Restoring my 520H

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Over the next several months and into the winter I will be redoing my 520 that I bought back in April. My dad was a Wheel Horse dealer and this is exactly what I would have bought new from him at the time (1991) if a 20 yr old kid would have been able to afford it. My plan is to use the 42" recycler deck off of my C120 on the 520 this summer to determine what, if any mechanical issues it may have before tearing it down. I paid $800 for it in the condition seen in the pictures and everything on the tractor works, every light, every switch, everything. I've already torn down the 48" deck it came, had it blasted, and sent for powdercoat,  and will spend the next few evenings updating this post with pictures of the parts I've redone so far and the replacement goodies that I'm cleaning out from dad's inventory! This will be mostly a cosmetic redo with no corners cut. The engine seems to run like a champ, doesn't smoke or use oil, and sounds great, so I don't think a rebuild will be needed. Stay tuned 

[oliver2-44 9,760]

Nice project.

We would enjoy any stories you can share about your dads dealership. Also any pictures of you at a young age with horses would be cool! 

[bellevillerod 834]

Great love to watch the whole process of rebuilding a tractor. Will be observing and taking notes so as to learn all that I can. I'm starting to get into the hobby of small time collecting and redoing yesterdays tractors. With a tilt towards Horses but love a lot of the old iron. My dad was the man that got me hooked on wheel horse tractors. I'm going to redo his C-160 here before long. 

[Achto 27,604]

Great looking tractor to start with. I'll be joining in for the show.

[Tractor boy 239]

Im chiming in to follow, that tractor looks good. 

[dclarke 4,032]

That looks like a nice one to start with. I'll be watching too. Lots of wiring on that tractor, be sure to mark it well and take lots of pics when you take it apart. 

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Some pics of the deck before teardown; deck is in great shape, solid, just needs fresh belts, blades, and a little love.  Tomorrow night, some pics of the progress so far and some shiny stuff

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

@76c12091520h, may I suggest you become a supporter so 1) you are helping keep the lights on here at RS, 2) unlimited uploading of your restoration pics/vids...its a small price to pay...

for all you get sharing and receiving great info for our little red tractors.

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 So I figured since I'm waiting for the powder coater to get the deck shell done, and there's only four bolts holding it on, I may as well be comfortable since  I'm mowing with this one this year; stripped all the brackets and the seat pan, replaced or refurbished all the hardware with grade 8 or stainless, applied epoxy primer, basecoat and cleared(and got a new seat!).

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Cleaned and refurbished all the spindles,  stripped and refinished the brackets and the deck/ mule drive pulleys, all new hardware.   

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 NOS parts from my dad's closed dealership; most of the stuff that I'll be posting is the last of what he had in inventory.  Got the deck and some other stuff back from powdercoating, stay tuned.

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 NOS rear hubcaps; sent the fronts and some other small pieces out to be rechromed

[trailhopper 49]

Looks great. What seat is that?

[76c12091520h 3,623]

Seat is made by Milsco, bolted right on with no modifications, came with the armrests.

[76c12091520h 3,623]

Got the deck back from powdercoat, seam sealed all the gaps in the baffles, applied bedliner to the underside

[Jennifer 1,877]

1 hour ago, 76c12091520h said:

Got the deck back from powdercoat, seam sealed all the gaps in the baffles, applied bedliner to the underside

Will you be putting new decals on ? I would assume!  Doing nice work!

[Achto 27,604]

12 hours ago, 76c12091520h said:

Seat is made by Milsco

 

Made right here in my home town.

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Had a few pieces on the deck and decided I wasn't happy with the color(too orange) of the powdercoat. It's been a crapshoot over the years every time I have something done, the color just wasn't right. So I figured since I have other pieces to paint I may as well just do it or I won't be able to live with myself; the side chute was NOS and that's what I used for my color reference. Since it was always a source of dirt accumulation, I filled in all the seams around the reinforcing bars at the lower edge of the deck before painting. Also shot the fuel cap and detailed the lettering, then covered it in flat clear: 

[oneroadkingman 53]

 definitely definitely a great-looking to start and it's going to be better when you're done can't wait to see.

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Since I'm using/debugging this beast prior to the major teardown, I decided to fix the squeaking hood that's been driving me nuts. Removed the hood, threw away what was left of the shredded nylon hood hinge bushings, drilled out the  worn hood hinges and the mount plate on the frame and installed bronze 70's-80's GM door hinge bushings. If they can hold a 100lb GM door a 5lb hood won't ever wear them out. Squeak is gone and works nicer than new without any wobble  (they'll be made pretty later)

[76c12091520h 3,623]

I knew that the battery would need replacing sooner or later but I was hoping to hold off until the teardown this winter; no such luck. Replaced it about a month ago, but if there's one thing that bothers me is a parts store/ generic / or mismatched battery in show car, tractor , you name it so I waited until the show and came up with this :

[dclarke 4,032]

13 hours ago, 76c12091520h said:

there's one thing that bothers me is a parts store/ generic / or mismatched battery in show car, tractor , you name it so I waited until the show and came up with this :

Great idea! Those generic decals always bugged me too. I went with a Delco decal from “Vinylguy” on some of my batteries.... Very nice job on your tractor!! 

[76c12091520h 3,623]

Picked up a used early model 520 steering wheel at the show (thanks Eric), couldn't take looking at the Toro emblem any longer; cleaned out the crack where it was split, used some good quality structural adhesive, repaired some other minor blemishes, retextured it, and refinished with basecoat and semi-gloss clear (and a little extra detailing) 

[76c12091520h 3,623]

 Did the final assembly on the deck, added some protective padding to the top of the shell to prevent the crossbar from scratching, installed the last of dad's nos blades and belts, installed a replaceable bushing in the leveler rod hole; will save the last overall pics for after the decals get here  

[76c12091520h 3,623]

Painted my new to me inside rear wheel weights, and assembled the mule drive. I used a set of older cast pulleys with the replaceable bearings. Had these pulleys for sale at the show and nobody would even make an offer on them...….