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OK. Need help figuring out what year and model this one is. I found it in the same building as the RJ-58 I am restoring (). Obviously the steering wheel is not original and it is missing a WHOLE LOT.

Thanks All for nice feed back.. Have painted the traile innside to day using only black.. The reason i do that is because it is easy to fix on later.. But the plan is to add on alu plates on the innside. But im not sure yet..

Hi Herb, thanks for the suggestion. I have thought about using a car master cylinder, the thing that is stopping me is the pipework. A car uses different pipes and connectors than a bike system so I would have to get some special pipes made.. At a cost! I could cobble something together using both car and bike bit's, but brakes shouldn't been bodged together.. Says a chap who is mixing front and back bike bits together Howdo Richard, I think you have hit the nail on the head (much better than hitting your finger) there with the "system fluid volume" bit. After today's "sort the brakes" session I'm getting the feeling that the master cylinders simply don't have the capacity (or push) for getting enough pressure up to push the pistons in two calipers.. Don't worry about flying spanners.. I'd only end up throwing the ones I'm using at the time, and would have to search to find them again!! But I'm sure I have some empty coffee mate tins I can chuck at you Hey Callen. I did try something very similar to what you suggest today. Rather than shim between the pads and pistons, I took the calipers away from the discs, pushed the piston fully in, and placed some nice thick spanners between the pads.. With two calipers plumbed in, despite a huge amount of bleeding I still could not stop the master cylinders from bottoming out!! So what have I been up to in the Shack today? Well most of it was spent bringing my Raider 10 out of hibernation (I can't remember if I've used it this year) to be put on grass cutting duties.. With a sharpened blades it cuts very well Of course While in the shack I could not resist having a fiddle with the brakes. Out of interest I thought I would play with the plumbing one side..Still two calipers but each one with their own master cylinder.. 20 min's later after making sure every last bubble of air was out of the systems, I had two master cylinders that no longer bottomed out!! I need to do another little test drive tomorrow with changed tire pressures, but things are looking good To me, the fact that no matter what I tried I could not stop the cylinders bottoming out with 2 calipers attached, but could with only the 1 caliper, tells me that the cylinders are not big enough to flow the fluid to 2 calipers!! So... I've just been on Fleabay and bought a couple of Honda Fireblade rear master cylinders with a whopping 5/8" bore. Hopefully they should be up to the job

That's some very nice fab work Rich. That "adapter" should be very strong.

When's the last time you went that slow on a tractor? :D

Don't we all wish we had one just like that to start on next ?????????????? Jim in Texas

I've already cleared a corner for it in the garage. Since parts aren't quite at hard to find as I anticipated, its going to be my next resto. Thanks everyone.

Dont sell it . dollars are easier to get hold of than an RJ35 ( some might disagree ) :ROTF:

He's bad enough already! Don't encourage him Craig! I already have to report to him everyday the second I walk through that front door! Matt :flags-texas:

As always RJ35s are a very interesting item. Lets take a closer look at this one. First off its either a late 56 or early 57. Its got a sheet metal frame indicating a 56 but the embossed Wheel Horse hood indicating 57. Then its got 55 decals. Now the brake band on this unit was an add-on for sure and did not come with the tractor originally because... it doesn't have a machined wheel hub. You can make out the casted ridge on the hub and no machined brake surface. I would agree with the statement that the brake set ups are rare based on the fact if your RJ35 did not have one, you'd be hard pressed to find one or even the parts to put a kit together. Very nice score!

Just another quick update. I welded a plate to the tunnel on the tractor today, it had one there from the factory, just not as wide as the one I installed. The OE was 3 1/2, mine is 6". I also welded the rust holes up today. I know I probably should have cut that section out, but it will look ok once its been skimmed with bondo. I still have alot of drilled holes that I will be welding up soon. I also included a pic of my son who was in charge of quality control. He was inspecting my work very closely, to make sure it met his standards. Matt :flags-texas:

Well Jeff, I ordered them, cause it is going to take about 1 week or so to get them, this way ill have them, couldn't really go over the tractor that good, nasty mosquito's here, however I did see the pto belt, and it is all cracked, and squeals when it is engaged, but this way ill have them, the gas spring, for the clutch will have to wait, cause it is $70, just use a bungee cord on it for now :)