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Found some old pics of my dad's tractors. Thought I would share a few. I think this one is possiblly a 704 or 854. He seems to remember owning a '64 model of some kind. Dad sold new Chevrolets and Buicks at the local dealer. That's a new '65 Impala in the drive and my mom's '62 Nova in the garage. This pic would be 1964-65. Oh, and that's me in the dump cart.

Well, I haven't posted a lot lately since life seems to have taken over. As many of you know, my son suffered a stroke before birth and technically has cerebral palsy. You would never know to meet him. We were lucky enough to get him enrolled in a medical study to help him gain use of his right hand through Virginia Tech and Carrillion Research center. He is one of about 140 kids from around the world to be chosen. He has a cast on his arm and hand he favors to force him to use his affected hand. We have had to move 2 hours from home 3 days a week. I thought it would be something fun for him to go get a cultivator from Limited12. Tommy has been a good friend for the last couple of years. When we got there, Emory wanted to look at Tommy's tractors. He really liked a couple of Lawn Rangers Tommy had. Before I knew it, Tommy and Emory were off talking about the tractors. They ended up flipping a penny for the tractors. Long story short, Tommy told Emory he would "sell" him both tractors for a penny! I couldn't believe how generous he was being. Needless to say, Emory was thrilled and can't stop talking about his tractors! I told a couple of girls I teach with about Emory's gift. One said, "That's proof that there really are truly nice people left in the world!" I know where a bunch of them are - right here on Red Square! I can't seem to get the site to let me upload any pics. I'll try again Sun. or Mon. when I'm back in cell range. Thanks Tommy for bringing a big smile to his face!

Thanks to all who have sent out prayers for my well being following a stroke that occurred June 1. 2023 while we were visiting our granddaughter in Florida. The rehabilitation center had no guest internet so I have been unable to keep in touch with my Red Square brothers and sisters. Special thanks to @BOB ELLISON for filling you in on the situation. After six weeks of hospitalization and rehab I was able to make the twelve hour trip home. In the past I would have done the driving but my wife stepped up to the plate and with me as her navigator and GOD as our co-pilot we had a flawless trip from Mount Dora, Florida to our home in North Carolina. It will be a slow recovery but I will be getting better every day. We were blessed to have my wife be able to stay with our granddaughter for the majority of my rehab time. I will keep you updated on my progress and please continue to pray for a good outcome. GOD bless all of you, Dick Schmidt

Here at RedSquare we are very accustomed to members helping other members out, it's always been kind of a thing here. Some guys provide guidance on how to fix things, others prefer to lend a physical hand and travel to help their Wheel Horse Buddies. Then there are some who donate parts to help their brothers (and sisters) get going again. David Star belongs to this last category, but instead of the usual mold plow, drive belt or axle hub, David donated a kidney! You read that right, David Star donated a kidney to give Howard Della Puca (857 Horse) a second chance at life. This is a selfless act and words alone can not express your kindness, generosity and courage to participate in such a beautiful display. We are grateful to have you here as a member and are so fortunate that you were able to donate for Howard. While it pales in comparison, we at RedSquare have elevated your account with a Lifetime Supporter membership, and our sincerest and upmost respect for you. Thank you David, from the entire RedSquare community!

Seem like this question is asked nearly every week on here. The answers given quite often include buying expensive Bore Gauges or Inside Micrometers. I have an inexpensive down and dirty method of evaluating the cylinder's wear that uses a tool nearly everyone has or could buy for around $ 5.00. A set of feeler gauges and a ring from the piston you just removed will let you know without any other equipment. It won't tell you how much it should be bored (though you can get close) but it will tell you if it is beyond the point of being successfully honed. In the photo below you can see the first step, placing a ring at the very top of the cylinder above the ridge. The piston ring end gap in this case is 0.080. The cylinder at the ridge measured standard at 3.25" and the cylinder walls and ring edges were worn smooth. Next I used the piston to move the ring down to a point just below the ridge. The piston helps keep the ring square to the cylinder wall. At this point the piston ring end gap increased to 0.110" This step was repeated three more times at 3/4 inch intervals. The results were 0.117", 0.118" and 0.117" Next the ring was moved to the bottom of the cylinder where the piton rings would not have contacted the cylinder walls. The piston ring end gap returned to 0.080". The greatest deviation of the ring end gap was 0.038". Now we can do a little fuzzy math to figure out how much the cylinder need to be bored. Changes in the ring end gap will be a change to the circumference. Bore changes would be a change in diameter. So, 0.038" divided by 3.14159 will show that the greatest wear in the cylinder is 0.012" larger in diameter than standard and should be bored 0.020". This is a quick easy way to get the job done without spending a bunch of money on tools you will never use again. You are going to need the feeler gauges when you put the engine back together anyway.

Yesterday was my last day of work at the company I have been working at for 38 years, 2 months, and 27 days. Throw in the 7 years I did in the Army, I have been receiving a paycheck for over 45 years. Hopefully I'll have more time to spend doing the things I like to do.

As some of you know last year at this time I had a heart attack on October 26th 2021 and on November 1 2021 I had surgery. All they could do is put a stint in 1 artery because of my lungs.i did flat line twice. After 5 weeks in intensive care I got to go to therapy. My muscles deteriorated so much that I lost 40 lbs . We'll because of all the x-rays and ct scans they found a aneurysm in my abdomen that was very large . So I had to have surgery on that and a abdominal stent was installed . Because my lungs are a problem I can't be sedated so they did a spinal block. And I'm on oxygen 24/7 so I'm not able to work on my tractors any more and I sold my beloved c160's. I thank GOD for saving my life twice and all my wheelhouse friends for the prayers I received. Life isn't the same when your limited but I still go to Church I'm a trustee and a Minister at my Church. I'm not on the site that often but I always said . THIS IS THE BEST WHEEL HORSE SITE IN THE WORLD. And the people that run it and all the members are great friends. Thanks to all my friends

So my parents bought a new 310-8 back in 1989. I used that machine in high school to start my lawn mowing business and really started my passion for these machines. My parents divorced years later and mom ended up with tractor. She has been remarried for over 25 years to her husband Bobby who could not be a better guy. Well he wanted to restore the Wheelhorse and started on it last winter. I told him I would paint tins for him when the weather got better. So we painted tins when Ken b and I painted the 417 machines. So I went over today to put Terry’s awesome decals on and as we were finishing up he said I did this restoration for you… I want you to have the tractor. For those of you that don’t know I lost my dad back in 2012. Bobby said this was your fathers machine and I want you to have it. I honestly had no idea this was coming but it will be my most favorite machine in my collection. What a great gift by a wonderful man. I am sure that big Jim would be happy to know I have his Wheelhorse that he loved. My mom even had the original brochure and sales recipe. $2400 back in the day was a lot of money for my parents!

Rod Stewart is your son? I'm just kidding. My dad still has the dump cart. I think it's the same era, early sixties. Here is the 552. I think this was the first my dad bought. He discovered WH tractors when his boss, the Chevy dealer owner bought one. From his description I think it was an RJ from late 50s. It had a pull start. Dad went to the local dealer and bought one with a starter. The boss man was jealous so he went and traded tractors! Oh, that kid is me again. I was born in July of '63. So these pics would be probably within a year of that.

A neighbor called and asked if I wanted a WH tractor. This Raider 10 is what I found behind his garage. I offered to fix it up and sell it for him, but He said he didn't want paid for it...he just wanted it gone. I told him about the Big Show and suggested we donate it to the WHCC for a raffle . So, I contacted the WHCC and they have agreed to accept it for the raffle. I have been working on it and got it running pretty well. It starts one turn and runs with no smoke. It does need some choke and searches at low speed. I will continue working on the carb. It runs great at WOT. I have had the deck apart. The tensioner pulley and slide were frozen. They have been replaced. The spindles bearings feel OK, although the deck is pretty loud and has a rust thru spot. It does run in all gears and mows well. Got the lights and even the cigar lighter to work. It is all original paint and tires. I had to patch a tube in one tire. They have some cracking but all have good tread and now hold air. I painted the wheels. The tins are really good and straight with only minor rusting. I did some rust removing and cleaning. Here's what she looks like today. If the Corona doesn't cancel me or the Big Show, we will be there. You could win a Raider 10.

Here it is... @oldiron613 Rob I might need some help identifying anything I don’t point out... but the bellhousing and clutch are not lever steer normal, I don’t think many frames were bent either. I was told most of the lever steer tie rods were just a flat bar with bolts/pins, so maybe with all the added touches, this might be the last lever steer built in 1947? The engine has been swapped, so the build date is challenging to pin down... but it is what it is and it’s home for good! Once again, many thanks to @Bow_Extreme for the lead on the Senior in the first place, then passing “dibs” on to me on this one! 1947, Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. I’m not much a fan of baseball, but I’m a fan of his story. I’m thinking I’ll call this one “Jackie”

I've been working on this project off and on for just short of 4 years. This tractor has all my favorite tractor components. Diesel, 8 speed, 3 point, and gear reduction steering. The engine is a 3 cylinder Shibuara from a Ford LGT14d. As you can guess, it was not easy to find room for everything under the hood. But with the help of some skilled welding friends we made it all work. The 3 point is winch operated, and works very well. I plan to put a loader on the tractor down the road when I am able to find one. I was only able to post a few pictures in the thread, but if you want to see images from the every step in the build I included a google photos album. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3Hoxk1nWrTwBiJP37 The start of the project Final Mock Up Paint

This horse was found upside down in a dumpster by my friend(tunaslayet). He brought the oil-covered 312-8 to my house with a crushed hood, broken steering wheel, and crushed center console. The hour meter read around 1000 hours, but the engine ran with little effort and the transmission shifted smoothly. I quickly began disassembling the horse and fixing/replacing any damaged parts. Sourcing a steering wheel proved to be a challenge, so i retrofitted a boat steering wheel which came out great and was very inexpensive. I cleaned up and repainted the entire tractor and freshened it up with throwback redo-your-horse stickers and fresh turfsavers. I initially began to set this up as the mower that it once was, but shifted my focus to creating a front end loader after my friends father hooked me up with a great selection of hydraulic equipment in exchange for a custom cabinet. I quickly found a loader on craigslist in Maine. The loader was properly sized, in great shape, missing most of the hydraulic components, and well built from PF engineering plans. I quickly picked up the required steel and began fabricating. Here is the 312-8 the day I got it. The loader on the day I bought it in ME. It is nested with a Kwikway that my friend (tunaslayet) purchased on the same day. We both sourced loaders in ME and took the road trip from Southeastern MA to pick them up. Very exciting weekend. Initial mock up of the loader on the 312. I sacrificed the attach-a-matic and welded it directly to the frame. I decided to modify the support trusses to allow for better PTO clearance and maintainability. I added a slight bend and welded a support gusset to add strength. The PTO and belts are completely serviceable without removing any components from the loader. The back of the frame is supported by 3/8-16 carriage bolts around the rear axle. The weight box is small, but designed to tightly hold a 220lbs stack of exercise cable weights. The weight box alone adds another 40lbs. Wheel weights will soon be added. Here are all of the loader parts painted and ready for assembly. Upgraded to a 520 swept forward front axle with gear reduction steering (Thanks Dennis!). I used trailer hubs instead of the 520 rims. After countless hours of wire-wheeling, grinding, welding, painting, and day-dreaming, my re-rehabilitated 312 is ready to do work for me. I just had to lift something for fun, so i threw my troybilt commercial walk behind mower in the bucket and took it for a ride. The loader lifted the mower with no effort at all.. I may try to lift my 416-8 for fun. Thanks everyone for the help. -Justin

Ok, maybe this will get us back on topic. Today I made a safety light and pole for the 312 plow tractor .

Every winter I like to crawl into my cave (garage) and work on restoring a tractor. This past winter was no different, other than the fact that this year I decided not to start a post about my build. Why?? IDK , just thought it might be fun to wait & reveal the finished product at the end. Before I show any pictures I have to thank a few people for helping me make this years resto come together. For helping me out with some odds & ends parts, I'd like to thank @WHX22 and @dclarke. Thank you both for setting me up with needed parts for this project. I'd also like to thank @wheelhorseman for providing all the parts to keep our tranny's working properly. Last but definitely not least thank you to @Vinylguy for for the awesome decals that he produces and for putting up with me on all of the alterations and custom work that I wanted on my decals. To open up my introduction to "Radpferd" (and as kind of a teaser) I'd like to show off Terry's work. A reconfigured dash. BTW his 3 piece decals are great & much easier to install. Finishing touches for the engine. I'll leave you with these teasers for a bit. Let me know if you might be interested in some more pictures.

This is a bit of a long story but I have to tell it. Back in June at the big show I ran into a woman who I recognized but wasn’t exactly sure if it was her. She was selling a few items so I stopped to talk to her. As we were talking she said “Aren’t you Don, from Long Island?” And I said “Aren’t you Pam from Ohio?” We both were happy to meet again after many years. I first met Pam and her husband Mark at the first Wheel Horse show I attended, which was the second or third show. Mark’s C-125 that he restored inspired me to do my future restorations. When I asked Pam where Mark was she very sadly informed me that he passed away in December. Mark and I had become good friends at the show and I couldn’t wait to see him each year. He was the kind of guy that was a genuinely nice person. I was truly saddened by this news. In 2006 Mark came to the show with a 420-LSE that had 2 yes 2 hours on it. It was pristine and I was jealous! That year Cecil Pond was there and signed it for Mark. So after talking with Pam for a while I asked her about the LSE, she told me that she still had it. She also informed me that it wasn’t really for sale but she would consider selling it to me because she wanted it to go to a good home. Pam told me what she’d like to have for it and I agreed that was a fair price, however I didn’t have that kind of money at the time. She graciously said that she would hang on to it and not sell it to anyone else until I came up with the money.Four months later my wife and I made the trip to Ohio. We made a road trip/vacation out of it driving over 1900 miles round trip in seven days stopping at many beautiful places along the way.I must admit Pam and I were both a little emotional as I loaded up the tractor. So Mark Klingler I sincerely hope that you are looking down and are happy with what has transpired. Your beautiful tractor is in good hands and I promise to cherish it as much as you did for years to come.God bless. Thank you folks for reading this story.

Winter chores don’t get better than this. In a couple years, we’re going to get a fixer-upper and rebuild it together. He’d spend all day around the tractor if he could.

Once again, I want to thank Trina, @ebinmaine’s wife for her work to put together another 12 months of Wheel Horse Calendar. The effort is greatly appreciated by all of us here on RedSquare! As always, the calendar is free to download. Thank you Trina so much for your beautiful work!

After dinner last evening, I noticed Mrs K holding her jaw. She said her jaw ached. I checked her pulse at 186. I called my local urgent care facility and was told to take her directly to the hospital emergency entrance and they would inform them we were coming. I gave her 4- 86mg, aspirins to chew and headed for the local hospital. When we arrived, they were waiting with a wheel chair and wheeled her to a room with 4 nurses and two doctors that immediately plumbed and wired her to a monitor. EKG, IV, oxygen, and slapped on two defib pads as the MD said, just in case. Her pulse was hovering around 180-190 and her BP was low and dropping. They tried a physical procedure where they had her sitting with legs out straight and had her blow hard for 15 seconds and the four nurses quickly flipped her back with legs straight up. This is a procedure to create a blood rush to the brain and trick it into sending a signal for the heart to slow down. They tried this 2x with only a minor drop in the pulse. Next step was an injection of adenosine that dropped her pulse from 180 to 60 in 2-3 seconds and brought her BP up to 110. The heart was pumping normally again. Rapid heart rate( Supraventricular Tachycardia) triggered by an electrical mix up of signals between the brain and heart is a fairly common problem in older females. Many thanks to the York Hospital and the Wellspan Health Care System. Mrs. K is fine and took her 97yo mother shopping and to lunch as she does every Wed. I am fortunate that this lady agreed to marry me 60 years ago and is with me today. Keep hugging those loved ones.

Men Are Just Happier People! What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress - $5,000. Tux rental - $100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Two pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes - one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look... You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes. No wonder men are happier!

I was tiling a bathroom on a hotel recently and i had a few old broken tiles left over, so i thought rather than just throw them away i would put them to good use . Here are a few pics of what i managed to conjour up , The mosaic even has some chrome wheel nuts which i took off some plumbing fittings I thought i would use the display when showing my tractors at the shows

Took Grandpa's tractor out of the shed for some sunlight after 2 years of sitting, nothing rare about this one other than it was Grandpa's, was a worker now a looker. Just thought I'd share some pics.

I have wanted to make this post for the past ten months; today I drove a Wheel Horse for the first time since my stroke! My wife was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing and I wasn't even sure I could get on the 310-8; but I did and it felt SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD

Spent a rainy Saturday putting our newly acquired NOS 314 back into showroom condition after 20+ years of un-covered indoor storage. Took it to the shop , carefully removed a few pieces & gave it a thorough soap and water bath, followed by a blow dry and 2 bake cycles in the booth to remove any hidden moisture. Even though it was stored indoors, time and dust had made the finish less than pristine , so some corrective measures were needed. A light color sanding and buffing brought the finish back, followed by a complete ceramic coating. PTO assembly was removed and re-greased, along with a cleaning of the clutch mating surfaces. All the wire connections (plugs) were cleaned and re-greased as needed, oil was changed, gear oil changed, cup holder was installed. Deck chute and battery are here too ( not shown ) . Now it looks like a new machine should.

I have always thought a 953 would look good with a narrow front end and finally decided to take the plunge. The tractor is more maneuverable than with the wide front end and steers great. This 953, which I bought from @Mike'sHorseBarn, has the Ross Steering box but the same thing could be done with the later models with a Fan Gear 953/1054 or GT-14. The entire steering system bolts in place with holes that were already in the frame and the entire process is reversible if I were to decide to go back to stock. I started with a foot long piece of 3/4" round stock (an old steering shaft) and bent it at the center to fifteen degrees so the tires would be canted in like they are on an old farm tractor. Then I made a fixture to hold the axle in place while welding it to a piece of one inch round stock (an old one inch axle). I mounted the tires (Deestone 3.50-6) and wheels and they looked great! Shaft collars were added inside and holes for cotter keys were drilled on the outer edges of the wheels. The excess 3/4" axles were cut off. Once the axle and pivot were welded together it was on to the bearings and attachment fabrication. I used 3/16" X 4" flat bar and driller and tapped them to secure it to the frame. Having a 963 frame hanging around made the job easier. A four lug one inch trailer hub is used as the pivot point. With the bearings in place I could determine the location for the snap ring groove to hold everything in place and cut off the rest of the axle. Next a steering arm was fabricated and welded in place. It was a tight fit between the frame and tire. Now it was time to fabricate a drag link between the steering box and the steering arm. I bought the ball joints from Lowell https://www.wheelhorsepartsandmore.com/steering.html#!/3-8-x-7-16-Ball-Joint-2-Tie-Rod-MTD-Cub-Cadet-Toro/p/84788581/category=23548038 and fabricated the drag link from 5/8" round stock. I drilled and tapped the ends and used 7/16-20 threaded rod to join the ball joints to the link. This was a fun project and I am pleased with the way it came out. Looks a lot like the image on my tractor crossing sign.

I did not get photos or video in which I wish I would have. But we got about 12 to 14 inchesof snow last night. So I went out this morning and fired up the old 60 suburban 400 to plow. Well she did her job amazingly as usual. But as I'm wrapping up my last couple swipes to the dog cage, I hear someone calling my name. So I turn to find a close by neighbor asking if I could help him quick. So I say sure and to my surprise he got his John deere stuck in the snow. He was so proud of this investment during the summer. It's a gt 235 I believe. Either way he's got a snowblower and weights on it and it was buried. Well instead of firing up another tractor. I hooked a pull strap to the back of his tractor and to mine. And the old girl pulled it out in first gear about half throttle. I was laughing inside pretty heavily. But he was amazed on the power of the wheel horse. I drove away smiling. I get inside and my better half says you enjoyed that way to much, I could see you grinning from three houses down.

So grateful to be back at the Fairgrounds for the 2022 WHCC Show! It was rainy at first but the sight of all the red tractors and people who came to enjoy the show early made the long rainy trip worth it! Sun came out later and it was great to see the early attendees everyone and riding tractors around and getting ready for the tractor parade tomorrow! A peek at the raffle tractor is also included in the pics

I am posting this here because although it is about my new tractor the real story is the sadness involved when one’s parents pass and the children have to deal with their possessions. I never really wanted to buy a tractor , I was really just curious about it and wanted to take a look. So in the town next to me there was an add about an estate sale. In the photos provided I noticed a horse in the garage. Started early in the morning but I forgot about it and when I remembered later in the day while running some errands and decided to check it out. It was already rather late in the day and I even thought it would be over. As I pull up there are no cars or people like usually at these events. The garage is open and I see a lady in there sweeping so I go in and introduce myself. I notice right away that she is not well . It was obvious that she had been crying . I asked her if she was ok if there was anything I could do. After a few minutes as she calms down she tells me that this was her parents home where she grew up. Her mother passed away and she now had to dispose of pretty much everything and the house. Her father had already passed away 16 years ago. What upset her so much was the fact that as she described the whole day was a total stampede of people turning everything upside down. She was alone and obviously not ready or counting on such a turnout. Even though she sold lots of stuff she felt guilty and sad having to do it aggravated by how the place was left. I now feel bad about her situation and apologize for showing up now and adding to her grief and tell her that I really just wanted to look at the tractor. Now she starts crying again. Her father bought it new and loved it. She and her children now adults learned how to drive on it. She says tractor still there , then that someone even stole the gas cap off of it during the stampede. So tractor was indeed there . It is a Lawn Ranger with the proper plow still mounted and everything original on it nothing missing besides the gas cap . Her father obviously loved it . It is in great shape with his custom touches on it. It has character. There is also the right deck in great shape, a sweeper and an aerator.it hasn’t worked in 16 years but engine turns . I asked since her father bought it new if she had any paperwork for it such as a manual. Answer was yes her father kept everything. She goes upstairs for a bit and comes back with it along with other paperwork for sweeper receipts included and a photo of her father driving her children around taken 34 years ago. Now I feel bad and can’t leave without feeling guilty about adding to her grief. My mind is racing on what to do. Then I think . A little Lawn Ranger is a perfect tractor for a little girl. Perfect for my granddaughter. That is it. I ask her what she would like for it. She thinks about it for a little and asks me if $150.00 is ok for everything. I told no it’s not enough . If she allows me to make a copy of her fathers photo I will double her asking price. Since I wasn’t planning to get a tractor much less with all the attachments I had to ask her if she could keep it for a little while . I have received since then several texts from her on how happy she was I got it and if I could send her photos of it being used by my granddaughter when I got it going. I was happy that I helped her day end on a better note than it started. I will post better photos of it when I get it.

Took the kids for a ride this evening. I needed to put some time on my new 875 a special thanks to @Ed Kennell for this wonderful tractor. First thing i did when i got her home was re bushing the motion control lever now she works good as new. Heres Sam patiently waiting Heres me and the kids front to back Emily, Sam, and Max. The driver being the biggest kid in the house if you ask my wife.

Here are a few progress pix of “The Low Rider” that Nathan Amyx built for me. It’s ALMOST done. Nathan is an incredible fabricator. tell him how you want it, and he pulls it out of your head and makes it a reality. Pinstripe guy came today. A True “Old School” artist! Still have to get the seat replaced and tires white lettered. Hope to have that finished in the next week or two.

Just finished building a 520H Loader with Backhoe. It works Great!

The newest member of my herd came to me from our very own @Vinylguy. A big bonus to this acquisition was @WHX24 & I getting to hang out with Terry & Lola at their fantastic camp site / Summer home. It did needed a little TLC. After a new flywheel and a couple of minor adjustments to meet my personal tastes it is right as rain. I took my first week of ownership to make the repairs so that I would be able to take my new tractor to a show the following weekend. My future plans for this tractor is to repaint the S/G belt guard and the fan shroud on the engine. The rest of the paint and the custom decals are in great shape so the only other things on the menu are to maintain & love it. Without further ado and a big thanks to Terry, I'd like to introduce "Terrance" my new 857.

How many lawn tractors made today will be able or around to accomplish this 56 years from now?

This rusty peice of an 854 followed me me a while back. Missing most of the sheetmetal, and engine, I decided to build sort of a 1045 ish tractor with a fresh rebuilt k181 and some leftover 856 parts. Let me know what you think

Well, I’m in the new fandangled brotherhood of Blackhoods, I suppose! This already has a steel fender pan and the FEL makes the hood look most proportionate. I’m doing a base line on this. The front axle is very tight, spindles are well greased and one tie rod is a bit loose but nothing to worry about. There is one outer wheel bearing that is sloppy, so I’ll add that to a needed list. I am going to remove the hood for safe keeping for a bit. There’s a bit of a miss that I plan to diagnose and other than fluids, this is a good solid tractor. @jay bee told @zekepiks that I was looking for a FEL and Skip responded to me via Redsquare. I appreciate them both! I have yet to meet Jay Bee, but Skip is a very nice man and was as up front and honest as he possibly could be with everything. I’m tickled Pink!

We finally got a little plowable snow. Alex texted me about 6 times today while I was at work wanting to know when I was getting home so he could plow. I finally got out and him and his older brother Aiden headed out and plowed my driveway and the path to my parents house. I really could get used to this. Alex on his 1077 and Aiden on my Bronco 14. They quickly worked out a system. Alex plowed with a straight blade and Aiden came behind him and did the clean up. The path between the 2 houses has never been so big, you could drive a Mack truck down it. They had a blast which is all that matters and I enjoyed just standing in the driveway watching. After all this is there 3rd year plowing snow so Maybe next time I can sit in the nice warm house and watch from the picture window 😂

OK, OK enough teasing. No wait I forgot one more decal, but it does show part of the engine, For those who wonder, that cap is not JD green. It is the right green, Oliver green that is. One question, GOT DISH???? I took 4 7.5 inch rims to make these bad boys. 10" from the bolt pattern to the out side of the rim. Sure makes the 26x12x12 tires look fat! Now a step back to take it all in. I wanted to have some thing short & fat. Just like Jim says he likes his women. But I really wanted it to look like it was a forgotten factory option. Hopefully you guys think that I pulled it off. I have plenty of build pic's if you guys have any questions.

I picked up a set of turf tires at the big show this past weekend so I was able to swap out the 23x10.50-12 super lug ags off the 1057 and onto the 854. I really like the look of the wide ags on the 854. This one will be in a 4th of July parade this weekend in upstate NY at the in laws place.

My son got bit by the Horse bug, and I think he likes it!

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.

So I finally got myself a day off from the family projects, and dove into a steering upgrade and test fitting of new shoes for my baby. Do not know if it has any interest, but thought I would share, so perhaps someone else could use the info. Ore just have a laugh at my fumbling around . My current worker C195 goes as my test platform too, where I try out different ideas to make sure they work as intended. When all the ideas are testet thru, the no goes are discarded, and a restomod will start on a second C195 i have stored for that purpose. Hense, the pictures will show a C195 with less than pretty solutions here and there, and some unfinished mods. This is baby Steering is a bit loose, but it already has the gear reduced setup from a 520. So in order to fix some of the slop/play, and to make room for bigger front wheels, i dug out a very tight front end from a 520 that I had saved for this project. One of the major advantages to the steering was adapting the steering rods with zero play, compared to the "ball in a square hole" type, that was on it. The front end on a C195 is a bit wider in the pivoting point than a 520 setup, so I had to shim it quite a bit. Another advantage to the 520 setup is the threaded end of the 1" spindles. The C195 is also 1", but drilled and tapped type. The threaded type is as custom made for trailer hub upgrade. I went for 4 on 4 bolt pattern. The rims are 7x8, with a 0 offset, and pretty much eats up the full 4 inches that the 520 front end is wider than the C195's. But the steering arms on the spindles can not fit, so a little tweaking had to be made. Nice and tight I put new roller bearings and thrust washers in, and reused the old ones on top of the spindle. That took all play out of the spindles. Tire time. 20x10-8. Water filled to help keep the front down when something heavy is on the rear of it. Those things are heavy when full. I tubed them and gave them a 100% fill, which adds 85 lbs per wheel. + the trailer spindle setup, then lets call that at least 90 lbs extra on each front wheel. Here's a few shots of a 520 wheel and the std 195 wheel in comparison. Got it all aligned. A tip is to make sure the "triangle" is centered, and work from there. I measured the with of the rear end, which now was narrower than the front by two inches. Then used a peace of square tubing to put on the side of the front tire, and then adjust till there was 1 inch space to the rear tire. So now it tracks straight Now all this would just look silly, if nothing was done to the rear, so on to the shelves, where I found these. They are 14x15 rim shells, and centers. I pressed the centers in place to give me 1" clearing on the inside. Then mounted them on the tractor, and ran them to see any wobble. tapped them until they ran true, and welded them up. So now is when you think: 14" wide???? WTF is that crazy dude mounting on those.................... 31x15.5-15 on top of the standard 27" wheel. And no, they did not go on by hand and two screwdrivers like the fronts These got a 100% water fill too. The new rims were heavier without tire, than the complete std wheel. The new wheel with tire is a hand full to lift without water, and I estimate they are at least 40 lbs heavier each than the std. The water fill adds 285 lbs to each wheel, so at least 325 lbs extra for each rear wheel. No more slipping I hope Forgot to take pictures of it, but I put bolts in the rear hubs, and now it runs real lug nuts on the rear too. This is how it turned out It is now in use as my daily worker How does it run and feel? Well, changed is a mild description. The steering is much tighter, and the added 900+ lbs to the wheels, and the bigger diameter certainly has put it's mark on how it reacts. The roughly 30 hp diesel has a lot more to log around, and I feel the hydro is working harder. Much harder. now it can pull rpm's down quite a bit in idle, just by accelerating. I am aware that I have to be more careful with the controls. Before I was hard on it. full speed ahead and fast stops etc. This is just too much weight to handle like that. But on the very positive side, it now pulls like the 1 ton tractor it sort of is. No slipping, and no discussion if it is the tractor, or the trailer or what ever implement that decides where we should go. The wider stance and weight has made it incredibly stable. I will be testing out a bit of tilling today too. Why did I chose a 100% water fill? well that was simply to avoid the water moving around in the tires. Also to test out as much weight as possible. This is surely on the high side of what it should handle long term. What can I say. On tractors I like big butts

As most of you know about 14 months ago I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. My cancer Dr at Hershey Medical Center said without treatment...3 months to a year. After three types of chemo and my sixth bone marrow draw, the Dr told me today there's NO signs of leukaemia. As I left, the infusion nurses were lined up in the hallway to see me ring The Bell. Again I want to thank all my friends here for the prayers and well wishes. It worked... Still have to go twice a week for blood tests and infusion until platelets and hemoglobin get back to normal. See you all at the next Big Show Jay

As some of you may know, the company I work for has 2 divisions: a collision center and a recycling center. I work in the collision center which overlooks the recycling yard; about 10:30 this morning I was carrying a door out to our scrap pile when I spied with my little eyes : All for 3 cents a pound! Loaded it up, took it home, gave it a bath. Don't know anything more than that, yet! (and I have the missing hubcaps too)

So as some of you know all too well, I have recently upped the stable quite a bit. Most of it was taken in to pass on to new owners here in Denmark, which was also the case with this little horse. It all started a few months back, when I was sorting out all the jump thru hoops of getting horses corralled in the US, and herded into a container bound for Europe. One day my phone rang. It was a young lad, about 10-12 yo, and he said to me: Mister, I have heard that you are getting a s...load of horses send home from the US. Would it be possible for me to get a horse in there among yours?. Damn! that was a boy with some spunk. (don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but I did anyway ) Then he finished it of and said: You should know that I do not have all the money, and that you may have to hold on to it for a short while until I get my dirt bike sold!.............. Well what do you say to a young boy that calls you up like that? Of cause I said yes, and he told me what he was looking for. Meanwhile, the resident forum dinosaur was helping me getting a foot to the ground on this whole deal, and as if it was meant to be, this very helpful friend of mine said: Eeeerrh you wouldn't want my old Raider 10, would you? That Raider was spot on for this kid, and he was ecstatic about it. Time went, and this whole thing became a reality. That Raider 10 was of cause the first tractor I picked out and began prepping. I had promised him he could have it at cost, but I couldn't bear handing him a tractor that would not start, so I ended up giving him a little Christmas present. He is not aware of it, but the look on his face when he saw it, and fired it right up was perfect, and all I hoped for. I started by cleaning the fuel system and carb. It had not run for years, so it took a little elbow grease. Gave it new fuel filter, checked hoses, redid some wiring, swapped out the front plate on the starter (the old one was worn out totally in the bushing), gave it a new bulb in the headlamps, checked fluids, gassed it up, gave it a new battery, adjusted the points, had the wife sew a few tears in the seat cushion, cleaned it up nicely, and heck, I even put air in the tires. After letting it run without spark plug a bit to get some fresh gas thru the pump, I connected the fuel line to the carb, and let it fill up the bowl. In with the plug, and it fired right up. Minor adjustment to the carb, and it ran nice. I took it for a little spin to make sure everything was OK, and parked it when I was satisfied. That same evening, the kid calls me up: I'm selling my dirt bike tomorrow!. Can I come pick it up? Talk about things happening in just the right order....... Next morning I took it out to shoot a few pictures for the PO, and that was when this strange thing came crawling in the back of my mind. This little tractor was not even close to anything that suited my needs nor desires, and even though the kids laughed at me, and the wife figured i looked like a giant buffoon on a toy tractor, I couldn't help taking it for another spin, contemplating what it would be like to keep it, and if I had room for it, and if I really did have to let it go. ...........Strangest thing. Must be a bug. But as you may have guessed, yes of cause the kid got his horse, and he was proud as could be, and I do not blame him one little bit.

Well, I finally got the 857 I bought at the auction in Charlottesville going. I lightly sanded it and clear coated. After getting the engine back together and timed correctly, she is purring like a kitten - very little knock now - it was way out of time (thanks @oldredrider!). I drove it around enough to check it out and it runs great in all gears, idles down nicely, and doesn't seem to smoke any that I can tell, except a little at start up. Below are a few pics including a before and a couple that look a little like something from @AMC RULES. I think I'm going to put on the deck I got last fall and look at the show for a lawn ranger deck for Emory.

A little extra parts and an hour this is what happens .

When I saw this tractor on a farm sale bill, I had to take a look. I have always liked the 417A, and this one is clean and has been well taken care of. I talked with the PO at the sale. He purchased it new on August 6th, 1986 and paid $3539.58 . He gave me all the manuals, tractor, mower, motor, parts breakdown, and other sales literature. It starts right up, no smoke, and runs like it looks. The tractor was this clean when I bought it, all I have done is load and bring home.

More (time) in the shop!

Here's a few that I found on my surfing travels