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They say age creeps upon you. This morning it has with me. Eldest grandson's wife has just had a baby boy. I'm to young to be a great grandad. Honest!

The only thing built here that was documented through the process. RJ-58 made of toothpicks.

Here's a little something that I designed and put together a couple years back. Wife needed an office table.

The starter motor on my C-125 was making horrible grating noises and the engine was difficult to start. So off with the motor and I found the bush on the Bendix end was badly worn. You could waddle the shaft end quite a lot. Bit of a measure up and I obtained four new bushes. Not quite the same but with a bit of lathe work they would fit. Why four? you ask. Well I have three runners and a parts tractor. Mat as well do them all. New bushes are Oillite ones and should last me out. OD is the right size. 3/4" but to long and the ID was 1'2" when the shaft end was .520" Not a problem. The bush was pressed in place and the surplus end turned down in the lathe. I borrowed an expanding reamer from a local engineering shop and reamed out the centre. After doing the C-125s motor I tested it before fitting. All was well, so I decided to do the one on the C-121 (Black Horse) and the one off the parts tractor. They were badly worn as well. So that's two tractors with nice quiet starter motors and a spare. I'll check the C-81s motor sometime in the near future, though that isn't noisy.

Nothing like reading a good book.

What Cayuga Lake in NY looks like when the snow geese rest on their way back north. They're usually here for a month or so. This is just a picture to the north end of the lake, there's just as many to the south as well. With a phone it's hard to get a close up picture, but I'm sure you get the idea. As you can tell, there's more than a few.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! May you have a wee bit ‘o luck with your adventures today... and may God change all your green into Red...

That tractor comes to plow day again Kev we is either gonna rattle can it or throw tomatoes at it ... take yer pick!

I got a wife, just like that !

Happy Saint Paddy’s day! Be good, but just remember...

We are back to work on the 105 again. Covid shut us down for a while . I have a new group of students working on it. They don’t understand why we are restoring this old tractor. They say you can go to Home Depot and buy a brand new one for the price of the parts and materials we are dumping into it. They don’t know the difference between new junk and old quality yet. They are going to learn a lot from this project. Today’s youth are growing up in a disposable society. Restoration is not something that they understand. The kids are making good progress though. They are curious to see how it’s going to turn out.It’s going to blow their minds when they see this pile of metal come to life.

Because i feared the Tinning will destroy my original Sticker, i decided to grind the whole Beltcover down to bare metal with vibration grinder. Than primer and Paint. I‘m ok with the result.

I never complain about another birthday since I only have one other option.

I love the shows on TV about how things are made. Seemingly simple objects we see everyday but have no idea how they are made. So here I'd like to see the things you guys have made, either as part of your job or our WH obsession or another hobby. Especially if there is a twist to the making of it, something not apparent at first sight. I will start the ball rolling with this little item. It is a steel and brass block made with dovetail joints. It looks impossible but there it is. So how is it made?

This used to be a box I built for the cement floor in our old basement. It was for the litter of puppies we had. Just some deck boards mostly ripped on the highest setting on the table saw, then chiseled apart from there. After the puppies moved on, it became a plant stand. It’s slightly rickety and moves about, but doesn’t get jostled much and serves it’s purpose. The splits seem to give it a unique look, so I left them!

There is the block slid apart. So many engineers said the brass had to be cast onto the steel because they are conditioned to think of dovetails on machines always sliding at 90 degrees. The wooden ones are cool, but again I've heard people say its just painted on as it can't be done.

And saving the best for last

My brother had a high end detail business and he always said; adult driven and maintained. He could tell just walking up to a car or truck pretty much what the deal was going to be. He said don't get fooled by shiney. You got to look at the overall condition, rub the tires, look at the disc brakes for hot spots, and look for the waves in the sides. Beware of the wet look pictures on the web sites. I guess the same is true with tractors. Adult driven and maintained. My first wheel horse was a B100A. Real nice machine picked up used. When the kids got older and started to mow it got some bumps but it was maintained. I was never one to stop someone from learning in fear of messing up so the machine took some bumps. We had it 30 years in the family, one motor swap, one deck swap, and one new axle / hub. No hour meter, it had to have close to 2500 hours on it. Was still running strong when retired. One note, we cut an acre of hill side with the machine and it was in the govenor all the time. I picked up an old C120 with a broken rod a few years back on the cheap. I noticed when picking up the machine a teenager lurking in the background, kind of sheepish. Loaded it up and went home. The deck was fairly new and that was the reason for buying. The deck had a slight bend on the discharge front leading edge. It was hit so bad the spindle area was cracked. I could not see that until I removed the deck and was cleaning it up. The guy told me they used it at a hunting camp. Figured the kid ran her low on oil and threw a rod and somewhere, along the line, they hit a stump. I am suspicious when I go to look at one and it is warmed up. I think you can tell alot by a cold start. Looking at the the linkage on the carb and throttle shaft tells the tale also. Oil should be not super clean and not gritty or contaminated by water. You can pretty much tell from a tractors surroundings how it was taken care of. Not drove hard and put away wet. Hour meters are best used to dictate service intervals and not overall equipment life.

Give me well taken care of every time. My 2014 F-150 has 287,000 miles and still runs, drives, and looks like new. I’m very picky and I wouldn’t trade it for an almost new, low mileage truck that someone else “broke” in. I’ve done nothing to this truck but oil changes, tires, one battery, one set of new brakes, one set of plugs, and one water pump. Same thing with Dad’s 78 C-161 with the twin Briggs. It pushed snow and mowed his 1 acre, hilly yard since 1979 and is still all original with nothing more than regular maintenance, a metal seat pan, and a few batteries over the years. Now it’s my ground engaging implement tractor and still going strong.

Went off-roading today. Been cleaning out the over growth behind the house and discovered there is a lot of open ground behind the brush. Still a lot of cleanup to doesnt. It also drops off and slopes down about 3-4 feet to flat ground. There will be trails out there eventually

My Johnson Workhorse FEL is on a GT-14 which is very much like the 953/1054. Here are a couple shots of the pump.

Thanks. I wanna ride lol

I have managed to get a start on the belt guard. I think the next thing is the console cover.

Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!

This puzzle has been a favorite if wood workers for a long time. It actually slides apart from corner to corner. Skip to about 2:45 in the video, to see the jist of the process.

I brought the seat pan home with me from the farm and tried sanding it down to original paint The 2 repaint color coats were fairly thick. I got kind of aggressive with some 180 and still didn’t sand through them. I moved to plan B and gave it a @pullstart 320 wet sand and 2 coats of Rustoleum rattle can satin clear, wet sanding between coats with some 600. The 3 shades of red kind of fits the “Patches” name.

Pit road security. I make sure people have the right credentials to be on pit road and garage area. it’s cool being around all the action. All the race cars and drivers are right next to me during the day.

You need to keep your nephew away from your tractor. First pull the spark plug out and turn the engine over several times to clear the gas from the cylinder. Then check the oil, make sure that it is not over full from gas draining in the crank case. If it is over full or smells like gas then change the oil. After those checks, put the spark plug back in and you should be good to go.

I know everyone for their car would logically focus on how many miles accumulated over the years, or for their WH how many hours ??? -- I frequently see on the forum comments with focus on "low hours" -- but I also see focus on if buying "used " to be mindful of how was it maintained - so not to start a debate --- but which would most people prefer to own or buy -- a high hour, well cared for WH -- or a low hour that's not been given routine TLC -- which begs the question -- which would an owner prefer to have in their yard? My 1989, 312-8 is not show room appearance but in decent condition for 32 yrs of serious use ( mowing, plowing, tiller, fall leaves, etc) and it treats me well -- my Dad taught me the same commandment most of you know -- " A tool will take care of you as well as you take care of it" So.... high hours well maintained - or low hours and not so?

Picked up some steel need for the 1257H build and a new saw to cut it with!

"Consider yourself a fortunate man. Not many have the opportunity to witness three generations of their descendants. I can only hope to be so lucky" At 81yrs I do indeed consider myself lucky..... I recently had my first family related "not good" event with the loss of my little bride of 61 yrs to that awful dementia. Otherwise I have 2 sons who between them have 7 children and between them there are the 7 'greats'. Almost daily I pause to be in awe that of that group with all leading productive lives, no jail time, no drug heads, no alcoholics, and all get along.... Wow! if I do say so myself!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. A day that brings back fond memories. When I was a young man working as a journeyman in NYC I worked with numerous Irish craftsmen since at that time there was a great immigration influx from there. What ever building we would be working in at the time, many times in high rises, on that day there would be a cook out on the roof. We all would chip in in prior weeks and the night before a few designated ones would go shopping. On St Patty's day then starting in the morning they would start cooking so it would be ready for lunch. We would all go and have a great time . Day would of course be over then, since after we would go watch the Parade on Fifth Av. Great memories and even Greater people.

Congratulations. Consider yourself a fortunate man. Not many have the opportunity to witness three generations of their descendants. I can only hope to be so lucky.

Man you move along... Looking good!

Congratulations there nORM !!! It's not like you had anything to do with it though.

HAPPY ST. PATRIC'S DAY

BROCKPORT BILL, being a maintenance nut , I favor staying after it , not so much on the trailer queen look , but clean and solid in every area . lack of any service and neglect will destroy any tractor. my original 82 -c 85 coming on 40 years , has many hours on it , but was always kept in a shed , and regularly serviced and upgraded. just was out on a road ride , from the junk i have seen , its neglect that kills them . steadily brought all 3 of my horses up to the same operational upgrades , wiring , fuel, lubrication. all upgraded electronic ignition , new seats . don't even think about the hours , just jump on anything that acts up , correct it and probably do the same to the other 2 . they all start and run the same . will not hesitate to redo a nagging issue , does not have to be pristine perfect . but its bombproof reliable , that's what I want , just my own experience , no offence to anyone , pete

Before I found Wheel Horses and developed an addiction there, I did a good bit of metal and wood working. This is a replica of the (in)famous German MG42 from WW11, its 'guts' are from a Ruger 1022 and yes it does indeed fire .22 caliber bullets -- in semi-automatic! These are made from plans found on the web, they were quite labor intensive - you wont do one of these over the weekend, but I got great pleasure from them

Only a couple of years newer but I have rebuilt suspension, headlights and exhaust. My compression tests came back good. Been running way too rich and have carbon buildup, but power is still good. Still need my second dose of snake oil.

And just like that I'm considering a steel seat on a C series

I go by age more than anything. The Blackhoods and 300 series and up don't like to be left out side for long. Always find them rotted. While the pre 80's tractors seem to be fairly stout even with being worked longer and harder. With the ease of replacing the wear items like engines, transmissions and steering components, I go for the oldies

Kahlua is coffee. Sort-a. Kind-a. But I too switched to coffee. Part of my morning routine as I apply all necessary band-aids. Only 3 today. I'm doing good.

I will agree with that. That being said, I have bought several China carbs from him, and they all were adequate Like @ebinmainesaid, if you can find a decent re-buldable carb. Thats the way to go.

I made some lift arm rods Used 3/8” rod from flower wreath stands. Also made some belt guard spacers from 1/4” pipe x 1-7/16” long I also put a coat of gloss black appliance epoxy on the spokes of one of the steering wheels.

I made these a few years ago, bushing, bearing and seal drivers. They will set the bearing in correct depth, then use the same one to press the seal in.

I try to get one tractor restored a winter and this winter was my youngest sons rj. They are a fun little tractors to do! And of course we had to make it match big brothers! Just a few things to button up and will be ready for show season!

I thought I would give engine turning a dash plate a whirl for the heck of it. I think it came out good enough for a tractor.

Old tool box and a bunch of wrenches I got real cheap at an auction. Turned them into a bird feeder. Took a pedal car with custom paint job turned it into a real cool baby stroller. Welded a big castor wheel under the front end to lift the front wheels about 1/2 inch off the ground. Hacked up a car seat to fit in. Made the handle bars. Made the front bumper to hide the castor wheel. Steers like a shopping cart. Another head turner at the car shows.

This is my personal favourite. I brought a huge teapot for the ship as there is a group of us that like drinking tea. It's revolutionised our social life onboard and at times the messroom has the buzz of a pub - a far cry from when I first started and everybody hid in cabins. Anyway, we wanted a tea cosy for the pot and a dozen people promised to knit one.... And never did. I got bored of that and was sitting there one day playing with my hard hat when an idea formed - so simple, elegant and entirely appropriate. The stickers are home made and just nonsense to make it look cooler. It's been popular, and I have had to make several more for "clients"! There is also a pile of hard hats with holes in that were the wrong shape for the pot, and a lot of guys wondering what happened to their hats.....