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On this day we remember all those we lost 19 years ago. We remember how the United States came together and stood tall, despite everything that we had gone through that day. Despite not being able to remember many days of my childhood, I still remember everything about that day. I was in my 7th grade science class, and we were working in the school library. I remember getting a weird feeling, as the school went quite, but didn't know what was going on so I went about my day. At the end of our class the teacher called us together and told us what had happened over an hour earlier, and told us that he would have mentioned something earlier but he wanted us to finish our work first. I remember the fury I felt towards him, how he could keep something like that from us, and for what at the time, and still today I felt was such in inappropriate reason. But like many of us maybe he was still trying to figure out himself what happened, nothing like this had happened since Pearl Harbor, and there was very few people in the school who had been alive during that, so for all of us this was a new experience. I remember just sort of floating through the rest of the day, trying to get on a computer as often as I could to find out more details, to see what was going on. in Western CT we are only 1.5 hours from NYC so there was all the other thoughts that went with that, how close it was to us, is it going to happen here as well. I remember teachers, some trying to still teach, others realizing that no one would be able to focus on the lesson, and our history teacher using that days events and putting it in context for us using historical events. I remember the bus ride home, normally there was about 4 families worth of kids that would get off at the same bus stop and all go our separate ways, but that day we couldn't. We went to the nearest house and turned on the news, the kid who's house we were at both of his parents worked in NYC (thankfully both came home safe). I remember one of the other kids in the group, a borderline bully and someone who I didn't see eye to eye with until years later, ask my brothers and I to lead them all in a prayer as they knew we went to church. Most importantly, I remember how the day brought us all together as Americans. A few years ago I was in New Jersey around this time for a conference across the river from NYC and saw this haunting, but beautiful sight and I want to share it all with you today. If any of you have stories about where you were during this and would like to add them here, please do. Sharing our stories is how we make sure that this day is always remembered.

I was working as a traffic cop in sheffield when it came on the news. It was surreal, terrifying, like watching a horror movie. As the towers burned we were all stunned, and when they came down I cried. I still cry if I watch those buildings fall. Its a continent away from me, somewhere I have never been, people I've never met, but it felt so personal to me, so overwhelmingly sad. The ideology behind those and other attacks is warped and cruel. Done in the name of their god it is medieval cruelty on a modern scale. I taught counter terrorism and anti radicalisation in later years but can't see an answer to a problem that stems from centuries old divisions that even those who spout about them don't understand. I pray no one ever has to go through the nightmare of 911 again and I stand with my American cousins in support for their loss. Mick xxx

New sticker for the 551

After mowing yesterday, with the C-125, I found the front right bolt holding engine and wobble plate had snapped. Solid mountings and not the original rubber ones. I noticed a slight gap 'tween spacer and plate. So I suspect the plate isn't quite true. With feeler gauges it was just over 70 thou. This morning I dropped the front axle and removed the cross bar. The broken end came out easily when the drill bit, bit. So bar was replaced. I then found a washer that measured 75 thou. That would do as a shim under the spacer after I cut a slot in it to clear the bolt. All back together now and hope fully no more sheared bolts. I'd still been having starting problems with the C-125 and yesterday it refused to start. Squirting petrol in the carb mouth made no difference and the plug had a good spark. I decide to check the points and found they were rather wide. That would throw the timing out. I'm assuming that last time I adjusted the points, they'd opened up when the securing screw was tightened. This does happen sometimes. After about a half hour of setting, tightening, checking, setting, tightening, checking, I managed to get the correct 20 thou gap. Better starting now and runs better as well.

Never Forget. The Day that changed my life as I knew it for ever. Violated the Country, City, and People that I love. Changed my livelihood .I had worked in those buildings many times since my 20s. Just the day before I was in Tower One meeting in an Architect's office and was supposed to be again there that morning. Lucky for me I had freedom of movement and schedule and since it was a beautiful day, decided to at the last minute instead take a drive to Pennsylvania to check on a shop subcontracting work for us. Neglected to inform my wife and my office that, so they were all in a panic for most of the day since all cell phone service stopped. I did not even knew what was happening since all radio stations stopped working so there was nothing in the car radio which I found weird as I drove. Sad day but once again in my life luck seems to be my friend.

Surgery went well, albeit a lot longer than expected. She was under the knife for almost seven hours. However the surgeon told me that he is extremely please with the results. Thanks again for all the good juju, mojo's, thoughts, karma, prayers and everything else.

Sitting here now...thinking about an upgrade to NOS... and a new set of the "wide trac's"

This is something that most of us need to do sooner or later. There is no need to buy any special or dedicated equipment for it most being time consuming to set up , expensive and producing less than optimum results. The easiest drill bits to sharpen are the regular metal twist bits and the hardest are wood Cook Pattern Augers which most people don’t even know what they are. For regular drill bits all you need is a regular grinder. As for angles most of us should just duplicate existing angle although I use different angles depending type of metal bit is to be used on. Important things to keep in mind first if all is to go slow and do not burn bit. This is specially true with small bits since it happens fast. Once burned they are done for and will never hold an edge for long. Next is to do both edges evenly and keep center correct. Then make sure that heel of cutting edge is relieved so only cutting edge is offered to metal being drilled. This is done by gently rocking bit on grinder removing more material from heel of cutting edge. When done correctly ground part should be slightly curved and not flat. A flat edge although it will cut will not last long since there is no support behind the edge and bit will shutter as it cuts specially on a large bit. Last but not least use side of wheel not the edge . It’s easy to establish and maintain correct angle on side of stone just by sight. It requires a bit of practice but it’s easy, I am actually doing it with one hand on the video and holding phone with the other.. On the video below I do it to a bit with badly crumbled edges and then on next video is the testing of it. IMG_4627.MOV IMG_4629.MOV

I to remember being at work that day and everyone watching the building fall on the conferance room TV. While in NJ for my sons wedding October 2018 we visited the train station park across the bay from the towers. This memorial to the NJ people that lost their lives in the towers.

Here are a few more of the 704 and 701. Both tractors are super nice! Pictures don’t do them justice! I also included a couple pics of Emory and his buddy Clay taking an early morning ride. If we keep this up, Clay is going to need a horse of his own. He was all smiles! sorry we had to run @Jennifer, but we just had a short time before we had to get back home. We still had a blast and enjoyed every minute. The boys especially liked seeing your tractors and the cubs and pullers you’re neighbor has! Thanks for everything! We went on to Farmall Land USA after we left Joe and Jennifer’s. Sadly, it’s closing at the end of the month with everything set to be auctioned off in online auctions. Sorry Jennifer, I just unloaded a bunch of pics!

Between the rain, was able to make a couple improvements today. Got the finish ceramic coated today. This thing is ssslick like glass now too! Made the switch to LED light as the Mrs Rules was concerned about the high heat generated by them original incandescant 1156's. Were pretty hot, super cool and bright now though. Readjusted the govenor as per the Kohler manual, and running so much better now. Oh! Was able to get my buddy's @squonk concerns addressed today too.

Trina needed to hold a tent pole for surgical repairs and didn't have a pair of locking pliers nearby. Well then.... Neat idea. Ain't much stops her from gettin something done.

Appears... like they will fit the spindles too!

Mrs Rules was actually just laughing and said she thinks I've gone and made me a tractor-trailer queen.

I don't understand, time exists before 6 am?

'bout right...

That penetrol is amazing stuff... have used it for years to reduce the chalked look on the colored portions of the old fiberglass boat... just rub it on with a rag and the color pops right back... 1971 Fabuglas...

Finally passed on from the transmission to the power plant .This 30 over 16 needs to be born one bolt at a time.Got the PTO cleaned up and painted.

9/11/2001 I was an operator at a Florida Nuclear Power Plant and my crew was doing simulator training for an upcoming project. We weren't told what was going on but were told to report to the Unit 2 control room immediately. Once there we found out that the first tower had been hit and suddenly we watched as the second airplane hit. Oh my God was all you heard. We were paired up with some of our security guards and proceeded to escort all contractors and non-essential personnel off site. While this was being done we got word about the Pentagon and the Shankesville crash, my heart sank with each notification. Once this had been accomplished we began verifying the position of every switch, valve and circuit breaker in the plant for fear of some type of sabotage. Fortunately there was nothing found but from that day forward we had a heightened awareness of security. I had to ration my wife's news watching because she was going into depression. CNN was off limits and we only watched Peter Jennings on the evening news. He would say that he would only report verified facts while people on other networks were running around chasing rumors. Sure wish we had a few objective levelheaded news anchors like him today. Two weeks later my wife and I had our vacation all planned out, it was quite strange to be traveling at that time. Our first stop was a few days at Disney World, there were so few people at the parks that we had no lines for anything. Next stop was a mountain cabin in North Carolina, we were the only visitors in the complex the first evening, later a few others came in. From there we headed up to central NY to visit my Mom and other family members. While traveling we had a period of over an hour driving on Interstate 81 without seeing another vehicle traveling in either direction

Well in the theater business over the years it was always said that there's always time for an encore!! U Da king !! i'm sitting here cooking my hamburgers cause I got tired of looking at the grill every time I went around with the tractor!! mmmm! Yall have a safe weekend.

Funny, as my Mrs was referring to this today...as tractor blood!

I don't know man. Nothing wrong with making them look really really nice when they're first put back together. Also nothing wrong in my eyes of going ahead out and working them. I asked Trina how she felt about that one day and she says: I know where to buy more paint

Very nice detail work!! This one needs to be pampered and not worked!!

Made a template, and cut me... a transmission tunnel floor mat. Then went around the tractor detailing things... and making me some little improvements too.

It was a crazy day in nj that day. I remember the weather that day, driving into work thinking how the weather finally broke no humidity super clear, perfect 70 temp. I was out of college working for a large financial company in nj, they still got us out in hurry. Nobody grasped what really happened til much later. Time flies 19 years ago

I will never forget 9/11/2001. I was still living at my dads place. I was getting ready for work at the local Arby's in Kendallville Indiana . I was watching the news and I saw the 1st building smoking and was putting on my shirt. I had my shirt half on and half off, and i watched in disbelief when the 2nd plane hit the other tower. I ended up going into work. While i was there only 1 old lady came in and she had no clue till i told her what was going on. Over half way into my shift my late dad called and told me I don't care what your boss says go home and grab every gas can you can find in the barn and other buildings. Fill them. He dropped off cash in my car. I told my boss and she was perfectly fine with me leaving. I also remember a couple gas stations in town price gouging. They ended up getting fined. Such a sad day!

pics So as fall approaches us, I begin to start thanking about winter snow removal, & clean up , winter is the best time to find out what tyour equipment is made of ! I long for those 2 foot snowfall that Minnesota is known for ..... This summer I've been working on another wheel horse gt14 and I'm putting a steel cozy cab on it so my question is ..... I don't see many wheel horses with steel cabs I'm guessing they maybe didn't make them ? or it's the fender setup either way let's see some tractor and cab setups and snow equipment

If the fluid is really dirty or has water in it just run it an hour or two and change it and the filter again.

Probably not necessary. There is always a pint to a quart left in those hydro pumps / lift units. May do more harm than good if run dry. If there is nothing wrong and it is just routine maintenance, warm it up, drain, change the filter, refill, test run at idle, and recheck with a top off.

In the disassembly process for my 656 the brittle plastic bushings on the seat pan bolts cracked. I found some bronze bushings to fit and I honestly love them. So much better than the plastic originals. If anyone is looking, these were 3/8 x 1/2 x 1/4 bronze flanged bushing.

Don't have seat bushings, I replaced the PTO and the Clutch shaft to oilite bushings.

If your handy with tin work here's how to figure out the belt guard. Starting at the upper rear corner, this is your only 90 degree corner. All other angles need to be figured from this point. Measure from your mounts to the belt leaving about 1/4" clearance between the belt & the lip of the guard in the areas where they run close together. 16ga sheet metal is recommended. Looking at some pics to get the basic idea of the shape will help also.

THAT is my job description!!

Should have said and then I grow up! Lol

OK - So, Can we get your job description? She take the selfie too? Man - You is one lucky dude... GREAT Idea!

It's kinda like "vintage", "NOS" and "Custom"... doubles the price of anything... ( + = That's my vintage, NOS, custom 0.04...)

i have three older cars that have flat tappet camshafts , the use of zinc is necessary in them. i use conventional Valvoline with Rislone #4405 supplement. available at any auto parts store. i also add some to my Wheelhorses and my 1966 Honda

I had ordered a bunch of parts for the 416-8 project and got around to do some work and I noticed that the "brand new in the bag" PTO brake from Toro was miss made. If you look at the picture you will see that the rivet heads are almost even with the top of the brake pad. To say the least I was a little upset at $23 each I have always ordered a new brake for each of the tractors that I have restored and until now had never had a problem. The more I thought about it I wondered if I could rebuild one cheaper and or better so.......... I ordered the non woven brake material and some rivets. Went through a bunch of material trying to get the countersink just right then went though a fair number of rivets trying to get a nice "set" or one that didn't look like a third grader did it. After I got everything corrected I was still not satisfied with the end product. The brake material did not want to stay flush with the bracket. I had another brilliant (debatable) idea. I had put a new brake lining from Bob Maynard on one of the tractors and still had a tube of the cement he recommended (GOOP). Put a nice healthy coat of the stuff on the bracket and the material and clamped it in the vice for 24 hours. The end product looks real good and I have tried to tear it back off without any luck. So now for the end result.....I payed $22 for 4 foot of the material that comes out to 64, 3/4" pieces or roughly $0.35 each and the "left overs" from the big tube of Goop equaling $0.?? at most 5 minutes in the blast cabinet and 24 hours in the vice.......a heck of a lot cheaper that $23

I learned a long time ago to leave her alone and let her figure things out. She don't get mad or any kind of negative but she really enjoys the great satisfaction of completing her task.

Well if the guy taking the picture would put his camera down and help, Trina would get a lot more done. Way to think outside the box Trina.

If that was green paint absolutely... But Red simply adds character, curb appeal and a charming comfort to any driveway...

That didn't work Jim. I sold the blower three years ago...still no snow. The 3-4" snows we did get, I had to rush out early for seat time before the sun took it away. Guess I'll have to sell three or four of the plows.

@WHX24, Jim, I think this is the one that will fit. Need to pull that out and measure and take pictures... Thanks Mate.

May be he needs urgent the Money, that‘s a typically base for a „Vintage NOS Custom‘s“ uptuning. It is not really clean built, just a bit paint slaped on. I see it, if i look on the difference, between innerside and outerside front Rim‘s so it looks everything stay‘s on and be slaped that Way. and even the gently nice Gaffa Tape Seat, whow. That are things the really increases the Value... i would be curious if, but i would bet the maintenance status is the same like the Paint status. sad little Machine

Amazing photos! Thanks. Favorite part, "I was a Cub Cadet!"

It appears use what you have and common sense rule there. I love to see stuff like this.

I cut the shaft off an old mule drive and used a snow blower lift flag and tube to mount my front mount de-thatcher.

Evicted the motor-toboggans from their home and got the Raider and Electro loaded up for Jim's get together. Not before an ATF bath..