RJ-35... is it worth grabbing?

[COMMANDO6 20]

Great find. I would be excited to see this horse come back to life.

[rj35hunter 281]

Looking at what is there.....I would say you have a 1957 model by the right rear hub plate having the bumps facing out & not in like the 1955 & 1956 models. If it is a 1957 it would have the larger RJ58 style steering wheel & hood with the "Wheel Horse" on the front. You could run a K90 Kohler or Clinton 1200. It also has the thick steel frame instead of the "sheet metal" frame that was only used in 1956. Great find!!! Is the rear drive pulley on the right side 6, 6.5, or 7" in diameter?

Clay

[buckrancher 2,678]

To get by you could use a later RJ hood, and steering wheel, I think there was a member here that made repo early wheels, Joe Papke right here in MI might have the pulley you need I'm not sure if he is a member here or not, he is pretty big on the old RJs

Bill jenkins has the small cast steering wheels

[JUSS10 250]

well finally got it in the barn tonight. had to tear all the steering apart to free it up but now the front axle and steering is all free and working. put a set of rollers on the front for now just so it can be moved around. everything in the drive line seems to work just fine. the variable speed pulley greased up and the moves like it should. once i loosened the rear brake it pushes just fine now. as for the pulley size, its a 6.5" diameter.

one thing that i noticed is that the rear wheels seemed bowed. i jacked up the rear and spun the right tire and you can clearly see it wobble as it spins. I would assume since the hubs are cast, there is no way they could bend. is there a bearing in there? or maybe the wheels I am using are wrong for this style hub (they came from a 654)

I'm thinking this has been repainted at some point because the paint just looks too good. also the rear pulley has very little wear, there is still paint in the inside of the grooves.

also are the front wheels supposed to be angled out when at center?

here are some pics and a video of that tire run out

[fireman 1,021]

Looks to me either your rim is bent or the rim is not fully seated flush to the hub. The hub seems to be spinning true.

P.S. I would take that off your hands if you ever decide to sell it. Nice Score for $40!

Edited December 22, 2012 by fireman

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

Justin, there is a bronze bushing in there behind the pauls that could possibly be worn out. You might want to pull the hubs and pauls off to check. ~Jake

[855ownerJoel 32]

I may hit you up on that Kelly. Like i said, not sure what i plan to do with it yet but its becoming more and more tempting to hold on it it.

I sprayed down all the stuck spots with liquid wrench before i headed back to work. will try and get it in the barn tonight just to look things over a little better. Grease up the spindles and try and get them to break free.

thanks for the tip on the wheels. i have a few sets of rollers sitting around so i may see if they will fit for now.

Jim, no wife but my soon to be fiance rolled her eyes when i told her i bought another tractor. luckily we are looking for a house with some land and a barn or at least the land to put up a barn...

Thats a corral your looking for not a barn......Nice find.

[Kelly 1,028]

I'd take the wheel off and try another looks more like the rim to me also, as for the toe out, the left rim (setting on tractor) looks to set closer to the steering arm, telling me the spindle may be bent, probably from hitting something with the tire, if the rim was to move away from the steering arm, spindle moving forwards, it would line up better.

[JUSS10 250]

well this past weekend i got the machine ready for "cold storage". greased everything up and rolled her behind the barn and under a tarp.

I didn't get a chance to check the wheels, but I'm pretty sure since this thing was sitting in the woods for who knows how many years before it came into my possession there is a good chance there is rust or dirt preventing the wheels from seating right. it was cold and rainy when i put the wheels on at first so i wasn't too concerned about cleaning the hubs at the time.

I was able to find an engine, well 3 engines actually. I had a guy contact me about having some old clintons and kohlers. he wants to do a package deal for all three. I'll probably pick those up and see if i can get them all running. Use what i want then keep the rest as spares or sell them off to recoup some of my costs.

Also, can someone give me the correct belt sizes for this machine? it has the 6.5" OD pulley on the rear. I had read somewhere that a 37" for the rear belt and a 20" for the engine is right but i think that was for a 7" rear pulley

Thanks!

Justin

Edited January 4, 2013 by JUSS10

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,059]

Fireman has that paperwork. Send him a pm

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

justin, with the 6 1/2" pulley you should have a 36" belt.

[VinsRJ 721]

Its always been my opinion to pick up multiple sizes of the belts. There is a lot of adjustment needed to really dial in the veri-drive system and swip-swapping the belts at will is the best way to get everything running as it should.

The engine to veri-drive is a 20 inch belt, from there you may need a 36 inch or possibly a 37 inch, I would start with the 36 inch. To dial it in I put the rear of the tractor in the air on jack stands and manually operate the system. making sure the betls articulate properly, the speed selector adjusts smoothly and BOTH hubs engage. I have even adjusted the inner width of the veri-drive in order to drive the belts deeper into the drive or have then ride higher in the drive. And after all this you may still have to fine-toon it after the first couple of road tests. It took me 3 or 4 hours to get my 57 to run smooth as a butter.