[105_Tom]

She's all done! I got the cradle mod finished, keystock added to the trunnion, and driveshaft put back together. In the future with the cradle mod, I'm gonna move the flatbar forward another 1/4 inch. It's just a hair too close to the pto belt for my liking, but it's running without issue for now. Everything went together smoothly. I added oil and cleaned the carburetor, and it fired right off and runs great! Initially I had a hydro leak at the left line coupling at the transmission, but I was able to align it a bit better and snug the fitting, and now all is dry. The lights work, alternator charges, tranny is good, and the shaking is minimal at idle and non-existent at full throttle. I had to snug down the ISO mounts after the weight of the engine was placed on them, but I'm happy with the operation so far. I even had a spare front tire on hand for the right side one that was worn down so bad from being mis-aligned. The hour meter runs smoothly at 420 hours, so I have to believe that the tractor has around 1020 hours on it from the wear on the trunnion and the front tires. The 50A deck is super quiet and cuts well, although as is typical with the 50" decks, leaves a little in the middle in the really heavy thick grass. I'm really impressed with how well this tractor cleaned up and how well it runs and how solid it feels. I had planned on turning this 1650 right back out for sale, but I think I'm gonna have to play with it for a while.