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Remember the ugly yellow $25 tub cart I picked at the auction last week ? Well, I cleaned off the layer of concrete, straightened the tongue, and gave her some new paint. Now she's lookin good behind the Commando 8.

I just got back from Le Sueur, we had a good turnout of horses and members. I got a few pics of the horses and some pics of some of the other cool stuff that was at the show. I'm hoping some of the other guys will post some "people" pics. This is a huge show with lots to see, an auction that lasted most of the day on Friday and the parade on Saturday lasted well over an hour. And lots of good food! Here's a few pics for the "Connecticut" guys.

I picked up this steering wheel for my Suburban at the big show. It was decent but did need a little work. I didn’t take any before shots but you all know what happens to these old wheels. After patching deep gouges, cracks, etc. smooth things up and do any reshaping if needed. Clean up the spokes, prime and paint. Mask the finished spokes stopping about 1/16” short of where the plastic coating on the rim started. I used Dupli-Color Truck Bed Coating in a spray can. They make two bed coatings. The blue can that I used and the Bed Armor in the black can. The Bed Armor might be a bit better for a truck bed but I really don’t think it’s best for this application. I held the wheel with a ¾” wood dowel and had several coats on in just a few minutes. Even in this Florida humidity you could actually see each coat dry literally in seconds. I applied enough to get the finish I liked and to blend it into the painted spokes. I love the texture and feel of it and it should be durable.

Here are some of the pictures I have, will try not to repeat someone else's. Was a great weekend met a few new Red Square members new to the show. Glad you could make it.

And they brought this in when they heard Steve was coming.

Hi All, Just wanted to introduce myself and my newly acquired 1990 Toro Wheel Horse 512-D (well almost, I pick it up in a couple of weeks!) I've been researching these for some time and managed to find one in excellent condition. From what I have read these were only supposed to have been sold in Europe, but apparently they must have also been offered in Australia too. I also noticed it seems to have the seat option with arm rests... not sure if this is a retrofit or an additional option, maybe someone on the forum knows? Anyway looking forward to learning a few things on here and getting to know a few people! Bliksem

So I finally got one off my list a good running 520-h. Starts and runs great, I'm new to the hydro scene so I need to know what I have to change for oil and filters and where I can get them. Also what oil and filter should be run on these onan motors?also the dash lights on the gauges are on but headlights and tail lights aren't and the tach doesn't work any suggestions? Any help is greatly appreciated thanks in advance

Well I finally got the RJ home. Here are some pictures.

I already have an ugly worker cart Richard.

We should talk sometime then, get you some practice

Make sure you have 12v at the coil with the switch in the run position.

It was being used a s a mailbox holder when I found it. They had the mailbox mount on top of the hood.

Love the "Craftsman" hitch pin, I have a couple just like it!

Now she is too pretty to put to work and you'll have to find another ugly one!

FEL if it is decent shape is probably worth 1500 by itself tiller if the tines are good 150-200. Homemade plow??? cultivator not so much. The 4ft mower deck is heavily dependent on condition 50 - 250. What are the tractors issues???. Lack of power or steering or both.

Just finished reading (cover to cover) the recent issue. As always, lots of good articles and top quality photos. I didn't get front page billing, or a center fold, BUT....On the back jacket there is a photo of a Lawn-Boy and if you look to the left of the photo, you will see my 1975 B-100 with trailer (and seat) with my 18' "Horse Hauler" behind! I made the magazine this time! Woo-Hoo!

To keep this thread correct for archival purposes: -Style "a" pistons are the most common and can be put in either way. Style "d" pistons are made by Mahle, and must be installed with the arrow towards the flywheel. -Magnum cranks are the same regardless of piston / rod config. (Note: Same, meaning for the horsepower. Do not interchange an M10 with an M12 crank for example.) -Magnum engines can come from factory with style "a" or style "d" pistons. There is no real way to determine without looking at the top of piston. -There is no ryme or reason why Kohler chooses a particular pison/rod config over another. -The style "a" piston must be used with the wide wristpin rod and normal wristpin. -The style "d" piston must be used with the narrow wristpin rod, and more narrow "thicker" wristpin. -Rings for style "a" pistons only fit "a" pistons. Most chinese stens, rotary, and ebay rings regardless of notations, typically fit style "a" pistons by default. -Rings for style "d" psitons only fit "d" pistons. There are no aftermarket rings avail. Just genuine if avail, or search the net for NOS. -Style "d" pistons typicaly wear the cylinder less, and provide much superior oil control assuming the engine is maintained properly. Kohler claims this piston runs cooler in there literature. On the flipside these rings are thinner and apply more tension to the cylinder wall, so when the oil is neglected they wear faster.

haha ja precies, dat is omdat mijn Opa kwam uit Nederland. But I rarely get to practice, Dutch :(

i prefer the 48 inch SD's. Guess I have too many turns and time on my hands, retired. "Honest Hon, just as soon as I'm done mowin' I'll clean the garage out."

i would love to put a swept front axel on my 212-6. lol

I worked on the 5xi project for 3 years. The average person doesn't realize how many man hours and money go into the development of some products. They see the end result and judge it from there. Another person helped me on the 5xi build. I think the demise of the 5xi was the price. If you could afford over $10,000.00 for a garden tractor with a deck you would probably hire someone to mow your yard. There were 4 wheel drives out there that were better at the use of attachments. There were about 7 designers, a head engineer in charge of the project, an engineer working on the power for the tractor, an engineer from Wheel Horse was brought out of retirement to design the transmission, and the 2 of us building the prototypes - all who were dedicated to the project for the 3 years. There were 2 people from test dept, an electrical engineer, the toro stylist designing the look of the tractor, someone doing the finitite analysis insuring it was structurally sound and the marketing team that was driving the build of the 5xi. The cost of development along with the costs for production - Tooling for all the stamped steel and plastic parts and setting up the lines for production were a lot to recover. A differential lock was designed but never made it even into the prototype.

Funny how having a known good battery is crucial to examining a charging system. When I bought the 414-8 listed below the first thing I checked after bringing it home and going over the basic tractor was the charging system. At WOT it was charging 16VDC. I thought "Great, now there something else I gotta fix". So after doing my research here at RS I discovered that a faulty battery will make a good charging system do wacky things. At once I went to the Auto parts store and bought a new LAGT battery. After getting home and installing the battery the charging system went to normal and it has worked just fine ever since.

Go ahead, spend the $20 at Wally world Tom... ...will save you a lot of time.

When the 15 amp fuse blows, everything is dead....no nothing, nada, zilch....Replace the fuse, it starts right up and runs a minute or 2 then pop and nothing.....dead in the water. Haven't done much trouble shooting yet, but (before all this trouble) every time I turn the lights "on", the volt meter drops to 12 volts or <. Probably start at the lights. According to the schematic, the pink wire from the accessory terminal on the key switch goes (fuse 1st) then to the headlight switch and to an air filter switch as well as ALL the other gauges on the panel (except vacuum gauge).. I just finished troubleshooting with another member here - 15 amp fuse would blow and tractor would not run without a fuse in place. Turns out the 15 amp and 30 amp fuses were reversed in their positions in the fuse holder. When I checked the wiring diagram for the 15 amp fuse, all it controlled were the gauges, headlights and indicator pod power. Might be worth checking the fuse positions. http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/58405-520-h-wont-start-hour-meteroil-sensor/?page=2#comment-539906 near the end - post #37

I think Georg Ohm just rolled over in his grave.

Sounds like a problem with the ignition switch, If it stops firing when you stop cranking, the switch may be wired wrong, or the ignition contacts bad.

I'm loaded be there in the morning

I just noticed this on CL i was curios what you guys thought about this setup i hardly ever see magnum 16 for sale so thought i would share it with you guys

Hey Dennis, as soon as I pick her up I'll get to work with some more detailed pics Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Or... any brand new ford for that matter.

OMG! Ahh, hey! 2 pictures is NOT enough!

Very nice , glad to have you with us. to

If Ken has mowed for 2 yrs. and hasn't found this valve yet I think it's unlikely that the valve is now open.I'm thinking a hub key or the trans has given up. Do you feel any resistance in the hydro lever? When my hydro went the pressure build up forced the hydro lever back to neutral. It turned out my hydro motor was bad. The pump built up the pressure but the motor would not let it flow causing it to have too much pressure. Here is another thought,The motion control arm where it connects to the trans has an allen screw locking it to the shaft on the hydro. Maybe when you tightened the plastic cam, it is now too tight and that arm is now slipping on that shaft. If it slips you can move that lever forward but the shaft on the trans doesn't move. That could be why you tightened the plastic cam? Before my hydro went that allen screw fell out of my C-160 and I had erratic speed control. Someone got in there before I got it trying to correct a problem and made things worse by playing with that screw.

I saw pics of some that did Like this one

Yes that is the issue, the grass was too tall and I took too big a bite. The blades being too dull , in a hurry you name it. The first time I was mowing my sisters lawn for her . She has recently been diagnosed with MS. Her husband works long hours at night driving truck and between house work, their Horse, cooking meals and many hospital visits his lawn got away from them. By the time I got over to mow it, it was between 4 & 8 inches tall in various areas. While helping her and others in the neighborhood, ( older gentleman bought a used bush hog that really needed work that he did not have the tools to fix) my own lawn got too tall itself. Lesson learned got to do a better job keeping up on the home front.

the clutch is as standard, working from the inside out. due to the confines of the chassis couldn't get enough movement on it to get it to work with the uni-drive. i'll upload an update later but i think I've sorted it, i've made a nylon roller on the lathe with pinches the belt in a bit to help. I've been mocking up with a long belt and clamping it behind the 90 degree box pulley. I've measured what belt i need and i will order it tonight and the next size either side of the measurement just in case. sorry if my diagrams are confusing, the logical way would be to do it from above but for some reason I've been doing them from below. i guess it makes more sense to me when I'm working under the tractor! callum

Boy, you ain't kidding... does surely look really good Ed.

The valve is on the trans opposite of the pulley and facing the rear, it is a nut that is be loosened with a 1/2" wrench ( about a 1/4 turn) to tow the tractor or make it free wheel. It should be only snugged when tightening. If it is loose now that is the problem.

It's pretty amazing how well these little things push and go in the snow, especially with such a low hp engine.

Great find! Mike.........

I was trying a Google image search, and found this: Otherwise, this is about the best picture I could find so far

I have mowed with this tractor for 2 years and have not found the tow valve, so my guess it is closed. I see where the tow valve should be but there is a plug in the spot and not a "TEE" or "slot" to turn anything.

One thing I did notice is the part number for the Mahle rings is the same for the old style piston. So are they the same? I stand corrected, they are not the same part #. Now which to do change the rod or put new rings on the old piston if it is reusable. Also can the old style piston and Rod be used with a mag crank. This is starting to get more complicated than it should be not to mention a pain in the backside.

If it is a sticking valve, try some Marvel Mystery oil in the gas tank. It might be considered snake oil but it really does make a difference

Some 401s had Clinton 1290 engines from the factory. Bet that engine is original to the tractor.

If I'd have been able to move about 20 feet west ( I'd be in the river ) but this is nearly the exact same spot where that pic was taken over 100 years ago . Michigan ave no longer continues to the outer harbor as it does in the pic , but it would have crossed the river right at the foot of that tall beige building ( General Mills today ) .

I wouldn't have a problem re-using any of those gears and the axles...a good clean up and back on the road!!