ride away juniors 58/59

[markslawnmowerworld 4]

I'M A NEW MEMBER ON HERE.....I have found this site to be very very good so far

I have been in this industry for about twenty years now, and have seen much..

I'm not an expert......but my one question that i have not figuired out yet...

is on the rj-58 ,and rj-59 how do you or can you tell the two years apart? B)

[markslawnmowerworld 4]

Ok i think one of senior guys are digging for this answer....

but for along time (years) i have wanted to find this answer...... B)

[wheel horse 1045 2]

B) and the rjs are not my area

[Duff 206]

I'll be watching, too.....

!

Duff B)

[stevasaurus 23,521]

:party: great question, I also don't know the answer, and will wait to see. B)

[CasualObserver 3,411]

Here's a couple of discussions on that very subject from last summer and fall.

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11137

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11514

Physically the two tractors are supposed to be identical, the only difference being the model/serial tag. I think someone has mentioned in the past that 58s had seats with holes in them, and 59s had solid pans, but I don't know the details on that. In the past I asked someone I know who has access to the original production ledgers, and this is his response.

The book says RJ58 production started 8/57 and RJ59 production started 8/58, but there is no other helpful information, like build dates or which serial number is the first RJ59.

[markslawnmowerworld 4]

Thank you for your response, and easing my mind on that subject.... B)

[whfan74 2,073]

:party:

Great question and fantastic response. I am sure there will be others that will chime in tonight once their fingers hit the keyboard.

Enjoy the site and feel free to post often!

[MikesRJ 558]

I'M A NEW MEMBER ON HERE.....I have found this site to be very very good so far

I have been in this industry for about twenty years now, and have seen much..

I'm not an expert......but my one question that i have not figuired out yet...

is on the rj-58 ,and rj-59 how do you or can you tell the two years apart?

What lift sector do you have, and what is the date code cast into the top of the transmission immediately to the right of the shifter hole?

Oh, and :party:

[420lse 18]

B)

[wheel horse 1045 2]

and pictures are always nice

[rickv1957 77]

Hello and Rick

[VinsRJ 723]

MikesRJ, beats me again.......

IMO unless you have a really late production RJ59 the only real way to tell them apart is by the Serial Tag.

[MikesRJ 558]

MikesRJ, beats me again.......

IMO unless you have a really late production RJ59 the only real way to tell them apart is by the Serial Tag.

... and speaking of tags, no one has published a picture of an RJ-59 tag. Does anyone even have an RJ with a '59 tag on it? I'd like to see a picture of a tagged '59.

[linen beige 16]

IMO unless you have a really late production RJ59 the only real way to tell them apart is by the Serial Tag.

I agree 100%. That is, IF it can be proven the tag is original. While there are differences between the earliest '58s and the latest '59s, as far as we can tell the two models were (aside from serial/model # decals) identical at the time of model year change.

[Hammerhead 817]

Well there is a couple of ways to tell the early RJ58's from the later 58's and 59's. On the early RJ58's, they had a very small seat on them with 19 holes in the seat area. I refer to these as small butt seats( my small butt seated RJ58 is in the pulling tractor section) . The later production 58's had a bigger seat with about the same number of holes. I also have a, what I would call a late production RJ59(no id sticker) that has a 1960 style seat on it, these are the seats that don't have any holes in them. That is the only year they made that style of seat, 1960. So that is why I think it is a late production 1959 tractor. I also have a 1960 400 Suburban that has the larger butt seat with the 19 holes in it, just like the one's on the later production RJ58's I mentioned above. So it must be an late production 1960, since WH went back to that style seat on the 1961 401's and 551's, they had the big butt seats with 19 holes too. Is this making any since to anyone??? I hope so. I also have an early production RJ58 that has a rear hitch that was made up of small peices of 1/4 inch thick steel welded together in a rectangular design for the slot hitch attachments to fit into. The later production 58's had a peice of 1/4 inch thick steel that was bent and rounded over at the top and one weld was used at the bottom instead of welded together peices like on the older one. Hard to describe it, but the earlier hitch is alot more crude than the later ones. I will post a pic of it later. Then there is the whole issue of the footrest's!

There is at least 3 type's of footrest's that came on these, they all had the diamond plate design. The difference is in the mounting peices on the underside of the footrest. I won't get into that right now, unless you wanna know???

Can anybody add to this? Thanks...Keith B)

[Brrly1 1,146]

Keith, Good answer. You got my Vote. See Ya, Bye Burly

B)

[linen beige 16]

a 1960 style seat on it, these are the seats that don't have any holes in them. That is the only year they made that style of seat, 1960.

Makes me wonder why the IPL shows a seat with holes.

And why there are so many '60 models out there with holes in the seats, and so many RJs & '61 models without them.

[MikesRJ 558]

Even the 1957 printing of the RJ-58 manual shows a "holy" seat

http://www.mywheelhorse.com/graphics/file/...M&IPL_RJ-58.pdf

[VinsRJ 723]

My prior comment stems from first hand knowledge of various RJ

[MikesRJ 558]

What Vinnie said ... Well put Brother ...

[linen beige 16]

keep in mind that these are 50 year old tractors which were beat by there owners during their live

[rickv1957 77]

Ditto Rick

[wheelhorsec85 5]

I'M A NEW MEMBER ON HERE.....I have found this site to be very very good so far

I have been in this industry for about twenty years now, and have seen much..

I'm not an expert......but my one question that i have not figuired out yet...

is on the rj-58 ,and rj-59 how do you or can you tell the two years apart?

THE 1958 HAS ONE UP POSITION AND ONE DOWN POSITION ON THE LIFT LEVER . AND THE 1959 HAS A 1/2 MOON WITH NOTCHES IN IT TO PUT IN DIFFERENT HIEGHTS

[TT-(Moderator) 1,169]

THE 1959 HAS A 1/2 MOON WITH NOTCHES IN IT TO PUT IN DIFFERENT HIEGHTS

Not all of them. (it is rumored that the last of the RJ-59 models did have the quadrant though)

A few of the multi-position quadrants were also "retrofitted" to the RJ-58/59 tractors after the 1960 models came out with the quadrant as standard equipment and the owners realized how much more convenient it made it to set the attachment height or depth.