It's been a while since my last update and I've been busy. I'm pleased to announce that the seat is finally done! The old one was beyond salvaging so I cut out new forms in plywood and my wonderful wife upholstered them. Now when I'm out cutting the grass my butt isn't in a hole. Here is a before and after shot of the seat. I couldn't be happier with the finished product.

Mower deck

I've had the tractor running great for a while now and I have been using it to mow the lawn. I took some time over the past couple days and refinished the mower deck. I greased up all the pulleys, sharpened the blades, adjusted the tension on the belt and most gratifying of all is the fresh paint job. I took it for a spin and it cuts just like the day it left the factory 40 years ago.







The next thing on my list are the wheels... I was going to get new tires but I have since decided to keep the ones I have until they need replacing. It is after all a work tractor and not a show piece.

Today was a big day for me... I put a battery in the tractor the other night and it started right up after sitting in pieces all winter. This morning I was up early painting a 2nd coat on all the parts. Once everything was dry I was able to reassemble the pieces and apply the decals that I bought over the winter. All that I have left to do now is the seat, wheels and some new tires. The mower deck that came with the tractor will get a fresh coat of paint and the blades sharpened at some point in the next few weeks. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the results so far and thrilled I was able to take the much anticipated victory lap around the back yard.

The warm weather has finally arrived. Today I made some great progress and I was able to clean up and paint quite a few parts. With the nice weather my new air powered sander and a few beers it was a perfect day. Here is a before and after of the foot rests along with a few other refinished parts.



I have the front grill of the tractor refinished and put back together. I can't wait to be done and take a victory lap around the lawn.


With the warm weather here I hope that I'm able to complete this project within the next couple of weeks.

i spent some time this afternoon cleaning up and painting a few engine parts. here is a before and after of my progress. i still have a few more areas on the engine to do but for now it looks a little better.

Here are a few pictures of my progress as promised.


This is about as far as i want to take the tractor apart. The engine is running quite well and I don't want to risk running into an issue by pulling it from the frame. The frame appears to be is really great shape.


The tub is in rough shape. It will need quite a bit of attention to bring it back to it's original state.


Here are the seat cushions. As they currently sit they are pretty much trashed. It looks like at some point in this tractors life it was raided by mice that were able to pull most of the padding out of the many holes in the cushions. I'll be interested to see how the fabrication of the new seats comes out. I'm thinking of maybe straying from the original design of the tractor and having them reupholstered in some heavy duty waterproof black canvas.


Here is one of my tupperware bins after my latest trip to the hardware store. I have been able to find all new screws and blots at the local hardware store. It's been unbelievably time consuming removing and individually labeling every single screw, nut and bolt but i think the finished product will look great with all new shiny hardware. The labeling and recording process will make reassembly much easier.

I'm at a point where i really want to start sanding and painting but I need to wait until the weather warms up a bit before i can. i don't really want to sand down the parts and leave them exposed to the elements unprotected. There are a few parts that need to be fabricated. I think doing that will keep me busy while i wait for the warmer weather.