Leaderboard

hi men, since the fender pan and belt guard were removed for the seat support repair, i also removed the hood. special thanks to my bud mark for the fresh automotive paint and clear. new decals from terry, super guy! custom stainless steel exhaust stack from john at blue ribbon welding in chester ma. the stack is something i bought at home depot. (actaully its a shower safety grab bar) my bud harry fabbed the rake mount so it works with a clevis hitch. and thanks to my friend phil for the pics. enjoy mike in mass.

The secret to putting them on straight is to mist a little water onto the decal and the tractor. Then you can move them around until they are straight. Squeegee the water out and let them dry.

More details.

Well, Road Runner has been at the spa for the last two days. I pressure washed his frame, stripped and etch primed the seat pan and hood, removed the brake drum and drive pulley, replaced the bent spindle, and did a few other things. I plan on welding up the broken seat mount holes (pretty common failure I think) and a few rust holes in the tower tomorrow. I removed the brake pedal and plan on making the clutch pedal operate the clutch and brake to make it easier for Emory to operate. Well, worn out, time for bed!

I removed the drive tires on Alex the Farmer's ( My Son ) 310-8 today at work to show you all how many ours is on it ! Look at the wheels ! Still brand New, he got this from a Man who's Mother was suppose to be using it never used it, its a Very low hour tractor, check these wheels out & how shinny the paint still is, Im figuring its a 1988 model by rims, whats your thought ? BRF

Well I finally got my plow skids on my C160 snow pusher. I'm trying to get ready for winter. I have a gravel drive way and ever spring I have to clean up all the gravel in the side yard before I can mow the grass. So I ordered some skids and welded on a plate to support them. I had a tough time with my old mig welder with all the splatter from it. It doesn't look all that good but it will hold for sure. I have the blade about 1/2" high and still have threads on the skid for more lift if need be.

I like to use bed rails for things like that. Thin, but very strong. The steel is bent really tight on the inside corners [unlike an a standard angle iron] ,and you might get by placing it over or under the existing frame with just bolts or a plug weld. I also have used circular saw blades cut up with a mini grinder to reinforce things. Bed rails are easy to find as they are often thrown away, especially in college towns I get all i need when tenants move out, so talk to a landlord if you know one.

to the Looks like a 1988,89 520H. It looks well maintained, but is difficult to tell w/o seeing it in person. Ask for maint. records. Check bearing condition in blower ad mowig deck. How any hours on the clock. Is engine smoking or surging. $1200 is on the high side, but may not be bad for your area. Make sure you get the mule drive and belt for the deck and the lift rod and flag for the blower. BTW, posting a CL ad is not permitted. The mods may remove it.

It's an 18, and I will replace the stacks with a stock two into one as soon as I can. I got it bought for $700. The white lettering has to go. It appears to be a 1982 according what the original owner told the guy who restored it. New starter, new solenoid, new belts, all new deck pulley's, and no smoke. Runs like a top and mows well. The hydraulics work and the grader box was just icing on the cake. I am sure I will be asking lots of questions shortly. Thank you all for your advice and input. It appears to be an 18hp Briggs. No sticker under the seat anymore. Saw picture before it was restored, it is a work horse. It was a rusty work horse 😂

Oldarmy's 1977 B80 8 speed

This is my new to me in March 2017 1977 B80 8sp.. Work on the restoration was done by PO. It sports a 36" side discharge deck and has had an engine rebuild of the original 8hp Kohler. This Horse is still a working horse even though she looks purdy.

hi all, the typical 3,4,500 series wh seat support cracked and broke on my 312. i welded in thicker metal and added gussets. love my hobart mig! mike in mass.

Last one I did I just matched it up to the old one and cut it off, ground it smooth just like original

It's really no big deal Jeff... just wanted to illustrate here, that taking your time... utilizing a common sense approach, one can retain the "weathered" factory appearing paint... without doing a complete strip, then repaint job.

I'd soak the crank pin in muriatic acid and see if the aluminum residue comes off.

It's been a long time since I've undertaken a tractor project. Recently got married, moved, got a new job that keeps me busy so I haven't really had time. Now that I got the garage at our place cleaned out and ran electricity through it I'm ready to take on a project again! First one that I'm gonna take on is this 1045 I purchased a while back. It isn't perfect, but it's mostly there. Engine doesn't have enough parts on it to make it run, but it has compression so that's a start. I've been accumulating parts for it thanks to the big show and some members her so now I have enough to get it going. I'm excited to rear into it and see exactly how bad it will be! First thing I'm concerned with is possibly the hood. The previous owner put this bracket on so he could mount the hood while using the makeshift snowblower that was on it. He must have cut the normal attaching rod off. Now it looks like if I weld on a new rod, the hood will hit my muffler. Anyone have a 1045 that can give me some measurements of the hood to make sure mine is correct? Looking forward to this project! Mike

Here is a mid '90s 520H near you for $600. No blower, but it has the forward swept axle and reduction steering.

I see uncovered all the time, rusting away, even other Makes & Models ? Let alone a Classic Car in a field, makes no Dang Sense Bob

I would guess that's what the guys do Mike as the length of the oil dipper is the only difference. I would like to know how did the crank break? I might have an extra crank Mike, will have to check if its inch or 1 1/8" tho.

Humm...seems that I never posted images of the results of my refurbished hood repaint. Intention was to not make this look like an obvious repaint, but to make it blend into whats left of the factory paint on the hood sides... ultimately knocked down the high gloss with a pad of #0000 steel wool...I'm pretty happy with the final outcome. Anyways...a lot better than it appeared before.

sounds like it has a 10 pinion limited slip, they can click as the steel ring slips over the teeth.

The 1st picture is circa 2007 - I'm the masked man in the back doing the dirty work while dad gets the fun job of hauling the brush away. The next two are the start of the restoration shots! It has sat for the last 8 years, and I had to limp it out of the garage and into my trailer. After redoing the battery and starter cables, letting it sit for 48 hours with oil in the cylinder and turning the engine over with a breaker bar, the 'ol Kohler fired up on the 2nd crank with a shot of ether (first crank I forgot to choke and throttle - I was too excited - doh!). The wagon is original, and it has a replacement mowing deck. The original snowblower was sent to scrap unfortunately, but I sourced a 48" long-frame plow this summer which will be better here in PA since it's mostly slush anyway. I am slowly repainting pieces as they come off (I'd removed most of the sheet metal for diagnosis runs around the yard in the 2nd pic). Once things are mostly sorted with the hydro/trans, I'm planning on fresh Firestone bar & tri-rib rubber. I have so many fond memories mowing with this as a kid, and I am probably almost as (maybe more?) excited to get it back to being a workhorse as an adult and hopefully run it another 46 years! (I have a feeling it will outlast me)

Awesome! That thing has the looks of the best of the uglies(c125 and d series). Not being sarcastic, I love the black hoods and big d's. They are just plain awesome looking. I hate to say it, but I think "Coyote" my c125 I got from @oldredrider is my favorite horse so far. Nice project! Now back to Emory's c series I'm building in the garage!

If the series II that is low hrs and should be no prob with excellent maint. If series I with splash lube, operating on flat ground and keeping oil at full mark at all times is critical. No hills or side mowing with it!

A short walk around video. https://youtu.be/u8HpLrkUEOU

Fuel pump mounted. Battery box repaired. Drove it to the backyard for a few photos.

Hammer together a lean to?!? ... Sry Chuck ...didn't mean to steal your thread

The P216 will out perform both of those kohlers, however you have to ask yourself which engine YOU like better. The K321 will pull similar to the K341 but we all know how awsome it is to own the top dog. Actually the K361 is the top dog but you will never find one....... The knock is caused by too advanced timing, or most commonly an egg shaped crank pin. The pin diameter never increased as the cylinder size increased. It would be safe to assume a 16HP engine will wear the crankshaft faster than a 12HP. It is absolutly worth rebuilding either the K341 or K321. Both are highly sought after.

That red wire goes to the battery, and the other one with the plug looks like they are for the starter....

Looks good Richie.

Looks like new, good find.

Most air cooled engines have alittle knock or rattle thinks its the nature of the beast.

The later 520's came with a larger seat / fender support which may help with this. I have converted all of my machines to this style. It is a direct bolt in replacement to the original using the 2 rear bolts that secure the tunnel cover plate as 2 additional support points. Tunnel cover is then supposed to have a step in it to go over this support but your existing cover will still work. Here is your regular seat support. Here is the larger support. Here is a picture showing the stepped cover and larger support installed. The larger supports are on ebay (not by me). Cleat

i believe i hear the clunk as the conrod lets go round the 5/6 second mark?

Ummm ... yeah. Well done man !!!

In case you have not noticed I think the pto end of the crankshaft is 1" diameter. Later models went to 1-1/8" diameter. Garry

Just picked this up today, looks like the belt is maybe around 63 1/2" anybody have a number for the belt?

The flag is but the tube is lighter steel (like water pipe)

My wife insisted I get the video tonight and not keep you all waiting! Thank you for the ideas already. I don't entirely know the history, or at least one that makes complete sense. I don't think that it was too badly abused, except that dad mentioned he pulled some sumac stumps out with it in the 80's (and I would have expected him to ease into the pull and not snapped the chain tight being a heavy equipment operator and semi-driver). He then went on to mow 1.5 acres and blow snow in Buffalo for another 25 years after that with it until 2009. I've never noticed any locking up of the wheels while turning or anything funny like that (the hydrogear does seem to be slow at first in reverse then speed up - hence why I pulled it and it will be delivered to Jim's Tractors tomorrow for an overhaul). Once thing I found odd is that the hydrogear is marked as a Sunstrand 90-2071, not the 90-2046 I had expected as per tractordata. Also there were some remnants of a paper (?) gasket, as well as what I am guessing is black RTV between the hydrogear and transaxle. I asked dad, but he claims the hydrogear was never pulled, and any major work done by a Wheel Horse / Toro dealer that seemed knowledgeable. So while I think it has been used / worked hard, I wouldn't say it was abused too badly. Dad bought this new in '72. When rolling both wheels together forward, or both wheels together backwards, there is just typical gear lash noise - no clicks or any noticeable hang ups. It's only when turning one side or the other that it makes this clicking/ratcheting. Note in this video there is no fluid in the trans axle having just drained it, so I won't work it too much. Here's the video: IMG_2757.MOV I couldn't tell if the axle seals were leaking since the whole transaxle was covered in ATF from a leaking hose. Looking at the filter screen, there are a few metal shavings but nothing large indicating something obviously grenaded (but again with the RTV gasket and mismatch hydrogear #, I'm wondering if it was pulled and filter screen cleaned at that time). Maybe this is typical; again just was not what I was expecting compared to an automobile diff. @racinbob- I did see on parts tree that the 10 pinon has been replaced with an 11, at least for the 1972 1 0422.

I would like to send out a big Thank You to @gwest_ca for all of the excellent responses he makes and the great job he does with our Manuals section.

Jimmy Jam, I have sent you a message. Thanks to all for your help. This site is a great resource.

Just to add to that - the aluminum body of that voltage regulator must be grounded to the system to work correctly and is generally the culprit if they don't want to charge the battery . Remove the regulator noting the location of the wires , clean the bolt hole areas and it's a good idea to use a ground wire back to the battery and the engine block - the system will be a lot more consistent and stable . When re-installing the bolts I like to use internal tooth lock washer (stainless is best) to help keep the connection clean and tight - some dielectric grease helps as well . Sarge

Jim, I wish you the best. Praying the Lord's hands will be directing the surgeons and nurses as they perform your procedure. I pray for your recovery and hope you have plenty of rest and little pain. Take care my friend! Here is a blue thumbs up for you!

@Dozerman to

I never use the lift tube. It very difficult to install and remove the tube. I bought a cheap, small 4 wheel movers dolly that I set the generator on. When I’m ready to install I just roll it in to place, line up the attach-a-matic hitches and latch them and pull the dolly out. When I’m done I roll the dolly under the gen, release the latches, and roll the gen into its storage location. I never have to lift it or lug it around. And, I don’t have to crawl under the tractor and mess with the flag/lift tube.

Update: I found the second peg-style footrest. Now I have a pair. So, you are thinking of modifying to the later style of flat footrest? I have a restored pair for sale. Let me know. Here's a pic!

Some RJs and Suburbans can be a pain even with the correct belt, pulleys and belt guard. Some have worked perfectly fine right out of the gate while others have taken quite a bit of time to get working right. Stressing the brand new belt helps to remove some of the "memory" in it. I drive up to a wall or tree and dig the tires into the ground to stress and stretch a new belt which helps. The correct length of the spacers for the belt guard makes a difference too. If too short you can shim with washers, if too long you grind a little off. Bending the flat edge of the guard slightly around the engine pulley side can also help. As mentioned, a clean smooth engine pulley is critical, start the engine and use a small wire brush to clean the groove. Adjusting the engine position forward/back and making sure it is square is another thing. There are a bunch of little adjustments which can be done to get it working right. A few curse words is another technique I use so don't forget those!

Not so sure it's original - seems to show signs of being on another machine. Seems ok, has compression and is free. Haven't tried to start it, will probably save it for another project. I hope so. Just hope he doesn't catch on. Gonna get a set of carbon fiber decals from Terry and have him put Emory on the seat pan decal instead of Wheel Horse. Gonna wait till after Emory goes to sleep Christmas Eve to put that on.

My 1964 lawn ranger that I have had since I was a kid pulling a wheel horse tandem disc