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Nice early 57’ , 551 with reel and a ,400 with sickle and a shelf of parts .

Just a little update.... Was a good mail day yesterday. Thanks to Clay Brooks, Joe Papke, ZachEdwardson for parts I've been needing. Still have a few parts to get but pretty happy so far. Thanks to Ron Greco, Alvaro Maldonado, Vin and many others for helping with information.

I am active with a couple of food banks and many of those are connected to community gardens. Red Square members like their seat time. So if you have a plow, tiller and later on a cultivator find one of these gardens and offer to help. There are people who need food and fresh produce is a real gift. And you meet some nice people in the process of doing some good.

Well guys, except for some PTO parts, headlights, and cleaning up the wires, She's all complete! I ended up having to get a new voltage regulator and a new key switch, because the briggs uses a magneto style key switch. So now shes charges, drives, starts, stops, will do everything currently, except mow. haha. The motor burns a little bit more oil than I remember, sadly, but she runs, and she runs strong, so I'm as happy as I can be. I haven't had the motor running in 2 years either, so who knows. It's the first tractor I've swapped motors on, though, and I'm glad how it turned out! Keep 'em Alive!!

Today I took some time to clean up the 520LXI mower. Did the typical PM on it and worked on the rear weight bracket. I thought I would mention that I tried Miller's tire paint on the plastic wheel weights and it worked very well. I also coated the steering wheel. Nice little clean up. I repainted this machine when I got it a few years ago. Two years ago I got a 60" deck with original paint which is pretty faded now. I think I will give it a quick worker repaint before I put it on. I love this machine!

https://www.redoyourhorse.com/ this site will have all of the decals you need

I've made a few of them, I can send you my prints later today. Unless someone else gets theirs up first.

I was wondering if anyone had one of theses adapters like the one in photos. If someone does. I was curious if you could give me the measurements so I can make one. Please and thank you.

While traveling between my constrution projects last week I spotted a small engine dealer,stopped in to see if he had any wheelhorse goodies,he said no but handed me a picture of a tractor for sale,called the fellow and he had a C81 that he purchased new in 08 of 78 with a 36" deck and a snowblade,he also stated that tractor was not used very often because he had a small yard,went to look and a deal was made! What a Dandy:D Rick

Agreed this is the place to go, Terry is a great guy to deal with, and his decals are top notch

Spent 5min this morning, new coil-no spark, new plug-no spark. So I moved onto the points. And to be honest I do not know what I was looking at because I’ve never actually ever set my hands on a set of points before....but cleaned the contact surfaces with sand paper then wala....got spark and she’s now running, loaded on trailer and will get it home to fine tune the points once I figure out what I actually need to do to them

I tried to speed up the blade RPM's for a better cut by replacing the center spindle double pulley on my 42" SD deck with double pulley from a 36" unit, which has a 1/2" smaller upper pulley. Unfortunately, the recess under the new pulley had a smaller ID that didn't allow it to fit over the spindle housing. In addition, unlike the original pulley, there was a 1/2" space between the upper and lower pulley, thereby making the recess under the pulley deeper then the original by that much. Why can't engineers make parts more interchangeable? OH-Well, it happens. At least I tried, which is half the fun.

Try one of these...

Suspect your deck is a 1987 model year. The model number is 05-37SC01. Click on the pictures Now look at the idler pulleys inside the deck. If they are both for V-belts you need the idler assembly that has 2 v-pulleys as illustrated in the parts list. Reason for mentioning this is many decks have had their idlers replaced so they match the later 4-sided belt design. You don't want to be purchasing the wrong ones. This is a good service bulletin to print out and have with you when installing the six sided belt. Do it wrong and you will be needing another belt. Garry

In the future never clean your points with sand paper. it leaves grit which will cause the points to fail sooner. There is a specific points file but if you can sneak one of your wife's metal nail files out for a couple minutes that works also.

Yes thanks Randy will have to get one of those to do little stuff till my mother of all compressors and cabinet blaster ships come in!

Meanwhile, in the Deep South just west of Atlanta, a freshly welded 42 deck will get some arbor bearings and the 120 and 125 will get their new brake linings on this, my week off. In non-WH news, the old Snapper will do the yard duty of sucking-up all that dead bermuda grass scrap. You can't even burn that stuff - more dirt than grass. It'll push 80 today before the front hits tonight.

Thinking the same thing. Somehow thier keyboards got crossed.

Got me lost EB..... you sound lke @ztnoo ... I just think they are kool!

Strayed away from the Horses for a bit on this project. I always wanted a panzer just because I have always thought they looked cool. A gentleman approached me last fall at a show and asked if I would be interested in a panzer he had sitting in his shed. It hadn't run for a while he said and he was having electrical problems with it. I told him that I was absolutely interested in it! He was only 20 minutes from home so I went down and took a look and he told me he wanted $150 and I didn't argue. Not in bad shape other than the purple paint job lol. Gas tank was rusty and in need of fixing. I also see why he had electrical problems with it. Yikes!! The whole starter generator was junk. Need a new armature and had new field coils put in it and literally everything else inside the starter generator. Put the proper voltage regulator on it, new switch, new solenoid, new points & condenser, and new spark plug. I also located the correct steering shaft and steering wheel. I had to locate 2 front rims because the ones that were on it were mix matched sizes and put new tires on the front. I got it rewired and have a temporary gas tank on it now to run it around. Starts and runs great now!! I'm just gonna pressure wash it when the weather warms up and take to shows as is once I get the tank all fixed up and the hood back on. I'd put headlights back on it if I could find a set that didn't point away from the tractor lol So the back tires and pretty well shot too and have tears and in them. Where is a good place to find 6-12 lug tires that won't cost a weeks wages? haha Cheapest I could find so far were on SimpleTire and were Carlise Farm Specialists and were $137 for 2 tires. Never saw them on a garden tractor before so if you have ever used them, I would like to see how they look! Mike

Right now I'm a happy boy. Hopefully my happiness will continue for years to come with my experiment. The key ways on my hubs were in terrible shape & it bugged me to think of throwing them away. After some deliberation and a lot of questions I decided to try this. Cut a new key way 90 degrees to the old one. Drill & tap a new set screw hole for the new key way and use the old set screw hole for my secondary set screw. Any thoughts on this experiment welcome.

What you could have is a weak gas spring or a damper . That took the place of a spring. Mine was weak and it would engage slowly then jump forward. I just got a spring and it's good now. The replacement spring is 108035 .

There is no clutch adjustment. Adjusting the rod to the pedal only determines the location of the pedal to accommodate short and tall operators. There will be a damper at the belt idler pulley that is there to control the rate of engagement. It's purpose is to prevent wheelie's. What is your complaint? When I make a cold start I let the tractor warm up with the transmission in neutral and the clutch out. That allows the belt to flex around the pulleys and warm up. Then it is good to go. If I don't let the belt run first it engages real fast the first couple of times. Garry

Still a little chilly, but a good day to plow!

I still want to get a photo in to you but I dont have any of me with my tractors. I have way to many wheel horse pictures but I’m not in any of them. Everytime I have the tractors out i forget to get my picture. Hopefully I can get mine this weekend.

now why would you put keys to a CHOO CHOO in a litter box?

Bryce I suggest contacting a local church. Perhaps a high school age youth group would be willing to pitch in. These things start small and sometimes grow. My church started a food pantry with just three people. The last I checked we give away about 100 tons of food a year and involve hundreds of people. Most of our food comes through a food bank but part of the church's lawn is now a garden instead of grass. The local community college gave us some land to use and that is used to produce food. Our pantry has a web site wesleypantry.org if you would like to see what can happen. You can see our small garden at https://www.faithinplace.org/news/groundbreaking-garden

I would just replace the points and condenser. I like the original Kohlers as they seem to last longer. Gap at 020. I get mine here http://www.psep.biz/store/kohler_points_condensers.htm but the other fellas may have other sources.

It makes a difference to the idler assembly you inquired about depending on how many sides the belt has. 4 or 6? If it is 4-sided half the idlers are flat and if 6-sided they are all v-idlers. 37" side discharge deck. Click on the pictures Garry

Summit racing has cheap 6-12 tires too, nice panzer lots of potential, I have a few them if you have any questions or need info let me know

Wal-mart $66.81 ea. free shipping https://www.walmart.com/ip/Carlisle-Farm-Specialist-R-1-Farm-Tire-6-12-LRC-6-ply-Wheel-Not-Included/168373664?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227066122209&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=170072717928&wl4=pla-277475227623&wl5=9018822&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=168373664&wl13=&veh=sem TS2U $58.05 ea. free shipping https://tiresshipped2you.com/products/carlisle-farm-specialist-r-1-agricultural-tire-6-12-lrc-6-ply?variant=5098174644265&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1cSgi7Ge2gIVl7XACh1yjA2cEAQYBSABEgIUH_D_BwE Nice Panzer!! I have one on my wish list.

Well I hope everything goes correctly and you feel better!

The white smoke and knock can go together, if the valve guides are getting worn or no one has ever set the valve clearance there's a good chance it's put a lot of carbon on top of the piston. Carbon buildup, over time will cause hot spots on the piston and in the cylinder head - leading to pre-ignition knock. The buildup can get spots in it hot enough to fire off the fuel before top dead center, it's trying to force the piston back down on the compression stroke. Generally, removng the head, de-carbon the piston/head chamber and set the valves will do the trick. If it's left in that condition and ran for a lot of hours it can start to damage the rod/crank, leading to a rod failure. If the rod does fail, as long as it doesn't blow out the engine block it's still easily rebuilt. The K series Kohler is a highly sought engine for it's known longevity - no reason one can't run and work heavily for 30+yrs, be rebuilt and do it all over again. No other small engine can really make that claim other than the cast iron K. It's not that expensive to rebuld that engine compared to others. Yes, genuine Kohler parts are expensive, but you get what you pay for in lifespan and quality. I have an old school authorized rebuilder nearby, $500 if no damage to the crank and all genuine parts - his rebuilds will last as long as the original or more easily. Even for a first time diy project, you only need a machine shop to do the bore work/ring fitting and maybe grind the valves - the rest you could handle with some help from this forum. Honestly, that C probably just needs a bit of love and it may have a lot more life left in it yet. That little Briggs powered thing is not a garden tractor, it's just a simple lawn mower - even with light use it's never going to last as long as that C series . I personally would not buy anything with a vertical shaft engine - they do not last very long compared to the standard horizontal shaft versions. The I/C line from Briggs was pretty good, but still , compared to the Kohler K - it's not much more than a papeweight. Sarge

Small round files and a strip of emery cloth folded up. Harbor Freight makes a little hand held sandblaster that actually works pretty good for small things. https://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html Randy

The battery hold downs are much cheaper at AutoZone, PepBoys, ebay, etc.

I see @elcamino/wheelhorse 's room. Middle top level!

Here are a couple of hand drawn pictures. 520H Engine side.pdf 520H Tractor side.pdf This is a picture of the new sealed 9 pin connectors I installed in my 520HC. Cleat

Yabuncha wintah amateurs. ...

This is 120 lbs. and works fine for me if I can stop stripping the brass gear .

McMaster-Carr. This one is a little larger than original but works. Send me your mailing address and I can send you one. I had to order extra for a minimum order. I can't use 8....lol

Not much done lately on the RJ. Waiting on some parts. Did get the lift handle spring on but needs adjusted. Found the original paint color under lift handle grip.

24 hour turn around. Great to have wonderful and very talented friends.

So I went this morning and rescued these two horses and a brinly cultivator. Theres a 1964 lawn ranger and 1962 552. I'm gonna see how bad the 552 is. Cause I recently picked up another 552 that was a parts machine as well. I even got the original bill of sale for the one serial number.

That is correct. I just rebuilt 3 different spindles all on the same deck.

Love the news reports....

I would not buy that toy 211 lawn mower. That is not a garden tractor capable of handling many different attachments like a C-series tractor. I would wait for a decent c or 3-400 series tractor to come along.

No need to google it for me, I KNOW!!! There is a small strip about 25 Mi. from me. They race 1 Sunday a month. Run what ya brung!

I can here it now over the intercom..... “Red Square, party of 23..... Red Square”

Answers in BOLD above.

I have done well with fluid loaded tires 150# cast wheel weights and 120# suitcase weights hanging off the back the cab and my 180#, but the blower or cab hasn't came off since mounting 2.5 years ago since I have an extra 520, Jeff.