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I just saw this video while surfing youtube. Thought it was pretty interesting and it struck a chord. I've read many posts on this site by folks who I think might enjoy seeing this. The real message starts 10 minutes and 55 seconds into the video.

Stopped by the mentone show today ( 100 mile one way ticket) and grabbed up a pretty nice 96' 520H with a 60" deck. Both are virtually flawless. Very happy with it. Original paint and 609hrs. 50th anniversary model to boot. makes 3 520s now. 2H's and one 8 speed. Of course this is the nicest so far. This one didn't even make it in the show grounds.

This was a situation where I created a monster! My front tires had begun to dry crack and had been thinking for some time "I need to get around to getting new tires" Thinking I would just mount up a couple new tires and be done.... well that didnt work out exactly that way. The original D tires/rims had had a bearing failure and ruined the right front rim many yrs ago and I had "temporarily" put a couple Sears 400-8 on both sides as a matching pair, The bearing failure had caused a pretty good gouge in the 3/4" axle and I had off and on looked for a couple replacement spindles but no luck. On removal of the tires/rim I was reminded the axle was pretty bad, and having recently read JUSS10's post on making custom hubs with lug nuts, I think well I'll just make a custom hub and be able to move the bearing contact away from the gouged place (with no spacer). So I do - and was finishing up when I took a break. Came in and checked ebay for WH parts and woohoo, Joes Outdoor had just put a whole load of D-180 stuff on and there was both spindles in one inch - I grabbed them up! Put the 3/4 project on hold and anxiously waited for the new 1 inchers and yes I never gave a thought that they wouldnt fit into my 3/4" axle, duh! Well luckily Joe had the axle listed too and I ordered it up. (On removal of the 3/4 axle I discovered it had a fair amount of wear anyway.) During the waiting I had ordered up four 1x2" bearings and scrounged up a piece of pipe so by the time the axle came I had the bearing fitted up in the pipe and a piece of 1/4" plate machined with the inner dia bored and the lug bolt holes drilled & tapped and the plate welded to the hub. Replaced the 2 thrust washers and added a .060 spacer to each side to take up the little bit of wear.The new spindles fit nicely on the new axle (Joe apparently doesnt send out junk, the axle/spindles had minimal wear) Had never liked the 400-8 tires on my D, so doing the hub mod like I was, I chose a boat trailer tire/rim in 570-8. When I got this thing together yesterday and took it for a spin I thought I had added power steering to it!! goodness, what a difference! So, as often happens with my projects (maybe yours too??) a simple change of front tires turned into much more -- but I sure like the end result!

10 hours of driving, 550 miles, $200.00 plus in fuel & I got her home. I'm real happy w/it. The tiller is very nice too. It's been doing a lot of sitting. That red dust is every where. It's getting a good cleaning. It won't run too long before it dies. Inside the gas tank was NASTY. The screen on the shut off was 90% clogged. Couldn't get it opened up w/a whole can of carb cleaner, so I'm getting a new one tomorrow. Pulled the tank & got it cleaned out w/3 cans of brake clean. replaced all the fuel lines. The float on the sending unit in the tank had fuel in it. Not sure how I'm going to fix that yet. Hopefully I can get the stuff I need tomorrow & get it put back together & post some pics, It doesn't have a scratch or a ding on it. not a fan of the RD deck on the hydro. The little mowin I did do, I could see were the hydro fan blade was suckin grass thru it & it gets stuck around the hydro, fuel tank ect. I think it would work good on my 417-8 though. The story is , it was orderd for a cemetery to mow around headstones, obviously, hence the 42" deck. The cemetery went bankrupt b4 the 520 was delivered & the state took the cemetery over. The dealer kept it on display until he retired in 2008 or 9, sold it to a friend of his who gave it to his son in 2010. The son used it one season, bought a zero turn & it sat until a few weeks ago. got all the manuals w/it. Someone obviously studied it. The majority of it is highlighted w 4 different colors of highlighter. There are notes written in it like" for hydo filter us John Deere part # am ??????, its a better filter that WH" & it does have a JD hydro filter on it. So w/25 or 86 hours, seller said 4yr old son left key on for 3 days, the sellers dad, I assume, felt the need to change all the fluids & service it, sense it was sitting in the shop for such a long time, which I would have done also & will probably do again soon . Thank you to our local member who posted the CL find. I've been dreaming about a find like this for a long time. I know there probably aren't many left like that.

So I was outside working on my parents house when I heard a rumble in the sky. Looked over to my left and this is what I saw. (turn the sound up and listen to the engines rumble wish the video did it any justice. pretty damn cool) There was a small "wheels and Wings" show at the local airport. (BVY for anyone interested) The main attractions were two bombers, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine O Nine†WWII Heavy Bomber and a Consolidated B-24J Liberator “Witchcraft†WWII Heavy Bomber. There was also a P-51C Mustang. Just got a glimpse from a distance.

1958 RJ Wheel Horse Belt Guide for Front Cutter Bar I made this with my dad and brother yesterday using measurements I got from Denny Clarke who made his own also to guide the drive belt on the front cutter bar . Thanks Denny I think this is going to do the job! Used 3/16 rod from an old push mower safety clutch bar. I have installed the front cutter bar on my RJ 1958 that I will take to Jacksonville, Illinois next weekend for the Prairieland Heritage Museum Show.

Here are a few I saw at South Mountain in 2012. Not mine, just awesome tractors. I think the first one could be deerhunters, but just a guess. Don't know about the other one but it may be my favorite

I'll see these monsters come flying over the small lake where I go sailing. Sometimes single, and sometimes two at a time. They are really low going over. There is some military training base nearby. They really rumble - I think it shakes the water! Fly so low you think they are gonna land right there. Pretty impressive. Gives you goosebumps. No pics, sorry.

Hey, like deja vous... I remember a flying fortress doing a fly over the day we moved into the new house. You don't forget 'em when they're in your neighborhood.

Got the belt guard on today. Also cut a piece of sheet metal for the serial plate and mounted the choke and throttle levers. I still have a plan to make one out of aluminum but for now this is a nice backing for Terry's sweet decal. I need to do some monkeying to get some cables rigged up since I've stuck an HH60 on and it has a different linkage. Looks like I'll be able to make loop and connect them up fairly easily. That's it. Not much progress in this guy today. Did get in some seat time though.

Ya Better hope the Bears bring their smoke bombs and mirrors with them to the Burg. Steelers 0-3? Tomlin will blow a gasket!

Good evening and thank you for the replies, Stevasaurus, thanks for the woodruff info, the trans appears to be ok the wheels rotate when the shafts are turned, I have no idea what caused the breakdown we just came to a halt, no noises just stopped. Meadowfield, hi the hub was damaged around the set screw area,a segment approx 1" of the hub around the set screw broke off and I cannot find it although I found the woodruff key(s) two half round pieces of metal, has it been bodged by previous owner? The slot where the key fits does look pretty wide to me, but then I do not know what it should look like. Anglo Traction, thanks for the welcome, you are probably correct about the source of the 1" hub, he still has the other one. I am now concerned that the keyway in the shaft may have been previously damaged, I will attempt to get photos up, as you suggest, and see where I go from there, I will, as advised, leave the other hub alone. Many thanks all for your advice, Regards Rob

Are your sure they'd be talkin about a tractor!

We don't need no backup!! We don't need no stinking backup!!!! And it's the farm girls from Wisconsin...not the fat girls. Those farm girls could chop you up and spit you out in 6.3 seconds. They would be like..."and you call that little thing a tractor???"

All that's left is the chains

Kudos to Mike Rowe! What an inspirational speech to share with our kids and grandchildren!!!

True words from a down to earth guy. Best 28:17 minutes I spent today. Thanks for posting. :handgestures-thumbupright: Here's that website- http://profoundlydisconnected.com/

The hope and change thing has gotta start somewhere.

Photos added

Two happy little creatures. Thanks for sharing.

520H with 44" two stage ready to go

I remember now, getting old too, I made my solid lift link and as I recall I shortened the link some to gain more ground clearance as the front wheels were a couple of inches in the air, I knew I could not dig in that much so decided to go for the clearance. Not a great pic for your purpose but it's easy to see there is more clearance. This time the blade was on my 416. My GD having a driving lesson

Looks darn good to me. I have been using silver barn paint for my silver wheels. You know what you use to paint the roof. Works good and lasts.

Uh Oh...I missed out on something....Thankfully it was an Onan....I dont feel so bad. If it was a 418 with a Kohler I would be sad.....

Heard in the Brown's board room... "Hey I got a great idea let's get rid of that new running back we got last year ya know the one that was the number 3 pick and trade him for a number 20 pick in next years draft. Cause you know we can't count and our quarterbacks suck so why would they need someone to hand the ball too." When are they ever going to learn that no matter how many first round picks you have you still have to be able to turn a rookie into and all-star. I mean hell look at that idiot Tebow did great in college and now NFL teams can't get rid of him fast enough.

Hi All! Some background info :In 1990 I bought my first and only . At the time ,I lived in town with a small yard. I wanted a 520H, but really,I could push mow my yard if I wanted. So, I bought a 312H with v bar chains ,37" deck and 42" snow plow. It was a fine machine! I polished it , washed it ,really took care of it. Then a funny thing happened,life moved on. Two boys,built a new house (on almost 2 acres), other obligations. I'm not proud of what I let my faithful become, a shadow of it's former glory.... WARNING: Graphic picture to follow! Please! Don't be quick to judge my heinous ways! Don't rush to withdraw my forum membership! I don't know what became of me to heap this terrible neglect on my faithful horse! WARNING: Another graphic picture to follow! Fortunately, I found this forum! At first it was just to find some part numbers. Then it became something more. Looking at all the fine restorations,the pride members took in bringing old iron back to life, I'd like to tell you that I was inspired. Nay, a feeling of utter shame swept over me. What have I done,WHAT HAVE I DONE! I'm about to right a wrong,make amends,do the right thing. I want to be the owner my started with but who lost his way! With your help,yes,you the members of RS,I can achieve redemption . I can make my proud to be owned by me again! But how can I? I use my WH every week to cut grass. How can I do what YOU have done and are doing to your valiant steeds? By doing it bass ackwards and in a 6 day time block,that's how! I will concentrate on 1 part at a time. Because I need my horse to mow, I have 6 days from the day I mow to restore that 1 part. My plan is to show you what I'm doing and if you know a better way,Please post it up. I will ask questions.I will respect your suggestions. I will modify it if I can make it a better WH .The goal is to get that part back on the Horse for next week. I figure in the fall I can tackle the frame and motor .Who knows where this will end? And when? More to follow.........

Well since you want the big guns brought out, here's one of my RJ58's. I hopped it up and added a 1890's double barrelled shot gun for the exhaust! I fixed it up a bit since this pic was taken. I lowered the gun down quite a bit to get the pipe alighned with the side of the barrells. I redid the stock on the gun, it was cracked and some yahoo wrapped it in black cloth tape. The barrells come out the front of the hood and it looks and sounds cool! The gun was in bad shape that is why I decided to drill holes in it( just in case anyone is a gun purist! ) where the pipe comes into the gun. Bang bang! I also got the rest of the engine operational, those 4 hp Kohlers have some power! KJ