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Just dropped by my local Advance Auto Parts store last night and picked up a load of their house brand 30W motor oil for $2.99 per quart. Considering how much the price of gas and oil are these days, I thought it was a pretty good deal. I don't know who the manufacturer is, but it is made in the U.S.A. :flags-usa:

I recetly bought these two wheel weights from Chuck McColley (wheel -mule on Red Square) at Scott Mehlberg's Meet and Greet. I wanted to put some weight on the back of this RJ in order to try out the original snowplow I bought from Scott this coming winter. Thanks Chuck -they look and work great on the RJ! Here are the photos after painting and installing on the tractor. You can also see my real cheap but easy to install front red caps (taken from two Nestle FAT FREE Hazelnut coffee creamer bottles) with a lining of foam packing film! I will make sure to post some after i get the snowplow/dozer blade installed and operating in the next month or so.

I mow em, and mow em, and mow em. Then next spring I will mow em, and mow em, and... ^_^

I used to change decks on my tractor to the rear discharge deck and use a lawn sweeper to remove leaves. However I have over 2 acres of tree covered land and this would take me several hours. Even worse I would have to keep up with them otherwise if there were too many leaves this process would be almost impossible. So a couple weeks ago I whipped up this little leaf removal contrapction..........I call it the " LEAF SUCKER 2012".......Here are a couple pics Slight muffler modification Old window screen for ventilation High tech locking mechanism The only thing I would change on this setup (and I will for next years leaf season) is to mount the motor directly to the tractor somehow. This would allow for a shorter hose from the deck and the discharge hose would not pivot that much. I can do my whole yard in about 6 loads. I have far less money in this setup than it would have cost me to buy one from the big box stores( $350 verses $1400 and up) Plus I have the satisfaction of knowing I built it myself!!!!!

I had the rj58 primed for painting, but with the weatherman's forecast that yesterday will probably be the last warm day of the year, I knew that I needed to get a coat of paint on this frame or will have to wait till spring. I never really mastered the rattle can method, it always came out too dull, so I thought I'd give a spraygun a try. This was my first attempt at using a spray gun for anything, but found it to be pretty easy. I used Vansickle tractor paint, which was really easy to mix with minereal spirits at a 1:8 ratio and sprayed it with a detail spray gun. My old pancake compressor handled this without any problems and had power to spare. Here's a video of the results, and if you're interested, I've documented eight videos so far on the rj58 restoration including digging out of the back yard. Right now since I have a little work to do on the hood, only the frame and dash is shown painted. I'll be painting the wheels, deck and plow in the spring. This will be mainly for the grandkids to drive, so this winter I'll working on a little briggs engine to power it.

Picked up some nice hubcaps tonight.......have been keeping my eyes open for a nice old Jacobsen Chief. Well now I have the hubcaps.......just need the tractor to put them on. These are NOS but have a little rust starting to form from being on a shelf for so many years. Here they are...........

While watching alot of fast-n-loud, count's customs, and texas car wars recently, I said to the wife.."why can't I find a nice older cool looking car to buy for cheap". She said...go get one. Well needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night. We decided to sell off the motorcycle, and two snowmobiles to help counter the cost. (Bike is now sold, but snowmobiles are for sale...hint,hint). Our kids are young, and the wife and I hardly get out together on them anyhow. The thought process is to go out as a family now. Perhaps some car shows, etc. Turns out alot of people in my shoes seem to be thinking the same thing. Here's some pics for you all. It's a 1979 Camaro Berlinetta...T-tops. It was just painted in may of this year. All new interior, weatherstripping, chrome bezels, steering wheel, 3.5" cowl induction hood, body panels including the wheel wells (no stuff-n-buff going on), and powder coated alum alloys. It has a 350 under the hood with a 383 keith black stroker kit in it, .520 comp cam with roller rockers, holley 780 double pump carb, full MSD ignition including the distributor, dynatec headers, and magnaflow exhaust. It drives thru a 3 speed turbo 400 tranny with a B&M ratchet shifter, (manual valve body setup...I think), with a 3200 stall converter. New driveshaft to a set of...5:12 posi gears in the rear, (10 bolt cover though). Easily lights them up just about anytime you want. This was a build one of the local mechanics was working on when his life got turned up-side down, and needed to part ways. He got the motor-trans como off another guy, and just dropped it into the body/chasis he was working on. Was dyno'd at 520hp, 560 torque at the flywheel. There's some things I want to definatly change for sure on it. The 5:12s gotta go, fun around town, but screamer on the highway. The carb is way oversized, I'm thinking a 650 street avenger or the such, single pump deal. Serpentine belt for the front, as I plan on putting in A/C cuz the headers are pretty hot. My wife's father had a camaro when she was a kid, so she's pretty tickled with the car. Kids like it, and wer're pretty eager for the spring to hit. Meanwhile, this winter hopefully will sell off the sleds, and get cracking on the car. Didn't really want to step into a project type car, but thought for the price and what was out there, we did ok.

You know of course, that there will be NO power outage with this storm! That's due in part to the generator purchase. Now if for what ever reason, I don't take delivery, the entire northeast will be without power until Christmas!

:happy-jumpeveryone: :WRS:

If god wants them moved? He can do it. Otherwise, they are stayin" where they are til spring when I mow next. We had snow yesterday. It all melted, but it made me think. Leaves and grass are done. Plowing the gardens on saturday and then only thinking about snow removal and keeping Anheuser-Busch employees busy.

This is what I use . I also have Gator Blades on the deck. We are suppose get rain tomorrow and Sunday so I'll have to wait until it drys up again.

Here's some interesting info on powder coat. DuPont has changed the chemistry on their powders. They are transitioning from TGIC-polyesters to HAA-polyester (TGIC-free). HAA polyesters feature: Improved weathering performance Better charging Improved cure response Improved storage stability Recommended for indoor/outdoor applications This bit of worthless information came with the samples they sent me. After calling customer service to see what it all means, what they said was that the HAA powders have a much better UV protection factor and will resist fading. So, since my tractors don't see the light of day until "show time", I guess it really doesn't matter what goes on, so long as it looks good to me.

Make sure that the camper is tied down. I nicely equipped camper is no good if it's in the next county.

If you are going to get a generator please do no get one of the Chinese import ones. As an electrician this summer (go to school during the fall and spring) we received a huge number of calls asking us to fix their generators. While arriving to see if it was something minor, or operator error. It was normal for a blown engine (no brand name) so it was probably a clone. And you will typically have to spend at least 2 times as much for a new, nicer one, but they are worth it. If you have the money, I recommend going with either a Kohler stand by generator, generac stand by or a Honda portable. Honda generators are very smooth and quiet running for the most part, they also produce clean voltage. The new generac generators while they will last awhile if taken care of, are not built nearly as well as the generac generators of the past. I am talking about the ones at home depot, lowes or tractor supply. We have a 7.5KW with electric start, and its okay for now but it has had some problems with it and it only has 20 hours on it. After speaking to the generac service technician at the local electrical warehouse he said when it comes to worrying about a standby generator "go big, or go home". Not meaning buy the biggest generator you can, but buy a more expensive one, typically they have a lot better quality as compare to the ones people buy at home depot, lowes, or tractor supply.

UUUHM, What's the point of having a Hot Rod if you don't Hot Rod it? IMO You need to prove it hauls ass once in a while or what's the point. Obviously not with the kids on board but I don't see how you can resist the urge to light'er up and be a little dangerous once in a while. Absolutely right...so far haven't resisted one bit yet, (still new to me). I lit them up once with the kids and wife in the car, the kids actually egged me on. The wife was ear to ear grin, the kids...not so much. Definatly fun to drive like a . Herbl...that thing looks amazing!! Seems like I could have my dinner off of it. Not certain if mines going to be that clean...yet. I am do for a haircut....(perhaps I'll wait a little longer.)

Yeah you're right. The steering control valves are impossible to source cheap. There are a few on ebay that I may get just to make my own setup like you did but unless someone wanted to pay $1000 for a custom power steering setup, it wouldn't be worth producing brand new kits.

That power steering cylinder looks very similar to the standard hydrostatic lift cylinder that comes with the 520-H. I wonder if a lift cylinder can be installed as shown in the pictures above and used as a steering cylinder?? How can a steering wheel be used to actuate a cylinder though? If I can better understand all this - I may just have to develop custom power steering kits like my custom foot control pedal kits :)

I guess my favorite shows are Big Bang Theory, Castle, Gold Rush, and the ONLY sports I'll watch is the NHRA, if it won't run 300 mph in less than 4 seconds its not worth watching. That's the way I roll Wingrider

I have about 1 acre of oak trees. The area in grass is about 3/4 acres. It takes about 4 hours each time to mulch, vacuum, and dump. It's a ritual that I do not look forward to each year. Now to add insult to injury, my next door neighbors are in their 80's and can no longer do their own yard work, so I do their leave as well. From now until Thanksgiving, I will not have a weekend to do any serious Wheel Horse work unless it rains.

Seat = Linen Beige Spring = red Check out the foot rests in that brochure. Never saw a set like that

Or you can go the way I did for my ZZ383 engine with a dual quad setup, it works flawlessly....

Not quite right. Nothing is pressing upward. If that were happening it wouldn't be weight adding traction! What's happening is that your wheel weight is in direct contact with the ground already through contact with the wheel/tire. So there's no additional down-force on the wheel bearings. (there is additional force added front to back though... you can't add weight and not have it be harder to push forward and backward!) Really nice job on the brackets maidenfan.... those are some cool custom pieces. I bet you'd sell a couple if you made some more!

I've got brick that resemble tree bark in color and the Wood Peckers are from time to time goin' to town peckin' away, they pecked holes in my shop screens years back, Never found a city way to rid them way short of bein'home and runnin' outside. Gets old!

These birds are smart, they fly off when you go outside. We tried sever things including hanging up old pie tins. What finally stopped him was a 22 rifle with rat shot.

Just shoot it. Sounds mean but the alternative is continuously fix the house. Ask me how I know. :snooty:

The inner pulley is for the mower deck because the large diameter of the pulley results in a faster rotation on the mower deck. The outer pulley is for tiller and snow blower. smaller pulley results in slower speed. Joe

Show me yours and I'll show you mine.....lol Mine has a blower on it now....haha..... heck, I don't even have a tractor with decals.... WARNING...you asked for it, here they are... this is my main mowing machine/multi function machine. now its set up for spraying(home made sprayer) Your turn... :laughing-rolling:

Well you might like to use one of these.

Here's a mid 70's Commando I restored for my grandson. This tractor has been in the family for about 20 years and heavily used. being slightly smaller it was perfect for my mother and after restoration, for my grandson. This pic was taken here in Florida where I live and restored it. I then hauled it back up to northern Indiana where it's used on the 14 acres our son-in-law and daughter have. Looking closely it's not 100% stock. Most notable upgrades are the seat and the upsized rear wheels/tires. The Kohler engine is original and required no work. It now has a 36" rear discharge mower deck on it.

1991 Toro Wheel Horse 244-H.

here's mine for consideration. 1980 1100 special.

This is a picture of my son's 61 Suburban. It's dressed in original paint. The pull start is a NOS kohler piece that I found locally. He's only 4 1/2, but he's really proud of his tractor. Don't worry, he rides on my lap and drives, but really enjoys every minute!

here's a few of my c120

Attention RS members!!! With the good graces of Justin and Karl I will be offering a Professionally made calendar directly off of Justin's file. I gave away a few of these last year as Christmas gifts and I got very positive responses. I will be offering them for my cost plus $6.00 U.S. shipping and $17 International. I don't have the exact cost yet it depends on how many I need. It looks like it will be $15-$20 each + ship. You can P.M me to order one. I'll take Pay Pal (please use the gift option) or check. Cutoff will be Dec. 1st. I sure a few of last year's recipients will chime in on how nice they turned out. Thanks, Mike Not the best pics but Here's the present calendar.:

Thanks for the advice. The engine is not plugged into the molex connector. I wanted to isolate the engine from any problems with the tractor wiring for now. I did connect the battery cables. The positive to the starter and the ground to the mounting bolt on the engine. The starter works fine and the continuity from the engine block and heads back to the battery ground is good. The jumper from the positive battery post to the positive side of the coil is good. The connector to the control module measures 11 to 11.5 volts as I rotate the flywheel. If the control module itself needs to be grounded, there may be corrosion from the module to the engine. I am going to pull the flywheel this morning and see if there is any corrosion around the module. This engine ran fine 3 weeks ago in this same configuration on my shop bench. The only thing I can think of that may have affected it is that after I ran it the last time, I left the positive side of the coil powered until it ran the battery down over night. Since that time, the primary side of the coil has dropped from 3 ohms to less than 1 ohm, which is now out of acceptable range. I have changed to a good coil. I plan to change out ignition components from a good motor until I find the problem. Any other ideas?