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I would rather deal with a whole bunch of electrical problems instead of mechanical (engine) problems. Most all electrical issues on them are bad connections/wiring issues/safety switches or the fuse block problem. All easy fixes without a big dollar outlay, just time intensive...... Now if you have mechanical problems with the engine, that's where the money pit comes in........... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Been working for a month or so trying to buy this 654 finally made a deal for $150.00 and brought her home,new carb,fuel line & a good scrubbing its original skin cleaned up pretty good...

There are a lot of Wheel Horse's out there with Kohler's on them that will do everything you want and more. Look for a C' series, 300 or 400 series tractor. The later 400's had Onan's in them. But if you don't want the headache the Onan can sometimes bring go for a Wheel Horse with the K series or Magnum cast iron Kohler in it. You can't go wrong there.

This probably should be under the engine forum but it may be of a more general interest so I will post it here. I like the twin cylinder ONANs and want to understand why some fail and in particular why the valve seats pop out or a rod breaks. Some say carbon build up and valves out of adjustment are two of the main causes. I have always suspected that the back cylinder on the ONANs in 400 and 500 series tractors run hotter because the are in a tight spot and failures may occur due to overheating of the back cylinder. Some have developed vented belt covers believing they will allow more air flow and keep the back cylinder cooler. Also the location of the oil filter blocks some air flow to the head on the back cylinder. I picked up an inexpensive two channel temperature display unit recommended by SOI and measured some temperatures on the twin ONAN in a 1991 416H with 705 hours. Surprisingly the back cylinder was running about 25 degrees cooler than the front cylinder. The front cylinder was averaging about 270 degrees Fahrenheit and the back cylinder was averaging about 245 degrees. The temperature of the crankcase close to where the engine is mounted to the frame was running about 160 degrees. The air temperature was around 55 degrees. The back cylinder was running consistently cooler by as much as 30 degrees. i even wondered if the back cylinder was firing and pulled the spark plug wire off the plug to verify that it was firing. Not sure what it all means but perhaps the difference in head temperatures suggest something is not optimum with one cylinder or the other and the engine needs some service. When the cylinders are not balanced and one has to work harder than the other a broken rod could be the result. When the compression readings for a two cylinder engine vary by more than 10 or 15 percent that usually means the engine needs service or an overhaul. Maybe when the temperature difference exceeds a certain value that means the same thing. I am going to assume that the temperature difference that i measured today is a warning sign and my engine needs something done before something gives. I just bought it and it probably has never been decarboned or had its valves adjusted. It is not a particularly easy job to pull those engines, remove the heads and service them but maybe that is what should be done to get the 3000 hours some say they are good for. Maybe measuring head operating temperature differences and cylinder compression test differences are ways to determine when that service is needed.

OK ... I'm sorry!!!!! I got yelled at because I had no idea how this worked. I just jumped in with both feet, and I guess I should have read a bit first. So ... I'll start over on my own post, and not trash up other guys stuff!!! Background ... in 1978, I got a new D200 for my Dad at Jacks Wheel Horse in Sarver PA. First two pics are when it was new, one nice pic, one with my big butt in the middle of it!! Over the years, it was used to mow, plow snow, and spread lots of gravel and dirt. One hell of a machine, period!! It also served Dad well as a grandchild entertainment device!! It replaced an older 6hp horse, which we worked to death. One pic here is me pulling a single plow with Dad steering , or should I say LEANING on it!! Even with all his weight that lil 6 pulled it!! So fast forward to 2014 ... I'm on a shortlist, with major coronary issues. On full disability for awhile now, just waitin for the backhoe to show up! Too much truck driver food I guess!! I decided to look for a D200 to restore. I figured I could do that at my own pace, day at a time. I found a complete, but crappy unit down in Naples FL, for way too much $$$!!! I looked at cheaper units, but when I added the cost of missing parts, this one became a much better deal. It has a mower only, big unit, guy said it's a 60, but I didn't think they put them on 200's, they were 250 only, right?? Anyway, this is gonna be a cruiser only, so at some point, I am going to sell or trade off ALL the mower parts, including the PTO, jack shaft and lift cyl, and probably the valve body as well. First step was to tear it to pieces!! Fasteners in a parts wash bin, everything else piled on shelves awaiting their turn on the wire wheel / sandblaster table!! For many years, I traveled the country, every state except AK and HI by myself, just me, my truck, and a creatively written log book!! LOL Now, I'm not about to cruise the woods alone. But wait, the D200 is a single seater!! Not no mo!! The first part of this is an 18 inch frame stretch so I can have a place for my sexy red head to sit!!! The most troubling part was how to modify the transaxle drive tubes. My buddy suggested welding hose bibs on each tube, then connecting them with soft lines. Sounds good to me!! WOW, talk about an expert welder!!! Sweet job!! So that's done, well, not the lines just yet. Have to mount the axle, and pump to get the exact length. Not much room for error, as high pressure soft lines don't bend very well!! The frame pieces should be done next week, and I can start putting it back together and get the lines made up. Now don't get in a rush, it's 92-96 deg everyday here, and the garage is usually 15-20 deg hotter than outside. Lots of sweat, lots of Gatoraide, and lots and lots of naps!!! LOL Now, I have to tell you about my first Red Square experience. I had to hacksaw the steering wheel off, so I needed a new top for the shaft. Member Bill Price from AL responded to my cry for help. He cut off an old shaft he had, and sent it, along with some other cool pieces to me FREE OF CHARGE. That's just wrong! LOL If that's the kind of people that are common on here, well, this truly is a special place. Many thanks brother!!! You get first dibs on my spare part pile, which will be pretty big!! Stay tuned!!!!

I think there is too much Onan bashing on all these sites. They are great engines. I've had probably 8 or 9 and nothing compares for power. I've actually had more problems with Kohlers than with the Onans. When it comes to maintenance, you have to do that to any motor. It is a little more costly to de-carbon the heads and a pain to adjust the valves, you know the intake and exhaust manifolds have to come off ( new gaskets ) but it's all worth every penny when you hear that Onan roar to life. Yes it is more expensive for parts but does your 'K' series have an oil pump, do you mow on uneven ground with little oil going to the bearings? Does your Kohler 'K' have an oil filter? Just how often do you change your oil? Of course I've seen many Briggs that never got any, sat outside for years and still were running in less than an hour. More than I can say for Kohler or Onans. But does that make them a better engine?

I've used Gary's and have been happy.

The car is a Lamborghini Miura! Made between 1966 and 1972. Looks like an earlier P400 66-69 series. (22K new ($114K in todays dollars)) and usually worth over a $600K today . Not a bad resale value. I am glad the WH's have not gone up like this and are much more useful.

Found this geezer lurking in a book. Anyone recognise him ? Should be quite easy , I'm sure ,,Maggie may ,, know how he is

With the air cleaner off, Drain the carb and leave the gas line off. Give the carb a shot of staring fluid (ether) down the throat with choke open and then close it and try to start. If the electrical/timing is good it will fire. If not you have other problems. This will either rule out the carb or point toward it. good luck, been there, Do love my C165

Not to make light of what you have going on, but I thought a smile might be in order. How about we all get together and do an exorcism...we could sacrifice something Green. I don't know...just sounded like a good idea. Just wanted to put a smile on your face.

i agree 100% electrical issues i can fix or have repaired at a reasonable price but a blown rod is expensive, a valve seat is not so bad though. i collect all the dead onan's i can at a reasonable price just for the parts if nothing else. getting enough that i should be able to build a good one out of the parts soon eric j

Those Uni-Drives are tough little buggers. Not sure why it would bog down with no fluid unless things were getting hot, expanding, and starting to drag. In which case, I hope no damage was done. Keep and eye and ear on it. If you start hearing any unusual noises, you may have damaged bearings or other components. Good luck!

Could you remove the small bolt and take a picture of it beside the large adjustment cam ? I have a feeling that the small bolt may be too long or have damaged threads preventing it from tightening properly. Cleat

Try posting it in the classified section....you will have better luck. and to

I have bought from Gary a few times. His gaskets and some other parts are aftermarket and much more reasonable than Genuine Onan. I mostly buy gaskets from him and the quality is very good. He does carry some oem parts as well...

Any update?

Nice find Mike! I don't even have to tell you to keep it in original condition! I know we like them like that! Nice machine and for a dirt cheap price too, gotta love it!

The addition of all the videos from this years show really adds to the forum!! It's great to put faces and voices with people.

Looks like you may need to relocate the clutch pedal a little.

Welcome to RS!!!!! The Onan's can be trouble, but my experience with them is they either run or they don't. Knock on wood, my 1992 year 520H has been going strong for a long time. The Onan in it is a great engine and when it let's go, I will repower. Rear discharge decks are great!!!! IMHO, the best parts are online and/or from our vendors here - for service, this forum is the best place to bring your tractor for troubleshooting and repair advice. Can't speak to others, but in my neck of the woods, most dealers don't know their elbow from their left most toe. Good luck, Bill

Lol I am getting scared when you talk about how tight that 60 inch is under a 520 that's what I am looking for Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow! 1st, got to like the '73 16 Auto. Great Horse! The 60" mower, geeze, great! Not much turning but, considering the amount of green you cut, "Why not?" The Kohler will certainly do the trick but, thinkin' it's sure to bog down. I would love the deck under my '90 520-8. The 20 hp Onan purrs like a Harley, not even a grunt, when mowin' with my 48" SD. I only have an acre to mow, always easy using a Stallion.

Love it!!! I'm partial to round hoods. I'd grab up every one I saw if I could! Haha! :-)

Very Nice find . Why can't I find a horse around my neck of the woods for that price lol?

Looks very nice Mike, hard to beat the look of an original condition round hood.

VERY NICE!

I went to the local brake relining shop and got a 7" square of 3/32 lining. Charged me $1. Marked it out, cut the center hole, JB Weld to the plate with a weight on it over night, trimmed the outside the next day. Works perfect! Also use JB Weld to reline the brake band. Yep... I'm cheap!

A fellow at work will believe anything he sees on the internet...MORON!

The new Toro drone... for cutting that really tall grass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJnXZsrMjU

The front end bolted back together. The trimmed down steering rod thingy will gain a bearing and sprocket so I can move the steering down and run it under the engine WH style. A "Batman" camera angle of the front. As the chassis is upside down so is the front hitch/axle mount. I was going to leave these off, but some extra strength by welding them back on the right way up would be a good thing.. It will also be handy for hanging a weight box on the front as I have a feeling the front wheels may want to lift a little under hard acceleration Hood and engine plonked back on to have a look.. Not sure I like the axle so far forward! Looks like I might have to chop the base of the hood about so it will clear the steering! Rear wheels roughly in place.. It's looking a bit empty back there! So I thought I would plonk the bit of the bike frame with the engine mounts on to see how it looked... Er, it's looks like half a bike frame! The next thought was to just use the mounts and replace the bit of frame with some strong box section. The trouble was the only place both top and bottom mount are flush is here! If I welded some box in I wouldn't be able to get the starter motor out without taking the engine out! And then while relaxing with the last coffee and smoke of the day in the shack I had an idea!! If I chop this mount off about where the scratched on line is, let it drop down by 90 degrees and turn it around it will end up very close to the chassis and tucked under the engine. The top mount mount can be tied into the frame that will hold the body on. Oh, and I got the front of the hood sitting much closer to the axle.. Only a little chopping will be needed and it looks much better

Sounds like you may have internal leakage in your hydraulic valves. SO that when you are shifting the valve the the contract position some fluid is leaking into the extend end of the cylinders and fighting against you. A couple of tests to confirm this would be to change the hoses so that they are backwards and see if the problem reverses itself or stays the same. One could also put a pressure guage on each line and record the differences between the two modes of operation. They should read nearly the same. It may also be that there is a restriction in the return line to tank (marked T on the valve) not letting fluid out fast enough.

Last night I was going through some things looking for a specific manual for something. I didn't find that, but I did happen across the owner's packet that came with the 420LSE that's now in my possession. Included in the embossed vinyl pouch was the hang tags affixed to the tractor, the owner's manuals, the detailing instructions for the 48" deck, warranty card, and return envelop for the little chrome plate that attaches to the hood. Apparently you'd send the plate to Ireland Rd. with your 18 character personalization request, they'd engrave it and send it back. Thought you all might like to see this stuff. Also note the extra chrome-plated, hairpin cotter enclosed. Steve

I was blown away with all of the new old stock parts available! I know what I am going to be going for next year! The main things I was wanting this year was some belts, a solid link for the grader blade (found for $5 bucks!), and a steering wheel. I brought my 42" RD deck to sell but ended up trading it for the set of new old stock hub caps, and a 40" grader blade. I also really enjoyed looking through the original assembly manual for the 876 that I got. Finds: Here is the parts tractor I picked up. Hopefully I can get the steering wheel off.

Perhaps you need some type of hobby to fill in your free time. Maybe cross stitch or needlepoint. Very funny. And? NO, You cannot borrow my phone..........

Reverse would be nice to have.. Toying with the idea of an electric reverse using the motor from a mobility scooter.. If it can be made to work remains to be seen! So with the drive train plan now changed a bit I needed the swing arm and mountings from the Honda's frame.. So I chopped this large lump of metal from the frame which also has the engine mounts making life a little easier er.. Mounting the engine While I was in the shed lookiing for a cardboard box I found a pair of "deep dish" late C series front wheels.. These should widen the front wheel base a bit Some more mocking-up, but this time a bit more serious so I could start taking lot's of measurements.. The front of the chassis is 4 inches off the deck, the rear 4 1/2 which gives it a nice little bit of stance. Throw it in a pile and work it out from there I also had a flash of inspiration about the steering.. With a new mounting plate made this right angled drive box thingy that was going to be used as part of the drive train, can be bolted to the chassis and run the steering shaft under the engine.. The UJ's will come in handy for connecting it to the steering coloum And then just as I thought the plan was coming along quite well I hit rather a large problem.... I just could not find a kart axle or the like that was A - Strong enough.. B - Within my price range... And C - Not hollow! I even started looking into using a car IRS setup, at least the axles could be narrowed to get the with I wanted!! And then while looking through Fleabay I found the answer... A shaft drive Qwackasaki quad rear end It solves a lot of problems in one hit as it comes with brakes built in and as an added bonus it also has a diff lock So currently somewhere between Scotland and Hawkhurst, Kent is a truck with a large parcel containing the back half of a quad including prop shaft Once the parcel arrives I can really get into this build rather than just piling bits together on the bench and grinning at the beast I will be creating To give you a few more photo's to look at I went in search of metal to use as chassis extensions etc.. Buried in nettles and only on one wheel was the filming trailer I built quite a while ago! As it has never been used since it was built, I decided it's time was up... And I needed the steel I might have a use for the wheel hubs as well. Now available in kit form

wheelhorse66...I was not mad at all. You have to remember that when you start a thread, there are a ton of people that want to contribute and offer help...also, a lot of people will read your thread. If the wrong information gets put in your thread, because not enough information was given, it can lead to confusion and even someone going out and buying the wrong parts. I would not have even posted in your thread, because rmaynard had already answered your question, but came in to qualify what RacinBob posted. wheelhorse66...I just went back through the transmission section and re--read all of your threads. For one thing, you never seem to put in all the information needed to get an answer right off the bat...almost in every thread, someone is asking you for more information. For another thing, you never seem to come back in and say if the information you received, for nothing, helped...nor have you ever said "Thank You for your help". I am not attacking you...it is just that a little manners would go a long way.

Well I have been busy since the show I didn't unpack the trailer until yesterday, I didn't pick up a whole bunch of stuff but I did PU a WH Cart. I had been using my rare 50's WH dump cart that is in excellent shape (and I want it to stay that way) I picked that up for $100.00. Below in the Box is a new old stock 56" plow that goes on a zero turn. I already have a brand new old stock A frame and I plan on doing a special SNOW PLOW modification project in the future to add to my snow removal team. Ya cant have too many tractors to fight Ole Man Winter! I picked that up from Dave's Tractor World for a $100.00 dollar bill. I have an old lawn ranger that I need to fix up for the grandkids that I picked up last year for $125.00 buckaroos. The Engine runs like crap and incidentally is Squonks favorite. And since what Squonk says makes sense, I wanted to honor him, and buy two more of his favorite engines so I have plenty of parts to fix the ole girl up. I picked up a seat cover from Dave Fun Engineer for the ole ranger. As far as what else I purchased it was just a bunch of smalls, parts and maintenance pieces. At the Raffle drawing MJ won us a set of Cart Wheels And the best part is I brought home a bunch of laughs, and memories from all of you that I met which made the trip extra special. We had a great time and we thank you all. ~Duke & MJ

I bought two RJ hubs, two wheels and front tires, two NOS RJ fenders, two early clutch springs, and some decals from Terry D. I sold a 32 inch front cutter bar, an 8 inch garden plow and 8 Hydraulic pump drive shaft oil seals! I also gave away four Lawn Ranger Hood gaskets, and 40 Red Nestle Creamer cup caps (and the foam for inserts) for use on front Wheel Horse wheel hubs! I also sold a very distinctive poster of a certain 1054 Tractor with an hour meter hood for $20 that Terry Dennis had made of a tractor I bought in Toronto Canada five years ago! Although I now hear that I "gave" the new owner the tractor poster with "his" new 1054 with the hour meter installed in the hood!

I'd pay $5500 in a heartbeat if it was closer to me, and I already have a 420LSE. The Dealer near me wants $7000 for his NOS last time I asked him about it. If you want Wheel Horse history this is it. Only model with 20 HP Kohler Magnum Engine.

You mean this one? lol This tractor does not even have water in the battery either. I am with Ken on this one. WAY TOO much $$ for that machine.

I don't think it would leak. But why would you start it? Your paying through the nose for a museum piece. The uniqueness of this machine is that no time has been placed on the tractor. The second you spark that fuel in the motor, you might as well have dug a hole in your yard and thrown money in it. I don't want to talk down to you Jason and please don't take it as that but unless you have money to burn as in your a former top ranking VA Hospital Manager, a CEO or CFO to a bailed-out bank or automotive corporation, why would you want to run it? (Just know that it will run because there isn't any reason why it shouldn't run). Gun collectors pay through their bloodied fingers to acquire a weapon that is NIB and NBF and they will never ever fire them. That is their niche, their claim to fame! Just like this tractor has NBF. Do you see where I'm coming from? PS.....I have bought new cars that depreciate as soon as you title it let along put the first mile on it but that new car isn't a collector's car already nor is it old.

This lighted sign hung high over Norm's Wheel Horse Barn in St. Charles, Mo. from 1974 to 1996. When the business was sold in 96, the sign was given to Norm as a keepsake from the business. The sign then sat in a barn for the next 17 years. Two weeks ago I acquired the sign back from Norm. After almost 40 years of enduring the elements, the sign now hangs proudly inside my son's shop above several Wheel Horse tractors. I think it is a fitting retirement for a survivor. The first picture was taken in 1988 where the sign hung above Norm's. The second picture is where the sign hangs today.

That would explain or could explain why mine failed at 450hr because it was kept clean especially the air passages, regular oil changes, no vented belt guard mind you but when mowing it would pick up dead grass like crazy and so I made a point of blowing it out but I never did have the valves adjusted, I probably should have. FYI I think this investigation into the cause of Onan failures has been one of the most informative threads I've ever read. The approach to this question is really well thought out. I'm sure many members will benefit from this.