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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

The following video's were donated by Cable. They are advertisements for the various Toro Wheel Horse Models. I had wanted to make this a little more fancy, but I've run out of time and want to get these posted as soon as I can. 200 Series Tractors 25 & 32 Series Tractors 300 Series Tractors 400 Series Tractors 500 Series Tractors 600 Series Tractors 700 Series Tractors HMR Series Tractors

Not what I was expecting, but she is purdy!

Very nice , glad to have you with us. to

Hi, I'm from the Riverina, in Southern NSW I came close while riding the XPT, stopping in Wagga Wagga, to visit my friend in Melbourne on my first trip there in 2003.

$30.....C'mon Mike. That Regal Red dress and the beige shoes cost me 10 bucks.

More pics...cant see it in the picrures but the front wheels are "gobby" from old paint and rust pits...I'll get them sandblasted and done right, one day If I do, I may go back to the original white, cause I'm kinda all about original.

Looks great! now you need some wheel horse stickers!

Go to the manuals section and see if any for a 520H are there. They would be a big help on doing the basic maintenance.

I've decided to try out the 2x4 spacer u see the seat, got it cut to length and width, holes drilled and a good coat of black paint on....waiting to dry, then we'll see I guess. Under the seat*

Thanks again slammer, just got a new one on flea bay for 13 bucks and free shipping, gates green belt 6969...... glennglenn I checked gates belt 6969 looks to be right hey slammer, thanks again, went to ebay ordered a gates 6969 green belt, 13 bucks with free shipping. What the heck, winter will be here soon enough, i have extra everything for the snowblower now. glenn

Great lookin tractor.

I've been doing projects around the house and camp after I noticed it was almost September. Where did this summer go?

Nice horse!

Great looking there.

Nice tractors. I can't decide which of these two I like more. I would be curious to see them with the fenders though, I'll have to see if I can find a Google image of one for comparison. What is the box on front of the one on the bottom, a weight? I kind of like the fenders, because they remind me of the MF and Ford tractors I used as a kid. Back then, those tractors seemed huge, but now I realize they weren't that much bigger than a large WH. I used to ride standing sideways (when I rode passenger), with my butt on the fender and my feet on the tranny. The disadvantage was that I had a tendency to rest my hand on the fender as I looked backward, and those tire lugs will tweak your fingers pretty good if you aren't careful.

Evening guy's, sorry about the lack of updates of late, two shows in a month has been a bit of a killer.. Long days in the workshop, get home, cook dinner, then fall asleep in front of the TV early evening! Thanks for posting the latest video up Koen The run up to the first show (Rural past times) was busy, the steering lock stoppers were fitted. And a more suitable steering wheel center was fitted The exhausts got wrapped in black heat wrap, a horrible itchy job! To dry the heat wrap out I thought I'd go for a gentle potter about the place to heat the pipes up.... This is where I found a problem and is why under bonnet looked like this.. The last time I drove WN the engine started to cough and pop a bit. I thought it was just really low on fuel and left it at that.. Today the coughing and popping continued even with a full full tank, and then I found out it was only running on one cylinder!!! With Karl's help (thanks mate ) by swapping the coils and spark plugs from side to side we were able to rule them out, which is just as well as I would not stand a chance of getting replacements before the weekend!! So I thought I would give it a bit of a hard drive to try and clear out the problem... 2000rpm.. Sluggish.. 4000rpm.. Sluggish.. 6000rpm... The second cylinder kicked in and gave the engine so much power it felt like a turbo going to full boost in a second! So below 6000rpm sluggish, above 6000rpm = Hold on Which could only mean a blocked jet in the right side carb..... As it turned out getting the carbs off and on WN was very easy, only the fuel tank had to come out first.. Both carbs were cleaned out, the left one was spotless inside, the right one as expected had a blocked jet which was causing the running problems.. Rural Past times was a great show and all went well apart from me breaking the gear shift (it was fixed on site) and me getting very burnt as it was a scorcher of a weekend. A couple of day later I had a visit from Stormin and The Showman aka Norm and Chris... They both drove WN and survived Something that I was surprised but happy to see... I had to turn WN around to park her back in the workshop, so I climbed on and pottered down the car park.. While turning I gave the loud pedal a little blip and the inside tire chirped a little as it tends to do.. About 30 mins later I noticed a couple of marks on the tarmac! The little chirp was in fact both tires breaking loose! Yes the car park was a tad damp but it gives me great hope of some smokey donuts in the future It's a bit hard to see but there are two strips of rubber left in the tarmac Life is a funny old thing at times... I swapped WN's original WH trans out with it's 5 bolt wheel fixings for a Reliant axle which is a 4 wheel bolt fitting.. Then spend loads of time converting 5 bolt wheels to 4 bolt fitting... And now I'm about to start converting the Reliant 4 bolt to fit 5 bolt wheels back on!! It's not as mad as it might sound you know.. Why??? Well it's a safety thing you see... Now WN has proved herself at going sideways , the time has come to starting thinking about something a bit faster and in a straight line.. After some careful thought the chances of going sideways at high speed is far more likely on a grass airstrip than tarmac, so with that in mind something more sticky on tarmac was found.. next door as it happens The tires have a V speed rating which means they are good up to 149mph!! I just need to find some better tires for the front wheels now.. All of the above means I have some work to do to make the wheels fit, so this big old slab of steel was dug out to make a couple of wheel bolt converters.. I see a lot of lathe work coming up in the very near future The shape eyed of you will of noticed a something lurking in the background of the above photo.. Yep I have bought another CX/GL/silverwing engine for doing a bit of development on.. I won't give my plans away yet (those who know please keep quiet if you would be so kind ) as I won't be doing anything with the engine for a long time yet, but I will say it should produce a bit more power than a standard CX/GL engine Don't worry guys, those pipes were only put on like that for some experimentation.. I just posted the photo's to raise a few eyebrows The old exhaust system certainly caught a few people eye, but for me it did have a few problems. The shape of the down pipes didn't look that good where I had to extend them, the end cans made it look like someone had just bolted on a bike exhaust in the only place iit would fit, and the cans are far to restrictive in the flow department! Oh, and it sounded a bit tame! So yesterday out came the grinder and welder for operation "cut n shut" on the old exhuast sytem that came from the CX trike that Nigel and I broke up many months ago.. For me the shape of the downpipes make it look almost like a "factory" system.. Well, as factory as you can get for a bike engine stuffed in a Wheel Horse Both pipes need to be fully welded and cleaned up, then on with the black high heat paint all over.. Heat wrap for the down pipes and I have some honeycombe ally sheet to make some covers for the cans, put a bit of bling back.. But most important the system is a lot more free flowing, which is just what I need for the next stage..

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

That's interesting because... the "crease" on this '61 doesn't.

My visit to see my grandchildren paid off. I got to spend an afternoon at Chucky Cheese with 4 precious children. One of which I have only seen in pictures for 6. years. I am a very happy grandpa. I also got almost all the transmission parts I needed. I have one gear oñ the way from a RS member. I also got a new shifter. I have new bearings and gasket ordered as well as shifter retaing bolt. And I also have a starter gen kit I received last week. I found a guy through a friend that is removing the broken screws frim the gas tank and will repair the bottom plate and bead blast it. I should be able to pick it up next week.

I have three (1998 518xi, 2000 520xi, and a 1998 523Dxi) and I am happy with all of them. Don't let the lack of power steering be an issue with the 518xi and 520xi. They have a cross between the 520-H steering reduction and regular steering. I pull my Cyclone Rake with the 518 (13' total length!) without a steering issue. Other than the base 518, they have cruise control as well. Because of this Toro equipped them with a mechanical system to automatically lower the speed (7.2 mph in Hi) when turning. You could be potentially thrown off the tractor otherwise! The power steering is a hydraulic system done without a mechanical link so more parts. Not to say I don't like it on the diesel though. It is nice steering with just using the spinner while clearing snow. The tractor portion is virtually bulletproof with normal use. In that regard it is just like a classic Wheel Horse. The Eaton 11 is improved with a Hi-Lo range along with a neutral position handy for pushing it around or even towing. If pushing, it does weigh approximately 1100 pounds bare (add the deck of about 200-300 pounds depending what size) but I can do it. The step-though platform is nice for getting on or off. The attachments go on the same way as a Wheel Horse, some even easier. The engines are what differentiate between the models. Brandon already mentioned the Kawasaki-engined 520Lxi. I don't have one so won't comment. With the three Kohler engined models, I feel the Kohler Command has less issues than an Onan, but more than a Kohler K-series. I would say that these are the most common and readily available. Also easiest to own. With technology improvements comes more technical/fit issues. Kohler recommends that the engine shrouds be removed every 100 hours. The problem is that the engine needs to be pulled from the tractor to gain access. It is four bolts for the engine, two bolts for the driveshaft, electrical connections, and throttle and choke cables. But the engine needs to be pulled vertically because of the oil drain spigot. Most owners don't know this maintenance requirement until they start questioning the oil temperature gauge rising.This is more an engine issue than tractor problem. That said though, the diesel has become my favorite. I bought it with 605 hours and have used it for approximately 20 hours removing snow. I was in the midst of changing over to mow with when I was laid up with a broken ankle. At this point in the season, I'll just put the Winter equipment on again. The diesel does have the potential for being the most expensive to repair if the engine develops any issue. The injector pump, for example, is rather pricey! It does have a water/fuel separator so with normal startup procedures, it should not be an issue. I garage mine in an unheated attached garage but never failed to start last winter. Attachments are out there. They seem to be more readily available today than when I got my first five years ago as these tractors age. Toro also produced a clone tractor for New Holland (black attachments) so they are another source. Good luck in your search!

To answer that question would largely depend on previous owners routine maintenance or lack there of. To find that info would be next to impossible unless owners has saved all receipts.... So 1100 hours is not worn out per say if proper care was done. Just look for something well cared for and clean oil. Its very rare you find onans that had truly been serviced the way they should. They are pretty tough and as long as the oil had been changed and not overheated from clogged cooling fin , they go pretty long. Just make sure to do a decarb on the engine, clean the engine , inspect for oil leaks and adjust valves once in your possession. My 520H has 1156 hours and going strong it seems. Sometimes I will get a little smoke when starting but very faint. Plenty of power and compression. Both manual and hydro are equally as tough in my opinion. You will want to run both through its paces when purchasing. Both can have issues. Kohler verses Onan is like Chevy verses Ford and so on. All can have issues but onan's surely require more routine maint. but neglecting a Kohler is not good in the long run either. That's all I will say on that subject lol Get a 520H!!!! Lots of fun and power lol

OK...here are the games for the 1st week...15 games. Just list your winning pick in order (please) with a coma in between. Make sure you have 15 teams picked...I do not always have the time to search you out because you missed a pick...a missed pick is a loss. Note that the games start on Thursday September 3rd...all picks must be in by the time the first game starts. This is for the BRAGGING RIGHTS OF THE FREE WORLD...so this is important. Same rules as last year. GOOD LUCK TO ALL...HERE WE GO WEEK # 1 THURSDAY SEPT 3 MICHIGAN AT UTAH TCU AT MINNESOTA FRIDAY SEPT 4 MICHIGAN ST. AT WESTERN MICHIGAN KENT ST. AT ILLINOIS SATURDAY SEPT 5 ILLINOIS ST. AT IOWA RICHMOND AT MARYLAND NORFOLK ST. AT RUTGERS STANFORD AT NORTHWESTERN PENN ST. AT TEMPLE BYU AT NEBRASKA SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT INDIANA WISCONSIN AT ALABAMA TEXAS AT NOTRE DAME SUNDAY SEPT 6 PURDUE AT MARSHALL MONDAY SEPT 7 OHIO ST. AT VIRGINIA TECH