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Sorry, I don't have any digital pics of the day we brought it home, but after two years of locating and acquiring parts. Then every weekend for six months on the restore. Here is a pic of the finished tractor.

This is a fairly tiny project but I'm all jazzed up about it so I wanted to share it with those that'll appreciate it. I've been saving the original shower head muffler for the k90 on my RJ for 2 years now - since I did a full restoration. The front was just rusted to hell and the baffeling was long gone, but the back piece was in good condition. I've been saving it with the idea that one day I may be able to somehow get it back on the RJ. And that day is.... well not today, but tomorrow. Technically today, but chronologically it occured over a 2 day period. Here is the original I pulled off 2 years ago.. Here is the new one for reference.. As I got to looking at both the new and original mufflers it appeared that the diameter of where the face joins to the 'body' was relatively the same on both... a quick measurement confirmed my suspicions! And the holes on the face share a similar pattern.. not exact but not the perfect circle kind... I diced up the new muffler with the grinder and cleared the remaining material from the joint. I pulled the original apart.. Cut the baffle from the new one down to fit the one I'm making.. this is all my parts ready to be assembled This is just after assembling and hammering the lip of the new face back down. I made sure to hammer it down as flat as possible to reduce material loss from filing down and cleaning up the hammer marks... for the sake of integrity. This is after cleaning up the hammer marks.. Came out pretty slick.. I'm happy. Since I don't stock any silver/galvanizing magic muffler paint I went for flame proof matte black - the same as I had on the previous muffler and on the exhaust piping. This the finished product... before temp curing. And after curing and mounting! Don't mind the lack of steering wheel and rod. Now I'm trying to figure out whether or not it looks goofy with the 12 inch pipe instead of the stock 14.5..?? It looks like it needs to move forward a couple inches.. I like it away from the hood so that soot won't accumulate on my paint, but it just looks a little off.. anyway, hope you guys liked this quick little project!

this is my 416-8 she is 31 years young and still has it,,,i got this tractor new on april 16th 1986 and the tiller and yard cart,,,changed 1 belt in all that time it is a good one,,keep her parked next to the D180 that i came by a few years back

Stopped at a local junk yard today and didnt find what I was looking for. But I found better stuff and ended by picking up a set of weights, rims, hub covers and snowblower flag for $40 and on the way home seen this 702 on the side of a lawn so I inquired and picked her up for $60. So a great day of unexpected finds! The weights someone modified a solid steel piece to fit in the middle and are bolted on and it looks pretty well done.

My first road trip after retirement was great. I departed Fort Pierce, Florida to visit my Mom in Syracuse NY for a few days (1.300 miles) then on to LeRoy MI (570 miles) to pick up a RJ-58; next stop was Coldwater MI (220 miles) for a '57 RJ-35 then on to Danville KY (375 miles) to load a Suburban 400; then on to our newly acquired Franklin NC home (280 miles). Total of 2,745 miles. Had to remove the rear wheels of the '58 to get two RJs in the bed of the old '96 Dakota. I had the pleasure of meeting some real nice people along the way too.

About 1250 round trip to pick up a D-200 with Ark 550. Worth every mile. Not too many horses down here, so ya gotta travel to round em up!

Now common boys, you know there has been times that these Lil Red Tractors have called and beckoned to you at some point in time, And took them feet places that they might have not normally went! Tell the truth and fess up, We all know its an addiction. Now that I have it under control I can look back and laugh about it. I have 3 trips that I have taken that today I would consider to be a little over the top. I will start with the shortest and work my way up to the GRAND FINALE. This first trip was 414 mi one way or 818 round trip from Niles Mi to Des Moines, IA it was to pick up a 551 and a 1956 RJ 35 not a bad score right? Well by the time I add the Tow bill and the serpentine belt from a locked up air conditioning compressor that ended up bustin the wallet real good. add an overnight motel stay in there and fuel and as you can see the tractor costs were jacked up pretty high. I never recovered the cost's but so it goes in collecting. Many Many I have got for free or nearly free but some I have had to pay the Piper. I guess it all equals out in the end. On this trip I also picked up a Lawn Skiff and a set of 3 Gang Reel mowers. The tractors and reel mowers are long since gone and are faded memories. So common let's here um? don't hold back!

890 one way to pick up an RJ... anyone recognize the destination!?!?

To support my other habit "Cockshutt farm tractors", I traveled from Redgranite WI to Niagra Falls Ontario Canada to purchase a Cockshutt 20 Deluxe. 750 miles one way. We left at 4:00am Central time on a Fri., and were loaded up & leaving with the tractor by 7:00pm Eastern time. Stopped in London Canada for some shut eye on our way back home. The next morning we were fortunate enough to speak with a Canada patrol officer , ended up donating some cash there. Then spent 4hrs at customs in Detroit. That was fun!! Finally made it back home around 4:00pm on Sat. Other than the fine that I had to pay & the wait in Detroit, it was not a bad trip. Well worth it to me to get a tractor that I wanted.

Thanks everyone for the welcome! I'm looking forward to learning how to get this old red machine running again. The model number on the side of the tractor hood is 308-8. I inflated the tires yesterday and rolled the tractor out of the garage to take some pictures. The tires actually seem like they could be used for a while. They are holding air (12 lbs rear, 14 lbs front) and don't seem to have excessive dry rot. I figure my next steps are to replace the battery, clean the carburetor, change the oil, and change the spark plug. Am I on the right track? I don't know, do I need to do anything with the gas tank? Drain out the old gas and clean? Anything else? My Dad says the cylinders are rusted and it will never run again. Not sure what products to use or what oil it takes. Our previous tractor was an even older model Wheel Horse. If I remember it took straight SAE 30 oil, but not sure if this one uses the same oil. More pictures to follow in additional posts...

Is there something going on.......the moon and stars aligned.......eating lucky charms....,.......what's up with all these great finds lately!!! Greart finds there Chris

Nope! Never been to that place in my life!

Pulled motor, power washed, drained ATF fluid and sanded frame.

The misses and I drove from Marion, OH to Gaylord, MI just to pick up a dozer blade. It was 360 miles and 6 hours one way. Plus I hit a small cone in Michigan that busted my plastic guard under my car. There was the small problem that Google maps did not know that a few roads were never built and it wanted me to drive off a cliff and down a muddy lane that I could not even walk and I drive a Civic. Had to not stay long as it's a snow belt and it was falling. It was still fun and I got the blade that I didn't even use this winter. Told the lady this is the first of many trips.

I guess I'm a rookie but I have had just one trip for a NOS Wheel Horse 48" SD deck. The trip was about 3 hours each way and I didn"t break anything.But who knows what is in the future, or what lurks around the corner. Well HorseFixer we all know we can't take it with us so we might as well enjoy while we can, or in my case start giving to kids and grandkids, and yes great grandchild, i'm to young for that! Bob

I will take the 5th on grounds that my statement will definitely incriminate me as being wholeheartedly addicted bordering on troubled! 12plus hours, 24plus round trip

Gone a bit picture mad tonight, strange, sometimes I would forget to take hardly any, then get carried away completely.. mounting the tank up proved fairly straightforward a piece of angle at the bottom, two holes drilled through and bolted up. This picture shows what a good fit this tank is, no room to put your fingers between it and the bonnet. It also illustrates the reason for the 230mm frame extension, room for the tank plus just enough space to remove the air cleaner for servicing. The mount shaped to match the bottom of the tank and the centre cut out to allow room for pipe work. (gotta get a new rule too) make sure the bonnet can fold properly, clamp and tack weld the bracket to the frame. The top support took a little more thinking about, so this is what I came up with. I made a eye at the other end of this bar which bolts to a tab off the head. The view of the back looked 'empty' and unfinished with the overhang and the bonnet looked a bit vulnerable to damage, so I set about making something to help protect it. Several loading shovels I've seen have heavy cast blocks at the rear for counter weight and protection so.... starting with some 4x2 I came up with this design, (reminded me of those collars used after whiplash) anyway here's the pictures. The 'bumper' swings down to allow the bonnet to open. I was pleased with the result, gives the back end to the loader some protection and adds a little more 'weight' to the build. Mmm gotta start thinking pumps..

The trailer was in the bed of the truck until I got to LeRoy MI.

Some more of the tractors I got to see

Now carefull Jeff.... showing Dan pics of a 'shutt might be like thrownin gas in the fire!

Went to an old guys house to buy a colt 2310 today and made friends... he took me to another tractor friend that had wheel horses... says he won't part with them right now but I'm first in line and thought you guys would like to see them! Also a few other tractors.. A couple other cool things he had. And I'm joining the tractor club with these ole fellers

I thought about pulling some wool packing out of an old dirt bike muffler and stuffing it in there because I was worried about how much louder it would be... didn't do it, and it's loud as all get up. I dig it, but I'm sure my neighbors could stand to live without it! Here's some better pictures of it since I know how much you folks love them! The cruddy thing is that no one down here even knows what a wheel horse is so you guys are the only ones I can show it off to! Thanks for the likes!

Now wait just a minute there Tankman...Them's of us in the One Club simply realize the utility of these fine machines and have addressed our addictive behaviors vicariously by humoring ourselves at you collectors' expense through ... at a much more reasonable price I might add...

This is the first time I truly had the chance to mow the entire yard with the eMax what used to be a 4-5 hour job with the 48" deck on the 520s and using 4-5 gallons of non-E 93, is now just about 2 hours with a 60" deck and 2 gallons of diesel so I will say it's a worthy investment so far, only issue was on the big hill above the house (that only gets mowed once a month normally) the chaffe ect really sucked up against the radiator screen and caused the "high temp saftey" to kick on and shut me down to idle ("limp mode") which is a good thing vs a boiled engine here's a few shots from the seat overlooking the "ranch" , doesn't look quite as steep from deck, Jeff.

Just did a round trip of 650 miles for a snow cab, cause that's how bad I wanted one after all the snow I wore this last winter. And I don't even care it doesn't snow next winter because I bought one. Sooner or later it will all be worth it.

Thank you for those kind words gentlemen, and Jay, they say that 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' so go ahead, 'make my day'. ( l'd be interested to see how you adopt it) Got a few pictures took this afternoon, after a couple of hours spent in the workshop. @Lee1977 Hope this meets with your approval sir. You got me thinking about potential weak points so... I think I've gone a bit nuts, but hey, I did say this was an industrial loader. Not a huge amount of extra weight (50x50x5mm) box , but let's see that 12 horse Kohler bend that!

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the great pictures. Amazing machines they are. I just noticed I am member No. 74 and I live right off I74 weird how things work out like that

Well at least the Ole girl has some red on her and Linen Beige! I was gonna come up with some crack like (NO WONDER THAT COPPER GAVE YOU A TICKEY hauling a CockShutt) But looks like she cleaned up pretty nice!

You didn't happen to hit that cone in Ann Arbor did ya? Sorry forgive me I couldn't resist. Ya ever see how things are funny till it happens to you? Well Its been about 9 years since the Jeep ate that serpentine Belt and it took that long for me to laugh at myself.

The wife requested that no more GT's come home for a while, but.... she didn't say anything about another Cockshutt Looking forward to the pic's @ACman

Metal lathes are the backbone of a lot of shops.I have a 10" South Bend toolroom lathe that I picked up 20yrs ago for $350.00.From the the pictures of the Logan 400 it does not have a quick change gear box for threading.It uses changed out gear sets to give different thread pitches.Not a show stopper if you know that limitation.Oldredrider has a valid point.Most machine tools have a light coat of oil and any hint of rust should be of concern.This can be addressed with a scotch bright pad and oil but care must be taken to not let any get crud to get under the apron.The ways are the soul of any lathe must not show any serious wear. Pictures would help if you could post some.One thing I would caution any new owner of any machine tool like a lathe or milling machine is to get an experienced person to tutor you if you have not run them before. You-Tube is a good source of info but is absolutely no substitute for hands on training.These machines have no conscience and will kill or maim you in a heartbeat.JimAnderson

Well it seems we will be able to make it after all. thought maybe it was not in the cards this year but it appears things are working out and We will be coming in Thursday as usual. I usually do something for the forum support members but with life getting in the way a bit I did not want to start a project I could not finish. Hope to have a bit more time to visit with you all this year.

I have to love that last green picture Its an Oliver 550 which is the farm version of my Oliver 244 loader backhoe which is the industrial version. I know it's green, but at least its an Oliver

I got lucky, with my first 'Horse turning out to be a 520... It's got everything I could want -- Bulletproof Wheel Horse chassis and axles, an overall design that's focused on being simple, tough, and repairable, and the torque from that opposed-twin Onan. The icing on the cake has to be the reduction-gear steering and the full instrument panel. Here's a hint I've learned from mine -- check the entire linkage of the hydro motion control. Lift the seat and make sure the friction nut on the center of the motion-control cam is snug, but not too tight. (The manual says it should take about 4 - 6 pounds of force to move it; in other words, it should stay put but you should still be able to move it smoothly with your fingers.) Apply a thin film of waterproof grease on all of the cam's sliding surfaces to smooth it out. Do the same where the lever control shaft goes through the guide slots behind the dashboard -- it follows a dog-leg slot that imparts the push-down-to reverse motion. Just a little rubbed on the surfaces is all it takes. Then take off the center tunnel cover -- only four screws hold it on. Clean out any accumulated gunk, dirt, and grass clippings, and then put a dab of 30-weight oil on all the pivots for the hydro control linkage that runs through there (wiggle the lever and you'll see it instantly.) With the hydro motion linkage cleaned and lubed, you'll have amazingly fine control. I can make mine creep so slowly I can line it up in a tight parking spot in my garage with virtually no clearance on either side without brushing against a thing. It's little things like that that make the 520 so satisfying to run.

CT TO FLA TO PICK UP A 520-8 WITH 16 HOURS.

tankman yes, that is the pulse hose. the early P had the line coming from the gear case cover. the later P had its port above the oil filter adapter i always make that hose about 1" longer than original, that way the pump can be changed without removing the side tin. thank you. boomer ( the used onan engine parts guy, also NOS and new )

Nice Loader!

Well Allrighty then ya got me beat on this one Nice stories, but you guy's are just Tickling me........ Where's the pictures? I'm sorry ya got a ticket but I mean I'd like a picture of you arm wrestling that MOUNTY EH?

I came home with a pair of 420-LSE tractors today. I can't even believe I'm typing the words. Serial numbers 7 and 70 both have around 800 hours on them and aren't in the best shape but for tractors from 1986 that have been used they don't look bad at all.

One thing is a must and it's very hard to tell. The ways must not have any twist to them. They can be checked with a high precision level. Where the problem comes in is they can show a twist because it's setting unlevel or they can have a permanent twist that can not be corrected because the lathe had been mishandled in transport or by other mishandled means. This is always something that is hard to judge when buying a used lathe and especially one that has some age on it. Any slight twist to the ways and you will never be able to hold any accuracy in your turning.

Hi Jim, my father (also a Jim) has never stashed bit away in case they came in handy, he's only real interest is gardening and there's only so many empty pots you can stash away The lathe bench is getting there, a little while to go yet though as I've once again got a bit carried away with a build That's a nice lathe Randy, it will look good cleaned up.... I bet your glad the "pedal power" isn't still installed One thing though, please don't leave the chuck key in the chuck... If someone turns the lathe on the key will fire at someone/something! I didn't get much done last Thursday as I wasn't feeling that good. I did manage to mark out of the cogs cover where to drill a large-ish hole so I can get longer things on the lathe through the chuck.. To mark the hole I had to extend the pen a little bit Hole marked through the chuck.. And the size hole I need to drill out. I do have a bit of pipe the very same size cut to length ready to be welded in. I also cleaned off all the paint/coating off the cogs guard, the idea being rather than paint it just let nature take it's course.. A bit of surface rust and some oils splashed from the lathe will soon age it A bit of a slow day Tuesday, these double bank holidays always throw my body clock off.. Is it Monday or Friday today? My body clock say's it's Wednesday!! Anyway, I needed to recover the shelf under the lathe, so the last of that big blue panel was sliced up, with the bendy bit being cut off and welded underneath to add some extra strength.. Shelf done I thought I would take a quick look inside the new on/off switch box to work out how to wire it in.. Compare the inside of the new one.. To the inside of the old one!!! I think changing switches was a good move! That's not to say the old switch doesn't have some charm And while were being silly I've not made the hole in the cogs cover yet, but I did find a way to mount it that didn't involve having to undo any bolts/screws.. Three of these trim clip thingys were welded inside the cover and just clip over the lip.. Will it vibrate like a mad vibrating thing? We shall see Time to think about the flood coolant system, so I dug out the P100 washer bottle and pump which had been doing the cooling duties for many a year. Peeling off bit's of masking tape made it look like it had been sunbathing behind a railing fence It didn't scrub up to bad though.. Quite how the pump had remained working when the bottle was full of this gunk I'm not sure, but still working it was.. This is the rubber thingy the seals the pump into the hole.. And this is a small filter thingy I found in a jar of odd's n sod's I found a couple of weeks ago.. Hhhmmmm interesting, it fits the hole in the bottle quite well, not fully pushed in yet.. It also fit's the pump quite well, not fully pushed on yet.. No photo's but when the pump was fully fitted with the new rubber/anti carp thingy, it held it's water very well.. That will do for me So, how to get the coolant from the catch tray into the washer coolant bottle? You make a funnel of course from an old bench foot and a bit of pipe.. A bit of trimming to the coolant bottle to make it fit. Bottle fitted. The funnel fit's a treat and should catch anything that pours out the drain hole in the tray. While I had my head under the bench I gave the belt tensioning thingy a few tweaks to get the rod angles much better. I did another raid on the scrap pile yesterday, and after a lot of spannering I came away with this rather large electric motor that was on a compost mixing machine. Let's have a look at the specs tag shall we.. I'm not that "up" on electic motors but I'm told this is rather a good make... 2.2 kW which is 2.95hp.. Hhhmm... Powerful The rev/min speed is only 15rpm faster than the small original motor that came with the lathe. That's close enough for me. The only problem is the motor spins the wrong way for my needs... While thinking on that I took a cover off only to find wiring instruction wedged between the capacitors, including how to wire it to spin the other way So do I install this new motor on the lathe or not... 3hp is way more than I need for the size of lathe, but the spin speed is right, the triple pulley is the right size, and the capacitors will make starting it a lot less of a strain on the somewhat er.. shoddy wiring in the building.. Some thinking is needed me thinks

Nice work!

This one came came home on a 1388 mile ROAD TRIP from Hell in 2008! LONG STORY! The things we do for these tractors.

Man seeing all your tractors I really need to get over to to family farm where I grew up . There's a old case literally half buried from a woodchuck in the pole barn . It was the first tractor I ever drove and learned to mow on . Then there's the cub cadet 1150 put out to pasture (after sitting in the same barn for years ) . Many many hours of seat time on that one . Then I still need to get pics for @Achto of the cockshuut .

Too wet to work here. 2 weeks ago it was dry enough to plow my big garden. I like spring plowing, really controls the weeds. Unfortunately, I tried to work a piece behind my little woods and hooked a large root. The D-250 didn't give up and neither did the root. The plow had to. I bent the main beam and twisted the moldboard almost straight sideways. I patched it up so at least we are ready for when it dries up. I planted the straw bale Potatoes last Monday night and have had 2 straight days of rain since. The bales should get wet enough. I guess we will see if this experiment works. Started Tomatos and peppers 3 weeks ago and they are out in the greenhouse. I also started pie pumpkins and some summer squash as well. My corn seed should be here by Friday. So, we should be set to hit it when it is time. I will be planting Onion sets and Peas this weekend if it is dry enough.

A 520H W/ a loader I built and can use a 60in.deck at the same time.

I will put money on the gator blades being the problem. I have had a big run around with them and here is the scoop. People will argue with me on this, and you will have varying levels of success on different decks, but here is what I have learned. The gator blades work amazingly well on any machine that is intended to mulch (our standard SD decks are not). If you put them on a discharge deck, they will severely disappoint. The reason is that those "tails" that are cut into it lower the volume of air that is moved by the blade and also makes it more turbulent. This is good for mulching decks because it lets the grass drop back down into the blade and be cut again before dumping. Side discharge decks don't have tight baffles to make sure this happens correctly. Your deck doesn't have enough airflow to keep the grass suspended in the 'jet stream' that is exiting out the chute so it drops and blows out from under the front (the path of least resistance since you are cutting high) Same thing with worn blades. Many people dont realize that your blades wing-tips wear down too over time and will perform worse and worse as the airflow drops. See my terrible diagrams below. Green on the left side is air/grass flow and compares mulching deck to our decks. RIght side shows a side view of our decks with the green grass clippings and purple is what happens when there is low airflow. Also not shown well in that picture is that the purple direction will only happen with the front edge of the deck is higher off the grass, if you used the mulching blades and kept your cut down low, the grass itself would act as a baffle and the blow-out would occur much less. I learned all this the hard way on both a WH deck and a professional walk behind unit that I have.