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Every year on March 16, we celebrate the fluffiest, bamboo-munching bears that are a source of national pride for China. There are two subspecies of panda: The Giant, black and white panda, and the ‘Qinling panda’ – A much smaller, brown subspecies of panda, discovered in 1985 in the mountain ranges of the southern Shaanxi Province in China. In the wilderness, giant pandas live only in the remote, mountainous regions of China. As of 2019, due to rapidly growing population numbers, the status of pandas was upgraded from “endangered” species to “vulnerable” species. Still, it is reported that there are less than 2,000 pandas left in the wild, due to habitat loss, farming, fur hunting, and other factors. Pandas only live about 15 to 20 years in the wild, but those in captivity can live even longer. Panda bears play an important part in the ecosystem of China’s bamboo forests, by spreading seeds, and therefore, growing new vegetation, which serves both humans and animals. That’s why it is important to protect the panda and its environment. One factor contributing to their endangered status is the low birth rate for pandas. Considering that female pandas are only fertile two or three days of the year, it makes sense that reproduction in the wild is more difficult for this species. There are about 27 zoos worldwide that protect Giant Pandas, and foster environments to encourage reproduction. The most important factor for preserving wild pandas is to protect their environment, especially bamboo forests, their main source of nutrition.

Bert and Ernie are looking horrible as they aged!

Jim stopped by today to make sure I was doing a good job and lend a hand where needed. Got the tractor this far & then moved on to todays set back. And..... now for the set back. The gas tank. The tank on this tractor did not leak for the 2 years that I have owned it. To make sure that the gasket did not dry out after I removed the gas, I poured about a 1/2 cup of 2 stroke oil in it to keep the gasket moist. Well when I removed the tank from the house I found a spot of 2 stroke oil on the table about the size of a nickel. OK, we will all agree that the 2 piece tank was not one of 's finer moments, but it is what it is. Nothin' to do but fix the problem. Luckily all of the bolts came out nicely and I had a gasket in stock. My end point for today. Take care all. Hope to show more progress next week.

I don't understand why what should be the simplest restoration I've done can become an absolute PITA! Spent the biggest part of the day getting the footrests off. Dunno how I did it without breaking them, but I got both of them off. Then I stripped, cleaned, and primed the frame. Then I decided to try welding up the horrible shifter. Sheesh this thing was rotted! Turned out decent, at least it shouldn't break off in my hand. Wanted to get tires mounted. Maybe next time...

The last stubborn one that I had. Removed the snap ring, sprayed lube on it, beat my brains out using wedges and..... nothing. Final resolution - I drilled 2 holes in the brake drum, tapped them to 5/16-18 thread. Now that I had these holes, I used a puller to remove the brake drum. Not sure why there were no jack holes drilled in these to begin with??

Got just a little done today. Finished all the parts on the transmission. Hubs, drive pulley, brake drum and shifter installed. I want to keep this one as close to correct as possible, but studs on the hubs just make sense to me. Then I moved to the front axle. What a bleeping mess! The pivot bolts apparently were both stripped out at the grease fitting, and the PO brazed one back on. I'll either drill and re-tap or just make new ones on my lathe. And the knuckles were "welded" for whatever reason. I noticed when the tractor was together that the front wheels were toed out and looked chambered in at the top. Now I see why.... I found a set from a 702. Hopefully they work. That's all for today. I'm done!

Also looks like the Central Machinery one like I have. I too had a lot of wobble in mine. Removed the chuck. checked the runout of the quill with a dial Ind. and it's fine. cleaned the chuck where it goes into the quill as well as the hole in the quill. Put the chuck back in 180° from how it was installed and it's better but not perfect. Prolly will have to invest in another chuck.

Left as is KP paint and all... for character and as a reminder the rough life this tractor had. Left a couple other parts like this too. Could have easily filled in those rust pits in the tunnel bottom but just love that look. You did a nice job on yours and keep at it Bit nicer weather and she will come out of winter storage

They are cute little buggers. When I was two i was in the hospital for appendix & my parents got me a panda teddy bear ... I chewed it's ears off.

My son James has been battling an infection in his foot. He was being treated by wound care for a couple of months. They decided to do surgery to remove some damaged tissue about a week and a half ago. They sent him home a couple days after surgery and it was like the infection exploded overnight. They did another surgery last Thursday and Friday morning had to remove his pinky toe. He has gone through two more surgeries since removing his pinky toe. This afternoon they removed the rest of his toes on the same foot. I asked the DR if they have stopped the infection from spreading and was told yes they had. Waiting for the DR visit Tomorrow to find out if they will have to take any more of his foot. Thank you for your prayers. Jay

I would use the glass.

The Ponds didn't figure 60 years later would be messing with them.

Today's progress. Managed to get the engine sealed up, would have finished it but I didn't have the fan shroud lettered yet. Installing the steering arm into the frame without being able to remove the battery tray is a PITA. Another fun job was installing all new shaft seals in the tranny. This job is so much easier to do when the transmission is completely torn down. Which bring me to my stopping point on the assembly for today. But before I quit working for the day I grabbed a brush and lettered the fan shroud & hood.

There cleared that up ... The gas tank was somewhat of a dilemma. Use a gasket prep product or not. A quick call to Lowell indicated Permatex Aviation No 3 should be used. A trip to a hardware & auto parts store we came up empty handed short of a B & E on a closed store. After a melding of the great minds assembled and watching Dan fiddle with gasket and tank pieces for a hour it was concluded that the Ponds didn't use No 3 We didn't have to either. In githerdone mode it went together with (hopefully) no leaks. A 8-32 machine screw was used in place of a stock screw for ease of getting a mounting bolt in. Stainless of course... does this mean it's a custom??? It was a furious pace... some more action shots.

1 - "Hey Mike, I just thought I would chat with you & show off this new app I found" 2 - " Hey Steve, what kind of app did you find now?? " 3 - " Wait, what is that smell?" 4 - " It's called the digital fart app. Now I can fart in my basement and share the rewards with my friends."

Fixed it for ya... And, she's looking mighty good!!!

This just in: Skype has crashed world-wide following a viral spike in viewership after these images were leaked... apparently, young, old, heck... all women globally are entranced by these two ruggedly handsome dudes talking transmissions and pistons and Wheel Horse tractors. no word yet on when the system will be up and running. Psychiatrists are already seeking to understand the phenomenon...

After looking at me for 3 months, she isn't scared of anything.

Picked up this pair of Kenda 26x12x12 R14T tires for $240 shipped off Ebay, normal price $208ea. They are overstock so the company scuffs the brand name off the sidewalls, sells them cheap. Beaded up great on 8.5" wide wheels, a 9.5" or 10.5" would have been easier but im very happy with the tread shape. Going to fill them with ballast, and put them on my 318 that has a 54" blade on it. New fronts coming fedex today.

Even though new battery, I'd check it as well...

The clear first photo was taken on the way in to Drunken Jack's, the remainder on the way out?

The juxtapositions are striking. The eternal sun, an agricultural field tamed by man-made farming equipment, and a sky filled with jet engine contrails.

Three potential areas of wear come to mind.... all done with it NOT running.... 1. The drill chuck - chuck up a rod or drill with no burrs and measuse the runout of the round item at the end of the jaws. Nothing fancy required - just a fixed pointer and feeler gages. Rotate the chuck and move the pointer so that it just touches at the high point, rotate the chuck to where it is furthest away & measure the gap. That is the total runout. (A dial indicator & magnetic base is the best, most accurate method for this. 2. Remove the chuck ( or hopefully there is a good diameter above it on the quill). Two tests here - repeat as above, and move the quill side to side by hand - both retracted and extended. Measure both. Wear could be bad bearings.... 3. The quill itself - if it bent, it will never run true. Best way to check it is to remove it and roll it over a piece of glass. If it makes a clickety-click sound it is bent. No sound means it is straight...

Made me mash my dang fingers when the case halves dropped. New seals are tight! ...I said dirty words. Very loud and many! Your tractor looks outstanding!

Not quite finished, but did make a couple laps around the property.

Welp, didn’t pass the goal of March 4th. But over the last 2 weeks got some stuff done. Got the PTO engage rod and handle mounted. The friction engagement plate for the PTO installed. And this week doing some work with the hood. Filled some chipped and over today we got the hood primed. Have a couple more things to fix on the hood then will be able to paint it red. Also painted the underside red today and the hood mount angle plates.

That’s what every Sasquatch ever recorded is captured with

No Banana's were harmed with these pics!

Red loctite, and plenty of it. I had a Magnum ingest a brass butterfly screw. Mashed it flat as a pancake. Stainless will likely break the head and piston.

Absolutely beautiful! Well done!

I got to do that to my mom's car a few years ago. We made out like bandits on that deal. Some geni-ass tried to pass her on the left, while she was signaling and executing a left turn, in front of my house, while I watched. His insurance cut us a check against the body shop estimate for a brand new door, paint, labor, etc. About $1500 IIRC. Then I spent the next two years watching car-part.com for a door the correct color to come along and got it for about $300. Swapped it myself in 10 minutes, and we pocketed the difference.

Well, I do love to "caption this" on pics! LOL Maybe some more after a glass or 2 of bourbon tonight

Or a large flay screwdriver. It's threaded so it will need to be twisted out. Maybe even heat the large screwdriver tip so it melts that plastic a little for some grooves which will give it something to bite to for spinning it.

File tang!

Oh yeah mine has plenty of those beauty marks! I was afraid that if I left that shifter so pitted up it would snap right off. Your 701 is beautiful sir!

Used "Rust-oleum Professional" High Performance Enamel in spray cans.. "15 Minute Fast Dry" it is quick but it's been painted three weeks. The color is Safety Red, they do make it in Regal Red. but the Lowes here doesn't stock it. It's a a 12 to 25 footer just according how good you eye site is. Sat in a shed with the roof blown off for years had some bad rust in areas. I didn't do a lot of primer and block sanding so some areas still show where it was rusted. The main thing was to stop the rust.

Pop out the chuck like in the vidya and look in the jaws for a screw. If there is one, it's screwed onto the tapered arbor. (the screw keeps it locked in) Otherwise, the chuck is on the arbor with a taper. You can check it in the machine with a mirror too. If it's threaded on to the arbor, remove the screw, close the chuck, put the key in and whack it with a mallet counter clockwise. For taper, see below.

@ri702bill Is right. These are the major causes of your issue. Janky chuck (cheap) Bad quill bearings Bent quill If you do find out it's the chuck, I may have one depending on the attachment. (taper or threads).

Well been spending some time on this Cub since last posted. Since then I have rebuilt the starter generator, swapped some things back and forth on the 2 decks it came with. Got the one rusty one back on as it needed less parts exchanged. The other shell is rock solid but would need to swap everything over. Just wanted to get deck on to see if everything would be worth swapping. Good news is that it all works as it should. Needs either the carb replaced or rebuilt. Floods over making it tricky to start. Needle must be stuck. After rebuilding the starter/generator it cranks over much better. Anyways it still needs a little more TLC but it runs, drives, and cuts now. 20250315_152751.mp4

He didn't split it. I always just take the input seal and flatten it with a hammer ... There got that out of the way.

Some good snow eatin' fog this morning!

That was a test to see if you s were paying attension

With all of the crazy nonsense going on over the last few years and now this, we have undoubtedly entered into Bizzaro world

A real hero would have stainless tranny bolts ...

Because? You install the seals in the empty case then run the shafts through?