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As many of you know, Emory is part of Trail Life USA troop 0413. We hosted our spring camporee at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA this weekend. Both dads and sons had a blast. No offense to anyone, but if you are looking for a faith based alternative to BSA, I encourage you to check out your local chapter. The pics below speak for themselves! Really tired, but mentally recharged for the week ahead! Now of to mow at Dad’s with the C125. No cell service 👍👍👍👍. Catch you tomorrow!

Since the loader is in limbo while i order new cylinders. Decide to take apart the RJ and replace bushings.

So last Sunday I picked up a 1965 855 sold at "Not running, has electrical problems" to replace my 2011 JD D100. The extent of the electrical issues I have found and/or repaired so far are a 10 year old battery, some oxidized battery cable ends, and the wire to the lights is broken. Heck, even the cig lighter works. It has some apparently rare options that I am looking for info on. I have been in and out of this site all week while I brought her back to life after sitting for 9 years. So far I have cooked/cleaned/soft rebuild on the carb, cleaned out the gas tank, new lines, new belts to the deck and blades, grease, battery, and blade sharpening. I even got to mow a little bit with it today.

I stopped by the South Mountain Fair Grounds this afternoon. The fire company was in there cleaning the grounds for the Apple Blossom Festival. They said there was a nest of sqounks in the back corner they were trying to flush out.

And another thing. If they were in the back corner, they were lookin in the wrong spot!

BBQ, Pizza, Cookie Bars ,Red Supenders and Dino's Don't worry, I got plenty wet yesterday building a handicap ramp for my dog Mollie

Some pictures of the remaining fab work that was done. The fuel tank required a bung for the fuel return line. I searched several sites for some thing that could be welded or soldered in. Having no luck I decided to make one from a piece of 1" stock. I turned most of it down to 5/8" diameter, leaving a 1/16" thick lip on one end at 1" diameter. Then it was drilled & taped to 1/8" NPT. When completed a 5/8 hole was drilled into the top of the tank and the bung was silver soldered to the tank.To test it I screwed a plug into the bung, filled the tank 3/4 full, and set it on end. No leaks after 3 days. the parking break was missing, Jim @WHX22 had one that I used for a pattern to make a new one. Instead of a single notch on the bottom catch part, I decided to do a multi step set up like the later ones have. Seems never used this engine, a belt guard was not to be found. This one is made out of 16ga sheet metal. The front tab for the engine is not in this pic but it was made from 14ga metal. @ebinmaine seemed interested in the battery box. This was a bit of a challenge as there was not much room for the battery. The upper portion of the stop for the lift handle also had to be trimmed back in order for things to fit. All of the mounting ears on the tool box were removed to fit the rear fenders. The rear ones were repositioned then welded back on. New ears were made for the front to accommodate a change in the mounting surface towards the front of the fenders. Warning !! The following picture may scar some of you for life, as some things can not be unseen. Sorry you had to see that. The hood and grill must have separated at one time. A P.O. had drilled holes & bolted it back together. This certainly would not do. Holes were drill trough the grill portion and the hood was welded back on using the drilled holes for blind welds. At this point the entire tractor had been assembled. After this it was torn completely down, sand blasted, and made ready for paint.

I heard the the Squonks show up every weekend after Father's day in June. Wonder what is the attraction ?

Welcome to Red Square Bobby. I could type 5 pages of instructions for removing a wheel bearing...but wouldn't it be easier if you told us what kind of bearing and what it is in?? Could be a front, back, from a manual trans, from a hydro, a boat trailer, a car or truck... Help us out a little. A better title would also help in your search for knowledge. One that hints at what you are looking for.

Spent some time working on both Patriot horse and Cinnamon Horse yesterday. Cinnamon broke down last weekend due to a carburetor that was more like a garden hose. Just poured fuel... Got the "new" one from @A-Z Tractor Lincoln in the mail Friday. Disassembled and soaked it overnight. Put it back together and swapped it out Saturday afternoon. Wouldn't start because there was no fuel in the bowl and the battery died before it would crank enough to fill it. We'll try again this morning. Patriot horse has had a noisy starter for quite a while. A week or two ago I popped the bendix off, cleaned it up and it did start easier but the noise actually got worse. Did a little poking around and @Stepney suggested it needed a cleaning or bushing replacement. So I acquired another skill. I rebuilt a starter for the first time.... Mostly. Turns out it was right full of debris and powder and rust and dirt. I got a brush and bushing kit online and installed the new brushes following a video made by @stevasaurus a few years back. The kit I ordered didn't have the right bushing for one end (my fault) but the bushings in the starter were in good shape so I finished a thorough cleaning and put her back together. In order to make a new surface for the brushes to ride on I read where someone had chucked the whole shaft in a lathe and sanded it while it turning. I don't have a lathe but I do have a drill. I put the (armature?) In the drill and gave it a nice new clean surface. Starts like a Thoroughbred now...

To further add to this story, I was 6 years old the last time I drove this tractor. My Dad sold it back then. About 3 years ago, he was coming back from the local convenience store and spotted the hood sticking out from around an out building at a house about 3 quarters of a mile away from our house. He came and got me and we went to inquire about the tractor. Upon further examination we found a repair he had made back in 73 and the hairs on our neck stood up! This was our old tractor! He bought it, we restored it together and he surprised me with it on my 49th birthday by giving me the keys to it! I'll own it until I die!

Thanks to some guy selling a McLean for an insane price, some info sent to me by @Lane Ranger, and the awesome talents of @Vinylguy. I have an update on my McLean. The McLean that was for sale alerted me to some missing decals, the info that Lane sent me confirmed it, and Terry made them happen. With out further ado here are some updated pictures.

For the record I did also use a 16 lb sledge hammer. Because it's.... It's a 16 lb sledgehammer. Why wouldn't I use it??

I made up the new rear rims to match the width of the swept front axle this weekend

That is a clear indication that I have no common sense.

I got the carb adjusted on the cinnamon horse and used it for a little pulling leverage. Reminder: when attempting to start your engine... Gas valve shall be open. Trina and her mom moved a bit of firewood and stacked it while I was tinkering around with pulling stumps and rocks from the portable garage area. The horsies stopped for a moment to pose for a pic.

When you pick it up, tell those hosebags there it should have been in stock. I love doing that. The Napa I used to work at moved in to a "Big Box" building. Tying to take advantage of the local stinky landfill across the street and stocking all the big tools and HD Truck stuff. They skimped on the little things. They hardly ever have what I need when I go in and have to order it. Then when it comes in they can't find where they put it. I wait for the store owner to be there and raise a fuss. "When I ran this place we had it!" Pisses the owner off but I don't care. I still have people coming up to me saying "Boy , I wish you were still there!"

Have you ever found yourself praying for rain? Will I did. When you just started a new project and it's springtime. My wife is the nursery owners best friend as she brought in a pickup load of plants, bulbs and seeds. If its not raining I get the infamous "I need your help" or "Can you give me a hand? This will only take a minute" Uh right. Well it rained!!!!!! Since I am waiting on some parts for the transmission and am not one to waste a rainy day..... Thought I'd work on the frame and wondered if it would fit in the blast cabinet. IT DID! Changed out the grit, put on a new nozzle and fired up the compressor One thing led to another and almost ran out of places to hang things and wires to hang they with. But, it raining again and she's at work!!!!!!!!

I stretched the Legs on the 520 today. This was at plow days in Renfrew today. We had a small turnout on a count of all the rain this week. We still managed to get the job done. 20190427_102746.mp4

I personally want to say thank you for your love, your prayers, your thoughts, your conversations, your dedication and most of all your amazing support during this long road to recovery for Scottie and our family. I truly know that God puts people in our lives for a reason and without a doubt he put all of you into our lives for a specific reason. I want you all to know that our lives have been turned up side down since December 12, 2018 and we want everyone to know that we appreciate each and everyone of you who took the time to read my long lengthy posts about Scottie and our family. It means the world to me to know that Scottie has so many people who love and care for him just as much as Lowell and I do. Please take the time to say a prayer for our family and for our son Scottie. God Bless each and everyone of you!

Glad to hear that you went with the Sawzall method on the stumps,I didn't find it odd that you had shorts on this time of year,that friend of mine in the Brook Trout picture wears shorts when he is out snowblowing his driveway and he lives in Mass, hearty bunch us New Englanders, Take care of that head cold.

the mini changer is a bear with 12" rims, it's alot of strain on the cheap Chinese metal. keep in mind it's a 40 a dollar changer. buy a bunch of cheap dish soap. I did a bunch of 6 and 8 front rims over the past winter. I went tubeless, I painted the inside rims with rustoleum new valve stems all are holding up just fine.

I have a sturdy work bench attached to the wall and have a long piece of 3/4" all thread rod through the top of the bench. I use the large tire changer like Eric was talking about to break the bead. Once both sides are broken down the rim slides down over the all thread and a washer and nut secure it in place. Two tire irons (one on each side of the all thread) pulled toward each other will remove the tire with ease.

Ahhh. I think you gave it up too soon. I actually had thought electric fencing before just thought that cable was too thick for that purpose. Good mental exercise. I use tension method on a lot of things such as shelving that will have variable weight on it.As you put more weight on long shelf you increase tension to keep shelf with a slight convex shape towards top increasing weight bearing capability. Pretty much like a bridge.

You have just turned the corner and are headed sufficiently in the right direction! The wire in the box is left over electric fencing wire. The wire is run through ceramic or plastic insulators. According to the tool guy who identified it for me, this gadget gave someone working alone an extra set of hands when installing electric fence around a pasture. It applied moderate tension so you could use both hands to make your wrapped wire splice. He saw me take a picture of it and send it to Eric and got a great big kick out of knowing it was going to be a Whatzit for this forum. He also said he has a dozen or more old tools that would keep all of us in suspense and will show some of them too me the next time I go to Altoona. Congratulations! You get to post the next WHATZIT!!! Cheers! Dave

It can fit any M16 variant. It is called a Blank Firing Adapter (BFA). From Wikipedia: “A blank-firing adapter or blank-firing attachment (BFA), sometimes called a blank adapter or blank attachment, is a device used in conjunction with blank ammunition. Blank firing adapters are required for allowing blanks to cycle most automatic firearms. It can also be a safety feature designed so if a live round is mistakenly fired, most of the energy is spent smashing through the BFA reducing both the range and damage inflicted. A BFA may also divert the hot gases from a blank discharge out to the sides, reducing the risk of injury to the target of an aimed shot.[1]”

I operate quite a variety of Hatz powered plate compactors - from the smaller single cylinder versions up to the 3 cylinder monsters that weigh around 3,500lbs. Never have had one single problem with those engines regardless of temperature or how they are treated - which, in most cases - is very poorly. Most have service dates marked on the machine - it is nothing to see one being used that hasn't been touched in 5yrs or more. Their best engine is a larger V-twin version - you should hear one of those at full song and pulling against the governor. I'd give my right arm for one of those V-twins - talk about a mean replacement engine for a D-200 or something, lol... Sarge

Yes, Grading dirt and or the need for down pressure It'll scrape off the high spots and allow it to fill the low spots better when it's stationary. It's good for scraping off a top layer with some down pressure applied. Tilt of the blade helps as well. Tilted back will dig in more while forward will scrape more. A final back drag in float with the blade tilted all the way back will spread material evenly. Experiment with different things and you'll get the hang of what works best for you

Step away from the Commando..... paint the Suburban red and call it done. Work it till it dies then put it in the yard wearing Christmas lights👍

They already hosed down the bus stop.

Thanks for showing that Dan! I am for several different reasons and also the other person I mentioned above. @p38js I very much enjoy seeing the build sequence on the rigs. Also: I'm looking at a couple projects in the fall/winter that would likely require the battery to be relocated. In all seriousness... If I had a tenth of your talent and fab ability I'd be dangerous.

Suburban 12 to Suburban 6 conversion would upset fewer members.

Is this an inside joke or is a SQOUNK the same as our SQUONK here on RS?

Never mind guys....dragged my lazy butt into our manuals section and there was all the info I needed

Guess I should introduce myself. .live in the hills of eastern Oregon and more into old machinery (particularly old Cats), hunting and fishing. Retired about 11 years ago and busier now than when I was working. Background in welding and machining, but have driven truck and run heavy equipment at times too. Raised mostly in mining camps in NV, high school grad with some college. Wife and I live in an old ghost town along with about 17 full time residents. .still do a bit or dirt work on occasion as well as occasionally some prospecting.

I doubt it Cribs... most likely a PO inflicted thing. Funny thing is all these tractors with a drivers side bad axle were dedicated mowers with a passenger SD deck???? Curious enough all said tractors had hood to dash alignment problems. Just trying to connect the dots here. I still believe something has to do with the weight of a deck hanging off a left side lift arm and tweaking the hood stand? No idea how this always ties into a bad left rear axle... maybe I just been watching to much NCIS ......

Just a quick update. Wheel Horses now reside in Idaho in quantity! Albeit in temporary hotel status until my housing sorts itself out.

I had the small tire changer for a while and it works well for me on the 12" rims. The secret to it, is attachment to whatever you are using on . It has to completely be firm on what ever you have it on which is hard. Because of its size it is convenient to put it on a table or something of that height. Usually that something is not sturdy enough. A very convenient way that I tried once after seeing another one is to make an adapter to a rear hitch on a tractor. When you need it just place it in the hitch . Sturdy enough and you can just remove it after. Perfect height and good access around it. No dedicated area to it. Let me see if I find a photo of it. Here it is:

Trina bought us a Harbor Freight manual tire changer. The larger one that will do full-size tires. I don't know if the mini tire changer will handle a 12" rim. The larger tire changer will break the bead on smaller rims for you and then you have to go the old-fashioned way to remove the tire from the rim with large screwdrivers or whatever. One trick I have seen but have not yet tried is to buy a large 3/4 inch bolt and lock it in a vise as your mini tire changer. The best piece of advice I can give on that full-size tire changer is to bolt it directly through a floor joist or even to the concrete before you even start to use it. HF normally sells a couple different model numbers of many of their items. Best thing to do is check the reviews in the flyer or online and see if one is better than the other. There were two available when she bought this one and they were basically identical except for that very model number. As far as tubes go I think you'll find the quality to be reasonably similar across the board and that they are probably almost all imported now. I don't know that I would spend the extra money for a tube at a dealer when you can probably get a two-for-one ratio online.

By the way, in addition to the $64K worth of fun I got from the Watzit gadget, this farm sale box yielded a great scaling brush for blacksmithing, four good USA made Nicholson files, a soldering iron, a good long tool steel punch, a forged gate hook, a hank of galvanized annealed wire, a knife sharpener, a brass-bound 6” rosewood square, and a really old pair of Craftsman tin snips that tightened right up and took a good edge with one of the files that was in the box. Not it too bad for a $7.00 investment. Plus, I got to hang out all morning with my 87 year old dad and my best buddy Bill. We had a great time. The only other thing I bought was a decent blacksmith’s leg vise with 5” jaws. It was seized up but some liberally applied PB Blaster, a wedge, a block of wood and a 3 pound hammer persuaded it into cooperation. Maybe we we should start a thread on Farm Sale and Flea Market Finds and Treasures? Eh? Cheers! Dave

I started on the motor last night. K181 off from a commando. All torn down due to a broken governor shaft. Aside from the motor getting painted while it's apart all other paint will wait until after the big reveal to my daughter. The goal is to get it mechanically sound for the reveal so she can drive it around some. Then "WE" tear it down and paint it together

Just got back, busy family day yesterday. That was a good one. I would not figure that one out ever.Good thing to know. With the exception of gun stocks I am totally illiterate about guns. Lets work on the other one.

Those newer engines aren’t quite as heavy as the old cast iron mills. It might be a good idea to fashion a hanging weight up front, even for the kid’s safety sake. It looks good Toasty, will the reworked hood clear that air cleaner and exhaust?

So if all else fails, maybe the Commando 6 could be a Commando 12? That woudn’t be such a bad deal.... seems the short frame big block sickness is going around!

Went over to my brothers and helped him put a new deck belt on then helped him mow the yard. Vet vs rookie

More seat time today...and my back is VERY happy! I store my boat in a Shelter Logic portable garage in the winters and have been disassembling it come spring until I setup something more permanent (without violating my deed restrictions...too much ) Hauling the garage bits back to a loft in my garage: Then eventually pulling the boat! (The sides were sanded upto 800g then polished with Zephyr wheels/clays last summer. The top-most faux lap-strake will be tip-n-rolled white once I'm finished with the interior.) If you like watching paint dry, you'll like this video I shot this afternoon pulling the boat in Low-1

One of the farms I worked at years back had several Kubota diesel tractors and workers who didn't seem to mind abusing them. I added a flashing red light to the rear of each one so I could tell which ones had the key on. Saved a lot of hassle.

Well I finally got a few more things done on the Lawn Ranger. Installed the engine shaft sleeve to accept the original Wheel Horse pulley. Hood and seat pan are prepped and ready for paint. Installed a new drive belt. Rims got all powder coated and tires installed. The two days ago I was able to run the Lawn Ranger on its own power most likely for the first time in over 10 years. Well Every time I put it in 3rd gear the tractor wants to go vertical on me. Went into the house with a big smirk on my face and my ask what happen, and told her I need to install Wheelie Bars to the back of the tractor. Last night I hooked up my sons wagon to the back and took him and his friend for a ride around the yard. Excited to finally see this running and allowing my son to enjoy it also.