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Jiffy-Till and Jiffy-Cart San Diego County, CA, is the acknowledged avocado capital of the nation. Tyler S. McDonald was an enthusiastic proponent of San Diego County’s avocado industry and was also an accomplished mechanic. McDonald’s interest in agriculture and his mechanical ability bore the fruit of the Jiffy-Till and Jiffy-Cart. The Jiffy-Till was a one-handled rototiller with steel “paddle wheels” which provided excellent traction. Introduced in 1948, the Jiffy-Till was powered by an Ultimotor engine, with the option of using a 2 or 3 horsepower. It was available with the paddle wheel steel engine or rubber tires with the “free wheeling” (differential) feature. Original pricing: 2 H.P. with US Royal Tires – $280. 2 H.P. on metal wheels – $265. 3 H.P. with US Royal Tires – $305. 3 H.P. on metal wheels – $290. Advertisements for the Jiffy-Till appeared nationally publications such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, and Farm Implement News, as well as in several West Coast newspapers. The San Diego Union newspaper, gave an account of the Jiffy-Till in their October 19, 1948 article, titled “La Mesan Develops Small Power Tiller”. “A La Mesa man, Tyler McDonald, has recently put on the market a new gadget which is designed for the home gardener with an ambitious planting area or the small orchardist. The machine is called the Jiffy-Till and is designed to chop up the ground to the depths of as much as six inches. The machine is the second of the tiller family to be developed by McDonald. He made his first one, a four-horsepower machine, in 1934 and sold the manufacturing rights on it. The present one, with a 1-1/2 horsepower engine, cut a swath of 16.5 inches. It is guided by a person who follows at the length of a handle. Machines are manufactured in Los Angeles and McDonald operates the business from his La Mesa office. “We are making one-a-day now but could boost production to one-an-hour if the demand made it necessary,” McDonald said. McDonald, who ran an avocado nursery for 12 years, says he invented the Jiffy-Till to perform the shallow cultivating necessary in young groves. Lake the larger Roto-Tiller, the machine chops up weeds and cover crops which are left to rot and fertilize. Therefore, McDonald explains, it is suitable for use in plowless agriculture.” In 1953 McDonald came up with the Jiffy-Cart, a mechanical cart capable of climbing up slopes. An article in the San Diego Union, published October 4, 1953, In response to requests from avocado orchardists, McDonald came up with the design and construction of “a vehicle to help in the care and harvest” of avocados. “The cart has a four-wheel drive and can climb a 30 degree grade with a 200-pound load in addition to the driver. Power is provided by a 3.5 horsepower, four-cycle, air-cooled gasoline engine. Extreme maneuverability is afforded by utilization of a caterpillar tractor principle holding the pneumatic wheelbarrow-sized wheels on one side motionless while the other wheels turned. The driver sits on a bicycle-type seat at the rear. There are no hand controls. The cart is steered with the feet.” Later in the article, “A drive shaft emerging between on both sides of the vehicle contains small rubber-covered wheels which fit down against the main wheels – rubber against rubber – to force the cart into motion when the drive shaft turns. As with the Jiffy-Till, the Jiffy-Cart appeared in Popular Mechanics.

A Hoyer patient lift makes a great small engine lift. I purchased mine used, but in like new condition for $150. I added a fabricated spreader bar. It has a 400 lb capacity and includes a padded u-sling with head support and a commode sling with positioning strap. You should have seen the look on my wife's face after I unloaded it from the back of the truck. I told her I was investing in my future. Honestly, I haven't tried out the slings. LOL!

I got this Johnny Dreere in last week for spring service. I worked on it last year for wiring issues. The mice really enjoyed the Deere flavored wiring. The owner figured he would giver them a choice and wired bait to the wiring harness. I thought the idea was creative. No wiring issues this year.

Fair amount of small things checked of today. Coil on. Got out some ground straps. Cleaned up the engine Coil on. Carb and all linkage on. Used new screws with built-in lock washers to hold the air cleaner housing on All buttoned up New flywheel bolts with flat and lock washers New sparkable plug Ran a separate ground wire to the Voltage Regulator Cleaned up the solenoid terminals and installed the positive wires. Made a new sparkable plug wire from NOS Belden cable and Napa ends After her work was done for the day Trina got the Mid Hitch Tachamatic on.

Paid $10.00 for the Buffalo, girlfriend has claimed it.

Update: Wheel Horse Wannabe wagon is done. Greasy Pete @peter lena treatment to all moving parts... @Vinylguy decals perfect as always... Ready for the Memorial Day parade!!!

hiya y'all, long time no see. in preperation to an upcoming ploughing match, something i havent been able to do round here for a couple years, i thought i might aswell put the decals on i got from mark years ago. it really makes a big difference on the appearance doesnt it

It worked for me. Here's a picture of it lifting a Kohler 12, but also used it for two different Onan twins.

I replaced the brake pad a few years ago Used Goop adhesive and zip ties. Worked well.

I picked up a similar unit years ago at Goodwill for $25.00 then picked up a small woodstove from a thrift store for $100.00 sand stuff both in the XC 70 Volvo wagon while Mrs. El and I were in vacation , 250 miles from home. Boy you talk about the look I got plus there were lot of words that filled the air. I use my lift all the time .same with the stove.

I would start with a transmission oil and filter change. Drain in a clean pan and look for water and debris. Jack up the right front to get more old oil out. Likewise, remove the filter and cut it open to see if there is metal or other debris. Be sure it had the correct filter. Report back.

Improved my 2" hitch receiver! I updated my original project thread but here is the short version. Cut up a 2" tow ball to use the shaft to weld on the bottom and rest on the original tractor tow bar for down pressure support. Then welded the ball to the top of the receiver. This will be better for my pulling and dragging needs. A large D shackle fits in the opening for straps or chains.

So you want Trina to buy it for you.

C-160 with Kohler engine Hydro and Hydro lift......got one I searched for for years. Its a gem! you won't regret the purchase.

Yeah, I've never done that....

Add some meatballs and a piece of garlic bread and it'll look pretty good! LOL

I found a picture of my first hot rod today. This was an ‘87 or so Regular cab short box S10, with a 350 v8 and 700R4 transmission. I welded the rear spider gears (Lincoln Locker) and had a Predator carburetor on it. It was a single barrel HUGE square carb with a massive butterfly. It was basically all or nothing. It would idle ok and run W.O.T. And not much in between. At one point, I milled my own header flanges and built zoomies about 16” long 1-7/8” tube straight out the fenders. Loud? Whatchu talkin’ bout Willis?

I saw this one post up. It's about 6 hours from me. If would have been half that I would have it There's also a C-160 Automatic WITH the single cylinder Kohler near Joplin for $600 that looks in great shape and well cared for. No attachments but sort of a rare tractor being full hydro with the single 16 in great shape.

Not much done on the build this week, just a few bits of sub miniature welding.... It's actually liquid metal adhesive, piped out of a hypodermic syringe needle just like icing a cake. When it's painted it'll look just like arc weld. I'm also making a mini linisher or flat belt machine to help in the build. Made a start today with the flat bed and front idler pulley. The belat are 40mm wide and the bed will be just three inches long. I'm planning to run it using the flexible shaft motor I have which should be powerful enough. Just have to build a drive connector.

Looks great and I'm sure you'll get plenty of use from it. Maybe you should use this rig to "mow" the back yard that eats your mower decks. At least the tines will hold up longer... ;-)

Here it is sorry I was late to show you guys

Did some modifications to the hitch. So I don't need the tow ball a lot and I don't like using it to pull things. I know the rig won't pull hard enough to damage it but the straps or chains do come off when pulling partially broke and hanging branches. So wanted to keep the ball hitch option but used a closed loop as well. Didn't want to buy one cause that's no fun. So repurposed some old stuff lying around. I cut the shaft off an old 2" ball I took off an old 92 GMC truck and it's been in a drawer for 20 years or so. I'm going to use the shaft part to weld on the bottom to brace the hitch off the original rear hitch bar. Just to take out some of the downward twist off the trans in case something is heavy enough to do that. Then there is enough room and the hitch sticks out far enough that I welded the ball to the top of the receiver. I won't plan to pull or drag with it, just move a trailer or boat around a little. Then I had this old hitch that I found buried in the ground at a state park. It's a monster, rated for 9,000lbs. Didn't have a ball on it and was damaged on the received end. I ground the damaged part down and you'd never know now. I'll use a D shackle to connect straps and chains to it. So this should serve my needs well with my pulling rig! ground flush All painted and in finished form!

Great find. He'll really look nice after a little wire brushing and a light oil rub.

Well, I got this done. No brakes and not shifting to neutral on a 20hp…done and done!! (All fixed now!) That lower one was tweaked pretty hard!

It takes a lot to bend one of these decks that much. My bet---you don't have it mounted right; Look at this pic as it MUST be mounted this way.

Same for tail lights for that matter...

A few more things done today. Engine oil added. Kinetix HD30. 1.5 qts. Dropped the transmission oil. Changed the filter. Test fit the hood.

I got 'er done today. It has been a really interesting project. I expected it to take longer to complete than it did. For one thing, I purchased most of the stuff for repair locally and I spent a bunch of hours in the shop the past ten days. Although I used synthetic felt instead of wool felt and taped the bellows instead of replacing them, each and every knob or key produces sound. As I cleaned and worked on it, I thought to myself "It's been 115 to 130 years since some of these parts have been removed or messed with." I did discover one thing, I'll never play an instrument like this. I have dupuytren's disease. This disease causes fingers to roll in and there is no way I can stretch my fingers to make a cord. If you look lower left, you'll see the sawhorse "stool" I sat on while one-fingering the keyboard. The hymnal (printed in the 1920's) is only for show. I can't real a lick of music and those dots and things don't mean a thing to me! I think I spent about $40 in supplies.

I have a few old wagons. The one with the flowers is the oldest. It had spoke wheel but they were rotted out. I replaced them with wheels I took off the hot rod wagons and just painted them to look rusty.

The picture is not hosted on RedSquare, it is from a Google link, maybe it was temporary, in any event the url does not point to anything now. edit: if someone sends me the email, I can replace the picture

Gave it some paint and put her up til (till?) next time. https://youtube.com/shorts/pfoegcpGqJM?si=6XZ037QHssLnHlKG

Dump that fuel pump...they are not reliable. I have one that works one that died 800 ft from home

I've had a couple where i just painted the base and used it old school... bumpy butt... cheap and it works...

My plan is if it’s still up in april then I will get it. March has been busy. Sorry for making you guys go crazy over this

my grandson has a '80 of the C165-8 - - and i have the 83 and 84 C175h with kohler twin --- hard to find the Kohler singles of a 14 or 16 with a hydro -- the master list shows 14hp singles with hydros in 80-81-82-83-84 but the 16 kohler single with hydro is listed only in 80 and 81 - finding a for sale C165h is like looking for gold bars

@953 nut I don't know where your find your trivia items, but I love reading them every morning. Much more interesting than the crapola from the talking heads.

Love ♥️ the "Colossal" idea but that won't be a mower. It could PULL one though.....

Just cut it and keep it mowed every month or two... or three... it's pretty straightforward... Idea... Get Colossus going and use it. great photo op of that hood ornament plowing through the impenetrable unknown...

I've done it many times over the years. Mainly blazing new trails. Not just tall grass but stuff a brush cutter is made for. Usually I don't hit it first with the deck in the up transport position but I'll have the adjuster in the highest position. Often times the grass/weeds are taller than the tractor and don't have a chance to raise back up into the blades. After the first pass I mow it again in the opposite direction. In some cases I mow about 10' then back up over what I just mowed. Even though my decks are side discharge doing that really gets aggressive. You're not going to get it pretty right away. Just regular mowings over a few weeks and it comes around. Sharp blades? Nah. Mowing that stuff will take the edge right off in just a few feet, I'll actually wait until after a few lawn mowings and I'm wanting to sharpen the blades.

I’ve cut very tall DRY grass in the hay field with my 312-12 with 42” s/d deck with the deck in the raised position🙀. I was once given a Westwood D1200 ride on by a relative, this had a 42” cut. It had twin discs with short pivoting blades, like a full size drum or disc mower for hay cutting. This would cut any length grass with no trouble. I’ve also found in the past, the pedestrian lawn mowers with this type of blade arrangement have far less issues with long grass than those with a single straight blade. I wonder if something like this would work fitted to a Wheelhorse R/D deck? The Westwood had a Lombardini diesel engine of , 6 or 7 hp?

So one thing I’ve noticed when I cut tall thick grass with my wheel horses vs my zero turn at work is blade speed. The blade speed on the WH is slower and it leaves a bunch of random tall pieces sticking up. I have run mine with the lift arm all the way up several times then slowly dropped it down with each pass. It can be done it just may not be fast. with the idea of a deflector angled down this would help keep things from flying through the air but it also will create a thick windrow of clippings. If you make a second pass this windrow will have to be taken into consideration.

I day dreamed about the puller build we are going to do. Need to get in the garage and reorganize some stuff. I bought a new tool box and have to wheel my old one out and bring the new bigger one in. Then time to tackle some stuff tractor related.

Old thread, but this is a good example of the difference between "cool" (6000) and "warm" (4500) PAR 36 LEDs. And for all the non-believers, that bright thing in the background is afternoon sunlight. These things are bright in daylight!

141" belt on, spring on, massaged the rear idler into perfect alignment...gear oil drained and changed. I tilled for a good 45 minutes with no drama at all. The only drama came from my 5gallon bucket of 85w140 gear oil and the manual bucket pump...it had no hose clamp on the hose, and there wasn't one provided..so about the 3rd pump, i painted the shed wall with gear oil. Tomorrow hopefully C100 gear oil swap, and 702 gear oil swap. Saving the 312 for last because its going to make a mess.

Married up the frame and tranny on the C-160 renovation. Startling to get back together.

Eric gets a high voltage shock (DC) whenever a new post appears on RS!

Fitted a new engine in my commando 7 race mower.

I’ve got an 88 418 Kohler hydro from from factory

@bds1984 Did I just hear someone say something about 418’s and a 420 ? Sorry but my 417 is buried in the shed with the two stage blower on it so it didn’t make the pictures!