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I went and test drove this unit a few days ago and it needed a boost but otherwise ran smooth and quiet. 48" deck runs smooth with a couple of weld repairs but otherwise in good shape. Offered him $600.00 Canadian (464.00 US) and he agreed. Got it home last night after around a 20 minute trip to get it and put it in the garage. Tore it apart a bit today to get a better look and holy crap, what a mouse nest. When I removed the tunnel covers, the nest was completely solid to the bottom of the cover from the rear end right up to the plate below the battery. Never saw anything like that before. Got the nest dug out, no smell or anything, just packed in tight. Made quite a pile on the floor. Pushed tractor outside and pressure washed it. It turned out quite nice. Except for the bent pink hood, the sheet metal and general paintwork is better than any I have brought home so far. Deck has been cleaned up but I don't have a pic of that right now. Here is the deck as received with the guards removed and some tractor parts I removed to access the nest. Fuse block has been removed and 3 inline fuses in it's place. 9 pin connector is removed with wires joined into one continuous harness. Actually looks good, just will make engine removal more difficult. I will likely replace the connector in time.

Saw this on Facebook today and thought I'd share it here. Don't know what brand it is. I never was into lawn mowers. Looks like a custom job. But it looks really cool doesn't it?

Some before and after pics of my daily rider

I'm in the middle of a tree planting project at home, one particular conifer seemed to be getting uglier every time I mowed around it so -it had to go. My plan was to fell it, then pull to a better spot for cutting it up. I should have took a pic before it came down but l forgot, on the ground it measured out at 22' ....so question is, could the tractor pull it (ground is dry,tractor has ags and its slightly down hill) Place your bets, Answer tomorrow night.

I say yes. If it does, rename your horse Hagred...from the Harry Potter movies. He would pull that tree into Hogwarts with that rope over his shoulder.

Jim, I just pull and twist the old ones out.The tank is pretty robust in that area.The shutoff is bulbous where it resides in the tank but has no sharp edge.A little oil when inserting a new one will help.JAinVA JimAnderson Gloucester,Va

We've got a lot of rain here the past few springs and early summers. I don't like to mow when it's wet but sometimes I just have to. I'm still working and I just have to mow when I get the chance. It makes a lot more work cleaning up the afterwards. The wet and muddy pic are from a couple of weeks ago. The pic of me on the B-80, my young 'un took. I'm trying out an extra 36" SD deck that I've never used. Been using 36" RD deck for 22 years. That was a different experience I must say. Had to do some thinking ahead when mowing around things. The RD deck is undergoing some repairs.

That's on a 16 ft car trailer

Heck yes! with all of those soft branches to distribute the load it shouldn't be any problem.

EASY JOB FOR YOUR HORSE... SLOW, LOW AND GO...

I always change the rubber grommet too.Cheap insurance to prevent a gas leak.

Is that orange plastic binder twine your using for a rope ? Farming engineering at its finest !

If it doesn't release the parking brake and try again.

A mouse made a house out of a horse? Now a mouseless horse and houseless mouse! Looks like a great project!

Used the C 105 this morning to put in the boat (1972 Fabuglas with a 60 hp Johnson 2 stroke)... Love how I can back the WH right up to the trailer in its tight winter quarters...Used to wedge the car in to pull it out and always worried about hitting the side of the garage. Not anymore!!!

Good thing my wife can't tell the difference. I used to have a few more than I do now which were stored around in different places. She would see a new one and ask "when did you buy another one" but I would just tell her it was the same one I already had but moved it there. Then I got caught once when Charlie Pitcher and his father stopped by for a visit. Not thinking, I had pulled them all out front to show them and she saw how many and flipped. " I knew you bought more! @#@$ *&^%^ )&%$# $#&^% %$#$#@ %$##^% $%$#* Blah Blah Blah!!!!! 2 days later there was a new 551.

Good! Seen You do some dangerous crap over there!!!!!!!

Got my Craftsman GT out of this shed this past weekend, gave it an oil-n-filter change, a new fuel filter and of course a bath. They get no respect but this one is about to take on its 16 season mowing for me. It was a Father's Day gift for me 16 years ago and it's never let me down, very comfy and not to loud. It came with a 46" deck and a triple bagger which it's a perfect combo for my yard and we all know mowing with a hydro is faster and easier than a gear driven tractor. Other than the basic maintenance I have never had to wrench on it. Pics of course; Mike........

ok guys, just got done packing the freezer with half a cow( i think it was the left half) about 200lbs we now have enough beef to try different recipies so if you have any good ones you'd like to share, share away and of course a little pic

working doing trenching and stump grinding D-250 does cleaning moving the machines

not too hard to find them, the hard part is to find one not cracked or repaired

Sand the rust off first, then paint it with a VHT Flameproof Flat Black paint. I have done it with many mufflers. Available online and at Advance Auto Parts, plus other stores. Follow the curing instructions on the can.

If you need an exact estimate on length, I can get you one this evening.

I would guess a trailer of at least 4' X 8' with a load rating of at least 1500#.

I hauled one home in a snowstorm in upstate NY on a 5x8' tsc trailer. I would not suggest doing it but I was able to. Had to back in and put loader arms over the back gate.

When I was cleaning up the Good Friday 520H and deck I found that the mower wouldn't come up to the highest setting in the quadrant, the leveling rod was broken off short and the trunion was woren badly, so to get mowing I borrowed the 1 off my '97 deck, so I decided to make a new rod 3/8" diameter by 9" lg threaded 3/8"-16 for 2.25" and a 90° bend 1" lg then the trunion (made 2) 3/4" diameter by 1.4" lg turned 1 end down to 3/8" diameter by 1/2" long and drilled 25/64" hole 3/8" center from big end for rod,cheaper than TORO replacements, Jeff.

There's also this one....

cant wait....heck yes it will. a strong powerfull machine the horse is. Glenn

I agree with the rest, shouldn`t be a problem...

I did the gas line to. might as well. Glenn

Here's betting it skids down that hill no sweat at all.

That is the Koolest mower I have ever seen. The fenders look like ones I have seen on some baby carriages. Can't see what the hood ornament is, got any other shots?

Great topic! I need to replace mine as well and run new gas line hose. Sounds as simple as replacing a GM w/s washer pump and grommet.

I predict you will pull that conifer at a slight down hill angle at 2,000 rpm with no trouble at all while sipping an adult beverage........

It'll pull 'er if you get the traction!

May I ask what you paid to have it shipped to you? I would imagine that would be fairly pricey(but worth it). Welcome!

Since Kelly wet your appetites about Wheel Horse tractors at Indy with his story and pictures of his White Walls from the Indy 2 1/2, I thought I'd also share these pictures I've dug up by scouring the internet. A while back, several of us had been discussing some Indy stuff and it prompted me to go looking. If I remember right, it was sorekiwi that posted a pic that showed a Massey and a Wheel Horse Charger both behind a pit wall, someone else posted a Panzer towing a racer. I had the thought that rather than searching for pics of tractors from the era, I should search for Indy Pit Pictures. I managed to come up with this small collection from the early 60s. There is at least one Wheel Horse in every one of these pictures. The key is to look at the background. Some of you have seen these before, but many of you have not. Enjoy guys! Sometime, I would love to find the time to be able to look through the photo archive albums at the Speedway in Indy, They have hundreds of thousands of photos. A year or two ago at the show, one of the prizes was several reprints of official Indy Motor Speedway Wheel Horse pictures. They are copyrighted material that can't be posted online though.

Been a while since this has been bumped... and since someone brought up Indy pit tractors , seemed like a good time to bring this up for the newer members to see.

Seat measures 18" side to side, and 14 1/2" front to back. The Wheel Horse part #3973 is also on some of the 1962 & 1964 models. It may be on more, but that is as far as I went.

Decided to leave old damaged belt on and give it a try with the idler in new location to see if anymore damage occurs. Mowed entire place today which takes about 2 hours . As it mows there is no audible or visual difference. It did do a great job before anyway, part of reason why I am so intent on saving this deck. After the next mowing I will remove deck and inspect it again. If no additional damage I will then switch to new belt.

Now that's funny right there!

Here's a simple recipe that I am fixing for dinner tonight. Two NY Strip Streaks - Marinated overnight in fridge in red wine, then onto the HOT grill for 2 minutes, rotate 90 degrees and grill for another 2 minutes, then flip and grill the other side for 2 minutes. Let rest for 4 minutes and serve with a baked potato with sour cream and chives. A nice glass of Merlo and I am good to go.

Nice haul except for the mouse nest. Had tractor been setting for a while or are Canadian mice more industrious than their American cousins?

It's amazing how much those Wheel Horse tractors are capable of.I'll be towing my Jeep Cherokee into my shop tomorrow with a 312-8.No problem,I'm sure.

I can't wait to see how this story ends. I agree that the recent pictures have too little tension on the belt. I don't know where this comes from, but I thought that a properly tensioned belt would have 1/2" of deflection if you push on the center of the longest span. (Maybe that was for drive belts?) That belt is so loose that I wonder if it is hitting itself? Moving at full speed, in opposite directions, it would pack a whallop! I'm not sure fixed tension is a good idea. The belt is going to lengthen as speed and temperature increase during use. (See previous photo of the drill press) I think a tension system that that doesn't adjust will lead to, at best, thrown belts. Or at worst, it will be a belt eating monster.

Too rare... to even mention the mythical unicorns.

Most snap rings, retaining rings and E-clips are made by stamping the metal. If you look close you will see the edges on one side are rounded and the other side has sharp edges. That is the side you want doing the job so careful selection of which way it goes on is important for maximum holding power. Garry

First of all let me thank everyone participating in this post not only for your time,opinions, suggestions and help but also for the therapeutic value of all mentioned before. I just go a little insane when I can't understand something and I can't rest until I do. Perhaps thinking about all of the time and expense spent with this deck many would have scrapped it already but that is not possible here. With all of your help this will be solved. So listening to everyone's comments and not having put deck back yet, I removed idler and placed it on the next hole which is about 1"+ forward of the one it was on. That changes things substantially. Spring is now stretched twice as much as before to the point that you really need two people to put belt on. Belt is actually stretched more than when I locked down the adjustment bar. It also changes drastically the positioning of the studs in the elongated bar slot. Everything moved into the other extreme. Now it is not really possible to stretch belt any further. The only way to that now would be to substitute the idler with a larger one. Now I still have the damaged belt on and I am sure that it is longer than it should be. I can see that it is going to be some job trying to put new belt on now. Within the next few days I will be trying it this way. I still have to understand how the cuts on the belt are happening or if it is just the heat that deteriorates the rubber and creates the cracks when it bends backwards over the idler.

No long underware flying Ed? That's the Amish national flag!

The Zagray museum operated by the QVEA states on their membership application that the $20 membership dues also includes insurance. http://www.qvea.org/resources/QVEA-Membership-Application.pdf I do not know what that insurance covers but this strategy might be a good idea to address the situation at every show. It will certainly boost membership if they require EVERYONE who drives a tractor to be a member so they are covered with some sort of insurance. No membership, no drive tractor! Personally, I would pay the extra amount for membership if it means I can drive a tractor plus the added benefit of being covered with insurance. Might have to display a tag or something so it's easier to police and enforce. I'm not sure if the coverage can cover the tractor or the person but either way something like this might be an answer.