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For the third year now, I am ready and looking forwards to Fall. Thanks to Oldredrider for the idea and inspiration. What was a nightmare job turned into something I actually look forwards to and enjoy. The ease and efficiency of this idea cuts job in a fraction of the time it used to take and makes for great seat time. Not only another example of what is possible with these old machines but also of the talent , vision, and willingness of forum members to share their knowledge and experience.

I used the newly acquired 417 Auto with the 48" deck for mowing duty yesterday. I like the big tractor feel and sound of the twin Kohler. And that 48" deck makes a nice cut. But, now I remember why I converted the 520 to a dedicated snow chucker. Those twins throw too much heat to use as a mower in this 85 degree heat. May be a dedicated plow tractor is coming.

Hello, I picked up this rear blade and it just seemed to fit the tractor excellent! So I began the process of cleaning and painting. Next it's the decals, maybe the older style implement decals? I like this blade as it not only does angles, it is reversible too.......

Jim what is wrong with moons? It is a cheap dress up. Just my

Check the "thermostat " Ed!

We can deck it out real well!

That twin might be warm but the hub caps make it cool.

Now Mike, don't start that up. Hey, they came with the deal Jim. Ya think I should add some spinners?

Normally I'm not one for vanity over function. But I have always liked the black or stainless heat shield on the Wheelhorse mufflers. One of the many details that make these tractors standout. I found one used off a 5/20, about an inch longer than my 12hp muffler but that didn't bother me. I marked the mounting location for 4 of the 6 holes. Then I found the spots and tacked on 4 8-32 bolts. Next I put the shield on and cut the excess stud off. I left enough to put nuts with lock washers and brass acorn nuts on. I think it looks pretty good. Now I just need a 520 swept axle and reduction steering👍

Did I miss the 4th of July?

No curbs where I live Craig, but they may save the rattlesnakes and rabbits from getting sliced and diced.

Don't forget your curb feelers.

Find you "D" series moldboard they're 56" wide, Duke has/had a NOS one for sale in the classifieds, and yes I widened a 42" to 50" for my 520H ain't pretty but got the job done, Jeff.

Now remind me how you report inappropriate posts to the mods???!!!

They can put it out as early as they want. I refuse to buy till the last minute.

520 axle is direct bolt on...

thanks for the warm welcomes, the wife hopped on it for half the yard and loves it. its kinda fun to pop a wheely out the gate in high 3rd...I may or may not have warned her about that just for fun.

Moon protectors!

Those spare parts can move before the storm hits so put them in a giant bag marked with fluorescent tape!

Well got it to the house and started tinkering with it. Carb is mess but I was able to get it to start so I at least know it has potential. From what I can see this is a 3hp motor?? I have more pics so maybe y'all can give me more info

Really Ed... baby moonz

You have what is commonly referred to as a single stage short chute. Check for play in the chain. With use, the links can stretch. Look for the connector link and make sure it looks OK. The chain itself can be tightened by adjusting the idler sprocket. Make sure the auger and all the bearings are free and have no radial play. Check and tighten the set screws in the drive pulley and sprocket on the jack shaft. Check the belt tensioning spring. It should tighten the belt so you only have about 1/2" deflection with slight pressure. Check the chute rotator cable and replace if it is worn or twisted badly. I have successfully used heavy string trimmer line to replace cables. If all is OK, I would keep a spare belt and a spare chain connector link where you can find them when the blizzard arrives.

If it ran good before then I would check everything you touched and make sure you did not mess anything up. For the trigger to fail at the exact time you de-carboned it seems like a real coincidence.

I have the single side pulleys. 3 3/8 OD and 4 3/4 OD. Can you post a picture of the shaft. I have never seen a cast iron pulley wear out a steel shaft. If you are interested in the pulley, send me a PM.

I have shafts and spindle housings. I also have bearings, what I don't have is a pulley. I have another deck, an 05-42 MS02 which has the shaft with the hex nut as part of it just above the blade. This takes blades with a round hole. I'm sure everyone here knows this. I'm the rookie here. I really would like to find a pulley because with 2 decks I have some flexibility. One is set up for the TracVac and the other could be used for actually mowing lawn! What a concept.

Tough crowd here... but, I've got you bro. http://www.schillmania.com/projects/snowstorm/lights/

I don't get it, there aren't even any lights to blow up!

Here are some pics. It looks pretty close to 3 3/8 dia. The hole is round and so is the shaft. Bob

Sorry to hear about your dream not going so well. So many times our dreams are dashed by unexpected events, health or otherwise. I'm sure there is someone here who has a similar dream, and can help you get rid of those C-195's.

The engine is a new old stock Briggs 8 hp that's never had gas in it

Can you post a picture with the OD dimension. I may have one.

The 42" deck Lt or RT spindle pulley is # 5877 or 106846. If the center hole is round, then it is completely slopped out. There should bo no thrust washer at all. There may be a spacer, but it too would be double d configuration. I do not have any 5877 pulleys and they are hard to find. Better that you replae the entire spindle to escape the DD configuration... Newer model spindles will bolt right in, but will need to have non-DD blades tool.

I think a volt meter is better, An amp meter can't tell you anything about the battery condition and won't show voltage drop while cranking. I feel that the volt meter should have a line of it's own going directly to the battery side of the solenoid. Also, it should be fused to protect the wiring from an accidental short to ground.

I was in HD yesterday and the snowblowers are already on display.

The engine installed, although I will have to separate them again to apply loctite RC-680 on the pump shaft spline & driven coupling! Good looking out Paul.......

Not a dang thing Wrencher... I should have said it's always nice when an unexpected score come with caps! That is one nice 1257 your sitting on there as well! Seat is perfect! Good one Richard!

Thanks, all the info helps! Prices are all over the place so it's good to hear from those that have experience with these. I'll go with Richard's suggestion.

Thanks! I read that section in the manual before, but must've stopped paying attention when it said in the first sentence "The Dial-A-Height control (Fig. 14) is used to limit the downward travel of attachments other than mowers." However, looking at it again, it says to turn it all the way to the plastic thread cap for mowing, should have read the whole paragraph before! I tried yesterday to turn it all the way, but I've still got at least 1.5" of thread left to go until the thread cap, and I can absolutely not get it any farther by hand. I'm going to assume that either something is binding up the threads, or there's something further down preventing movement. Looking at the parts diagrams, I believe I now understand how the dial control works with the lever. Hoping to get back home this weekend, should be able to pick up the choke linkage from the post office and hopefully get the thing running, and have a closer look at the lever issue. Also checked the shifter boot yesterday, and will need to change that out when I can get the part, as well. As far as I can figure, to remove the lever there's just a jam nut and set screw to remove the lever, swap the boot, and reinstall? On the note of the transmission, just shifting it around while sitting I can get it into High/Low/R-1-2, but the lever doesn't want to go into third. It doesn't seem that the big metal spring on the console faceplate is getting in the way, and I watched the video on how the trannys work last night. Is it possible that the 3rd gear/pinion is just a little stuck, and maybe a good cleaning/flushing/fluid change might get it moving/shiftable again? Or am I likely to have to open the dang thing up and do some real work? Thanks for all of the advice and words so far, glad I found an active forum with so much knowledge on these machines! Just tinkering around with this one (never had a riding mower/tractor before), I can tell why people like them so much, though the youtube videos I watched about removing the mower deck took some liberties to make it look much easier/quicker than it really is... all the ones I saw don't mention anything about removing the PTO belt. They all just said "push this button, remove this pin, and slide it out!" ....not quite that simple, but it's still not bad at all. -Dan

So I have been looking for a decent 48" deck to use on my D-160 and ran across a CL ad for what was said to be - a kinda sad looking - "314-8 " with what appeared to be a nice looking 48" deck, sez 'make offer'. After some back & forth I struck a deal with seller for $150. So I took off on the 3hr drive to pick it up and I get there and the hood has "416-8" decals!. I dont pay much attention to it - except for the deck and it alone was worth the 150, so load er up and head home. Get up this morning, unload it and get my first real look at it and right away see the engine is a K321 and shows absolutely NO signs of being a replacement? - Was the hood changed and it is a 314-8 or? - now, this is the latest model WH I have ever had and I'm not familiar at all with them (I've had C's & D's) so my question is - what is it? Oh, and from my looking it over I find its in amazingly original condition and seems to be in good condition under the dirt/rust - I think I just may have got me a nice tractor for the price of a nice deck.

This might help: http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Paint-From-a-Leather-Auto-Seat

Big Snow - Little Snow. I have used these for two seasons already. The small one goes on the tractor I am using in case I need to move some snow by hand. They actually work better for pushing than scooping and lifting snow.

If they are Toro yes they are quite proud of them. Doesn't mean you have to shop ther tho. Richard's link is a good one so consider ther. Get an extra set for the shelf after all ALL bearings were designed to be worn out! Ya get some extra time drewd we do like our ! BTW you get them bearings off clean up the spindles with some fine emery cloth and clean up the rim bores and while you have them off maybe a shot of paint. Check those zerks they can plug up. You might already know all that just making sure the bases are covered.

I know the K341(16hp) peak torque is 28.25ft lbs. @2600rpm with max. brake hp 16@3500rpm torque is 23.5ft. lbs. And according to the Harborfreight site the Predator 22hp has 45 NM or 33.19 ft. lbs. at 2500 rpm.

Hello, well Stewart Warner Technical Support claims none of their gauges are designed to be water tight. Equus made a volt gauge that appears vintage, next to my very early Stewart Warner Oil Temp. This oil gauge has never steamed up, but it's not "specifically designed" for weather?

I've wanted a tractor with a FEL for a while but needed to sell my motorcycle to fund the loader tractor. Over the summer I was talking with Duke (Horse Fixer) about his 520H but even if I sold my bike, the distance to get his was holding me back. In late July I thought my Honda was sold and I saw Larry (Elliot Ness) had a C-195 and a loader for sale that might have worked. He's just an hour up the road from me so that was very close. Unfortunately, the sale of my bike fell through so I was forced to back out on Larry. (I still feel terrible about that.) It looks like he has since sold one of his tractors and one of his loaders so I'm happy about that. Well, a few weeks ago my bike sold and I started looking again. Denny Clarke mentioned that Duke's 520 was still in the classifieds. Denny also offered to haul it to his house in central Illinois if Duke and I worked out a deal since he and his wife would be in Michigan near Duke's place. Based on his generous offer, I decided to call Duke. I called and his wife answered. As most of you know by now, Duke had a stroke over the summer. I had no idea at the time so she filled me in on what had happened. I asked her not to bother him since he was in the hospital at the time but she insisted since he still had the tractor. Long story even longer, Duke was home and healing by the time the Clarkes made the trip to Michigan and the deal was done. If you remember Duke's add, the 520 was in good shape with a few dents and scratches on the hood and seat pan. He had decals for the hood and seat pan that he included in the deal. Since I got it home I started pulling it apart to do some freshening and repairs. And, as all of you know, once you start digging in to a tractor, you can always find more items to address. My original plan was to fix the hood, replace the front tires, and a new seat. First off I'd like to say that Duke had gone through the machine and cleaned and serviced it thoroughly. He did a great job making this machine nice. Once I started to pull off tins I found some surface rust and pitting under the floor mats so I decided to work those over too. I also noticed that the drive belt was really bouncing/slapping inside the belt guard. As I looked more closely I found the pivot rod that holds the drive belt idler pulley was really sloppy. It turns out the bushing was gone and a groove had worn in the rod. I wasn't able to find a rod but I filled it and ordered the inexpensive bushing, wave washer, and shim. When they come in I hope to put everything back together. Below is a before pic showing how nice it was to start with and then some other pics of my progress. Sorry for the long winded post. Before: Here's pics of my rattle can painting. Remember this is going to be a worker so my painting isn't perfect. I was able to heat and remove the existing running board pads and re-use them. Since it will eventually get a FEL I put some loaded Ags with inside wheel weights on the rear that I had from another tractor and some 5 ribs on the front. Since I couldn't find any ribs in 16 - 7.50 I upsized to an 18 - 8.50 Vred 5 rib. They are big but the tractor is still pretty level and it steers with almost zero effort even when the tractor is sitting still.

It is a shame the way people treat these machines. You did all the right things and it cleaned up quite nicely. I have a 1998 and I recently had to add a conventional clutch return spring because the gas strut was getting tired. Make sure you get the air cleaner back on before the mice move back in. Also, mine had a slow oil leak on the right side engine cover. Kohler used RTV in lieu of gaskets on these engines. I had it repaired-not really a functional problem, I just like my machines to be as perfect as possible. You will like your tractor (except for all the blasted safety interlocks). Although, I must say, my wife cannot drive this tractor with the brake engaged

Honestly , I hate ammeters in the dash . To make them work correctly , without using a shunt system all that charging amperage has to pass through the meter . Upon startup and at full throttle , it will be handling the full capability of the stator and magnets - if anything rots inside of it it can short out , badly . I prefer to just use a volt meter which will show if the voltage is running between 13.8-14.2v which indicates a fully charging system . This way, the charge amps can go directly to the battery where it belongs with no real risk of a fire . I'm going to delete the ammeter in my D-180 as soon as I can find a nice SW volt meter for the dash hole's 1-1/16" hole . I like the older tombstone gauge needle look on their black gauges , but unfortunately so does every hot rodder out there...lol . Sarge