520h vs. 520xi

[soofoodude 6]

Greetings from the frozen northern plains. I am the proud owner of a 1992 520h. Best snowblowing tractor in my neighborhood. Most of my neighbors own 8k+ green painted machines. They always slow down and gawk when I'm out blowing snow. I also have a 60" deck and pull a 60" swisher tow behind. The red on red looks great and the 120" cutting width knocks out my 3 1/2 acres in about 40 minutes. Anyway - I have stumbled across a 520xi and am looking at adding to my stable. I was just curious if they perform as well as my old reliable. Take care and I look forward to your thoughts.

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[Bow_Extreme 544]

First off All. Secondly, nice pic!! I miss my 520H and my 2 stage snowblower. The combination of the 2 makes it an almost un-stoppable beast. Third, the XI should perform pretty well but in my own opinion it's not built near as well as the 520H or 520-8. Now the DXI is one tractor worth finding. I'm still looking for one.

[rickv1957 72]

My brother bought a 520xi new,I had a 520 ,not even close!!,Rick

[rickv1957 72]

By the way Rick

[Confused99 2]

My brother bought a 520xi new,I had a 520 ,not even close!!,Rick

A friend here in town says the same thing. He traded his 520H in on the xi

Jason

[rustynut 4]

:banghead: :thumbs:

[soofoodude 6]

Okay - Now I am confused - I read (assumed) Rick was implying the 520H performed better

[Nick 13]

Id look for an xi with power steering. The 520Lxi is a real nice tractor. It is water cooled with power steering, two range and foot pedal hydro control. Other than the small drawback of not using the classic attachments they are solid workers. Given the choice of a 520 H or 520Lxi Id take the Lxi. Wouldn't even be a question if it was the diesel 523Dxi.

[Confused99 2]

Okay - Now I am confused - I read (assumed) Rick was implying the 520H performed better

Could be, guess I read it wrong .

My choice would be......both tractors :thumbs:

[wh500special 2,160]

I

[soofoodude 6]

What an absolutely outstanding reply!! Thank you so much for the indepth discussion. I have my eye on a 520 xi with under 200hrs. a 2 stage blower, snow cab, weights and chains but no deck. I have an extra 1992 60 inch deck that of course is the old lift and drive mechanism. Do you think it would be possible to modify an old stlye deck to a xi lift and drive mechanism? Deck shell and hub drive layout looks to be the same. Take Care and thanks again for the great information.

[Bow_Extreme 544]

Anything is possible with a little fabrication work and a little bit of fun. The only issue I would be greatly concerned with is fitting the deck and clearing the front axle. You would need to take some comparison measurements between your 2 units. The 520H has a swept forward axle to accommodate the depth of the 60" deck and yet still allow the front wheels to turn and not hit the deck. It's still a tight fit even on a 520.

I would also be worried about clearance when lifting the deck. Is there room under the mower to clear everything? Next concern is how to route belts and how to route to allow travel for lift and drop. You may want to measure the height difference in the decks as well. The 520H deck is fairly deep. I'm going to take a guess an say the xi decks are not as deep. Just a few things to think about but sounds like a fun challenge.

[wh500special 2,160]

The 60" deck for the 5xi uses the same deck shell and mechanical hardware as that for earlier tractors. But the hangers are substantially different.

I would guess you could remove the old style hangers and bolt on the newer hangers from a sacrificial 5xi deck...if you can get ahold of one. To be honest, I never compared them that closely to see exactly what the differences are. But it should be possible if you're willing to think things thru a bit.

I checked about a year ago on a new 60-incher for my 520Lxi and they were still available. Price was over $1000 (I really don't remember exactly what the price was) but they were being discounted significantly from list at the time.

The 5xi's have a pretty long wheelbase thanks to a longer frame and a swept axle on the front. I don't recall exactly, but I think the wheelbase could be up to 6" longer than a regular C-series style layout. This was probably done to accomodate the monsterous 52" hi-vac Toro deck which is longer (front to back) than the ultra heavy 60" old style deck.

200 hours is nothing on virtually any WH, so if it seems to fit you and you think the price is fair then I say go for it.

Steve

[whlpny 203]

I'm with Steve on this one- The 520 Lxi's can't be beat for everyday users.I have owned each - a 520h right before the LXI- I bought a 520lxi from Nick going on 2 yrs ago now and turned it into a dedicated loader tractor. The tight turning radius combined with the power steering are awesome and put it in its own class compared to 520h. The wheelbase is also longer and without laying a tape to it there is more ground clearance in the center than a 520 h. I would say a deck conversion would be fairly easy as long as you have the correct pcs to swap. Also the mule drive to deck is entirely different. Also the frame constuction is HD.

Alot of people cut the newer series down and I dont think they realize that with the correct rear tachmatic adapter an older snowplow can be used.And if a standard wheelhorse sleeve hitch is used or a brinley adapter- they can run any attachment on the back that any other model can and have hyd lift to control them. The same people have never had the chance to try one or probably even look at one to know what they are talking about. In my opinion the LXseries out performs the old H any day of the week!

Add in a nice running -quiet liquid cooled Kawasaki- that easy on fuel, tilt steering,full gauges, foot control hydro, shaft drive and easy engine access makes using one a pleasure. And yes as Steve said the Smart turn can be disabled making them by far more nimble than the 520 h!