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Ok guys I finally got my first rj! I almost walked away from it based on how rough it looked but for $125 I think he made me buy it. It's missing so much like the belt shield, original seat, gas tank and push rod on the lift lever. Also the hood has been very hacked up. Question is to you experts is this, is it worth restoring? I'm leaning more toward restoring it because I've always wanted an RJ. Any advice or parts leads would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to get some better pics over the weekend. Sorry about the sideways photos. I have no idea why my phone does that.

Just put this engine stand together. Had my son draw it up on sketch-up and we welded it up. The bench top motor stand works great when your rebuilding a kohler engine. You can turn it in any position that you need to make the rebuilding easier. Every shop should have one. I may make several of these and list them in the classified adds.

Were you wearing a mask when you stole that little guy?

I AM PLANNING TO GET TO THE BIG SHOW THIS YEAR ALSO. I HAVE NOT MISSED THE LAST 11 YEARS. RUSS

Thanks Richard...that made my day. and back at you Mate. I'm sitting here watching golf. The warm up starts tomorrow, and maybe I can get out in the garage and do something. I just feel like I am wasting the day. Suppose to get a rain/snow mix tonight.

A great project. The old ones are getting pretty rare in some parts. Much better to restore it than go to the dump, that's for sure. At least the old stuff is restoreable. I can't imagine somebody trying to restore a new car in another 50 years.

Coming from from me,,,this may sound kinna funny.........I think i would get it running...make sure the rear axle fluid is clean again..and i would ride her... and be very proud,,,,,this looks like mine when i found it...clean alll the sheet metal...Wow....if you change your mind...I will give you your investment back...and a real cool crisp $5 ta boot !!!! =).... You done good..

I cut the shafts about mid way where there is room to cut with 1/32" thick cut off wheel. Then with both pieces off the tractor I use a 7/4"ID X1"OD sleeve to connect the two halves. The sleeve and shaft halves are drilled and pinned with a roll pin. The roll pins easily take the torque from the steering wheel as the one in the wheel does. I also tap the sleeve for set screws to help to hold the assembly in place while drilling and to lock the three parts together during final assembly in the tractor. The sleeve can be made as long as necessary if you want to extend the shaft to raise the wheel. There is no risk of damage to the wheel.

around my area its very hard to sell a tractor for anykind of money without a deck,as most people want to mow their grass with the tractor,as this is the most common task for a garden tractor,many people don't do anything other than mow and pull a cart

Thanks! I can't figure out why my phone posts pics upside down! Lol Thanks for all the encouragement guys! This the first RJ I know of in my area. The only other one I ever saw that was close to this was a 401 and I bought that one too! Definitely going to put this in line for a restoration. Let the parts hunting begin!!

New Old Stock Lawn Ranger and Spindles (never on a tractor) Sold and sent to Pete ! I asked him to post pictures on Red Square when he gets them on his redo Lawn Ranger project!

I would say that's a pretty much original RJ . Great find , it looks almost identical to mine . Here's a blurry pic from the add I bought it from . That hood can be saved . Had an old timer bodyman work on my hood . In fifteen minutes he had the front smoothed out . I asked him how much I owed him , he said nothing , it was a pleasure to work with real metal . Still have some patching and welding to do but it's one more saved .

Nice horse and you have the sticker on it. I managed to turn your pictures for you.

Lol! He asked me if $125 was too much and I didn't even argue I just gave him money!

In 73, I bought a 'Display' model 1972 Bronco 14 with 48" deck and dozer blade. That is too long ago to remember what I paid for it but $1500 comes to mind. I use it regularly for mowing 2 acres and for years used it for snow plowing. Several years ago I grabbed a C-160 auto and now use it for snow removal. Anyway....$450 sounds like a good price, but it is your money...not mine. You'll really like the hydro lift and the auto trans. CAUTION: .. take EXTREMELY CARE to keep ANY DIRT or other DEBRIS out of the hydro trans. Wipe off the dipstick and filler spout when checking fluid level and DO NOT overfill it.

Now, I want to see this movie . . . . someone will find it, there are those that have a photo memory for these things. Not me, this is what I have, it's the C-Nile Virus:

Is very cool... you should.

your retired that's what you are supposed to do, you have 7 days of free time.

it still amazes me how many parts are available for the tractors,i wonder if other brands are so good that way

Sensible people up your way.

I'll have to talk to those people at History.com, they didn't have that listed.

there could be but it would need all models and all their parts,im not computer savy to know how this would work,i just look at both models and go from there,if I need a spindle from a c120 to see if it will fit a 312 I look at parts tree or toro,but some part numbers change but the part still works,and the other way around

ive had to use my dremel and cut the old key,carefully to not touch the axle at all,sacrifice the 2.00 dollar key to save everything else

The attachments for the 5xi series are specific to this model. The 5xi is a longer, larger tractor with: a front-mount PTO as opposed to the Classic Wheel Horse side-mount; wider frame so the Attach-A-Matics' mounting points are further apart; a different hanger arrangement for the mower decks; and a longer wheelbase with a swept forward axle for sectoring a blade . Because of this they usually command a higher price. The 5xi attachments only show up once in a while compared to Wheel Horse attachments like you found, but not to say that they are not out there and it may take some time to find them. The good thing is that it appears that the majority of these tractors were sold east of the Mississippi. A dozer/snow blade could be reworked from another model but some fabricating would be needed. A better choice to start with would be a 48" blade intended for a late 520-H.

Aldon's method is what you need to follow. Just smack it hard; it will let go. Wear eye protection "just in case".

I know you have likely done this but with mine, it took a pretty harsh rap with a punch at a fairly sharp angle to break mine free. As you look at the hand drawn pic, the angle I had success at was at the arrow point. When it broke free it shot out and ricochet off tranny and I had to hunt around for it:-)

You should be able to the big thing is that you will need the correct rockshaft piece for the rear seat pan on the C-120. My 1979 C-121 has a rockshaft that is just like my 1993 314 on it. The pre-1978 tractors have to have a different part (rear rockshaft). I believe there is a Service Bulletin on thsi matter . I will se if I can find it and send to you!

Hey guys, I picking up the all totally original lawn ranger for $300. Is that a good buy?

Whx6 the tool I couldn't live without would have to be my 1/4 drive impact. It is amazing how fast you can tear down or repair a tractor with one of these.

sure its worth it,paitience to find the parts and lots of elbow grease she could be a nice lookin tractor again

Now that`s funny right there, I don`t care who you are that`s funny....

Everybody likes the round hoods, but if your going to work it I`d go with the 14...my

Lookin good! I bet the seat is gonna be real nice.

So it has been a while since I did an update on this one. After the big show last year Brennan wanted his tractor to be "shinny" so ... 10 mins after we unloaded the trailer he began to clean it up and then take it apart. Shortly after that he started to paint the frame and other parts. I started to do the body work to the sheet metal but then it got pushed to the side. Finally got back at it the last few weeks. Got the motor all cleaned up and painted. See pics.

Hey thanks! I'm the founder of HomemadeTools.net. We give away our "50 Must Read Homemade Tools" ebook for free to people who say nice things about us in forums. Here it is, you don't need to give an email address or anything like that, it's just free. Enjoy! http://download.homemadetools.net/50MustReadTools.pdf

I keep my deck on.

NOS 420 LSE......borrowed from a local dealer.

I thought I would try to post some pictures of my winter project. Compared to most of the horses I've seen here my little horse looks like it should be pulling Joe S*^! the Ragman's cart Mower deck has all new bearings and blades and a new belt, new engine and drive belt, and soon a new front axle and spindles. I hope to get some pictures of my "72" Bronco 14 posted when I bring it out of hibernation

There was a site that worked as well as could be with what it had to work with but it is gone. When you searched for a part number every parts list that contained that number would come up as the tractor or attachment model number and year. The problem was as you are likely aware of is the the parts lists are shared by similar models so many results were not accurate. This is still done at Partstree to a degree https://www.partstree.com/parts/ Enter the part number 115425 for a left front spindle for a 1977 C-120. It will come up for Lawn Boy, Toro and Toro Commercial. Below the Toro click on More Details. Two 1990 export models come up as using the same part. Had you gone to the 1977 C-120 parts list and looked for the spindle it shows the the original 105968 was replaced by 115425. So the original part number history has been lost. All we learned was the part number changed during the 1990 model year. Some numbers produce a good list but learned from experience that it is still severely limited. Garry

A chiller may be something I add at a later time. Maybe next years tax returns:)

Stopped at Fleet Pride and picked up some o-rings. Part numbers for those interested. Top number is the smaller o-ring and the bottom number is the larger. Was a whopping 7.12$ for 12 big o-rings and 4 small ones. I got two cylinders rebuilt last night and the pump swapped over to my predator tractor.

Bronco for work....Ranger for play. Don't be a dull boy Jack. Go for both.

Im sorry Jeff i saw the wh with the tube and killing of the moles ,, i thout that what convo was about ,, im really sorry did not mean to hijack your post

This could be it! I'll watch it and let you know. Thanks My profile isn't 100 percent correct so as to protect my true identity as a CIA special agent. Doh! I wasn't supposed to say that! But seriously I was not 3 years old. More like 10 or 11 when I saw it.

These pics were taken about 1998. That's my 1977 B-80 with me and my daughter who is 18 now. I've used this tractor for all my mowing, snow pushing, and yard work for 23 years now.

My favorite old photo is of my brother David and I in 1961 on our dad's first Wheel Horse tractor -a 1958 RJ ! And Thanks Neil for posting the old photos from the Humprey's Wheel Horse store in Greencastle, Indiana. I know Phil Humphrey and actaully went with him to the Portland, Indiana Tri-State Engine Association swap meet this past Fall. The are still in business as Humprey's Outdoor Power ( http://www.humphreysoutdoorpower.com/ ). I buy my Wheel Horse/Toro parts there that I can still get! They are celebrating there 50th Anninversary this year! This is another Vintage Photo from 1962 with my brother David, sisters Cindy and Connie and me on our dad's 1958 Wheel Horse Tractor! We later had a Covered Wagon we pulled with this horse but I can not find photos of that setup !

Started out with a blown up 3500 watt Techy Generator. Pulled it a part and cut the crankshaft as close to the rod throw as I could get it. Had the shaft turned down to 1 inch for a pulley drive. had to make a bearing support for the front of the rotor and pulley drive shaft. I have cobbled together a frame to mount on the front quick tach. The weight of the regenerator will tension the belt. I have it together enough to do a trial run. Its going to work out great. All that's left is to weld of the frame and dress it up and it will be ready when I need a portable generator. I wanted to build this so I didn't have to worry about maintaining another motor and it will fit on any of my horses and small enough to store under the work bench