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I picked this up a couple of weeks before Christmas but have not had a chance to post it until now. (Christmas came early for me) It's a 1982 SK-486 in excellent shape. 8 speed, 16 horse Kohler. There is even still some original paint here and there on the under side of the mowing deck. Since this picture was taken I have replaced the missing roller on the deck and put a new correct shifter knob on the transmission shifter (also removed the silly boat sticker). It lived in northern michigan at a cottage its entire life and seen very little use. I am extremely happy with it! It's a true gem. I am really looking forward to cutting grass with it for many years to come.

belt sander? what? do you do your nails on that thing too? why don't you kiwi's just reach out the window of your cars and drag your fingers on the blacktop while driving on the interstate? if i want to grind on my fingers like that, i just grab some small parts that need wire wheeling and go at it....... seriously though, i use aveeno hand cream that i steal from my wife. works great, i try to remember and put it on before going to bed, but usually forget. I'm reminded about it the next day at work when they start to itch and crack, or theres something that involves dexterity and i can't muster up any.......

Jabronie or Gibronie is Italian slang for a "Loser". Thanks for watching this addition of "Early 20th Century Italian Slang". "Early 20th Century Italian Slang" is made possible by a grant from the Sicilian Brownies, (formerly la Costa Nostra), and Whatsamatta U and by viewers like you. Thank you for your support!

With Karl's help...I replaced the old spread sheets with PDFs. It includes, what I think, are all the bearings and seals used in all the Wheel Horse transmissions. In other words, if your transmission is not listed, like the bi-level differential 3 speeds, you can still find the correct cross reference to the bearings you need by using the WH # and going through the 3 PDFs. Find the correct manual for your tractor with the transmission breakdown and these PDFs will give you the correct cross over. I included Motion Industries catalog number for each bearing and seal that they carry. If you go to their web site (motionindustries.com), you can type in their catalog number and that bearing/seal will pop up. It gives a picture, size and an approximate price. If you type in the TORO web site and it says the bearing/seal is N/A, you can get it either at NAPA or M/I...if there is a catalog number. The only thing that you can't get at this moment...is the WH #1533 ball bearing. The NICE 412-35 is still available (for the 5003 and 5010 trannys), but not from TORO or Motion Industries. I think I have that information, but I have to look. Hope this helps everyone. edit::: The NICE 412-35 is available from Kelly Supply ksodirect.com I think all the numbers are correct and the PDF is printable. This should save a lot of ordering the wrong part and a ton of questions.

Well..... yeah, in that case I'll certainly be able to attend!

The house next door to me is for sale, I would love to have you as a neighbor! Of course, the commute to work might be a bit....

I bought a 1992 520-H several years ago. It had just under 200 hours on it. I'm up to 535 now with no issues at all. My grandfather also had one, and he had it up to 1400 hours with no issues. When he passed away, I sold it to a guy from Australia. So I can't speak for what happened to it after that. Our local dealer says he sold a lot of these back in the day, and as long as the oil is changed on a regular basis (HD-30 in the summer and 10W-30 in the winter) and the air intake screen is kept clean while mowing, these are solid 2000 HR engines. We have this exact same engine on a welder at work. It has 2300 HRS on it and we have never had any issues with it. The valve issue seems to come from the screen getting plugged while mowing and the engine overheating. When the engine gets to a certain temp, is my best guess on why the valves warp. The neat thing about the Onans over the Kohlers is the tube that runs from the fan to the air intake chamber. The fan forces air into the chamber, almost acting like a tiny supercharger. I have heard many people say and write on here that this Onan is more powerful the the 22hp Kohler in the newer 522xi/Lxi's. Don't get me wrong, I love the Kohlers, they seem to be almost indestructible to a certain extent. But I love the unique sound and power of these Onan motors. I love the holes in the belt guard Cheesegrader. That looks like a simple after work project that I bet helps out a ton and will save a few Onans and 520's along the way. I see so many of these starting to get parted out. Makes me sad because there just isn't anything that compares IMO.

I love my 520's. I have had some electrical gremlins, and they use a LOT of gas, but they are beasts! Air flow across the rear cylinder is blocked by the guard over the drive belt. Like all safety features, I am sure this was added late in the design. The front cylinder has nothing blocking the air flow. The front cylinders never throw valve seats. I wouldn't modify the tins that direct air flow to the fins on the rear cylinder, and I would be very fussy about keeping leaves and grass out. This is what I have done to my belt guards. 3/4" step cut drill bit and a drill press. LOTS of heat comes through these holes, most of it off the upper half.

I get around a lot in the UK, with family, work and visiting some of the folks on here! Here's a collection of some of the random street signs I've picked up on my travels, I've just taken them from my camera and phone whilst out and about.. There's a few odd ones, I can't actually remember where many of them are from! If you recognise any then shout and I'll tell you if you are right

Those decals look great. I'm actually in hot pursuit of another kit with the tractor in it. I don't remember if they had decals in the kit or what they were if they did. I found this on the internet: The Wheel Horse 500 Special was special edition tractor to commemorate the Indianapolis 500. Wheel Horse has provided tractors to the Indy 500 as pit tractors for a number of years. The 500 Special was built to celebrate this; they were not actually used at the race. I'm still looking for info on the actual models they used. Outta time right now cuz I gotta get at my wifely duties....like dinner. Being retired but with the wife still working has it's drawbacks.

I ran a little print cut test to see if I can get a legible print that small. I think they will work. I can go just a bit smaller if needed. ..

3 small "screws" hold the tube to the block. You might be able to save the gasket if you're careful - and lucky. Helpful hint: removing the drive belt guard allows better access.

It maybe just me, or maybe because I know how painful arc eye can be, I find myself looking away from welding when it's on tv even though I know it can't do me any harm!! Looking away from welding becomes automatic I guess.

Excellent choice Karl, and Congratulations Neil. Karl...feel free to slap Squonk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-S9Dj-S9rU

I once got that due to working on a bench with a white painted wall in front of me. A workmate was welding behind me. I woke up that night with my eyes feeling as if they were full of sand. Every time I blinked or shut my eyes the pain was something terrible. Took a couple of days to clear.

I guess I'm lucky. I've worked with harsh chemical all my life, never using gloves. I have been told many years later that the chemicals that I used are metabolized by your liver, and that I will suffer the results of my misuse later in life. So far, so good. I have a physical every year with blood work specific to liver function. Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning the mishandling of chemicals, I am just saying that I don't know if I have problems waiting for me later on, but as of now, I am okay. Having said that, I do wear latex or nitrile gloves now when working with most liquids that are known to be harmful. As I am on the slippery side of the slope of life, I don't want to speed up that slide.

Roughly 800 miles. I no it sounds crazy but have a lot of changes going on at work and I just needed to get out of town and get my mind on something else. And what better way than to pick up a Wheel Horse Tractor

This started back during leaf season as I needed a place to store the tools for the Cyclone Rake. HF recently released plastic ammo boxes which are smaller than a 12" tool box. Originally it was just the box but then grew into flashing lights and a backup light. The nice thing is that I didn't drill any holes into the tractor. It is about 80% finished as I still need to wire it completely, touch up, etc. I use 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle.

This is shamelessly copied and pasted from my blog (which you can read here) but it saves time as I would of only typed the same stuff anyway "I'm working on a video series all about promoting RedSquare and RedSquare members videos No hint's on what it is called yet, I hope all of you like it when it hit's a computer screen near you.. So what do I need help with? Video's of course.. If you think promoting RedSquare and your video's is your sort of thing please submit me your videos.. Full credit will be given for the video clips of course You can post your video links here, or PM them to me if you want. I will be adding a "RedSquare members videos" section to my YouTube channel where people can click on your vid and be taken straight to your video page. The bad news is your videos MUST be on YouTube so I can use in-video click-able links. YouTube won't allow "non YT" in-video links! I may be able to find away around this in the future, but for now YT video's only. Will this idea work out? I hope so. But for it to work I need your video's so get submitting Guy's It's going to interesting for me as this will be the first time I've played a "presenting" roll.... Should be fun :text-lol:"

I know member/vendor Kelly has at least one set of original white wall tires that survive on a tractor in his posession. Maybe shoot him a PM for some better images of them.

Make sure you have a GOOD 12v at the coil. Don 't use a test light. Use a meter. If you don't believe me , see my thread Marvin 's dilemma !

I use a rope and pulley system to lift it straight off the tractor and to the rafters of my pole barn. It only takes 8-10 bolts from the footrests and seat pan, and the whole thing goes straight up.

The usual questions, do you have 12 volts at the (+) terminal of the coil? Do you have the (-) terminal connected to the points and condenser? Are the points set to .020"?

What's that there in the background? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjlOmOZmdwo

Thanks got the parts on order

We have some "dandies" around here too - but because of the way people drive, it's not very safe to stop and take pictures of the signs. Courtesy of Google maps:

Hey Steve, you do some great video's. Good instructional vid's, didn't you even sing in one of them? My ad libing is slowly getting better.. I find the less I think about what to say, the better I'm getting.. I still keep forgetting to say some things I need to and have to record the scene all over again Funny you should mention "Watching paint dry"... Now you can do "Live" broadcasts on YT I've been thinking of doing... Paint drying live! I wonder how many people would have a look just to see If the videos I need to use are on YT I have a YT down loader bit of software that is very handy... I just down load it and add it into my editing software... Now if anyone is thinking that they are not sure if they like the idea of me having a computer full of their video's.. Don't worry.. Once the editing has been done "your" vid will be deleted from my hard drive.. I only have a limited amount of storage space.. I'm not sure if my down loader will work with potato bucket, I will have a look.

If you've been around here for a while you know full well who UkWheelHorseBloke is, who has been providing us with informative and entertaining video's for years. If you haven't seen his video's your certainly missing out. "How do I find him?" you ask! Well that's easy, go to his YouTube channel UkWheelHorseBloke and subscribe to his channel. You'll want to subscribe so you know when the new stuff comes out, and it's easy to reach again. Ian is member number 110, which means he's been here since almost the beginning but I believe that he is U.K. Member 1. Regardless, you must see his video's, especially the 6x6 build which is just an amazing piece.

Thank you guys for your support , It means a lot too me & is a real Honour & i hope to thank you all in person at the Wheelhorse collectors show

Ian's videos are TOP SHELF...I think he could quit his day job and go into the business.

Ian, I just saw this. Quite honestly, I'm not sure my videos are good enough for what you are trying to do. The videos are good, but my ad lib leaves a lot to be desired. They are yours to use, if you want, but they are not on U-Tube. How would one go about putting them on U-Tube? I think my best one is "Watching Paint Dry". The transmission ones are good, and serve their purpose, but I sure would like to re-do some of them.

I agree with that. I think I paid around $200 for mine but I would not pay more than that for one. If I could own only one tractor it would not be the 252H. The 252H is a bit of an odd ball wheel horse. The 300 and 400 series are a much better tractor that you can do more with due to size, weight, and availability of parts and attachments.

Congrats Neil, I couldn't think of a better chap for the job

Wiring diagram I would add a fused relay that is activated by the pink wire from the accessories terminal on the ignition switch. This circuit powers the gauges. That way you are not adding the load to the ignition switch. Garry

I will change the points after I replace this wire. If I do both at the same time, I won't know what actually fixed it.

it can be VERY costly to restore a tractor from frame up,well worth it in the end,heres a 101 I did a few years ago,its just rustolium regal red,i couldn't afford auto paint

This past week I got some more done on the truck. I installed the gaskets on the oil pan, valve cover and side cover. Also installed new shorter water pump and thermostat. I clear coated and painted the parts. Instead of messing around with the tranny that came with the truck I bought a new/used one from the parts supplier along with new clutch and throw out bearing. I am pretty close to being ready to drop the new engine and tranny in soon.

heres a picture i found

Big like to this. I've always been inventive and creative, but Ian has inspired me on so many levels... I'm just starting to learn video editing and production so I can entertain with my videos, I've a while to go though His YouTube channel is worth a look, for the build of 6x6 and all his other cool things, moving sheds, making wheels, etc... Mark

Mine came to me with these beefy skid shoes on it... might help to enlarge yours to keep from digging into your stone drive.

Now they have no buttons I am looking into materials to Green Screen. My kids used to make a lot of movies, I think this would be a great next step for them.

Old number is 7939 - active number is 32151-36 Buy two & replace both. Expand them only enough to get them on the axles - do not stretch them more than necessary! I also suggest purchasing four of the 108881 nuts for the differential through bolts. If you don't install new nuts on the differential bolts, at least prep them correctly and apply thread locker during reassembly.

That 520 is the ultimate sweetness.I feel bad for the guy that parted with it.

Onan engines are as good as any other air cooled engine when they were developed and initially manufactured. Like any other engine they have their particularities, in different applications some engines work better than others, Onan's mounted in WH long ways seems to create a cooling problem with the rear cylinder due to grass buildup on the fan screen as well as in the tins, in a D series or something painted another color with the engine turned cross ways grass build up and cooling don't seem to be as much of a problem so you have to ask yourself is it the engine design, the tractor design or a maintenance issue or a combination of things? the opposed twins run smooth and quiet for a long time in a fixed rpm application particularly in power generation, that being said if you run your Onan at WOT 3600 rpm and let the governor control the throttle the engine and hydro trans will last a long time with proper maintenance. Also remember that the good running engines get very little recognition , they just keep on running.

JayInNC was making the belt guards.. Send him a PM. Good score on the 520. I may get around to repowering mine some day, but I doubt it will be with an Omen. I will probably try something more V-twinish.

THAT IS A GREAT LOOKING TRACTOR. TAKE CARE OF THE ONAN AND IT WILL TREAT YOU WELL.

The ONANs have way more torque at lower RPM. Here is part of a post that gives an example: "The other reason I went with the Onan was I demoed a unit with one a few years prior and thought it had tons more torque than another unit with a same hp Kohler Command (able to engage pto at idle with Onan with 60" deck where anything less than half throttle would stall Kohler w/48" deck). So far, the only parts I've used in 50 hours have been two oil filters that I purchased from NAPA at no more cost than the ones for my old Kohler. "

Got three of the rims painted and tires mounted. I still need to replace the 4th rim. Here is a picture of the tire mounted on the truck.

I'd vote for the patina look as well. Another member here coats his with a little motor oil...(salad dressing...you know who you are.. ). Gives it a rich deep dark tone, and helps future rusting out. Here's a quick video of my 551 plowing. I had it all apart, but couldn't help myself...(so I know that feeling) It has been since restored. Below is a video of my 854 plowing 13inches of snow. This is the same tranny as my 551. Don't think I'd worry about the tranny with the 401. Good luck with it and thanks for the updates.