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Had the opportunity today to buy out another closed Wheel Horse dealership about 45 minutes away. Lots of good stuff, good mix of discontinued parts, lots of Kohler. Long day but should be worth it. Enjoy the photos boys.

August 9, 2010, JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quits his job in dramatic style by sliding down his plane’s emergency-escape chute while the aircraft is stopped near the terminal gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Slater, who claimed his actions were prompted by the behavior of a rude passenger, quickly became a media sensation and national folk hero.

Doing an 8 speed gear oil change..easier to just remove the trans right

Made the 4 hour trip back to my birthplace to attend a family reunion. Back in one of the hollers surrounded by the Appalachian Mts.

Painted the footrests and side panels. Now it’s got me to thinking I need to paint the hood and fender pan.

Of course nice haul Looks like a huge job ahead to sort thru all that!

Another day another adventure Horse fans. Since it's raining I laid out some of the paperwork I got with this machine and am glad I did. Nice to see someone keeping everything in folders showing it was like a member of the family. I left the name visible on the sales receipt in case people knew who they are in case someone wondered where this Horse is being stabled. Half tempted to search for a replacement wiring harness or make new connections with a trailer plug in or new Deutsch plugs... But, here's what I have so far..😉

While searching something else I came across this old thread from 2011. This is both a sad and interesting thread from the past. Gary Pond, Cecil's son, was part of it. Sure wish he stayed hanging around, but I get it. Many of the members that posted on it were a big part of this forum back in the day. It's very nostalgic to see some of those names and remember those early days of RS. This thread may have been hosted on the old Forumer site before Karl made this place permanent. I can't remember what year that was but thank you Karl ( @nylyon) for saving it if it was. The Forumer site owned ALL of the content before Karl made it ours. That's a whole story just on it's own and interesting RS history. Plenty of those old threads back in the day had tons of interesting subjects and very knowledgeable people the providing that info so it's sad to see they either passed or simply moved on. If you happen come across any interesting threads from the past or know of one please post them.

You know Trina. You know how busy she always is. I can't possibly overstate how much she's been doing to care for the dog.

Wow, that's a real shame. Things happen out of the blue. Being home, Meeha is in good hands. My daughter works part-time for a vet. She has seen a lot, and things like this are usually a 50/50 shot. Wanting to walk is a good sign. My current cat was hit by a snow plow. She was young. I said put her down, but the vet said "I'll fix her". And he did. She may have used up most of her nine lives though. I don't know how many lives a dog has, but I'm sending my good juju her way just in case there are a few more in there

The lightning in this backdrop last night was almost as incredible as the drones!

Tied into a Onan I got from @Blasterdad at @Pullstart plow day. Someone started taking it all apart and don't know why. He said it ran when parked and debating whether or not to pop the heads and check things out. Seems to have good compression. Hear tell new head gaskets are junk tho. Cleaned up nice & maybe give the flywheel some red bling.

Thank the Lord There fixed that ...

Finished up this shed today. Still need to get a ramp setup for it but no rush on that. Yes it’s plastic and yes it was a kit (one million pieces!!) But it all fit together well and I already had the pressure treated base built and leveled, so that’s how the size was determined. It’s 10’9” x 7’xx” with a door plenty wide enough to get a tractor in if need be.

Thanks to @Bill D I'm in talks for an opposed twin which would be a drop in.

Replaced front wheel bearings on last 312-8 I acquired and sprayed some Regal Red on a set of WH rear weights, that are allocated for a 520H.

Time for an update. Getting to the point of installing the painted parts as the humidity is not the best for outdoor priming and painting.

On my 520 the gas cap and hydro dipstick are underneath the seat. The seat doesn’t flop forward enough to stay up. Got tired of finding something to prop it with. I already have some rubber stops with 5/16s thread. After scrounging around a little I found a short piece of 5/16s all-thread, a matching rod end, and coupling nut. After drilling a hole I bolted on the assembly. Raise the seat and it falls into a vertical position, or push it to the back where it won’t move. Flip it forward when lowering the seat and it rests next to the seat bracket. Much better.

So glad to hear she’s healing up! Dogs can get so embedded in our hearts, I know you and Trina will give her the best care

Moved my old camper trailer to the back of the property today. Leveling an area for it now Will be the new goat pen. Trailers been sitting around for 2 years since I tore the 30 foot camper shell off it. Old lady wants a goat so figure this is a hell of a good base to level with some 8 inch block and build off of. Let me know what y'all think! She wheelied up on me 3 times climbing this hill. Now I'm pondering some weight bracket of some sorts for the front Maybe that brand new weight set I had to have an have used 4 times will be a victim for this project.

Probably blow by...You could do a leak down test to verify but oil out the dipstick usually means compression leaking by the rings..

You were born at the sportmans' club? That's way cooler than at the hospital.

I isn't that one that Kev has @Pullstart with all the signatures factory yellow? Who ever painted that one yellow Bar did a fine job of masking off the original stickers.

Jackpot! You're going to need two barns at the Big Show next year.

Thank you for rescuing these parts and making them available to us.

The early models had no gas spring, the geometry was such that the seat would lay on the steering wheel. Modified springs, adjustment tracks and aftermarket seats cause a problem.

Haven't done it yet but these might go on the 161 with the FEL to improve the strain on steering components. Crappy, dirty looking rims with wheelbarrow tires came on an off-brand cart I acquired somehow. Bushings and zerk fittings and when I stripped the junk tires and knocked the bushings out, they were really nice looking 4" x 8 rims with potential. Hit them with some degreaser and ordered some decent bearings and a pair of 4 ply Deestone tri-ribs.

Swapped out tires/rims on the 520. Don’t know why but the original deep offset rims were not on this unit. The previous owner had spacers between the rims and hubs. I replaced the Sears 23x10.50-12 tires/rims with a set of 24x12-12 tires/rims. Also Sears, don’t recall how I got them. Since these rims were not offset enough I installed a 1” spacer on each hub. The tires just barely cleared the mower deck enough to install without removing the deck first. picture #4 is with one of each size. If I push snow with this tractor tis winterI may have to swap back in order to install a set of chains.

Thank you ,but I don't think this 420 will ever be as nice as @cleat 's resto's. I do put a lot of effort to bring the '' ROUGH 420'S '' back to a spot in WH history but, I just can't stand looking at the abused 420 and 520's that I have seen in pictures on this GREAT Red Square forum and try to do my part to ease the pain that has been inflicted on me, Seriously . Thanks

I stand by what I said in my text to you earlier. You’ve got this @ebinmaine between you and Trina, Meeha is in good hands.

Well... er... uhm... it works... I guess...

I "kinda" went through some of the wiring on one of my 520H's a little while back and corrosion at some of the connections was all I really found that was in bad shape. the 9 pin connector still appeared to be in pretty decent shape on mine, but someone had already taken the charging circuit out of the 9 pin and ran it like the earlier 520's where wired, which may be why 9 pin was still in good shape. I got lucky and everything electrical works as it should but did have to replace voltage regulator because it wasn't charging. I did have to change the vacuum gauge on mine but that has nothing to do with the electrics. I really like that big Onan humm and the 520's have become one of my favorites. I believe you will like the tractor after working out a few of the bugs. Pic of mine for inspiration

You are to de-carbon the heads regularly so it isn't a waste of time to pull the heads. You can have OK compression with a loose valve seat, so check carefully when the heads are off. Adjust the valves, clean the carb, check the intake manifold and paint the exhaust. Use only genuine Onan gaskets for the intake, valve covers and heads, others may fail

I would most defiantly reseal manifold, carb kit, and decarb while I had it on workbench may save a lot of headaches later on.

I don’t think the Signature Horse is factory yellow. I recall seeing red under it in various spots too.

Part # 106073 , center keyed pulley for a 48" deck. Plenty in stock here

or a rack to stack

A few pictures of stuff I thought interesting

And if they have a bad connection where I put the red arrow, it will not work. Ask me how I know?….😂😂

The 9-pin connector and the fuse block has been attacked by the usual klutz. I doubt that you need an entire wiring harness, just clean up the mess caused by the klutz. I doubt that you can find a harness anywhere. The solenoid is part of the starter. Download the Demystification Guide, and the Onan engine manual. As you go along, ask questions here.

Well you may not be an electrical expert now....and maybe a 520 is not the best place to start ...but you will I guess become an electrical expert.

That's a great looking rig right there! You'll probably need to be slow and methodical to back it into the garage though

I pulled the recycler cover off my HXL and had my son-in-law scan it for 3D printing another one in the future, should it break. They are very hard to find, and typically not cheap. Once he gets me the file I'll post it in it's own thread for anyone looking for one in the future. They can download it and find someone to print it up.

The 1988 and 1989 520 H came with 7" wide wheels and 23 x 950 x 12 tires. Stright front axle with 3/4" spindles 16 x 650 x 8 tires.

This evening

It’s OFFICIAL, @ebinmaine gets the award for “Sunrise with the most power lines in it” Congratulations Eric!👍🏻Good job 👍🏻😂😂