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I just want to commend @jimkemp Jim Kemp. I bought one of his fantastic mufflers six years ago when I was putting together my little rat rod tractor. I had a nice roller with no engine at the time and my dad had a predator sitting on the shelf not being used for anything so I put that in there and I wanted a muffler. I bought one from Jim for, I think, $50 at the time which is an incredible price. I started noticing a tinging type rattle from the front of my tractor when I was driving it and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from for the longest time. One day last week I was pushing it out of the basement just to move it out of the way and I could hear it when the engine wasn't running so I did some shaking around on the machine and I finally figured out that the baffle inside the muffler was loose. I contacted Jim and he immediately asked if I could ship it back to him so he could inspect it. He said he had improved the design since my muffler was built. He cut open the muffler, repaired it for free, and shipped it back to me along with my shipping cost to reimburse me. On top of that he put a fresh coat of paint on it before he sent it back. I just wanted to say that so that everybody can hear how he treats his customers. I could not ask for a better experience. Here’s a before and after picture. Sorry for the bad angle on the after shot.

Decided to take a few pics of my 1257, touched up a few spots and tried to clean it a little. Also added a few things since last time I posted pics of her. Ordered a few decals from "redoyourhorse." Looking forward to those. Got more to do to her.

The mellow tone of Jim's mufflers is what sold me, one more happy customer.

Rims on the 867 were going to get painted….but after a good power wash and hard scrubbing with Dawn dish soap I decided to leave em alone. Shot the rear hubs red which matches the from hub covers. Ready for “cruisin”

Added a 2" front hitch receiver to the C-100. Should add lots of versatility and function for the tow/logging rig this will be.

Thanks everyone , I do my best to make sure they are the highest quality , but if something ever goes wrong all you have to do is let me know and i will always make it right no matter what , again thank you all Jim Kemp

I've bought a few mufflers from Jim and love them. He makes a quality product and has always provided great service to me.

Had a delivery this morning for a couple more projects

Painted up some front rims for a friend @Docwheelhorse (yes, for a Wheel Horse GT-1800). Didn’t use the playing card trick, stuck to my old tried and true tape/masking method. Smoke gray was the color of choice.

You were great with me when I had a problem trying to quiet down a loud 10hp kolher. Customer service was fantastic

I to bought from Jim! Great price and great quality! Oh and looks great too!!!

This boy has three lawns that he cuts each week. He loves gardening. Video games are not that important to him. He wants to learn.

Thank you, yea its definitely come a long way. Still a work in progress. Thinkin bout going to the big show next year and takin her with me. Haven't gotten a chance to go yet.

Red!!! White looks terrible

867….

Opinions please! So after power-washing and lots of elbow grease with Dawn dish soap these rims off my 867 have cleaned up nice and the original paint is not horrible. I’m tempted to not rattle can the rims and just re-install and “run em”. The insides of the rears are not as nice but so what, can’t really see the insides much. Keep thinking “They are only original once”. All four are the original Wheel Horse branded tires as well. Your thoughts please??

Love mine!

All finished up! That’s one way to change the oil… just swap engines!

Sweet tractor!

This is what absolute top level customer service is all about. @jimkemp. Nice. Thank you. I have a special edition of Jim's on my 1974 C160-8 Cinnamon Horse. Excellent build quality. Nice mellow low tone.

My new yard art. Day early but…

You shoulda bought a bunch of hub caps at the show to end all of these difficult decisions! Those rims look real good as is! Preference here would be red on the hubs. Gives it a nice contrast and looks good IMO

I like leaving them as they are...you just have to ask yourself..."Do they look good from a Lawn Chair on a hot day??""

on ebay. Just search wheel horse front hitch and it should come up. It hooks up like the mule drive. Pretty quick and easy.

Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, died Wednesday. He was 98. Men like him made it possible for us to be pursue happiness and live free. I just hope that their memories and sacrifices won’t be lost to revisionist history.

Got a can today. Haven't had a chance to do anything yet. More to follow.

That's a nice one!

Nice lookin' rig! Ya 'oughtta make the pilgrimage over here to Jim's place in September.

Wipe on Polyurethane is a product that can be wiped on with a cloth like an oil. It is a top coat. Unlike oils it leaves a film on surface but very thin. Ideal for furniture that cannot be sprayed. No brush marks . Needs to be scuffed between coats. It dries rather quick allowing a couple of coats the same day. Watco makes it but I prefer Minwax’s. It is lighter and dries faster. It comes in Satin and Gloss. I am not a great fan of latex products for finishing. Tung oil is an oil with dryers. There are several types. Pure tung oil is expensive and hard to get but the best type It is a good finish but as linseed oil it requires periodic reapplication as maintenance. All oils require maintenance. Unlike linseed oil it will not color most woods. I like the linseed because it imparts a warm patina to most pieces. Most wood species pop with it. One has to however maintain it or apply a light top coat as the Wipeon Poly. Another favorite of mine which needs no top coat is a mixture of 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 mineral spirits, and 1/3 Polyurethane. It can be wiped on. Four coats of that with buffing in between leaves a pleasant warm surface with a satin sheen that just begs to be touched.

Yup! Red it is…

I find this machine to be acceptable in its appearance

I'll second that. Mike those rims look great as they are. Maybe clear coat them? I would just run them...

Take one old implement seat. Length of scrap pipe and piece of plate. VIOLA!

I don’t but it came with an RD deck so it was a mower. Pressure wash helped some

Not the way most people would handle that but very effective.

Next up for rim painting is my 867. Inside of the rears is super nasty!!

All painted tried and tested. Legs could do with being at more of an angle. But it was done by guess work.

I spoke with a new attendee at the big show who had a perfect finish on his tractor. I just thought that his painting technique was so good that his finish did not require any tweaking. However, I found that he sands the finish coat with 1200 then 2000 grit, followed by compound and polish. Don, I think there are many 10 footers and 20 footers that look great.

Picked this up today, a rusted hunk. Freed up in 15 minutes, was not as bad as it looked. An old friend gave it to me. New they are 2K +

I used to do the "wait 48 hours to recoat" and then, as an experiment, tried the same "wet on wet" sequence (sometimes with one coat of primer). I've done this both with spray and brush application and, as Jeff notes, the results have so far been good. To be sure, I'm after "nice and clean" and "not "parade or museum" finishes. I was recently told I like "10 foot tractors" -- they look spectacular when viewed from a distance of 10'. Works for me.

Refinishing that set is a serious undertaking. My intent is not to sound discouraging but to make you aware of what you are up against. A total refinishing is not in my opinion the way to go. That requires a certain amount of knowledge about products for it and the compatibility of the different ones to be used. Parts such as the turned chair and table legs are not easy to do. Quite honestly if that job was to be given to a professional the cost would be several times the cost of a comparable new set. Set is most likely maple with a dark stain. I am sure that table top is veneered. So having said all of that what I would do if I wanted to keep it is the following. Again it is what I would do for myself and I am relatively pickey with these things , but it really depends on one’s taste which can’t be argued with. Set has quite a bit of wear. So why not make the most of that? I made furniture for clients that wanted that look and it is not easy to achieve from scratch. On areas such as the chairs , table legs and trestle preserve what is there . They are solid wood. Merely clean everything well with mineral spirits using a mild scotch brite pad such as the gray ones. You will already be surprised on the difference. Then oil it with a mixture of half boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits . Wipe it dry afterwards. That will bring everything back to life accentuating the natural patina of the worn parts. After that dries for a few days merely use a wipe on poly over everything. It will seal what you achieved in prior step keeping that fresh look. If not the oiled worn parts will look lifeless after a while. Two coats will suffice with a light scuffing between coats. Use a white scotch brute pad. Now for the hard part. The table top. It is the most visible part and it’s horizontal. If it was solid wood it would be easy but I believe it is veneered. It does not have a matching wear pattern as the other parts. It does have damage from liquid which penetrated finish. Solid wood would have a lot of options which cannot be used here. On that one I would sand the clear coat on it almost off not going through it. 220 stearated sandpaper going with grain using a block. You are going to get more white areas where water damage is and top coat is peeling . The edges of table should be solid and you can sand through color in areas to imitate wear. Then same as chairs . You may want to darken the white area with a little stain to even out top. The now thin top coat with the sandpaper scratches will absorb the oil mixture. Then the wipe on poly probably three coats . Scuff the last coat to eliminate any gloss and just polish it with cloth. You should get a result similar to photo below, Another idea is to paint everything but the top. I would then send top to a refinished and just stain and top coat. The top only will be reasonable in cost but not cheap.

Stumbled upon this 520H on Marketplace the other day. It was cheap, so I picked it up. It does not run and looks like it sat for some time with the missing air cleaner off. I'll attempt to start it in the coming months and see if I can save it. If the motor is junk, then I'll take the steering and put it on something else and part the rest. Model # shows 4120OE02 and serial #1031551. Anyone know the year for sure? I did a quick search and couldn't find the year. This appears to have the gear reduction steering from what I can see along with the swept axle. . I'm guessing 1991-1992 from memory of how the model numbering works. I know of the common issues with these, but I've never had a 520 before so I don't know much about them except for things that are the same as my 416H. Cory

AWESOME!! Those mid engine round hoods make the best yard art

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This is where the engine came from… BenTooLong’s C-101 thread I believe @ACman got this for free, with some other stuff, then Mark put some coin into it, then I paid him for what he had into it. It’s a good solid runner!

Yeah, the pickings are slim down here .... I'm over in La (Shreveport area) and theres a few in Tx. But, as mentioned, with the huge membership - and camaderie? of this group you can most always get a problem solved.

I have had good results with the Regal Red then later placing the parts in direct sunlight when dry letting the U.V. rays do their thing.

If that happens then we just do not deserve what they did for us for we can no longer then recognize honor and sacrifice, and their example will not be repeated when that need surfaces again. And surface it will.