Front deck carrier issue

[Adams94 1,068]

Put my front deck carrier on my new 520 today. This carrier was NOS a year ago and I put it together and never used it till today.  So it’s not wore out, that being said it does not sit straight on the tractor. My right tire will rub occasionally and the left has 2 inches of clearance.  Anybody experienced this? I know it would be better on a tractor without the forward swept axle but I don’t have one and it’s still crooked. You can tell the difference on the up close photos.  Other than that I do really like it, with the ride of a 520 and gear reduction steering plus not running over the grass before you move it, how could you have a better combination?

[troutbum70 857]

Looks good on there and appears to do a very nice job, your lawn looks great. I would assume there is some adjusting some where needed, I have often thought I would like a forward mount mower. I have never seen one actually on a horse before, I am sure some of the old timers will be along with some suggestions.

[Adams94 1,068]

3 minutes ago, troutbum63 said:

Looks good on there and appears to do a very nice job, your lawn looks great. I would assume there is some adjusting some where needed, I have often thought I would like a forward mount mower. I have never seen one actually on a horse before, I am sure some of the old timers will be along with some suggestions.

It did do a nice job!

[rjg854 11,660]

Agreed it does do a nice job.  Can't see how the front of the deck attaches to the frame, I'm wondering if that's the place to find some adjustment?

[Adams94 1,068]

40 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

Agreed it does do a nice job.  Can't see how the front of the deck attaches to the frame, I'm wondering if that's the place to find some adjustment?

I don’t think so because the frame is what seems to be crooked, I honestly think that the square part that snaps into the front tach a matic was built worn causing it to be crooked, I have not found any adjustment side to side

 

[peter lena 8,957]

adams94, looking at what you have , what stands out is to extend the wheel vertical axle to the outside of the  tire contact area. you can easily remove that vertical wheel rod , and do a what if ? experiment . many times sorting what does not work , i come up with what will work. looks like that mower set up will work fine except for the swept front axle. if you want to , you can experiment with that  contact point by eliminating it. you have 90% of the function , i am looking at the fix for that . for the purists , i am so sorry that i would suggest a different way to solve this problem. how about another set of the front deck swivel wheels in this area ? pete

[Turftech 82]

I have the later Toro version Mod # 79380. Cover of owners manual states for "Classic Wheelhorse Tractors". If I remember correctly when purchased new the dealer asked how old my 520 is, 1988, it will fit, swept axle interferes with turning.

Maybe adapt the carrier by having an extended mount made for the carrier at the pivot point?

[Adams94 1,068]

6 hours ago, Turftech said:

I have the later Toro version Mod # 79380. Cover of owners manual states for "Classic Wheelhorse Tractors". If I remember correctly when purchased new the dealer asked how old my 520 is, 1988, it will fit, swept axle interferes with turning.

Maybe adapt the carrier by having an extended mount made for the carrier at the pivot point?

I agree the forward swept axle it a tight fiit, I knew it would be but it the bracket wasn’t crooked it would be ok, seems to the the square part of the carrier that hooks onto the tractor is not square(it is off around 1/8”) which out to the end would make it considerably more. I may have that fixed. Hard to believe this is the only one that happened to

[pfrederi 18,103]

12 hours ago, Adams94 said:

I agree the forward swept axle it a tight fiit, I knew it would be but it the bracket wasn’t crooked it would be ok, seems to the the square part of the carrier that hooks onto the tractor is not square(it is off around 1/8”) which out to the end would make it considerably more. I may have that fixed. Hard to believe this is the only one that happened to

 

 

It is not a real common implement,  i have one but it is mounted on a C-141 no clearance issues.  Haven't noticed any particular misalignment

[Ahead of the Curve 40]

Hello, 

Wondered how the 520-H turned out working with the front deck carrier? Did you sort out the issues? 

I'm looking at buying one to put on one of our 520-H's. Did want to reinvent the wheel ( my dad's regular old saying) if I didn't have to.

Thanks for any information.

Tim

[kpinnc 12,977]

Looks like those guage wheels are on the insides of the tab they mount to. Can they not be flipped to the outside like a standard deck?

 

Those 520 wheels set forward quite a bit. I wonder if that carrier was intended to be used on the 520 tractors at all.

Edited May 12, 2021 by kpinnc

[Adams94 1,068]

11 hours ago, Ahead of the Curve said:

Hello, 

Wondered how the 520-H turned out working with the front deck carrier? Did you sort out the issues? 

I'm looking at buying one to put on one of our 520-H's. Did want to reinvent the wheel ( my dad's regular old saying) if I didn't have to.

Thanks for any information.

Tim

Technically it works, however I am now mowing with a 60” deck.  Takes a lot of room to turn the front deck carrier outfit and my tractor wasn’t right. The steering will hit the mid mount pulley when turning left and the wheel will hit. I liked mowing with it but would need a tractor without forward swept axle to be happy with it

[Adams94 1,068]

10 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Looks like those guage wheels are on the insides of the tab they mount to. Can they not be flipped to the outside like a standard deck?

 

Those 520 wheels set forward quite a bit. I wonder if that carrier was intended to be used on the 520 tractors at all.

It was designed for straight front axles

[Adams94 1,068]

10 hours ago, kpinnc said:

 

 

this outfit is hard to beat

Edited May 12, 2021 by Adams94

[Lee1977 6,898]

The deck carrier look to be square, check it out with a building square. If it checks out to be square check axle on the tractor.  Measure from the center of the rear rear wheel to the center of the front wheel both sides.

The axle mount would not have to be far off to make that much difference in the axle. If its a little off it won't be the first time things got welded wrong.

[Adams94 1,068]

4 hours ago, Lee1977 said:

The deck carrier look to be square, check it out with a building square. If it checks out to be square check axle on the tractor.  Measure from the center of the rear rear wheel to the center of the front wheel both sides.

The axle mount would not have to be far off to make that much difference in the axle. If its a little off it won't be the first time things got welded wrong.

I talked to another guy that put one on a forward swept axle that had the exact same issues

[Lee1977 6,898]

I think it is the drive belt pulling that side back closer to the wheel.

[Adams94 1,068]

6 minutes ago, Lee1977 said:

I think it is the drive belt pulling that side back closer to the wheel.

It could very well be that

 

[1995 520H+96+97 937]

You can flip your swept forward axle, to swept rearward, also the tie rods will need to be swapped sides.

[Ahead of the Curve 40]

I plan on mounting mine on my 520-H. I figured I would make a spacer 2" in depth to mount behind my front attach a matic . Thus moving the whole unit outwards 2" and missing the front wheels on the forward swept axles. Will have to get a longer belt to run the deck mounted on the carrier. In all logical thinking this should fix any issues.

[Ahead of the Curve 40]

Oh and get longer mounting bolt. But it should be a simple removal to convert it back to stock if I ever need to to run other equipment.

[Adams94 1,068]

5 hours ago, Ahead of the Curve said:

I plan on mounting mine on my 520-H. I figured I would make a spacer 2" in depth to mount behind my front attach a matic . Thus moving the whole unit outwards 2" and missing the front wheels on the forward swept axles. Will have to get a longer belt to run the deck mounted on the carrier. In all logical thinking this should fix any issues.

The tie rod will still hit the mid mount pulley set up when you turn left to sharp

[squonk 41,794]

The carrier was designed for the 42" SD deck according to the instructions that came with the one I had.

[Adams94 1,068]

3 hours ago, squonk said:

The carrier was designed for the 42" SD deck according to the instructions that came with the one I had.

My instructions say it works with a 42 or 48 sd but just does not work well with forward swept axle.  Will work on anything else with tach o matic though