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Here is my brothers RJ25.

Well, Friday afternoon they were saying Diego had shifted south and we would only get 1-3” here. WRONG! I just went out and pushed between 12-14”. So far I’m only the second person to plow out today. More is coming, but I figured I had better move it while I could. That’ll make the next round easier. Only problem was it is so wet that it caked on my blade. Now, back to Emory’s Christmas tractor.

So I been watching this add on Craigslist since summer. I called and offered to buy the weights a few times and the guy said no everytime. Well two weeks ago I emailed him and tryed again. Well he said yes! So for $64 I got these delivered to the door. He had the whole tractor minus the snow blade listed for $100. So I asked what he wanted and he said $40 for the weights and $10 for pulling them off and packing them up, plus shipping. So I was all over it, now I got another set of nice front wheel weights! Just need a blasting and some fresh paint.

Got a chance to work a little late tonight. I spent the day setting up Dad a generator, moving firewood near his back door, and generally getting ready for this bout of old man winter. Being the cheap arse I am, I used the fuel tank from the Briggs that was on Emory’s tractor. I made mounts and put it where the battery should be. It just clears the hood. The original was missing and I’m going to remount the battery in an older style battery tray behind the motor right on the frame. If we don’t loose power, I’m going to work on it again tomorrow. Good night fellas!

I finished up some wheel weights today with some of @Vinylguy decals.

Progress today. Got it off the bench and took some photo's outside. After a clean up in the workshop, (I still not found the elusive spring) I turned my attention to the antivibration engine plate. Cleaned it up and got it primed and top coated. Next the bonnet/hood got my attention. Borrowing SWMBO's hairdryer I removed the stickers from the sides. That was followed by a good going over with turpentine substitute, then a rub down with emery cloth. The photo' below shows how much the paint has faded over the last 36 years. That was all today as it was getting a bit nippy.

1970 GT14, an actual Florida native no less. Guy I got it from said his father sold it new at thier dealership.

City of Richmond snow removal has been terrible ever since I can remember. I thought we were looking for 2-4", but when I measured it at 4:00 we had 8", and looking at the areas I cleared for the dogs we have at least another 4". I was in Mathews earlier today and it was just a cold rain down there but as I made my way up the road it was only 15 or 20 miles and everything was covered. The further I went the worse it got. I'm pretty sure tomorrow has been cancelled. I bet the grocery stores have been cleaned out-nothing like a good snow to create panic around here-you'd think the world was going to end and no one would ever make it to the store again.

After spending a month in St. Louis working on our "other" house then coming back and playing "catch-up" with all the "get ready for winter" stuff I got to spend some time in the shop. Got the engine back from the machine shop (they do great work but expensive) and I started putting it back together.

Well guys we have about 5 or 6 inches down here in the flat lands now, not sure if it is still snowing as it is dark and I am too lazy to cut on outside lights. City will be closed tomorrow as the idiot mayor announced last week that no outside contractors will be used for snow removal this year. We are responsible for road maintenance and not the state DOT. Nice to be retired .

He’s making a pitstop here on his journey to Miami for a cruise. Going to try and pawn off a c175 transmission on him. 😎 Cleaning house. supposed to be in the 60’s/70’s here the rest of the week. High of 66 tomorrow. Nice weather compared to “97 but feels like 105” crap.

They shouldn't have made it so complicated.. Nothing like having a full gas tank attached to a hot engine right under your.....

Around here, and many areas of the country have zero in-school shop programs of any sort. None in the high schools, let along Junior High - it's all gone to Vocational courses offered by local colleges and of course costs a lot to send a kid there. I hate it, none of the kids are taught to think and work with their hands - us older folks have a limited time left and cannot keep doing all the mechanical work and the Trades are suffering the results. Kids don't grow up like they did years ago and getting young blood into any Trade is tough, it takes ten times longer to teach them from scratch in the Apprenticeships than it used to and once they are out on jobs it shows with injuries and poor work skills. Not to mention work ethics, only about 20% are worth their salt and can stand the test of time. I hope things change, seeing a lot more schools go back to having in-house shop classes is a step in the right direction. Not everyone can afford college and sit at a desk or work in a lab. Someone has to repair things and build our infrastructure - the disposable society is a deadly waste of resources and needs to change, quickly. The young folks I work with can't believe that a guy can repair any engine, build a road, weld/fabricate, carpentry, plumbing and even sew and repair his clothes - it all started in Junior High at shop classes. I see a desire in kids to learn this stuff and try to push them in that direction if possible - if the desire is there they just need a place to learn, why not our Public School system? Just never understood why the school shops went away in the first place. Sarge

Well Done! You and he should be very proud - not only of his excellent speech, but of your efforts to pass on our collective history as it was - the good, the bad and the downright ugly...

Thank you for posting this thread! My cousin Paul (as many of you know) is a now retired 20 year veteran of the US Navy. He was a Riverine from 2006-12 and served two tours in the Sandbox. His next station was at the Marine base Camp Smith just up the hill from Pearl/Hickam. We got the opportunity to visit him in 2015, ironically only a few months after Sparky was there and posted all those great pics. Because of Paul’s connections, he was able to get us into the 74th remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor seeing that we were there on December 7th, 2015. It was very surreal to stand on the harbor opposite the USS Arizona memorial at the exact minutes 74 years later where this tragic event took place. There were about 1500 people there for the ceremony and we ended up being only a couple of rows behind one of the living survivors of the Arizona! He must’ve been about 92 years old and yet you could see the emotion, pride, and love for America just eminating from him. I knew at that time most of these men would be gone within a couple of years based on their old age. It was one of my great privileges to be there in that place on such a date. I try my best to educate my children about the true history of the United States of America. We have an audio dramatization of the story of Squanto and the Pilgrims that we listen to every year during Thanksgiving week. We often talk of the sacrifices made by so many throughout our nations history that give us the freedoms that we enjoy today. That is why I shouldn’t be surprised when last spring, @Coulter Caleb choose to memorize and recite FDR’s Pearl Harbor speech. In preparation for it, we spoke about the tragic event, read books about it, watched the films, and studied the Presidents actual speech. Caleb understood the seriousness of the speech that he was giving. He was applauded by his peers and adults alike. It is my sincere desire to pass along to the next generation the importance of our history. These events shaped our nation and we must never forget the success and failure of our past! Thank you to all who have served!

I rarely get on this site I'm more of a Facebook person but few people asked me to post some of my stuff so here is just some of the things I dragged in this year alone and is only part of what we dragged in and a small fraction of what is all in the garage

I just brought a D160 back from Buffalo, NY to Cape Cod - an adventure thanks to Uhaul. I still have and will keep my C140 auto. I was able to get a 3 point hitch and rear power take off while there, as well as a snowblower. The snowblower needs work and parts so I placed an ad on Red Square for those. I'll keep you posted as I work the tractor up (needs some cleaning and lubrication of things like the accelerator and other linkages. My C145 is ready for snow duty, snowblower installed.

Yep here's our trace to an inch ...

An engine upgrade would greatly kill the value of it. Some consider the RJ25 as holy grail of Wheel Horse. There is more Seniors and Lever Steers then there is Rj25.

Another trailer load to move up to NC when you retire. You will need to get loading instructions from @pullstart.

WOW!! Might be time to coat the blade with some Pam spray.

That's definitely where I would start. Since after you get it free the valve clearances shold be checked, i would pull the breather and shoot some of your solvent from the bottom side as well. good to see you working to save that Kohler

Yeah she’s rough. Rototiller bearings are shot. I have to find the model/serial number on the tiller and start studying a manual. Hey at least I have it. Project for a later day.

to the Jay. IMO, The Cs, 300s, 400s and 520s are the easiest to find implements for and most of them are interchangeable. The 8, 10, and 12 HP Kohlers in the Cs are fuel sippers. If a snow blower, tiller, or 48" deck is in your future, I would opt for a 14 or 16 HP single or any of the twins available in the 400s and 520s. PS I would only buy a hydro with hydraulic lift and foot pedal motion control.

You got some work there Richie , but all I see it as a big + for you.

Before going to a lot of trouble, just test the ACR. Since you have the valve cover off and can see the valve stems & rockers, rotate the engine until it is about to enter the compression stroke. You will notice that the exhaust valve will open and close slightly as the compression stroke begins. If it doesn't, then you can safely assume that there is something amiss with the ACR.

Here's 2 rules to get you started. 1. Buy the next one you see. 2. REPEAT rule one Well, be frugal of course, but honesty, while there are bargains and even steals its rare to find a Wheel Horse that's not at least good deal. When compare to OTHER brands, new and old! Attachments are a bigger issue so maybe only look for those first, preferably attached! And then left that way! Plan on having several ready to work "attachments". I don't have many tractors, but rather a working mower, blower, dozer, dirt plow, chipper and so on... All tools that just happen to have tractors attached to them. And all of them were at least bargains! Just took some time.

It's definitely more fun buy'n than it is sell'n. Eventually someone will get to shop at your collection. Imagine the look on the next guy's face when he gets there. MOTHER LOAD!!!!

'Nother xample them Ohia southners coming north to do bad in God's Country... Gotsta get the militia out agin... WOW - what a collection!!!

@stevasaurus @wallfish @pfrederi I spent some time today to remove and clean up the engine pulley as much as could be done to it. Turns out it is too worn to use. Also was quite a bit more rusty than I expected. I ground down the rust and of course the belt was sitting even more deeply in the pulley. The rear pulley on this tractor isn't right so I'm replacing all 3. I've ordered a replacement 3" for the front and a 4" for the transmission, both 5L/ B groove size. As for the brake/clutch linkage and rods... They too were ummmmmm Mickey mouse engineered. What was happening was the rod connecting the brake drum to the clutch/ pivot was too short. When you push the clutch pedal on these models the brake is engaged as well. One motion. Because of the brake rod being too short I had nowhere near the amount of free play I needed to set the park brake, and also the belt idler would not move down enough to allow the installation of the 1" shorter belt as discussed in previous posts. I took a rod from a B/C series and straightened it in the vise. Then using the old rod as a guide I bent the new longer rod to the right position. It took a fair amount of experimentation to get the pedal in the right place and get the park brake adjusted. Here's a couple of pics. One showing the brake engaged. One not. I also threw a set of used but better than what was there tie rods on.

If it weren’t for those men and women, I wouldn’t have had foot steps to follow in. They’re not forgotten in this house.

I really must stop the Craigslist wheel Horse Alerts I have set up. As I have stayed with the 400 series all these years as I visited the Big Show I often wondered where such clean and great condition 520 are found. A recent craigslist local alert and I found the 1996 Anniversary 520H posted. Only 1 pic was shown but I knew what it was. The recent inherited owner placed it with his local SCAG Dealer to sell against the price of a new SCAG zero turn. Posted at $850 I offerd $725. No choice after it was accepted....100 mile trip to pick up. The tractor had sat unused but the fuel was emptied prior. Hours show 1000 hours but based on the condition and appearance its very hard to believe. Tires look original and the paint is just perfect...even on the deck. The onan sounds fine, idles smooth and runs up to max rpm .....the deck engaged is smooth and quiet. All the dash lights function. The hydro ran well but the column motion lever at the max up foward was not right ....almost reaching straight up vertical. the forward speed was not as fast as it should be but I ran really steep hills all over the property and the speed never faded. I have a 416H with the column motion lever to compare and will take a look at the linkages and such. They washed the tractor at the shop but the original dash decal was lost so they dropped the price to $700. Of course I know the decals are available. Here are a few quick pics.

I'm not scared...nope...really not...nope...just don't think I should...um...you know, go outside without my flashlight...if I had opposable thumbs to hold one, I mean...so I think I will just wait right here until either my human comes with a light (he has thumbs you know) or I evolve...whichever comes first...

It looks to be a '96 but not an anniversary edition...

I knew it was gonna be more because coming back the step daughter's band try outs the deer were feeding heaving from around noon yesterday, watch the critters not the meteorologist, that's how I was brought up, but now they figured it out...

So, I’ve done aluminum a handful of times. This welder is new to me, and I have a feeling this is not top notch material.... given the history of being frugal running deep with the Wheelhorse brand, if I may. I think I’ll end up with a product that holds fuel, but may not receive awards for beautiful welds... May it be known, these are not pretty. I’ll probably die grind out the horrible spots and try to lay a better bead. I’m glad that these will not be exposed

I know that you understand the way things work, but you made an error when you said "complete revolution." Just so folks understand, there are two strokes for each revolution as the piston goes down and then back up. Down is one stroke and up the other.

The one you find is the best bet... how many do you find for sale in GA?

According to the manual provided above, in section 10 (10.1), this engine is equipped with ACR. Here is a quote from the manual: Automatic Compression Release (ACR) This engine is equipped with an Automatic Compression Release (ACR) mechanism. ACR lowers compression at cranking speeds to make starting easier. Operation: The ACR mechanism consists of a lever and control pin assembly attached to the gear on the camshaft. At cranking speeds (700 RPM or lower), the control pin protrudes above the exhaust cam lobe. This pushes the exhaust valve off its seat during the first part of the compression stroke. The reduced compression results in an effective compression ratio during cranking of about 2:1. So rather than hazarding a guess to your original question about ACR, I simply looked it up in the manual. Good luck with your problem.

It cleaned up nice

Will Rock & Rye get the blue goop out of clothes? I have a small issue with blue monster thread sealant.

Starting to look like something now. Seat base painted and fitted. High back seat that originally came on the Black Horse. Cleaned up not bad after a wipe with white spirit. After this photo was taken. Pair of rear lights that have been on the parts shelf for a few years. I'll wire them up when I do the wiring.