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Today’s letter is “E” and we will examine a company that engineered a good tractor but fell victim to economic extremes. Eagle Tractors The Eagle Mfg. Co. began as the Eagle Fork Company in 1881. The new Appleton, WI, company was headed up by Richard Miller, a blacksmith by trade, John Kanouse and William Polifka. They had 6 employees, and the product line included hay tools, horse power sweeps and saw mill frames. Horse power sweeps are used to drive machinery. A right-angle gear transforms the horse’s circular motion to a driveshaft to operate a machine connected to it. The Eagle Mfg. Co. was becoming a diversified company, manufacturing many different products. A sales catalog talked about their extensive line of equipment including: single cylinder gasoline engines, engine/saw combinations, silage cutter/blowers, horse-powered sweeps, power jacks, saw rigs, burr mills and grain grinders. Gasoline engines and tractors became the primary focus. In 1899 they produced their first stationary gas engine. They then entered the tractor market in 1906 with a two-cylinder design for a 32 hp tractor. The first model was closely followed by a range of four-cylinder tractors in 1910, producing 16-30, 25-45 and 40-60 hp. These were still relatively heavy machines, and in 1913 Eagle introduced the two-cylinder Model D series to meet farmers' demands for a lightweight tractor. In 1930 they entered production of a row crop tractor utilizing a Hercules QXB-5 6-cylinder engine, Clark 185F 4 speed transmission and a Timken-Detroit differential. The post World War One agricultural depression and the great depression of the 30's fell hard on many small companies and Eagle Mfg. was no exception. They were plagued by declining sales and high operating expenses, even though they built a good quality 6 cylinder, standard or row crop tractor. 1938 was the end of production for the company. In 1941 the company was sold to the Four Wheel Drive Auto Co. of Clintonville, Wisconsin, ending the 60 year history of operation for the Eagle Manufacturing Company.

Well we got some good ol'Oklahoma storms last night and had some high wind damage. My In-laws across the street had a good size branch come down so I got to put the 312-8 with wood chipper into service

I'm not getting involved in this "older than" conversation. I'm overqualified.

Oh yeah? Well I’m younger than @squonk’s darned socks, @elcamino/wheelhorse’s ripped underwear elastics and @stevasaurus’ blue striped shirt!

That truck sat for 12 years before PO called the junk yard to come get it. It had 17,000 miles on it. My nieces husband's family owns the junk yard. My mom paid the 350 dollar scrap fee that they paid to the PO. My nieces husband changed brakes and brake lines, fuel lines, some electrical issues were squirrels had chewed wires. Put those wheels and new tires on it. Then they surprised me with it when I was in hospitol for 4 and a half months battling cancer. Gave me something to look forward to. So to say I got it cheap is not correct. I fought hard for that thing .

From the look of the dead man type coiled lead to cut the engine this thing leaves the driver sitting in mid air as it takes off, like a wil-e-coyote cartoon. Acme rocket powered garden tractor... BEEP! BEEP!

I've got more scars then Pullstart !!

I bet my puller is older than you!

Is steering necessary ?

I saw the other day about pulling a flywheel or pulley, but I can’t find it. This is how I do it.

We cut a deal on another vehicle for our fleet today. Got a 2022 Pacifica mini van. Came out of a rental fleet. Is very clean and straight, and appears to have ALL of the options. We are going to be at least a month figuring out all of the switches, buttons, and menu levels on that cursed touch screen. Plan is to use it for car camping on longer trips, making it easier to travel with the dog.

I got shoes and boots older the pullstart.

Jumping in for the ride. Looking forward to this girl coming back to life.

Thanks to both of you…..I’ve read through both of your rebuild threads, watched your videos, and learned just enough to pretend I might know something. Wheel Horse parts and more was already on my list. I haven’t given the side plate bearings a good look yet, but at a glance, they look clean and un damaged. Either way, I will pull them and check them out individually once I get my next few minutes of free time. Of course, looking at the condition of the rest of the tranny, I should probably just toss the original bearings in the trash and pony up for the whole rebuild kit. I’m assuming Jake is Jake’s small engines? I’ve seen him have a ton of good used parts for sale over the years. I’m not familiar with Keith or Ratpack. I do see a guy currently selling reproduction axles and heat shields for RJ’s right now. Goes by the name Johnisawesome69. I think that’s my only option that makes sense for axles. New repros are about the same cost as “ok” used ones. This thing will only ever be babied after this, but I don’t want to open it again. I appreciate all the advice, please keep it up. Gonna be quiet for a few days with work and crazy kids sports schedules.

OoPEZoO when you get the list of gears you need for your redo I know two Red Square members you should check with. Jake Kuhn in South Haven , Michigan and Keith Jones in Sunbury, Ohio. Ratpack on EBay makes RJ parts ( or at least he did). For new axles, spindles, etc. i have redone four or five of these RJ transmissions with new bearings, bushings and oil seals. Wheel horse parts and more sells the RJ rebuild kit and the transmission side plate paper gaskets. i have had two of those RJ transmission cases with no date code. I like to think that those were RJ’s Mr pond gave to new dealers to sign up to be a Wheel Horse dealer .

With the front wheels in the air turning the steering wheel isn't going to do any good anyway.

like my friend's Kawasaki KZ 1000 I rode once. Grabbed a hand full of throttle and took 3 or 4 blocks to catch up to the bike before I could close the throttle..

Is the game of baseball really that old?

No I am the brother of the kid who ate dirt.

Aren't you the guy who invented dirt?

@Keaton the 58 & 59 RJ's came with a foil sticker on (I think) the left side of the dash tower. Those stickers did not last long. I think it is a conspirency to mis-represent RJ's into rare and not rare. If someone is selling an item...saying it is rare seems to mean something or more money, even though it is BS. The only true way I know is the date code on a trans that is from an original owner with paper work. In esence, the 1959 RJ is just as rare as the 1958 RJ. Think of this...a buyer (in those days) was buying an RJ garden tractor...what was the dealer actually selling him?? Same Horse, built for 2 years. I do not know what else to say here. Go get the horse...it is worth it whatever year it is. I'm 75 now and have a few parts that make me not original...I'm still a 1949 horse. My sticker is gone also. Dang, do I wish I was a 1963 Powder Blue Split Window Corvette.

Mike, if no one has bought it I will take the lighter. Never know when @stevebo may want to light one up.

A good string trimmer can have a lot of oomph, for sure! An organization I help with their mechanical equipment did manage to wreck a nice strong Stihl string trimmer--ran it on regular gas (no oil) for several hours and seized it up. New cylinder and piston are available, but with regulations to ban gas-powered trimmers and blowers on the near horizon in our area, plus thoughtless users, it’s time to go battery for them.

My butt dyno would say around 75 lbs.

I filed the new profile onto the worn gear and the seem to mate much better now. I will refit the axle tomorrow and see how it drives.

Thanks for saving this one!

@stevebo that engine was clean as a whistle inside! I removed the balance gears while it was out, and it runs great! Note to self. Balance gear removal. Much easier to drive the second pin out and remove the gear, than fish the c-clip off and try to finagle the gear out.

Somehow I don't think that was built for stopping

Excellent project !! In looking at the pictures, I would try to find the newer style mushroom gear (11/44 tooth) and the coresponding differentiial gear that goes with that. Your trans will thank you and run much better. Those parts interchange. I would also change out the spyder gears in the differential...get the ones that fit the 5025 trans. I (without looking at the above thread) think they are 11 teeth spyders. They fit fine as long as you replace all 4.

Took the 1075 out of the garage today for the first time in a while. It fired right up. This is the closet thing I have to a hot rod. Big block, short frame, stack exhaust, baby moons, custom decals, nice petina. What's not to like about it ?

Thanks....I've read that 4-5 times in the past week, plus a few others. It was great being able to tear into this thing and not being surprised by anything. That was only possible because of the people who took the time to document the work they have done on these transmissions in the past and I'm very grateful for having access to that info. All of the pics and videos posted in the past have been fantastic. I'm currently trying to collect all possible part numbers and combinations of parts that I can find that will work together, Then make a plan of action

I also saw a little damage on the spider gears. I think these are "OK", but through researching it appears I can replace all 4 with newer ones for a reasonable price. I'll probably go that route, but not sure yet The brass bushings/bearings in the side plates and center hub are all shot. The outer ones are severely scored, and the inner ones are worn all the way to the carrier Of course, the worst of the damage is on the bull gear and mushroom gear. I don't think I could bring myself to put this back in a transmission unless it was going to be stationary the rest of its life The bull gear has a bunch of weird wear on it as well. It almost looks as it was "repaired" at one time by someone who can't weld and then ground down. There is a lot porosity in the teeth, along with what looks like poor penatration and undercut. This is the only one I've ever looked at, so I have nothing to compare other than pictures. It still looks like it may be usable, but I have this idea bouncing around in my head that this "repaired" bull gear is what tore up the mushroom gear so much. Hard to say, and I will never get any proof either way. So that's where I'm at currently. Still assessing and looking at what my options are to get this transmission back together.....and that is the desired result. I think it is definitely in good enough shape and worth a rebuild, especially since its not on a timeline.

theres pictures, and the tires look good and it had decent patina, i also wanted to put 1 more thing, the discription says "Wheel horse rj. Runs and drives comes with a cultivator. Transmission does have some noise but shifts through all the gears." so may need a transmission rebuild or bearings? i am guessing that is what the noise is, that would be a fun summer project

So this came up for sale on a local site. Suzuki 500cc motorcycle engine on a Stanley Lawn Tractor. Looks like a lot of fun. Maybe if I was many years younger I would go look at it. Guess I can sit here and wait for @Pullstart to build one.

Like I said..... @Pullstart next build.

Ah, good one! To me, a lot depends on thickness and the precision required for position. Thin metal with no need for precise position? Any of the above Thick metal or precise positioning needed? Drill press or milling machine with the workpiece well clamped For the front pivot pin, the axle is thick but the frame flanges and attach-a-matic body are relatively thin. Alignment of the holes in these parts matters so care is needed, but the if the axle is slightly offset on the pin (up, down, sideways) it won’t make a discernible difference. I’ll throw in a caution about using bolts in place of pins. For pins, the forces and wear get distributed over a large surface. Threads are sharp and small at the edges and will themselves wear quickly while speeding wear on the opposing surface. High grade bolts (5’s and 8’s) are very hard and friction with them will nearly always be faster on the other part!

It took a little digging but I found it. It’s a 2 cylinder CB 500 on a 8 speed c-120! I can pop wheelies with a stock 16hp 8 speed, imagine the wheelies when you drop the clutch.

And... the visuals... let's not forget the visuals...

It is thought that the builders of the cathedral in Florence, Italy were the first to create a sweep that used a “reversing” gear. It permitted onsite hoists to both lift and lower materials and workers without having to make the oxen that powered them walk backwards or turn around.

Take those bolts out of the top of the trans and shine a light down one of those bolt holes. Look down the dip stick hole and see if you can see the bolts holding the differential together. If it looks like 5 you have a Limited Slip transmission. If it is 4 bolts, you have an 8 pinion differential and the axles are the same length. The axles can butt together in the differential and have up to 1/8" slack of play. Your 23 1/2" would break down to 11 3/4" axles which is Part # 102764 in a #5091 transmission (if this is an 8 pinion differential). If this is a limited slip trans, the axles are 1. 12" Part # 7202 and 2. 11 1/4" Part # 7273. This adds up to approx. 23 1/4" Sense you are looking to change out axles, I would open it up and go from there. You can probably get parts in a couple of days from one of our vendors. Hope that helps.

Great work Buddy, i like the kiss Method. kiss = keep it stupid simple. happy welding.

i think i got a deal for a non running 702 and a running rj59 and a few parts for a good deal i am going to get them saturday morning

Electric start

I agree. The dies for the wheels on that trucks were one of my engineering projects before I retired. We drove up to our summer quarters in Michigan yesterday. Got Morgan the 14-8 out to do some cart work cleaning the winter debris out of the yard today. He was still wearing his snow blade, so I took the opportunity to push some gravel back into the street that was deposited on the lawn by the road plow last winter.

hi D-Mac, that short bed chevy looks good too!

Maybe I'll go look at it so I can test drive it. Love to see how it goes. Stopping is an issue I'm sure.

Took @WheelHorse_Kid’s c-121 out in the dark last night and dragged the 14-8 up to the garage. Started working on it and determined the starter was junk. Swapped it out, cleaned the points, cleaned the giant mouse nest out of on top of the flywheel, removed the junk muffler to get to the points, cleaned the carb. Starter solenoid is junk so I bypassed it and went straight to the starter and ran a jumper wire to the coil. Took a little cranking and fiddling with the choke but got it to run for a few minutes. Need to dial it in. Shoots flames from the exhaust pipe. But at least it runs and didn’t sound to bad.

Picked up this tiller today (just after I finished planting my garden). It's in much better shape than mine (tines and sheet metal). Young couple moved into an old farm a few years ago and found it in the barn. When I asked about the mid mount idler I got that deer in the headlights look. We looked around for a few minutes and found it under some other stuff along with the mower deck chute. Told them that I have the deck that it fits on and they told me to take it. Unfortunately there wasn't any other WH stuff in sight. Makes you wonder sometimes how things end up where they end up.

Year end price increase

Nice thing about out in the boondocks i run my sweepster every spring sweep the rocks and stuff out of the yard on to the road...Heck that's where they came from... just returning them to their native environment.