1990 520H Craigslist Score!

[fireman 1,021]

Posted this in the "What's in your mirror" thread but figured I start a new thread about it here. I happened upon this on Craigslist about 20 minutes after the seller listed it. I called and purchased it immediately. Lets just say it's probably the cheapest I've ever paid for a Wheel Horse tractor. Today I degreased and pressure washed it so I can roll it inside and get it running. The fender pan and hood need some straightening out but that's no big deal. Gonna go through it, change the oil, plugs, fuel filter, hydro filter/oil and see what happens. The hour meter shows 929 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wheelin'theSky 57]

When the phone starts ringing 20 minutes after they post a Craigslist ad, they usually realize they could have got a bit more for it.

Nice find and good luck with it. 

 

I'd check the brakes too. With those dents in the hood it looks like the prior owner may have had trouble stopping it

 

[Ed Kennell 38,021]

Looks great.   A little  hammer and dollie work and she'll look new.   PO might have been DUI to put those wrinkles in her, but may be that's what made her a really nice find for you.

And a great looking 60"er.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Ed Kennell

[Amcwheel85 2,059]

Great score! those hubcaps are expensive items! 

[roadapples 6,983]

Seat looks near perfect also, good score..

[WNYPCRepair 1,914]

Amazing how many of these I see with the left rear tail light broken, LOL

 

[new horse 44]

nice tractor!!

 

[Gadget 37]

Very nice! A deal like that doesn't pop up every day!

Just curious... did you get it from the estate of George Jones?

[KC9KAS 4,741]

@fireman   Nice looking tractor.

What do you use to "degrease" before pressure washing?

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

When I want to remove difficult built up grease etc. I use Purple Power found at Walmart. You need to be careful when applying directly to paint and plastic as it can stain. Simple green is a little more mild and works very well. For final cleaning I usually use westly's white wall cleaner. Having a pressure washer and using it along with the cleaners is the best way to clean tractors. 

[russellmc301 600]

my a-100 looked like someone was a bad driver the fenders where smashed and the headlights were both out.

but we all know sometimes they act up

[Ken B 3,164]

Nice score Jeff.  Hopefully with a little work she fires right up. Just think, now you don't have to wait on Stevebo for that pull off of his 520 versus your 318 Deere.

[fireman 1,021]

I use straight simple green and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. Then use the power washer with a 40 degree tip taking care around certain areas. 

 

George Jones? Not sure. 

 

Your right Ken. Now just need to find a nice dirt lot to have the pull off!

[bizzo15 52]

13 hours ago, fireman said:

Posted this in the "What's in your mirror" thread but figured I start a new thread about it here. I happened upon this on Craigslist about 20 minutes after the seller listed it. I called and purchased it immediately. Lets just say it's probably the cheapest I've ever paid for a Wheel Horse tractor. Today I degreased and pressure washed it so I can roll it inside and get it running. The fender pan and hood need some straightening out but that's no big deal. Gonna go through it, change the oil, plugs, fuel filter, hydro filter/oil and see what happens. The hour meter shows 929 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice find! I'm very interested in how you're going to straighten that hood out, I've got similar damage from something heavy falling on my 312-8 while it was in storage and I haven't the slightest clue how to go about straightening it out.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

13 hours ago, WNYPCRepair said:

Amazing how many of these I see with the left rear tail light broken, LOL

 

I know what ya mean or is the right side... , Jeff

[fireman 1,021]

Hammer, dollie, and so different size steel bars will take take most of the dents out. 

[fireman 1,021]

Well the weather was some what cooperative today so I headed out to see if I can get it fired up. Checked the oil and fuel tank. Oil was fine and fuel tank was empty which is a bonus (no stale gas)! I added fuel stabilizer and some fresh gas. Battery is shot (.5 volts and my charger read "Bad Battery") so I hooked up a jumper pack. The engine cranked and I saw fuel make it's way up to the fuel filter, but no fire. I sprayed the carb with some starting fluid and and cranked again and still nothing. I checked for spark and there was none. I can see that someone has monkeyed with the wiring a bit so instead of screwing around I went to the magical "Wheel Horse Demystification Guide" and printed out the section for the 1990 520H. Sometime this week I will go throw the wiring point to point and straighten out what ever the other guy messed with. In the mean time tomorrow I will pull off the hood and seat pan and get those hammered out.

[DougC 2,641]

Nice find and a cheap price, wow! Better buy a lottery ticket now too.........

[squonk 41,020]

On 4/8/2016 at 7:04 AM, fireman said:

 

 

Your right Ken. Now just need to find a nice dirt lot to have the pull off!

Dirt?  All you guys are gonna do is dig to China! Get on some nice sticky pavement. We want  smoke, the twisting of frames and some grunting!  Oh we'd like to see pics of the tractor's too! 

[cheesegrader 433]

I recognize that wiring!

The PO has jumped a burnt connection at the 9-pin to get power to the starter. (and what an ugly splice!  Yuck!)

You are also missing a fuse (30 amp, I think)

Edited April 10, 2016 by cheesegrader

[Bow_Extreme 544]

Here you go Fireman.  I know the 520H wiring very well.  I've probably redone 15 of them in the last 10 years.

 

 

[fireman 1,021]

48 minutes ago, Bow_Extreme said:

Here you go Fireman.  I know the 520H wiring very well.  I've probably redone 15 of them in the last 10 years.

 

 

 

Thanks for the tip!

[Bow_Extreme 544]

One more question.  Did they really take a piece of extension cord and patch into the wiring harness?

 

 

[roadapples 6,983]

50 minutes ago, Bow_Extreme said:

One more question.  Did they really take a piece of extension cord and patch into the wiring harness?

 

 

What`s your point ?....

[fireman 1,021]

Yup they sure did! Redneck engineering at it's best. They also used masking tape instead of electrical tape which I never use either. Shrink tubing is the only way to go to properly seal the connection and have a professional look. They funny part is shrink tubing is actually cheaper then a good roll of electrical tape!

Edited April 11, 2016 by fireman