Leaderboard

Years ago i bought a front hitch for my B-80 Wheel Horse that someone in Rhode Island was selling on ebay. These hitches were great and i bought another for a toro model wheel horse. However , i wanted to see if the B-80 version would work on a toro 314-8 i hsve. I finally got around to it today! The beauty of this hitch is you can keep your front mower mule drive on either yhe hitch! Here are some pics for your review! Firest few pics are of B-80 with hitch and last few of the hitch installed on the 314-8.

Put some Cragars and baby moons on our 702 today

Motor is painted it almost done the wheelhorse probably April sometime

The BBT aka Paint Department is in the habit of spraying outside and immediately bringing the pieces INSIDE to dry.

What, there aren't any McDonalds where you are going? If it is that remote please include the audio of the dueling banjos with your post.

I've had decent luck with that technique, but I ain't no BBT...

I’m inspired by many things. Parts available, my tools on hand, and sometimes a little moonshine never hurt nobody.

@Pullstart doesn't believe in "factory" appearance

Sounds to me like a franken horse ranch

I stop to visit a friend today. He's an older gentleman that's been fixing tractors for years. I was looking around his yard and spotted a 420 LSE. Poor thing is tired though, 1449 hours and had a rough life. 37" deck is shot. He said it ran last fall but something was wrong with it and he wasn't sure what exactly. Hood badge is gone. Could be mine, but what's it actually worth? I certainly don’t need another one. Sorry, no pictures. I forgot to take them before we covered it back up.

That's interesting. Our spring hunting season opens tomorrow. Gobblers and horse rustlers are fair game.

Agreed - it still takes a month or so for it to cure enough for assembly... And use a trick from my old building model car days from 50 years ago. Warm the paint can in a pan of hot tap water. It raises the pressure in the can - gives a better finish. And it flashes off faster between coats....

I do the same.

You're either real skinny or that is a super stiff seat spring! I'd have tire marks on both cheeks!

Put these on the 702 today

@AlexR said it best. Don't get impatient and paint while its cold. 2x the work. Make sure you lay thin coats if you're in the lower temp range. Just my

I usually bring my paint and parts inside for a day before painting to get everything up to 70*.

While rummaging around in the basement found this. Everything about this one points to a very early or early 55 so may have to reclassify? Early 1955 RJ-35 things Later 1955 RJ-35 Very Early 1955 RJ-35 Gas tank On tank stand Strapped to hood On tank stand Front axle pivot stop Solid steel across axle 2 square blocks at each end No Axle pivot stop Lift lever Solid 3/4 “ round Push button release Solid 3/4 “ round Motion lever No stop Stop welded on end No stop Engine stop Brass push knob Toggle switch Missing Belt tension spring 3 hole in rear to attach 3 hole in rear to attach 1 hole in rear to attach Steering wheel column hole in hood Oval Oval Round and tight Lift cable hole to hitch Oval Oval Round Primary pivot bar assembly Is wider than other early RJ’s Drive pawl in hubs Machined Machined One of them is sawed not machined (The other might have been replace with new wheel hub casting in 1971) Variable speed pulley 3 roll pins /3 holes for slide 1 key way for slide 1 roll pin / hole for slide From what I see in the Pic's The Steering wheel column hole in the hood is round and just big enough space for the wheel column to go through C. Pond must have changed it to a oval to make it easier to remove the hood. I do not see any Front axle pivot stop - axle stops were added later for safety. ​As for the Steering wheel - the aluminum wheel Broke easily and replaced with a cast iron steering wheel

March 19, 1929, Walter A. Strong, publisher of the Chicago Daily News, asked President Herbert Hoover for federal intervention (including the National Guard) following the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago.

Watchin too much TV in the shop! Talkin like a Pie-Rate. I guess we know what you watch out there!

I did some upgrades tonight to the 1445. I’d like to have it be a house machine this year for plow day. The rear end is super heavy, so some front weight was in order. I also put a new Lowell lift cable on too. The flywheel is the stocker from Norman when I upgraded to a South Bend Clutch a few years back. It’s pretty heavy.

Front end & wheels done. Wheels came out nice but were a real pain getting them apart as the bolts holding the halves together were rusted tight. the heads are slotted and even with a well fitting very large screw driver tried not to mangle them to use them over. Make matters worse they are fine thread fillisters. Finally got them all out. Lots of time in the blast cab. Most guys would have went with a gloss black but I went with flat. Goes better with the final patina. Also was able to use the original tubes as they were very heavy rubber not like what's out there today. Tried a finnish of MMO on the frame but just didn't like it so went back to linseed oil.

this topic has been beaten to death.

Finally swapped put my short chute for a tall chute I got at auction a few months ago. Looked to be complete for $50...but it was missing parts...2 hair pin clips and a third one was bent This should scare anymore snow away

You were a little ahead of me when I bought mine. She's a worker. Albeit a light one.

Delaware Bay Sunrise 03/19/2026

Last day at the beach house. An anchored ship at dawn waiting for a Bay Captain to take her up river to Philly. Sun Up Fishing for breakfast.

Our experience shows longer. Assembly.... very carefully. A few days. Cured? Man..... 2, 3 months or more. Even then don't expect auto paint type durability.

Yup, nice design. He was only about 10 miles from me; seems he got out of the business. I posted a while back I made mine out of an old rusty mule drive and an ATV front hitch...

I have been painting Rust-Oleum in the just below recommended temperatures and its been ok the biggest thing I noticed that causes problems is if the metal you are painting is pretty cold such as colder earlier in the day or the night before and hasn't warmed up enough it doesn't stick very well and gets runs easily. (If possible get the metal as warm as practical, the cans of paint also need to be kept warm) Also it takes much longer to cure. As to your question I would say it's definitely better to wait for both temperature and humidity to be ideal but humidity can cause a disaster if it's too high and the metal is sweating. I would not paint major sheet metal in less the ideal especially the hood, but the smaller parts you will probably be ok if you aren't looking for a perfect paint job. If you want the paint to be really good low humidity and 70° will make it easier

I remember the days of cast iron transfer cases and wonky transmission jacks!

Our Pa. maple festival is held the last half of April in Meyersdale, Pa. This is my home town High School. We get the best sap run when we have cold nights (below 25*) and warm days (above 40*). https://www.pamaplefestival.com/

I can’t stand the thought of folks tossing round up on their food plots to leach into the soil, then eat the creatures that eat the things that grow next. Makes no sense to me. But I will toss some poop on it!

Eric I agree with this non E-fuel. Works well even after two years sitting with no additives.

Yup I'm screwed ... somebody must have replaced the axle at one time. Digging in the basement I found pics of the axle where there are keyways cut in the axle to secure the pawl hub to the axle using a #15 woodruff. I do not have those keyways and was wondering why there are keyways cut in the pawl hub. There is a hole in the right side where I believe the hub was PO through bolted. The other side just free wheeled. I also noticed the snap ring grooves that hold the hub on are spaced at different lengths & no idea if that is correct. Not sure how to proceed here gonna have to burn a shout out. @rj35hunter Lots of questions here Clay.

Do I look like Big Unit?? I'll not go here Plunger. Oh what the hell ...

The shop is 68 degrees currently and it’s in the 20s outdoors. Just burning scrap 2x4 chunks. It’s much less volatile than the oil, and maybe a bit safer too.

Love the sound of an ONAN blowing snow on a 520 for sure. Have had good luck with them. Nice job.

Well…winter storm “Elsa” is over in east central WisCo and she left a mess to clean up. Caleb is busy working and so I went to his house yesterday afternoon and surveyed the “damage”. Easily 12” on the level and several drifts that were in excess of 16”. However, the 520HC and two stage Ber-Vac were up to the task… The driveway looks pretty decent in this picture but as I trudged through the snow up to the house I walked through several drifts up to my knees! Hidalgo started without incident and even though the snow was heavy, and I had to drive slow but steady, the blower was handling the white stuff capably. I stopped midpoint down the driveway to grab this shot to give some perspective of depth. Nothing compared to northeast Wisconsin but the deepest level snowfall I’ve had to clear in a long time. I’m really thankful for this setup for Caleb. It will definitely handle whatever gets thrown at him in the upcoming years. I hope you guys affected by the storm all had “fun” on your tractors and stayed safe!

Here is what it looks like in there. I put new seals in mine a few years ago.

Pretty sure it's not a clone. Did the LSE have 5 lug chrome front rims? Tag is gone just 4 holes in the hood.

Seems a bit early for the sap to run. We seldom see buckets here in the PeeAaa. Mostly nylon tubing directly to a SST tank.

num nums, maple syrup right?

You do realize, I hope, that you could be moving at twice that speed. That Onan is wondering when you’ll ask it to actually work!

All of the at the Pullstart Ranch have names assigned, the 1445 is about the only one that sounds like a real, from the factory name.

This is the last of my tractors for rebuild or gone thru. It was about three years ago I pick this up from Stevbo. It runs pretty good. Many new parts.I think I made it better than it was. I had many others to work on before this last one. I thinking of keeping this one. Also I ordered a Gravely muffler for this also.SORRY FOR BAD VIDEO. I am rusty at doing Vids. I used do this in all my posts years ago…….. I hope you enjoy it..Fell free to ask any questions. IMG_1075.mov

I really don't know much either but I think if I remember correctly in Straight From the Horse's Mouth it talks about how the early rjs had one wheel that freewheeled to allow turning before they came up with the differential.

Thank you kindly. It’s a 14 Automatic and I added the round fenders to look like a 1045, so I called it 1445.

On to the rear ... yep gonna need help on this. The pawls are missing on both sides and one pawl hub is boogered up royally. It's not a hard thing to reproduce on a lathe but I have no idea what the pawls or springs or pins even look like. I'll be down in the basement researching old threads anybody needs me ...

Not "with" my Wheel Horse, but with some wheel horse parts... My poor old yard trailer needs some love. It's built like a tank, but when my buddy made it for me 20 years ago it had 20x10x8 tires on it, and they just finally fell apart. I had stuck some 8 inch wheels on it, but if it sat low before it nearly drug the ground after. The dump feature was also useless. So one thing about doing tire wheel mods with 520 front ends was that I had a decent set of wheels and tires from one that I could use. So I cut off the axles and welded on a 6 inch extension and bracing, and slapped the 520 wheels on. Not perfect, but it will work great with my heavy rear hitches now and it also will dump properly. It still needs a little cleanup, but full functionality has been restored! First pic is obviously the "before"...