Brought one home tonight

[Lee1977 6,222]

There are a lot of different ways to repair a broken frame. We are giving opinions on a repair of someone's Wheel Horse not ours.  I gave my opinion and it may need some modification as I didn't go measure. It may need to be shorten on the front side as not to infer with the engine mounting bolts. I will leave it up to the owner to chose the best method. I will not reply to this tread again.

[Red144runner 657]

Have some experience in frame repair, not on my tractors but on my truck. Had a hairline crack across the top of one rail and some rot thru. Drilled the start of the crack to prevent further, then ground it all down and plated it with 3/16" same thickness as frame. Not a professional by any means, but it is super strong now. I'm sure you can fix frame up no problem. Thick steel is easier to work with. 

[bo dawg 477]

I think all these are good ideas guys, nothing wrong with any of your suggestions. This is a first for me to have to deal with this kind of issue. I want to fix it once and with out having to strip it down, cause if I go that far I'll just get another frame and switch everything over. And I dont want to do that either. Lol! I will have to rely on my brother for the welding as I don't have one and not good at it.

I really appreciate the kind thoughts and help on this. Once I get it done I will share.

 

Bo Dawg

[slim67 2,730]

11 hours ago, bo dawg said:

I think all these are good ideas guys, nothing wrong with any of your suggestions. This is a first for me to have to deal with this kind of issue. I want to fix it once and with out having to strip it down, cause if I go that far I'll just get another frame and switch everything over. And I dont want to do that either. Lol! I will have to rely on my brother for the welding as I don't have one and not good at it.

I really appreciate the kind thoughts and help on this. Once I get it done I will share.

 

Bo Dawg

I think you got a nice tractor there that looks very restoreable. If the guy was going to scrap it , he must have more money than brains.

[bo dawg 477]

It does need some work, I think carb could use some cleaning and a tune up maybe. It needed a new battery, wouldn't hold a charge. Rear seal leaking a little, and a safety switch on seat is causing a running problem I believe. Just getting started on inspecting it. Changed oil and put new battery in it. Don't want to put much money in it till I make sure it runs and drives around ok. Then I will look into fixing broke frame. I only gave $100 for it so I know I'm not hurt, too many good things on it. The farmer owned it since new and now with all the issues he just bought another new one and wanted to get rid of this one. If I didn't want it he was gona junk it. I was happy to help him out.

[bo dawg 477]

Now I know why the seat and fender pan was loose. Along with missing and cross threaded bolts. I seen these extra pieces of metal that didnt look right and figure there was something wrong and I was right. Now I got to figure something to use thats better than this 3/16 thick pieces so everything will bolt down nice.

This is creative! I think I could have found a correct diameter bolt to use instead of this lag bolt.

[AMC RULES 36,945]

  Find any nails yet?   

[bo dawg 477]

1 hour ago, AMC RULES said:

  Find any nails yet?   

 

 

No nails yet that I can find any where, that would been too easy. They welded a bolt in place of the pin on the lift bar that attaches to the deck. And the bolt head hit the grease cert on the bottom of the steering gear box and stripped it out. Now hole is too big to fit a new one. The grease was holding it in place. Lol

 

Edited April 2, 2017 by bo dawg

[JimD 3,345]

On 3/31/2017 at 3:46 PM, Lee1977 said:

There are a lot of different ways to repair a broken frame. We are giving opinions on a repair of someone's Wheel Horse not ours.  I gave my opinion and it may need some modification as I didn't go measure. It may need to be shorten on the front side as not to infer with the engine mounting bolts. I will leave it up to the owner to chose the best method. I will not reply to this tread again.

 

Lee, please don't let a differing opinion preclude you from posting your ideas in a thread. We all do things in many different ways and we all tend to think that our ideas are the best ones, and most of the time I'm right! I personally thought your idea was a good one along with many others. And we must remember that we all have differing skill levels too.   And sometimes we misinterpret things that are said also. The point is we are all trying to help one another keep and maintain our tractors and if even one of us drops out it hurts the entire effort.

 

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

2 hours ago, JimD said:

 

Lee, please don't let a differing opinion preclude you from posting your ideas in a thread. We all do things in many different ways and we all tend to think that our ideas are the best ones, and most of the time I'm right! I personally thought your idea was a good one along with many others. And we must remember that we all have differing skill levels too.   And sometimes we misinterpret things that are said also. The point is we are all trying to help one another keep and maintain our tractors and if even one of us drops out it hurts the entire effort.

 

 

Didn't mean to upset anyone to this point, and I probably took it out of context with a few comments and I'll let rest from here...

 

19 hours ago, bo dawg said:

Now I know why the seat and fender pan was loose. Along with missing and cross threaded bolts. I seen these extra pieces of metal that didnt look right and figure there was something wrong and I was right. Now I got to figure something to use thats better than this 3/16 thick pieces so everything will bolt down nice.

This is creative! I think I could have found a correct diameter bolt to use instead of this lag bolt.

Now with the trans tunnel covers there is supposed to be speed clips/nuts on the frame (1/4"-20 thread) to hold them fast, was Phillips head stove bolts I changed mine out to button head Allen bolts/screws (stainless steel if you want), Jeff.

[bo dawg 477]

3 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

Didn't mean to upset anyone to this point, and I probably took it out of context with a few comments and I'll let rest from here...

 

Now with the trans tunnel covers there is supposed to be speed clips/nuts on the frame (1/4"-20 thread) to hold them fast, was Phillips head stove bolts I changed mine out to button head Allen bolts/screws (stainless steel if you want), Jeff.

 

Yep! Those are the ones. I found some angle metal that is the same thickness and welded it in on top with enough length to bolt the cross member in for the fender and seat. Worked out pretty nice.

 

[bo dawg 477]

Well got the frame all welded up inside and out. Weld the crack then weld on both sides of the weld. It was easier than I thought, just jacked up the tractor and let the front dangle and it closed the crack up. It was tuff getting in there to grind the crack till I thought of using the dremel with a diamond bit and it was simple. Now she is nice and straight, and the hood and belt guard lined right up like it was suppose to be.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

Job well done, what's kinda funny is with all it's issues the paint wheels and caps look to have been somewhat taken care of if not at least shed kept, compared to the low (236) hour one I picked last spring about this time, Jeff.

[Ed Kennell 35,850]

Inside vs outside storage makes a big difference in appearance  Jeff.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

3 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Inside vs outside storage makes a big difference in appearance  Jeff.

Yep it sat outside for 15 years before I brought it home now under roof patiently waiting a custom? paint job, Jeff.

[bo dawg 477]

Yeah inside is right, I hate to see a tractor left sitting outside with no over head protection at least. Mine was sitting under an awning attached to barn, but I bet it sat in the barn most of it time. I took a rag and some Mean Green and cleaned off the hood and fender, some of dash. It had a ton of bird poop all over it and I hated touching it every time I tried tinkering on it. Theres poop even in side the dash tower too cause the plate was off. The deck is even more covered, havent done anything with it yet. Lol!

But yeah all in all its not bad with 891 hrs on the meter. Tire tread shows the rear though on the fronts.

 

Now that the frame and tins are repaired now I got to look into the charging system. When running the amp gauge shows about 10 amps. The PO said he would have to charge battery after a couple times of mowing. I put a new battery in her and started with 12 amps but running is less. Maybe alternator.

Also need a tune up and some carb clean or adjustment, but I thing she'll be fine for a while longer.

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

FYI should be volts not amps on the gauge(had to replace it on the one that sat outside) and Most likely the the voltage regulator(silver/black with three lugs bolted to engine tin) is bad usually first thing to go on an Onan, then the stator(altenator that's behind the flywheel), if you have a simple multi meter your battery should read 12.6 volts not running and 13.8-14.6 volts running half to WOT, all kinds of post on here about 520s and wiring electrical issues/fixes including my "Good Friday 520 clean up" ,Jeff.

[Red144runner 657]

On 4/2/2017 at 6:19 PM, WVHillbilly520H said:

Didn't mean to upset anyone to this point, and I probably took it out of context with a few comments and I'll let rest from here...

 

Now with the trans tunnel covers there is supposed to be speed clips/nuts on the frame (1/4"-20 thread) to hold them fast, was Phillips head stove bolts I changed mine out to button head Allen bolts/screws (stainless steel if you want), Jeff.

Nice! I'm gonna be needing these for my workhorse  project

[bo dawg 477]

1 hour ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

FYI should be volts not amps on the gauge(had to replace it on the one that sat outside) and Most likely the the voltage regulator(silver/black with three lugs bolted to engine tin) is bad usually first thing to go on an Onan, then the stator(altenator that's behind the flywheel), if you have a simple multi meter your battery should read 12.6 volts not running and 13.8-14.6 volts running half to WOT, all kinds of post on here about 520s and wiring electrical issues/fixes including my "Good Friday 520 clean up" ,Jeff.

 

 

Right! sorry I didn't mean Amps, I knew Volts. Lol! I guess I had amps on my mind. But yeah just going by the volts that the gauge was reading when I dropped a good battery in read 12 strong. But when started and running reads less than 12, more like 10.

 

I will look at the regulator and hopefully find that its bad. Thanks Jeff.

 

[bo dawg 477]

On 4/3/2017 at 7:47 PM, WVHillbilly520H said:

FYI should be volts not amps on the gauge(had to replace it on the one that sat outside) and Most likely the the voltage regulator(silver/black with three lugs bolted to engine tin) is bad usually first thing to go on an Onan, then the stator(altenator that's behind the flywheel), if you have a simple multi meter your battery should read 12.6 volts not running and 13.8-14.6 volts running half to WOT, all kinds of post on here about 520s and wiring electrical issues/fixes including my "Good Friday 520 clean up" ,Jeff.

 

Jeff whats the proper way to test the regulator to see if bad. With motor running, I put the tester red lead on the red wire post, and the black lead on either of the outside post and there is not any reading.

Then I checked red on red and black on the battery ground and I do get voltage. With motor off I also put black lead on battery ground and red on red and it shows 12.5, (but I also get same reading when touching either of the 3 post when black lead on battery ground).

[bo dawg 477]

7 minutes ago, bo dawg said:

 

Jeff whats the proper way to test the regulator to see if bad. With motor running, I put the tester red lead on the red wire post, and the black lead on either of the outside post and there is not any reading.

Then I checked red on red and black on the battery ground and I do get voltage. With motor off I also put black lead on battery ground and red on red and it shows 12.5, (but I also get same reading when touching either of the 3 post when black lead on battery ground). Also in picture I noticed 1 of the stator wires having a little discoloring burn look.

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

Ouch, looks like someone has already been in there and played electrician, I just check the voltage at the battery terminals if it charging it'll show there as well as the regulator, but I'll see if I have the Onan service manual for the "correct" way...go to the manual sections and down the Onan and your year 520 manuals it'll be worth your time, hope these pics help, Jeff.

[ericj 1,576]

did you check the fuses, you should see battery voltaage, 12.5 on the red center wire if not you have a problem . If fuses are ok check the nine pin connector, or even maybe the the ignition switch. good luck

 

 

 

 

 

eric j

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,504]

A discolored wire is cause for concern. Either the wire to terminal is not making a clean tight connection or the terminal to terminal connection is not clean and tight. Any resistance to current flow causes heat.

 

Garry

[bo dawg 477]

15 hours ago, ericj said:

did you check the fuses, you should see battery voltaage, 12.5 on the red center wire if not you have a problem . If fuses are ok check the nine pin connector, or even maybe the the ignition switch. good luck

 

 

 

 

 

eric j

 

Yea I get 12.5 on all 3 when black lead is on battery ground. It starts right up and runs, just don't think its charging according to the volt gauge on tractor. It reads under 12. I'm just trying to learn how to properly check if the regulator is good and doing its job. 

8 hours ago, gwest_ca said:

A discolored wire is cause for concern. Either the wire to terminal is not making a clean tight connection or the terminal to terminal connection is not clean and tight. Any resistance to current flow causes heat.

 

Garry

 

Thanks Gary, I will check again but when I pulled it off the post it was tuff to pull off. I'll try cleaning best I can and see what happens. Could this also mean an issue with the stator?