alfrehner

Member
Hello all. I am looking at purchasing a 50 and a 520 from an older gentleman. He says he has owned them for 20+ years, and has never really used them except to harrow a field and lead a steer around. They both run and have wide front ends on them. The tires are all dry rotted, and paint is faded and the tin is all straight except for a dent in the nose of the 50. Hydraulics work on both but power steering on the 50 does not work. They both started right up and idled great. The clutch on the 520 was weird as it wouldn't engage while moving, and wanted to kill the engine, but while the engine is not running you could engage it and start it up and it would stay engaged. I'm sure it just needs an adjustment. No fenders on either , but full 3 points on both. HE is asking $5000 for both. Just curious what you all thought they might be worth. I am located out west. Thanks for all your input.
 
I purchased a JD 520 at a public auction in 2009 that looked and ran great until I had it on my property:

I now have $5000.00 invested in my JD 520...yes a great Tractor and daily user, however...$5000.00 Invested. I done all mechanical repairs myself.

Quote:
The clutch on the 520 was weird as it wouldn't engage while moving, and wanted to kill the engine.......

Not a good thing....???????????????????????????..could be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I would not pay one cent more than $2000.00 for the JD 520.Vey few parts from the JD 50 interchange with the 520...sheet metal will interchange as I purchased a complete grill off a JD 520,done some body work to the grill and installed on my JD 520:

Bob...Retired power engineer.........
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To be honest, $3000 for the pair might be about right. While they start, there are issues - no power steering on one, and clutch (or worse) on the other. The clutch has me confused... it will attempt to kill the engine if you engage it? Was this with the tractor in gear, or in neutral?

And $3k might be too much as well.
 
So I could start the 520 with the clutch engaged, but when I put it in gear or just disengaged the clutch there was no way to engage it again, because when I tried it would try to kill the engine. So if I shut it off and engaged it it would go, but just not while it was running. Thanks for the replies so far. They have been very helpful.
 
If it only would kill the engine when engaging the clutch with the tractor in gear, I would suspect a stuck brake or maybe ice in the transmission if it is cold like here in WI. But if it is doing it when the transmission is neutral, I am perplexed. Could be expensive... but hard to diagnose over the internet :).
 
For the clutch problem, does that mean you have not been able to move or drive the tractor? If the tractor moves under its own power with the transmission in neutral, the problem could be the shift lever has left one of the shift rails stuck in a gear. That could be an easy fix. If the tractor will not move at all, the suggestions of a stuck brake or ice holding the bull gears sound right.
 
So yes the tractor does drive, but once in gear you can't engage the clutch to stop. You have to either shut off the tractor or pop it out of gear while it is moving.
 
If the clutch won't release when the lever is pulled back, the clutch plates might be rusted together or stuck on the crankshaft splines. Is the big clutch cover missing from the side of the clutch?
 
When I purchased my JD 520 at a public Auction (2008?)there were NO JD 520's / 530's, In our area. I had pretty stiff bidders against me. The machine really sounded nice. Well.........once it was on my property the front tires had to be replaced,new, rear tires had to be replaced so upgraded to 30" rubber, rims and wheels from Tractor wrecker. Starter failed and Carb flooded. Exhaust pipe blew off and muffler was Junk. All Lubricate Liquids had to be replaced as well as the clutch pack. Coolant pump and a total Ignition tune up. The Intake / Exhaust manifolds had to be replaced. etc,etc,etc,

I'm totally satisfied with this JD 520. However, the total investment of $5000.00 was a bit steep at the time. I have since worked the 520 hard and it has never let me down.

If I was to purchase new JD 38 HP Tractor today ....at what price ?

Bob.....
 
I think you mean "disengage" to stop??? If that is the problem, that the clutch won't stop, it could be a broken disk inside, which in itself isn't a huge deal.
 
I wonder if the pulley brake is way out of whack ? If you pull back the clutch lever and they are out the back facing can grab and start driving you again. Hard to me to figure out what is being described as happening. Usually complete killing of engine will only happen if stuck in 2 gears at once and you engage the clutch, pushing lever forward.

Don't forget the FULL 3 points if JD original will be worth around $ 600 for the model 50 and up to around $ 1,500 for the 520
I also see you said wide front ends too ! Those have to be worth around another $ 1,000 each ? maybe even more ?
 

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