60" deck on C-161???

[WildmanC120 613]

Will this 60" deck fit a C-161?  Will any 60" deck fit??? Thanks

 

 

[cleat 5,809]

It will physically hook up but you likely could not steer.

 

The front wheels will hit the deck.

 

You would need the swept front axle.

 

I have not mounted my 60" deck in 2 years. The 48" does the job almost as quickly.

 

It does take some power to spin that beast as well. Makes the 20HP Onan grunt.

 

 

[WildmanC120 613]

12 minutes ago, cleat said:

It will physically hook up but you likely could not steer.

 

The front wheels will hit the deck.

 

You would need the swept front axle.

 

I have not mounted my 60" deck in 2 years. The 48" does the job almost as quickly.

 

It does take some power to spin that beast as well. Makes the 20HP Onan grunt.

 

 

I had a feeling that it may hit the front wheels.  I have the power to turn it as I just swapped a 22hp Predator on my C-161.  I guess i'll just find a nice 48" and live with it. 

[cleat 5,809]

There are swept axles on ebay.

 

Any axle from a 520 will fit your machine.

 

You will need the spindles and wheels as well unless you can somehow bush your 3/4" spindles to fit the 1" holes in the axles.

 

[WildmanC120 613]

2 hours ago, cleat said:

There are swept axles on ebay.

 

Any axle from a 520 will fit your machine.

 

You will need the spindles and wheels as well unless you can somehow bush your 3/4" spindles to fit the 1" holes in the axles.

 

I never thought that was possible.  Is that axle any wider then mine or just swept forward?  Do I need the tie rods too?

[roadapples 6,983]

It's about 4" wider OA. YES you will need longer tie rods...

 

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

1 hour ago, WildmanC120 said:

I never thought that was possible.  Is that axle any wider then mine or just swept forward?  Do I need the tie rods too?

The tie rods on the 520s (top) are automotive type vs those spindly little 3/8 style on all the others(bottom)...

[WildmanC120 613]

1 hour ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

The tie rods on the 520s (top) are automotive type vs those spindly little 3/8 style on all the others(bottom)...

Nice.  Is there any pics or anyone who has done this swap?

[cleat 5,809]

If you get all the parts it is a simple bolt in (you might need to drill 2 more holes in the frame if you go with the reduction setup but that is simple to do).

 

Cheapest way is to find an old blown up 520 and harvest the parts required then sell what is left (swept axle assemblies often sell for more than an entire 520).

 

You could even put your old parts back into it and sell it more or less complete.

 

If you find a 1990 520 or a 520HC it will be non reduction steering but with all the other goodies.

 

 

 

[WildmanC120 613]

6 minutes ago, cleat said:

If you get all the parts it is a simple bolt in (you might need to drill 2 more holes in the frame if you go with the reduction setup but that is simple to do).

 

Cheapest way is to find an old blown up 520 and harvest the parts required then sell what is left (swept axle assemblies often sell for more than an entire 520).

 

You could even put your old parts back into it and sell it more or less complete.

 

If you find a 1990 520 or a 520HC it will be non reduction steering but with all the other goodies.

 

 

 

What do I need? Axle, tierods, spindles and wheels? 

 

Is this axle the same width as old one?

[cleat 5,809]

As Roadapples said, axle is around 4" wider.

 

To make it a complete bolt in, you will need axle, spindles, wheels, tie rods, and either lower steering shaft from a 1990 model or the complete gear reduction steering gear assembly that includes upper and lower steering shafts from a 1991 and up model.

 

Check this PDF and note differences between the regular 520 and the HC model. This is your non reduction setup.

1990 model steering.pdf

 

Here is a PDF of the wheels. You can see the difference between regular 520 and HC.

1990 model wheels.pdf

 

This is the gear reduction setup.

1992 steeringl.pdf

 

Here is the 1992 wheels PDF

1992 wheels.pdf

 

I hope this helps.

Cleat

[Skipper 1,788]

I would for sure try to find a doner with gear reduced steering also. Its a huge improvement! Another option, even though not a good one IMO, is to swap inn smaller front wheels.

 

On HP, yes you can run it, but don't expect 22HP to be much more than enough. You will still be able so bog it down some it thick grass. The ones I have run with 19 and 20 kohler and 20 onans have been marginal powered. It will work for sure, but I often find myself having to slow down because there simply isn't power enough to maintain good RPM's. It's nothing you should worry about, just a heads up. Well build professional machines have 5-7 hp per foot of cut, in order to just power thru most anything. 

 

And take this from a guy that has run pretty much all types of WH decks. A correct set up 60" HD deck, newer model with gauge wheels and high lift blades, cuts so freakishly nice that nothing else in the WH arsenal comes even close. And, do you have a big lawn with lots of open space, it is significantly faster too. It does however limit the nimbleness in tighter spaces. Compared to a 42" deck, it has cut my mowing time to half.

 

I currently run one on a 195, and a 195 goes about 16-17% faster than the others, because of the bigger wheels. The 60" cuts perfect, even at full speed. Cant say that for most of the rest. 

 

Also to consider. That 60" is not a light weight, easy to handle thing.

 

So if the hassle of it's size and weight is not a nogo for you, and you have a lot of grass, I bet you will be stellar happy with it.

[Tankman 3,518]

On 11/8/2018 at 9:43 PM, cleat said:

The 48" does the job almost as quickly.

Often thought ‘bout 60” deck on my ‘90 520-8 but, agree the 48” deck moves fast.

 

The 20 hp Onan moves, mows fast. 

[Goofey 89]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:11 PM, Skipper said:

I would for sure try to find a doner with gear reduced steering also. Its a huge improvement! Another option, even though not a good one IMO, is to swap inn smaller front wheels.

 

On HP, yes you can run it, but don't expect 22HP to be much more than enough. You will still be able so bog it down some it thick grass. The ones I have run with 19 and 20 kohler and 20 onans have been marginal powered. It will work for sure, but I often find myself having to slow down because there simply isn't power enough to maintain good RPM's. It's nothing you should worry about, just a heads up. Well build professional machines have 5-7 hp per foot of cut, in order to just power thru most anything. 

 

And take this from a guy that has run pretty much all types of WH decks. A correct set up 60" HD deck, newer model with gauge wheels and high lift blades, cuts so freakishly nice that nothing else in the WH arsenal comes even close. And, do you have a big lawn with lots of open space, it is significantly faster too. It does however limit the nimbleness in tighter spaces. Compared to a 42" deck, it has cut my mowing time to half.

 

I currently run one on a 195, and a 195 goes about 16-17% faster than the others, because of the bigger wheels. The 60" cuts perfect, even at full speed. Cant say that for most of the rest. 

 

Also to consider. That 60" is not a light weight, easy to handle thing.

 

So if the hassle of it's size and weight is not a nogo for you, and you have a lot of grass, I bet you will be stellar happy with it.

 

This is correct. I have a 518 and I put a big deck on and it was not more than just enough.

[Skipper 1,788]

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