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I picked up this Suburban 400 fresh out of Stevebo's private stock at his meet and greet this past weekend. I have been looking for an original Suburban that is nice enough to leave original for a long time now. Steve gave me a SMOKIN deal on it, thanks Steve! All I plan on doing is replacing the decals on the hood.. Today I gave it a good cleaning and put the mower deck on. She runs good! URL=http://s187.photobucket.com/user/flyinaceman/media/IMG_1595_zpsf1efd0ad.jpg.html]l

I've been working on the mower deck for my D200. The D200 is a '76 and the mower deck is a '96-'97 78260. I had to fabricate a front hit bar for the mower and a lift arm on the tractor. Here are those pictures: Once I made sure that nothing would fall off or fail, I got to work on the grass/weeds. This was the first time this year for cutting the grass it was at least 12" tall. In some places it was not only 12" tall but it was a "tall fescue" type of grass that was so thick that I had to mow it at a snail's pace, but the Beast never stopped or failed me. I did have to readjust the mower belt once. I have taked the pecaution of ordering a new belt, this one I have was from my father's first try back in '76. So this belt is almost 40yrs old. It worked great just as the D-200 did.

Sorry Frank..... south of the 40th parallel north.....into the SHOW ME state. I'm tired...going to bed....maybe more pics tomorrow. SMOKIN DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely someone else on here saw it pop up on CL about 5:45...

1968 Commando 6 mostly original except for the H60 engine instead of HH60. it works/runs great , my plan is to do nothing to it and just mow with it this year

I heard all the talk about how good these snow blowers do so I went out and picked one up this morning.

Nate, you've really got it bad. Get some rest and STOP WATCHING SpongeBob.

My return trip from Mentone via Winamac and Idaville In. Sent from my tractor seat using Tapatalk 2

Jo and I had a great time seeing old friends and meeting a few new ones wish we could attend every year

Wrangled this little round hood filly at Stevebo's first annual Ct meet & greet yesterday... old girl received her first oil bath today...now ain't she something sweet?

Knowing Brian maybe 2 ... Anymore would just be WAY too close.

A friend asked me about doing a custom tractor for his daughter. She came up with the idea of a fish tank tractor and this may be a custom that hasn't been done to a Wheel Horse before. It started out as a beat up Lawn Ranger but now has a C hood to completely cover the tank. Runs with a starter generator motor to keep down vibration. You can kind of see the horizontal tube inside the tank which a strong LED light shines through. Mirrors on both ends really reflect the light and it's even visible in the daylight. Air bubbles use a 110v pump powered using a small inverter. Clutch pedal will loosen the belt like normal operation and when pushed all the way, it will shut off the motor. Didn't get any pics of the top of the tank but it's rigged so the water will not splash out but also allows access to the inside. I don't know how long it will drive using the large capacity deep cycle battery but I'm sure she'll find out tonight after they get home. They plan to have it at the Zagray show in CT next weekend, complete with the tank decorated and live fish. Here's a couple pics of the Wheel Horse Sea-01 and the new owner.

steve check the tube to besure a mud wasp has not plugged the inside of the tube I had that happen once

Yes, I found that out too with my 854. I just pull the cotter pin out of brake/clutch rod from the pedal, and then I can slide the batter right out. The little tricks make all the difference.

I guess I am very lucky to NEVER have seen Sponge Bob or his Square Pants!

I usually bring my GT-1600 to shows for tooling around but its way to "new" and gets no looks or respect from the old iron guys. This year I'm going to be on a newly acquired 1054 that I have been tinkering with this spring. I have her running great and it looks ok from 20 feet. I still have to get decals for her to be finished but its usable as is now. I do have the missing headlight lens, just need the O-ring to install it securely. Not totally sold on the stack yet . I also need to decide what to do with the rims, I might deviate from the standard almond color . Mike...........

Let me guess here... Before was before his wife knew what he was getting.... Honey it will look exactly like "Before", But somewhere between "Before" and "After" After became "well honey, it is a Wheel Horse"

I think Sponge Bob is the most annoying show on television. it drives me crazy. its the one show i demand to be changed to something else when i walk in the room. nothing against your song or songwriting talent, but that show and everything associated with it should be blown up......

Now THATS a transformation. You got two whole letter grades!

Spongebob makes kids stupid slow

That Camping episode is one of my favorites! Patrick is the Best! "Well maybe it is stupid, but it's also dumb!"

Do not mean to cut anybody else out, but there is a co. on eBay that has a really good price on nearly all the needle bearings. Beats paying local supplier as they now want to charge you shipping for what they don't have but can get. After three or more places shipping gets high. Ask me how I found out, luckily they found some they could ship from their warehouse, then I found these on ebay and ordered a gob of them. Then found some others I needed and they added in at same shipping. Look for Torrington bearings. Also in case you don't have the cross reference will copy/paste post here. by stevasaurus in transmissions). Hum, I show 753 as 1963 with 1" axels and the carrier bearing 1533, 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/2, very rare ,but some one here will have them, ebay rare and super high on them. Racinfool40, Mike might have some and the rest but think he orders as needed on the regularly found needles. Don't forget you'll need all the seals too. Stevasaurus may have some of the gears if is still a three (4) speed (not changed to 8 spd) If all else fails try a Koyo supplier, the open ended bearings are easier found than closed end, they use a similar number as Torrington (id in 1/16th" increments by bearing length in 1/16th" increments, exam B-108 = open end 10/16 id" x 8/16 lngth" or 5/8" x 1/2" (thanks to stevasaurus again) M-1012 would be a closed end) Oh, yes, to

In one fell swoop killed over 400 Fire Ants doing my happy dance stompin round in yard after getting C-series steer wheel removed. Thanks daveoman1966 for answering this post with how to: pacer Bill for reinforcing same. Saved the dash, steer shaft and wheel, sorry spacer DRT. Had a time getting shaft, wheel, and dash all coordinated in press, but it worked great and pin came out of shaft and wheel with a little 20oz ball peen cocked back at heavy blw intended angle, think I'll got out and kill some more Fire Ants.

Exactly, exactly, exactly, did that with more than one project, transmissions lately, past slot machines, cash registers and any coin op stuff. So far, having been threatened by the city, I do my best to limit what is visible. And seuadr I agree with all the others, def on the rarity of parts, also it seems 520's are as rare as some early years ,

No problem. Thanks Martin. Hope to do some work on it this afternoon.

Hey! That's what I do!!!! "I'm just buying this one for the transmission" was how my last two 416 tractors started off. We all know how that turned out....... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a theory. You buy a parts tractor, and after getting it home and looking at it with one of your favorite beverages for a while...you decide that the old girl does not look that bad and would not take too much to fix it up. So then you start looking for parts for the parts tractor. Two 520's are better then one. Go buy it.

I sent the one with 6 or so notches. It will not slip...I did kind of try it on the front of that lever to see if the length was OK. It works great and keeps the clutch pedal depressed. You may have to mess with the linkage to make the brake band snug when you set the brake, but the clutch will be depressed so if you kick the horse into a gear, it will not take off on you...you will have the slack in the drive belt. It should be there Wednesday/Thursday. Let us know how it works for you.

Nice score... You will be very pleased with the performance of the single stage..... Mike, I think it is a your preferance, on how you want the side wings mounted.... I was told they mount them that way to draw additional snow into the auger and allow you to run the snow blower along things like fences and houses, without having to worry about scraping your tractor up... This does give it 6" or so of additional width, on each side, to ensure the blower get "curb rash" and not the tractor.....

My Cart is now finished and done, now I'm making room for my next project that will arrive home on Saturday! Eeeek!

I SEE DIRT ON THE TIRES!!!! Randy PM'd me last night Brian. Picked up Marvin at Scott's. He is very happy! Thanks again!

Today I wiped out the mower deck on my 314-8 Speed while mowing grass for the 2nd time this year! I hit a stump that was sticking up a little higher than last year! I thought the deck got bent into the blades but on further inspection, I found out I broke a spindle housing on the center blade! Dang, the whole machine came to an abrupt stop and kind of bounced up a few inches and the knocking started right away! I turned off the blades and limped back to the garage. I put it up on ramps and noticed the center blade was crooked on the deck. Then I turned it a few times and saw the upper pulley was dragging on the top of the deck housing. Then I saw a big crack in the aluminum spindle housing! So I had to pull the deck off of it which on that model is pretty easy with the Attachamatic System. So I got a different deck off the pile and greased the spindles and sharpened the blades and installed it back on the tractor. I greased the front end, rims and steering components and oiled some deck pressure points. It fired right up and mowed smooth and steered much better! Wahoo, back to work then....I will have to swap out the spindle later. One bad thing is the old deck is a 48 inch hawg and the replacement deck was only a 42 inch cut! Dang it!

He knows better than to come hauling creampuffs like that out of CT !! Can't wait to hear about this one...

I bathed her with some fresh new oil today.

thats great you got it going, Duke. sounds good, I'm happy it runs for you....... I'm seeing Brian popping up all over the place in Michigan and Indiana this weekend. i should have made the trip out yesterday.......

Its not going to get used next winter because we have n el nino coming and going to be in the 80s next year in maine

Sorry Justin, i missed your post somehow......

Then my guess that it would be a 312-8 it believe it has the 1" axles and a 4 pinion differential but it may have 1 1/8" axles with an 8 pinion differential.

If it is the hi/low shift fork, it is fixable. It does require to drop and split the trans. While I can think of more things that are easy, this is not too bad. It is labor intensive, but it is not a bunch of $ to do...and we will help walk you through it if needed. There are some threads in the transmission section that show this part and discuss what is involved. Try doing a search or we can put some links in here so you can see what it takes. Here is one of the links... http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/links/link/50-idiots-guide-to-8-speed-trans-rebuild/

Pounded out 5 dents and used the DA sander to remove some deep scratches and pitting. Also started cleaning the motor.

Its taking a lot more time to do the fender and hood than thought because they got some abuse. Blast sand prime sand prime sand prime pound out dents file it takes time to do a good job!

I did take your advice and used star washers but I did not clean any paint off. Where are you suggesting paint should be cleaned off? Thanks for helping me with rookie mistakes! Im now in the process of painting the hood fender and lastly the motor. Thanks RR

6 round hoods 5 with the c195 in there Brian

Tom i'm glad you brought up this topic...I've been kicking the idea around myself. curious to see what you end up with....

This is my hauler/storage trailer that I fixed up last year. I added the loft style bed and it works nice. I am able to get a few tractors in under it when hauling and then I can drop it down for sleeping. It originally had barn doors but I fabricated the fold down. I am able to haul 4 round hoods in it with no problem.

Started in welding on the worse rim so I fired up MR.TIG and first started with the holes that were seen in the rims. Next were the large craters caused by the chloride (that's stuff should be outlawed) after that I went after all the small craters. Before I finished I used 5 sticks of filler rod. I ran the tig torch slowly over all the bad areas and a couple burn through's occurred so I filled them. I feel confident that I have enough material and have brought the rim thickness back up where it should be. I then spread in some Lab Metal time will tell how this product performs so far I like what I see. Here are some pics. ~Duke

Great little cart Charlie , welds look Cushty to me . I agree with Andy , painting doesnt have to be uniform with the tractor , i have a small cart that is paint Mid Brunswick Green , ithink any of the vintage colours would look great with your cart. If it were me i would just clear varnish the wood sides rather that stain the wood , or i would paint the wood in a contrasting vintage colour , say steel frame in black & the wood sides in green with maybe black or red wheel rims . & then get it sign written , But obviously you choose what you would like Or you could even do a similar sort of thing as this sort of cart Most of all have fun doing it

There have been a lot of 5xi inquiries lately. I guess they're getting older and are finally hitting the used market in better numbers. I prefer the 5xi over the classic 520 hands down. The improvements in ride comfort, turning radius, quiet, and strength are Obviously functions of being designed in a completely different era. As far as durability, they seem to be holding up quite well. Toro carried over the Unidrive transaxle and Eaton 11 hydrostat, so they're as tough as the oldies. The frame is full-length, so they add stiffness and durability there too. From what I have seen, the engines used on the 5xi's enjoy good long term durability and reliability easily rivaling the onan. Everything on the 5xi is pretty heavy. There's really not much plastic other than the trim on the cowling/dash and...I can't think of anything else. If you're concerned about access for regular maintenance, don't be. The hood opens wide and the side panels pop right off with no tools. The three screens under the dash are removed with about 2 screws apiece (OK, they are Torx fasteners). The whole fender/footrest/seat assembly lifts right off with just a couple of screws in case you need to access something underneath. The steering linkage is easily accessed by a removable panel on the transmission hump. You can do about all of your regular maintenance with no more headaches than you're used to on the classic tractors. However, removing the blower housing from an air cooled engine (to clear out a mousenest for example) almost requires yanking the engine. I will say that the Onan 20 hp engine "seems" stronger than the 20 hp water cooled Kawasaki in the 520Lxi or the 22 hp Kohler in the 522xi. The 20 Kawasaki in the Lxi seems to be between the Onan and Kohler to me. This is empirical of course. The diesel is in a class of its own and I'd guess the lower hp tractors are obviously a bit less powerful. But you may not even notice under normal use. I've had, literally, about every model tractor Wheel Horse ever made going back all the way to the beginning. My favorite "user" tractor is, without a doubt, the 5xi series. I presently have 4 of them (520Lxi, 522xi (x2), and a 523Dxi). I've never driven a manual steer 5xi (518 or 520) so have no reference, but the power steering on the more expensive models is a delight. I'm still mixed on the "Smart Turn" steering that automatically slows the tractor in turns. It works well when mowing with the cruise control set, but is a bit frustrating when doing anything else. A lockout kit is available and is pretty cheap....like in the $50 range. Yes, attachments are much harder to find. And, since they're invariably newer, they tend to be more expensive. They're simply a more modern tractor. If you're more interested in just using the tractor rather than admiring it for simplicity and time-tested design, get the 5xi. If you prefer "classics", stick to the old tractor. But, if I were going to pick between a free 5xi (any model) and a free 520H, I'd pick the 5xi. Steve