Inventory started .........

[Wild Bill in VA 1,455]

Well since the Wheel Horse Collectors Club Show will have the RJ-58 as the featured tractor next year I figured it's time to get started on restoring my RJ-58. Now a little history on this RJ-58, it was purchased from my local Wheel Horse dealer after a long hard battle from the dealer constantly telling me about this old all original RJ-58 he has but would never say whether or not he would really sell it to me. I'm not sure where this RJ-58 originally came from because my local dealer started selling Wheel Horses in 1961 but I do have a1961 model 701 he did sell. I do know that in Virginia on the western part of the state there was a couple of Wheel Horse dealers that may have sold this RJ-58 and my dealer took it in on trade. Try taking an old garden tractor in for a trade in at a box store today! I was told that the RJ-58 had a Clinton engine and a few extra attachments and was dismayed after finding out the Clinton was not original to the RJ-58 but it was a factory replacement and ran great. All the parts on the engine are correct including the Snacke recoil. As for the attachments it came with the factory early style rear 20 lbs wheel weights, part of a front mounted reel mower (it's missing the mounting bracket) and a what I believe to be a N.O.S. CBR-32 cutter bar. There is no paint loss anywhere on the cutter bar or pulleys. It does have a lot of shelf wear and it was greased at one time. The RJ-58 was taken apart to get restored over 15 years ago and well some parts did get sand blasted then primer put on then lost in the mini barn. I did get lucky and find many N.O.S. steering parts that I forgot were in the mini barn but that took several hours with a metal detector to locate! I scratch head for some to remember what happed to the tires? How can I have lost 4 tires in my back yard and I could not remember whether they were BF Goodrich  or Goodyear brand tires. Some how the tires got used on another Wheel Horse in my yard and I gotta' look for them. The side plate Unidrive was rebuilt by me and left on the work bench, I just hope that no small nuts or bolts fell down the shifter hole in the past decade. After finding parts for the RJ-58 the parts were placed on the bed of my trailer to inventory them and see what might still be missing. The frame for the RJ-58 is stuck between tractors in the garage and will take at least 3 hours of labor to get it out.  Now this RJ-58 was built in 1958 with the serial number in the18,000 range and did come with the factory tool box/fender option. It is interesting to note that a good majority or the RJ-58 used the Kohler K-91 engine but take a hard look at the factory manual for the RJ-58 and you will see the drawings of the RJ-58 seem to show the outline of a Clinton engine and not a Kohler.

More later.

Wild Bill in Richmond VA

 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,378]

Get it done Bill!! 

[wallfish 17,193]

How many RJ-58s do you think will be there next year? The infield is going to be full of those little "rare" tractors and difficult to get a good pic without the panoramic setting. It's gonna be an epic collection of RJs.

Maybe we should have a contest to guess how many will be there like guessing how many of those little widgets in a jar? .

Do RJ-59s count too since they are all tagged RJ-58?

87 is my guess

 

And I got half a brain to drive all the way down there to Richmond to save that nice original paint on those hood and fenders! Got some already primed and needing new paint to trade ya.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,743]

48 minutes ago, wallfish said:

 

And I got half a brain

Agreed!!

 

 

See ya next weekend at Zagrays 

[Pullstart 63,537]

The girls each have one to restore and I picked up another last year.  I’m hoping for a load of round hoods only, including the RJ-35, a 401 Suburban, and “Frank” my wife’s “1073”!  
 

I gotta make sure I have room to bring home the yellow machine or @roadapples might disown me as a friend!

Edited July 9, 2022 by Pullstart

[Pullstart 63,537]

2 hours ago, wallfish said:

full of those little "rare" tractors

I’m gonna have to chip ours so they don’t get lost in the shuffle!  Imagine how many will be misplaced, mistaken, and misridden!

[ri702bill 8,741]

and, if it's one of those 100 degree weekends next June, a lot of folks will recall why they are known as "Nut Roasters!!"

[wallfish 17,193]

57 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

I’m gonna have to chip ours so they don’t get lost in the shuffle!  Imagine how many will be misplaced, mistaken, and misridden!

Yeah, I'm gonna mistake mine for @buckrancherBrian's stainless ride! He'll never notice

[Wild Bill in VA 1,455]

Yes there was a lot of those little round hood RJ-58/59's made. This model really did put Wheel Horse on the map because of the geared Unidrive transmission, this made the tractor more versatile and safer to use being the clutch would disconnect the engine power from the transmission. Try driving a RJ-35 with the variable belt drive, they don't stop.

Wild Bill in Richmond VA

[adsm08 2,385]

3 hours ago, Wild Bill in VA said:

Try driving a RJ-35 with the variable belt drive, they don't stop.

 

 

My understanding is that they are very similar to the setup on my S17.

 

Driving that has a bit of a learning curve. Stopping it smoothly is a fine art.

 

[cafoose 3,360]

6 hours ago, Wild Bill in VA said:

Try driving a RJ-35 with the variable belt drive, they don't stop.

@Pullstart Is yours hard to stop?

[Pullstart 63,537]

42 minutes ago, cafoose said:

@Pullstart Is yours hard to stop?

It doesn’t go very fast, plus I don’t much ever drive it on slopes.  Otherwise, yes it has zero brakes!