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I had picked up my 520xi two years ago. One of the cosmetic problems were the side panel decals. They were worn and in poor shape. I didn't care for ragged panels so I decided that I would pull them off at the time and do something about it later. My thoughts were to put a black stripe similar to the 300/400/500 series and drop the Toro. Lo and behold just after Christmas, Terry at REDOYOUR HORSE.Com contacted me for some measurements. He had requests to create a replacement set for the 5xi. The originals were no longer available from Toro. Unfortunately I was on a trip to the old hometown for a wedding and couldn't help out. A week or so after I got back, I was on Terry's site - and there were the 5xi decals being offered! I sent an order in right away. Terry shipped them but for some reason they decided to spend a week in downtown Peoria. Finally they were delivered yesterday and applied today. It gave me a chance to also polish the tractor in mid-winter. After the photo shoot, I used it to plow today's snow. It also gave me a chance to try my UHMW plow edge. Last year I used a rubber edge and was pleased with that. But I sold it to another Red Square member when I got the red plow. Before you think my snowthrower and plow are a bit of overkill with the "whiskers," we have a side-load garage and this helps when pulling in or out to know the the location of the end of the attachment. Old look: New look:

I wonder why folks think it is a good thing to start a cold engine (when wear is at its maximum), take out a significant amount of energy from the battery, and only run the engine for a few minutes after starting (putting little charge back into the battery and leaving an overall deficit in the battery charge). I would think engine wear is maximized and battery maintenance is compromised by starting a cold engine unnecessarily.

I'm 95% in, and you're right it gets smaller real quick. My wife felt sorry for me and said I can store my motors and horses in her side of the garage that way my small shop won't become a storage shed.

Chuck is 100% correct. I would hope anyone that starts their tractor has at least switched over to 10W30 oil. Synthetics are best in cold temps.. At freezing temps even 10W30 Dino oil pours very slow. Forget about straight 30 in freezing temps, its like molasses. Imagine the slinger trying to throw that stuff around...

I know most of you hate the new style idiot proof gas containers with the lack of a good vent when pouring So here are some pictures of what I did to mine. Got the partial idea from someone off the forum. Works great! Drill a hole that matches a valve stem you want to put in. These are pressure fit, so it has to be exact - in my case 1/2 inch. Feed a wire through the hole and out the spout. Take the guts out of the valve stem, attach to the wire and pull up into the hole. Spray some silicone on and attach this to pull it up through, Leave the guts out, put the cap on and remove for pouring. Goes without saying . . .blow out any debris with air so it doesn't end up in you tank. Takes about five minutes

I'm trying too decide how I want this one to look. First pic is as I bought it, second is the idea stage.. Once I decide on what I really want to do with it I'll tear it all down and put a real nice paint job on it. I might go with the big tires in back with tri ribs on stock front rims painted white? (as the slots are off of my Suburban.) I might go with a different decal idea.,the 855 decals are kinda boring. Oh, and I hope to find something big too stuff under the hood. Maybe an Onan, Kohler twin or a Briggs Vanguard twin. I gotta have at least 18 hp on this one...

Brand spanking new Tecky showed up at the shop this morning. I think I'm going to have a little trouble getting it to work in a Horse though! No PTO pulley for starters and then I need 208 Volts!

Van's RV-7A that I built. Red

Unless you really really work it and get it hot (not just warm) you will be building up condensation/water in your oil. Think about it, the oil temp has to get up to 212 to get rid of the water. On a cold day unless you are really working her it won't get hot enough. Letting them sit doesn't hurt them. Put a tickle charger on it.

I also built this k181 out of extra parts over the last month

Just got the motor swap finished todaystill need to switch out the tins on the motor

add another 0 Ian why not use a chute like top fuel dragsters?

My driveway is mostly limestone "screenings". (< 3/8") I used a piece of 1/2" flat bar as a spacer and adjusted the skids until they touched solidly on the floor. It doesn't disturb the stones unless the ground isn't frozen, but it's still low enough to catch & launch frozen bulldog "waste" 30 feet or more across the yard.

Unless the cutting edge is is set to drag on the surface being cleared, they all tend to throw some snow backwards out of the center.

'61 to '64 "round hoods" for me. I'm quite fond of the pewter WorkHorse models too.

I agree I like them all!!!

I have my bags packed for the road trip!

I have a 418-A It has a Kohler I can tell you the engine number tomorrow if you where curious. As far as the differences,I am not the authority. But here are a few pictures if it helps. I went from a 312-8 last year to the 418-A this year. Now I just need some snow to see how good it is. I bought it for 500$ I saw it on Craigslist and scrambled to get a trailer at U-Haul to go get it. I got there 4 hours after the ad went up,and it is a good thing I moved quick, because he got 6 calls while I was driving the hour to go pick it up. I don't have a lawn,but I have a huge driveway, so I sold the deck for 250$ And then drove from Boston to Vermont for the Snowblower for 150$ The guy was nice enough to give me 2 OEM Snowblower bearings. Which I quickly realized was the reason it was so cheap. So I installed them,and then found some cast iron Wheelhorse wheel weights for 50$ So I am into it for 450$ Not bad. I have since put-on the flywheel screen,but these are the latest pictures I have.

the transmission date codes are subjective it does have a 58 style seat you need to look at the tractor as a hole because over fifty years parts can be changed it's definitely a RJ 1958/59 model Brian

AWESOME always good when its a simple fix and another example of NEW doesn't always mean "not the problem" lol

Here you go: Tractor music

Welcome to another session of SOI University a recognized institute of higher learning, experimentation, investigation and serious shenanigans are the norm for the day. An old friend called me up to help him work on his lawn tractor - how could I refuse. We tried to get his non wheel horse 11Hp tractor started the other day. I was rewarded with this - a top terminal starter solenoid with symptoms of a good click but no power to the starter. We substituted a good solenoid and the tractor worked fine. I put this one in my pocket and had something to take apart and play with over the rainy weekend. Around here, rain means something comes apart ... A quick trip to the drill press to drill off the heads of the rivets securing the metal frame / base to the housing gets us this far removal of the nuts holding the copper studs and the trigger lead and pressing the studs out from the housing label a few interesting items on the back side of the coil assembly a closer look at the spot welding of the negative coil lead to the grounded body of the solenoid coil closer inspection of the problem area of this solenoid - vaporized contactor studs and contactor disc one contactor stud was really blown away in the area touched by the contactor disc the edges of the studs are vaporized because the disc only touches the studs in a limited area - this tractor also sat for years and the engine had seized - and many attempts were made to start the engine before it was free to turn over. so I cleaned up the contactor studs rotated both studs 180 degrees in the housing to provide a fresh area for the disc to contact flipped the disc over in the plunger mechanism to provide a clean non-pitted surface for the studs to contact and reassembled the parts back to original a few small bolts to attach the bottom ground plate to the body and the solenoid is now fully functional again. So if you have that one off type solenoid or just have to keep stuff original at all costs - this may work out for you. For me, its just a cheap date on a rainy weekend.

Bashed my leg on the 418A and her snowblower today, she hasn't been used yet this year. The shop is crowded..may have to talk to the chief of staff about another addition to the shop. Got to thinking winter is almost half over and what have I gotten accomplished. The 418 was supposed to get a foot control..not yet. There is an 857 from a friend that I have gone over and is probably ready to go but it has been too cold and i would have to move a lot of stuff to get her out for a test run. The Case VAC did get a new clutch and ring gear. . Currently I am juggling multiple hobbies. There are my 3 tractors (Case DC3 VAC and Farmall M) a friends Farmall B I am converting to a wide front. My M37 and M274 have been joined by an M35A2 (a 2 1/2 ton truck) from another neighbor needing some work. The 418a and the Electro12 plow tractor (used only 2 times so far) and my faithful L-107. She starts and runs better and quicker than any Kohler in the cold. I will admit last week when it was really cold she stalled when I let the clutch out. She starts on the first pop and warm up is how long it takes for the garage door to open, then she hauls 750 lbs of coal and a hundred pounds of ash. I cannot bad mouth Tecumseh. Also there is a NP200 transfer case dissembled that i want to put together and then put on my M37. Spring may get here sooner than I am ready for.

551

I insulated my garage this summer and fall, so with my 45,000 BTU Hot Dawg propane heater I'm staying toasty warm this winter. I am currently working on my 416-H.

Good tractor ... My Raider-10 is my main worker winter & summer for the last 5years

only the Tecky... make sure it runs because if the solid state ignition is bad it'll get pretty spendy to fix..

You didn't tell me that tractor I got off you was used to throw manure TT! The neighbor told me my high-chute snowblower on the C-175 does the same thing when I do his driveway. It's stone and I keep the blower off the surface.

A big thank you to Trouty for putting me on to the snow blower. Got it home and checked it. Was a little weather worn, a little oil took care of a lot of that. Thanks again, and I'm sorry I had to sneak into PA to get it, I'll try not to let that happen again, he,he John

No vent or vent through the spout which restricts pouring/makes splashes, etc. if that is what you are asking. The old style was very simple - pop the cap off the unrestricted spout -> open the air valve in the back -> pour a nice, solid stream from as high as you dare with a smooth flow instead of gurgle, gurgle, splash, suck, repeat . . .

NO TECKY'S IN DA HOUSE!

Awesome work Ian, look up kids quad disc brakes. The discs are cheaper to buy than make!

Of course James, what am I thinking, its a tractor, speed isn't going to be a problem.......Stigian??

That does the same thing mine does im glad there's not anything wrong with it. Thanks for the help!

Here's a short video of my old 416-8 (now Boovuc's tractor) powering my thrower. The rearward "tail" of snow is easily seen. I set my thrower edge about 1/2" to 5/8" off the ground.

Evening all, a bit more progress today with one of the front wheels almost finished.. Two new wheel centers, can you spot which one is finished? It slots into the wheel like so from the inside. And looks like this from the outside.. A close up for you.. I couldn't be happier with the fit I need to grind a V shape into the two parts of the wheel to give me something to fill full of weld.. Once the weld is cleaned back you won't know it's not original.. Until you look at the inside of course The wheel is a nice tight fit on the wheel hub.. I have also been thinking about the front brakes.. There is just enough room to get a Kwakasaki Gpz 305 caliper and a small brake disc inside the wheel, though I have a feeling I might need to make my own brake discs!! Has anyone ever tried it and did they work?

no twists in that belt. Is the auger drive chain on correctly? The auger should be screwing toward the center.

Kinda aggravated with the new starter though, shouldn't have to work on it! Now onto fixing the parts that were hay bagged on! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Only when I need to. They sit in an attached garage, above freezing temps. I have an in-line fuel shutoff and run the carbs dry for storage, and empty the tanks. I hook up a tender about once a month to each tractor.. Years later, and no problems to speak of. I agree...maximum engine wear, and battery takes a big hit as well. Not worth it to just start them up, when you run a bigger risk of damage.

I forgot to mention, that if you push the golf tee in too tight, and leave the gas can in the sun, the expanding gases will cause the golf tee to launch when the internal pressure get too high. A screw on cap is a much better idea. I have four of the new "EPA" type cans. I just went to TSC and picked up a 4-pack of valve stems.

Don't be shy about pillaging and plundering Pa. There's too many Horses and attachments there to guard them all. After all, how many of you, from all parts of the country, have invaded the annual WHCC show to get a good deal? IMO, it's ALWAYS open season for Horses in Pa.!

Zeek - that is a great idea. I did a similar but simpler thing. I drilled a 1/4" hole in mine and stuck a golf tee in it.

while trying to cobb together a dial indicater with a sparkplug bottom at work to time a h60 my buddy asked what i was building after telling him he said i got one u can have for $10 at home i got in a bunch of stuff from neighbor is that luck or what?????????

More than likely a bad connection, it can't handle the amp draw. Start by chasing the hot feed to that fuse. Don't forget the ever problematic white 9 pin connector on that one...

Nice tractor there Its got to be my 1968 wheel horse lawn ranger that i am currently restoring, i have a soft spot for anything red really, and especially my first my 1990 227-5 my 68 ranger (not the most recent photo and there is not much to look at as it is in bits and some painted but here is how i brought her) james

Debris in the fuse block connections, or faulty wiring into the fuse block. I've had to replace two blocks on 520's for similar intermittent problems. No issues since going to sealed individual automotive fuse holders.

Sorting through the boxes today to see what all came with it, looks like a 5 gallon bucket of used parts for the rear end was also provided.

OK, I stand corrected. But, you know, if I didn't witness this with my own eyes...

I wax my tractors. Call me crazy. I like my stuff clean and all maintenance done. Glenn

Coadster32. Not to step on the professors toes, but here is the answer to your question. The solenoid coil is an electro-magnet. The plunger attached to the disc, which goes into the hole in the middle of the coil is steel. When you apply 12 volts to the coil, the electro-magnet quickly pulls the plunger into the coil, thus making contact electrical contact with the studs, (and the clicking sound). When the 12 volts from the starter switch is released (after the engine starts), the spring pushes the disc and plunger back away from the coil and studs. Bob