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416-8 FEL & Hoe

For those of you who might not have the energy to type out the entire word, I am offering the following to be copied and pasted wherever you see fit - and totally free of charge. Take only one - or as many as you like: Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas I'm not here to endorse or promote religion, nor am I a religious fanatic - but I do respect the true meaning of the holiday. Besides......... Some of us really don't want to deal with an X on Christmas. Merry Christmas!

I guess I'd better post my Raider 20 6X6 here then You all know the story by now.. It's been dragging on for long enough She started life as a humble and very worn C-125.. A body swap soon had her looking like this... Enter Garry and some beer.. And the idea was born Over four years later she looked like you know her now..

It's been some time since I've visited this thread, and I have to tell you that I've really felt the need lately to get back to counting my blessings. You see, life has gotten back to normal by this writing, and it wasn't that long ago that I was wondering if I would even be here now. The every day tedium and little aggravations that annoy us all in our daily lives have crept back to the forefront. You know how a situation or a person can get to you and make you feel anger, animosity and disgust at times. That, coupled with job and family pressures and commitments at this time of year can be devastating to us, causing even more angst. But it is this time of year that sometimes makes us reflect on our lives, and interactions with friends and family, and to see what really matters. For me what matters is not stressing out over people and things I can't control. Those things will be gone from my life as much as I can make it happen. Family, and real friends who are as genuine as I would be to them are what's important. My impending retirement has also given me pause to reflect on a career that started in high school working at Howard Johnson's on the turnpike to make gas money, to a summer in a cement paint plant, and then on to a box shop for 23 years, then to my electrical contracting business, and finally on to three different machine shops to finish up. I'm so grateful for my wife Karen and my kids who love me no matter how much I embarrass them at times. And you of course, my friends here who encouraged me and also gave me strength to fight and get to this day. I know I'm not perfect no matter what Stevasaurus tells you, and I will flounder and be a grump now and then. Just ignore me when that happens. I promise I'll come back refreshed and ready to make you laugh. So again, I would like to take this moment to thank all of you who were there when I needed you. Thank You, Jim

Just thought I'd give a quick update. I painted the grill to the OE semi-flat black finish, and installed the headlights as well as the front Case decal. I'm hoping to start on the mower deck tomorrow. HERE IS A VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Innr_zXg-ZU&feature=youtu.be Matt

Test test test.......coming home with my baby. Glenn Ok. I think Glenn

The only kind of deck I have ever had to use on my WH is a rear discharge. I absolutely loathe the rear discharge and cannot think of one kind word to say for them! To that end I would even say that the RD deck is the worst piece of machinery I have ever mowed an acre of grass with. It is true that the RD deck is most effective when mowing grass that is not high. My experience has been that to leave the grass looking fairly decent after being cut you better cut the grass when it is REALLY REALLY short. Anyone that has mowed many acres with a RD horse deck will readily agree with what I say, or at least they should! I used to mow about 4 acres a week with a RD 36" deck under a Lawn Ranger so I know wherefore I speak. I tried everything from reversing the blades to re-sharpening the blades and finally replacing the blades as well as adjusting the deck height. Nothing I ever tried resulting in any significant improvements with the RD deck. Generally you will know if the grass you are trying to mow is too high for the RD deck because it will result in a mow job that looks like a "freshly hayed" farm field, windrowed to no end and not pleasing to the eye in any way! If you have a choice, forget you own the RD deck and either keep it as a relic of days gone by or sell it, or better still give the bloody thing away but for the love of pete whatever you decide to do, do not use the bloody thing! Sorry guys, that has been my honest experience and I have mowed with this machine for years and tried everything I know to make this better, but that was all to no avail. I still have a RD mower deck for each of the four machines I own, but only keep them because they came with each tractor. I love my horses but really despise rear discharge decks in the worst possible way! No offense intended to RD deck lovers intended.

Terry, you must still be looking at last years catalog! How about this years new flavor? Merry Christmas!

Plus, if you want to go through scraper blade cutting edges like a Kardashian goes through skinny jeans, then install a solid lift link. I had one installed on my C-160 auto and after only using it a couple times, I could already tell it was being worn away VERY quickly. Granted, all my blading was being done on asphalt/concrete. I do install it for certain jobs in the dirt.

Merry Christmas to all!

Lots of hammering and pounding on this one... the entire build is on YouTube (link in signature)... the ultimate goal was to clone the RJ tractor on the cover of Straight From a Horse's Mouth Second Edition and the original 1955 RJ advertisement. The sad thing about the project... my computer took a dump about a month ago and I lost every pic and vid of this project... at least most of the vids are on YouTube and the project its done, LOL!

When it comes to Xmas sometimes it's best to buy a present for yourself - something useful that you actually want so....... Despite already having two snow blades, one for the C-100 and one for the 316 my attention was grabbed by a NOS blade that appeared on recently. A little bit of research confirmed that it was for the 200 series tractors like my 216-5 so although these are not the best tractors for pushing snow I was certainly interested though not at the starting price being asked. When it attracted no bids I made an offer that was accepted and a 270 mile round trip made to Droitwich today saw a new addition to my collection of WH attachments. Having laid out the bits on the living room carpet for a photo (yes, it's that clean!) I felt a bit guilty about not paying the original asking price but my offer was accepted and apparently the guy selling had been made a better offer but to adapt it to fit on a Kubota .... but being a guy with a couple of C's himself amongst other tractors, said he'd rather see it go to be fitted onto a WH - that's how good true WH people are I guess. I'm getting the C-100 ready for snow duty at the moment - this year with some ATV tire chains by 'Moose' in the USA which, given the small amount of snow we get down here, will probably be enough but there's the 316 that can also be 'plowed up' so as to speak if the forecasters are right and we get significant snow this winter and if I get the time (it's a big if) then it would be nice to get the new plow onto the 216 if only for a photo shoot if it does actually snow. Andy

Snowblower I picked up in Carlisle. Pa. Looks good. Glenn

No Jim...29 games...missed the autozone and put the sun bowl in twice...think I got it right now. Karl...thanks for fixing the title.

Steve, there are 28 games. The Sun Bowl is listed twice.

Good news / Bad news: The good news is the boiler room is almost done with paint and high output lighting. Stairs to the card table are easy to spot! Nice and toasty with 3 boilers running! Take it easy on the way down. Not too much spiced coffees or Straw-bra-rita's Bad news: Some mangey buck-toothed varmints swiped the table and chairs! I am on the prowl. They can run but they can't hide!

There is also some interesting differences in the various decks side or rear discharge that changed with each years design. The old 48 1054 side discharges had very good spindles and bearing housing and worked great in high grass. The deck was a little deeper than later models. The 1968 Raider 9 has a fairly heavy deck and the PTO set up off the right side of the motor and deck. Makes a very good cut high or low grass and in third gear. The gear driven rear discharge decks on the Lawn Rangers really are only good for low and regular grass cutting. However, the 32 inch gear drive, rear discharge decks can get closer to just about anything you want to cut without damaging the bushes, or you tractor. The higher the grass on a yard when mowing with my B-8- and a 36 inch rear discharge and the more likely you are to leave some grass trails in the center of the mower decks trail. The gator blades help a lot like Glen Pettit indicates and I put some on my 36 inch B-80's mower deck right after I first saw Glen's suggestion. They break up the grass a little more under the deck housing.

Last year I sold a pair of the same type of weight to a buyer in Virginia. They were shipped in two separate boxes. One made it, the other got lost in the mail and was never found. Maybe it's been found...hmm?

I see Jason's point totally but....like most, I am assuming there's no nail stuck in the tire, as we assume the owner has looked closely for that already. Yes, I agree that a nail would pop a new tube. However a tube would solve a valve stem issue, bead leak issue, and an old cracked tire issue. All without the future mess. I side with tubes 100% IF there's no obvious issue. (we all know what assuming does)

I tried a 42 inch rear discharge under my 417 this summer at my Dads house where the grass is pretty thick and grows fast. The blades were very sharp. I didn't care for the cut at all. I put the 48 inch deck right back under the 417 for the next cutting. IMO, you can't beat the finish that a 48 inch side discharge gives. At my house the grass doesn't grow so fast and isn't nearly as thick the rear discharge under my 854 does a decent job. As someone else also mentioned, for some reason I also like to watch the clippings get tossed out the side...

Rob, I think you'll get to use the plow tomorrow! Let us know how it works out.

Oh trust me MikesRJ this whole project is your fault. As soon as I found this tractor, I looked up pictures on Google, found your RJ, followed the link, found your thread and said..."well this looks very detailed and easy enough, maybe I should try it"! haha well you made it look too easy, and the results were a little hard to live up to. LOL I have religeously followed your website, and of course all of the amazing people on this forum. Never would have even tried this without all of your help.

Ken that is some funny stuff right there !! @Stigian- that looks to be some old speckled hen to me.... once of the best beers I ever had !

I agree 100% with 953 nut. Painting is something special. People always ask "who painted that" and it is really nice to say I/we did. To me painting is the most important part of any job. Keep up the GREAT work with those kids. They will get so much more out of the project than they will ever know...until years from now. Sometimes I think about wood shop projects that I did over 50 years ago while I am working on a wood project. Hopefully other schools will pick up on your idea for the tractor club and start their own clubs.

This is going to be a REAL tough decision on who to vote for this month! For me it might come down to Eeny Meeny Miney Moe.....

Merry Christmas

Gator Blades will definitely improve the cut of both the SD and RD; and using a dual blade system (both 3 Gator and the 3 original blades, = 12 cutting edges) will greatly improve both the cut quality and the throw of both mower discharges. All the issues, Pros & Cons have been well addressed above . . . but, grass types, blade length, moisture, ground condition, speed and your standards are all important factors that have to be considered. And a part of the equation has to do with our personal preferences. Using an added rear baffle extension on the RD will greatly reduce the up-draft of clippings.

The first measurable snow the other day in two years and Oke' is pestering to go out - to do this! After that it was time to play. Who says only reindeer can fly. This guy is 11 years old and took the stairs in the background in one bound!

Paint booth. After I cover it with plastic ill be ready. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Why on earth would you guys suggest remedies that don't include finding the cause of the problem? Yep tube it.... and if it's a small nail or screw that got picked up, it'll puncture that too. Find the cause. Could be a nail, thorn or sharp stick, could be weather cracks, could be a loose valve stem... could just be a leaking bead that all you need to do is re-seat. Why buy a solution to a problem you don't understand?

Chains are superior, but Ag's hold their own pretty well. Deflating your tires, then tightening up the chains really good, helps with the slack as well. (don't forget to re-inflate)

And if you really want a bumpy ride, put some chains on the AG's.

I like the rear discharge best. But there is pros & cons. Never had the grass & dirt on my back. My only con that I can thing of is I like to blow grass off the drive with the mower. Doesn't work well with rear discharge. the thing I like best. no grass in flower beds, car tires, & even dist. grass. Hope this helps

Why? Because the rear discharge does a better job in shorter grass.

If you use the "Slime" and at a later date remove the tire, you will be very upset with yourself for making the slimy mess. Tube them!

Mow often - rear discharge. Let it get tall - side discharge.

There are many special tools needed to replace/repack wheel bearings. Below are the specific items used for this job.....I have the professional model as well as the "back-yard" mechanic model. You will have to guess which models I have. 1st you will need to clean all the parts you will be re-using. You will need special tools to install the new bearing race in the wheel. You will need to re-pack the new bearings with grease. Universal Bearing Grease Packer Tool

Tubes

Thanks Scott, I was wondering when you were gonna post that one up... Post em up Eldon! Your tractors speak for themselves... you created and built them so IMO they will always be yours...

This is at home, but the depth range was 5" to almost 9" north of Jasper...Portersville area. The state roads were bad until Monday, and the county roads will be bad until spring! It is snowing right now and it looks like 1"-2" new snow. Hey....If you want to look at a good web site for percipitation, go to www.cocorahs.org/. You can look at any county in any state. I use this site all the time, but I do not report, as I don't have anywhere on my property that meets the criteria for the gauge....I do have the gauge...actually at dads...I thought he might participate.

Thanks guys ! Sorry for being scarce, but life has been getting in the way lol. Anyhow, figured I'd post this one up also. Any guesses what this one morphs into? It has big fluid filled tires... ,,,and double hydraulics like a C-195, and a foot operated DCL (from Doc) Electric PTO clutch on a Kohler K341 16hp. If you guessed that it's a C-160 HD, you are correct. Complete 520 chassis with gear reduction steering and a complete mid-1970's C-160 body.

Spoiler Alert !! If you still believe in Santa Claus, you should stop reading now. Many have said that this is the model that "They should have made". It's built from what I consider the best features from several eras. I give you the 595-HD ... The chassis started out as a C-195: The 520 hood was just a LITTLE short to fit the chassis: The 20hp Onan had to be relocated to keep it centered under the hood louvers: The gear reduction steering had to be stretched a bit also: Stock width wheels? Not exactly... 52" Hi-Vac deck converted from a zero turn model: Size comparision vs a stock 520: It's got to be real... The book says so

Here's my 4x4 C-101

since brian is hogging this month all to himself and nobody else is posting up their tractors (and theres quite a lot of very nice customs by members on the forum)............ edit: i see that fireman just got one in before i finished this post....... i will post one of mine...... most of my tractors have small custom fabrication but look basically oem, the one that stands out the most i guess is my 1057, it sort of fits into this category.... not what you would call a full custom or whatever, but it has a few non oem details, first and for most would be the vinyl 'blackouts' on the hood and seat pan. another not readily noticeable custom touch is all the cast iron has been smoothed before being powder coated. and speaking of powder coat, all the paint on this one is powder, everything, which means all of it had to come apart and be painted individually, because theres a lot of parts on these tractors that doesn't like to be heated to 400 degrees f for 30-60 minutes....... heres some pics of my 1057......

Well heck i'll through my 1967 Diesel Lawn Ranger out there for consideration. It has a 7hp Yanmar Diesel electric start engine with custom foot throttle. I added a voltage gauge, hour meter, key start, master battery switch and electronic actuator to shut down the engine. I had to "shoe horn" in a battery under the seat as you can see in the picture. The fender and seat had to be raised up with stand offs to allow enough clearance so the battery terminals wouldn't touch. The belt guard had to be shortened and tilted up to compensate for the different engine location. The hood had to be raised and steering shaft lengthened to accommodate the engine. It took about 6 months to complete and a lot of fabrication. It's a blast to drive and really turns heads at the local shows. I reduced the pulley on the transmission down to a 2" one so it really moves.

well I also have this little ditty my 701 with stainless frame I started with this and after 5 months Brian

here's my RJ58 custom stainless Brian

I've only lived in Kentucky for ten years, so I don't know anything about the dealer where my tractor came from. The address is an old empty gas station.

ok , i went through 5 pages of dealers and didnt see the ones i know of , so here goes kendall outdoor power equipment , possibly just called kendall equipment, cant remember now , but it was in yorkville illinois ( where my 69 electro 12 was purchased new , by my grandpa) . shut down in the 80's. streator lawn , streator,illinois , dont know when they started , but still selling toro. kipp's lawn mowers, in naperville,illinois, started in the 60's, was still going in the 90's, i have no clue if they are still going.