raise more than $60 million for African famine relief. But before “We Are the World” could achieve those feats, it had to be captured on tape—no simple feat considering the number of major recording artists slated to participate. With only one chance to get the recording the way he and songwriters Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wanted it, Jones convened the marathon recording session of “We Are the World” at around 10 p.m. on the evening of January 28, 1985, immediately following the conclusion of the American Music Awards ceremony held just a few miles away.

Spending a cold, dreary Saturday at the office:

My brother had all of the Aurora Monster models. The Creature, Dracula, Frankie the whole bunch. He painted them all up and had red paint dripping out of their mouths and hands as blood. He glued silver glitter in their eyes. I hated those things. When he graduated from HS he gave them all to me. The day after he left for college there were some unexplained explosions and plastic bits in the back yard.

I built a few in my day with the neighborhood boys. Then taped model rocket motors to them and lit em off. Never a really great job since I have the artistic skills of a cantaloupe. Some came out ok tho.