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Camping for the weekend with the gang and decided to bring the RJ along . I made sure to bring some carb cleaner .

Found this 867 for sale an hour from home. Original owner, came with paperwork and a bucket of spare parts, old belts etc. Also new in a canvas bag were tire chains bought for it but never installed. On the ad I could see it was original paint, but when I arrived the elderly gentleman thought he had done me and the tractor a huge favor and shot the top of the hood and fender pan with rattle can red . The new paint is only a week or two old and wasn’t painted onto the decals. I’ll be looking for thoughts on getting it off if you have any. Obligatory pics…

Let’s see all the RJ’s and suburbans that are in Europe / United Kingdom. Here’s my two RJ-58’s.

c-125 with a 42 RD mowed this strip very nicely

Mine were working but the bearings were shot. Replaced them , degunked the innards sanded the commutators.

First let me start by saying I’m not a RJ guy. These two engines are model 8 Briggs with good compression. According to the prior owner the one was off a rj25 and the black one was a spare engine in case the red one failed. Both have compression. Apparently the red one was running when it was removed years ago when the tractor was scrapped (yes I know but it was probably in the mid 70’s and it was just considered an old tractor at the time so don’t shoot me I’m only the messenger) I don’t keep up with current pricing of RJ stuff and I would appreciate some input regarding pricing these engines to help sell them. From my research the 1955 rj25 did use the rope start. I appreciate the assistance and will be posting in the classified once I know what I’m dealing with.

I got tired of waiting for Trina to offer up her 867..

IT’S NOT MINE, SORRY FOR ALL THE YELLOW YOU’RE ABOUT TO WITNESS! Can anyone point out features that would confirm this is an RJ35? Pond transmission, Clinton 1200 engine like my RJ35, etc. The for sale sign states 1957. Is it a Schnake recoil?

Grandchildren and go together well and they will have a lifetime of memories of time spent with grandpa and that little tractor. I will give you fair warning, these little horses tend to multiply.

My lilacs dropped their leaves 30 yrs. Ago. When I ripped them out! Bad allergies!

I love Beagles. Always have but watch them around your rotisserie chickens 🐓!

Options were pool time or wake up the tractors. Win! “Cheeeeese! All done.”

@dclarke

OH! You know... this place. 🤣😂🤣😂 Can't miss it!

"My own Show" and a great one it is Jeff. Sure to draw lotsa attention at the campground.

You might want to start with a front mount mower. I use mine sort of like a bush hog. Since it gets to the stuff before the tractor has run over it knocking it down it does better job. Since it is out front you could cut off the front lip if the deck (Just don't tell OSHA)

Mine are hardwired, interconnected and have a 9v battery back up. When one goes off they all go off! Few years back we had a false alarm. It was the basement detector that triggered first. Once I had everything quiet I took it apart somewhat on my kitchen table to discover a spider had built a web inside it and triggered the “eye” that detects smoke. I now blow em out with compressed air every year.

Don't have Lilacs, but my lawn thinks it's April.

Believe it or not, I have a schedule sometimes. Yesterday was busy with chasing a cute 3 year old around and picking up tables for a garage yard sale. Today, I need to push hard to finish the outdoor kitchen for my Aunt and Uncle. Paycheck’s on Friday, or whenever I finish… whatever comes last!

and you haven't gone to get it yet

If YOU buy it, You better get some asbestos pants!

I use Stens blades and think they do the job fine. I have a distributor that sells to the public so I got 3 blades for my 42" for $18

You got that right buddy! Most of us 'lock' the rear axles, not only for traction, but for up AND down hills. If its a greasy decline, a non-locked rear will actually turn one tire backwards if the other gets some grip, and it gets flat out dangerous. Same for inclines- if one tire starts spinning, then happens to grab a root or rock, they can go over violently and without warning. The second scenario is exactly what happened to me early on- on a pretty rough old 654 with a hopped up 11hp OHV. That is also exactly why I sold the 654 and built something a bit more common and less desirable than beating up a very tired, but functional round hood. The 654 went through 3 more owners in 2 months. I spoke with two of the 'new' owners and they said it was too scary and dangerous to ride. In the end, the final owner put it back to stock and pulls a firewood wagon through the woods. Kinda makes me feel good.

I asked about him around a year ago or so after not hearing from him for a while, then he showed back up here and then disappeared? Reason being is that I always enjoyed his input.

OK! I get the message.

Worked on the 60 inch deck off of the 522xi. Anti scalp wheels shot and shaft worn out. It is amazing how that plastic wheel wears the metal shaft. I used an aftermarket wheel that came with a sleeve from 3/8 to 5/8". I eliminated the sleeve and used 5/8 grade 5 bolts for new shafts. Thinking maybe that deck is just to heavy for the 3/8" bolt. Hoisted her to remove wheels. Cut down along the vertical shaft. Then cut down along angle support. Grind off the excess remaining weld and knocked out the worn stub. Took a 5/8" x 6 bolt, cut to length, jiged it up, squard and welded. A little paint installed a new wheel and voila! Good as new! Last another 25 years.

In our bed, dark and sleeping. Middle of the night, fire alarm goes off. Not a chirp, full on alarm. I never felt the knob, I never covered my face or took a deep breath. Momma’s awake now, because I flipped our light on as I ran out the door. Jada comes flying downstairs, one cat at the door, no smoke, no fire, full on alarm. I’m blowing on it like the kid’s extra crispy bacon is done and it won’t stop. Mrs. P tosses me a shirt, I whack the thing a few times and it’s off. 2013 date code, I know they are rated for 10 years but time to replace ‘em all. Moral of the story, I did not think, just acted. I could have killed myself long before rescuing my family. Rylee upstairs never heard a thing, Jil downstairs heard something, but thought it might be a wake up alarm for the kids, one cat came strolling down 5 minutes later. I’d have had a 50% survival rate in the house. I know that fire drills are better done with a planned practice, but that doesn’t mean instinct won’t kick in. Be safe out there, and here’s a reminder to check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms too!

Sounds like waterloo for sure

I mowed with the 414-8 then aired it off clean. After a bit of thought I started to do the deck treatment @peter lena does. I was going to do the deck, service and store it. From there my plan is to clean the tractor and service it then outfit it for winter after making some quick repairs. I hadn’t cleaned the deck since the start of the season other than blowing off the build up I could see through the chute or rust holes. It was a whopping mess. Several hours later and a cleaning with some kerosine I have to still finish the underside of the deck. From there I’ll need to do some repairs. I noticed a few issues with the deck. Missing bolts, loose bolts, and a bent rod and a heavily worn belt. After I cleaned the outside with kerosine I noticed it was cracked where the rear mounting hardware is bolted to the deck pan. I still have to do the oil treatment to the paint. For now though I’m calling it a day.

@Sparky Try some Easy-Off oven cleaner. We used it in the body shop to remove painted on lettering from fleet vehicles. Try a small spot first, spray it on, leave it for 10min or so, new paint should wash right off.

1967- 867 (and my yard art machine )

Thanks guys!

Nursing homes were exciting. For some reason they like to do breathing treatments at 10:00 at night. They don't tell anyone that they are doing them either. Well they set the fire system off so here comes the Fire Dept. Saw a pretty good brawl between the Fire Chief and nurse manager one night!

Oooo, teasing me with a trail pic are ya! Chances are very good for a trail ride. Some work travel came up that was close to screwing up a northern trip…but not close enough.

You definitely are the whole show there Jeff!

Mine are hardwired also, with battery backup of course. One day they went off for no reason... windows open, nice day... never did find the reason for the alarm. They were pretty old though, so I replaced them all. One thing I wish the manufacturers would do though... when the batteries start to go low, they emit that infernal 'chirp' like every three minutes or so. It's almost impossible to locate the one that's chirping. Why can't they put a latching amber LED on them so you can easily tell which one is making that infernal chirp? Of course if one battery is bad the others aren't far behind so I change them all when it happens. I also TRY to remember to change the batteries once a year if they chirp or not.

You have to watch me too! Cute pup.

Meh, it's OK... everything is odd these days.

Yes sir, its this machine! Holding up beautifully, zero issues.

Oh yeah! A few guys have stretched the frame and moved the rear back and it helps a bunch. Theres a ton of em up in the Michigan area who stretch the front ends out as much as 2 feet! Lot of high speed atv trails up there I guess and it helps with stability- they also run out of traction long before even thinking about flipping. There are two distinct types in the offroad mower community- those who will cut and modify and make a 100% capable machine, and other who don't want to go too crazy and lose the 'tractor' part. I am in the second group, and will gladly give up some capabilities to have what many would still consider a tractor. We are already pushing these things far beyond what they were ever intended for

Anytime what you're cutting is high enough to be pushed down before making contact with the blade, the harder it is to cut. That's why the front of a bush hog is open. It provides the best chance of the blade making contact with grass or brush before pushing it down. If you want a bush hog, you'd need to cut the front off the deck you plan to use. Given how close the driver is to the ground on a Wheel Horse, any towed mower is dangerous. A bush hog will throw most anything it hits out to the front. It's a bad place to be... What makes bush hogs effective is also what makes them dangerous. If I were going to fab a bushog on a WH, I'd find or make a front mount. So long as it's used away from people, it's far safer on these little tractors. Just my two cents. Many operators of ATV type towed brush cutters have stitches or worse to prove my point.

How much does he want for it Kev, and what's the address...

We PMed about a week ago. He said "fine and crazy busy". And that he'll be back online soon.

Rehabbed 2 Delco gennys and tested them on the test stand. Need a new pulley. Think I got one stashed somewhere.

I remember fire drills at the hospital. Everybody had a certain job . Nurses were "SUPPOSED TO" close all patient rooms. We had this fake fire thingy. A wooden stand cut out to look like a fire with red blinking lights. The deal was, security would call us that they were having a drill on a certain floor as we needed to man the fire panel. On night we had this drill and security sets out the fake fire in the hall and we wait for someone to pull the alarm. This nurse who thought she was Pamela Andersen strolls by looks at the fire thingy and keeps on walking. Me and the security guys look at each other and it's like WT............! They got a failing mark and a good butt chewing. We did have a real fire in out Co-Gen plant though. 6 454 Chevy marine engines running on natural gas. One gas line broke off a carburetor and away she went. Nothing like the smell of burn't fiberglass! The Fire Dept almost Hit a live 480Volt panel with their main line. Good thing the electrician hit the Co-Gen main off inside the main electrical room and I got the gas main off! Funny home fire alarm story. I'm 6'1" but my mother and sister were short. I had moved away and my mom bought this fancy fire alarm system. This one when it goes off it yells FIRE!!! EXIT THE HOUSE IMMEDIATELY!!!! It went off on night for no reason and they couldn't turn it off. It was installed so high they couldn't get to it even with one of those 2 step stools. So they started throwing things at it. Shoes, books you name it. My mother ended up throwing a cast iron frying pan at it to knock it down!

And these are the reasons why Trina and I DO NOT drive our tractors on or off a truck or trailer.

From restored to original and every thing in between I like all Suburban's. Here is a picture of my 400.

How can you possibly expect to get any work done in a neat spacious garage like that? The rest of us know that you need to be in a cramped shop with lots of stuff all over the place to get any work done. Looking forward to more updates.