New member here, from Middle Tennessee, USA! Found this forum while searching for parts for a tractor I just received. Glad to be a part of this community, and hope to share with and learn from others around the world. Now, here’s a little (maybe a little long) background on the tractor that is now in my shed. It’s quite a story, and we have a long history working together.
In the mid-70’s, at the age of about 12, I began helping a neighbor on his farm. We raised corn, soybeans and tobacco, and worked 2 “new” Belarus MTZ-520 tractors, as well as other Farmall, Ford, and International tractors. The 520’s were the workhorses of the farm and took the heavy work with ease. Many, many hours were spent on these, and we hardly ever had an issue. They just ran, and pulled whatever we hooked to them. Fast forward to my college years, (1985-1989) and that’s when we setup a dairy operation. Milking 60-80 cows on the afternoon shift, every-day, I didn’t have much time to get into mischief, and I credit this dairy to keeping me in college. The 520’s were still the work horses of the farm, pulling silage choppers, silage wagons, as well as ground prep and planting. They just ran, and ran, and ran. I left the farm work after college, 30 years ago, and the boss man continued to run these tractors until he passed away 10 years ago.

ell a couple of months ago, I asked the Boss man’s wife and son-in-law about these tractors, and they told me to come take a look. A couple of weeks ago, I went back to the farm (only ~4 miles from my place now), and we pull started the MTZ-520 Super that I grew up with. Drove it around the farm a bit, and many memories returned to me. We talked about it, and I learned that the Boss Man’s widow wanted to give me the tractor, not sell it, just let me take it as a “thank you” for working with her husband/family for so many years. This past Sunday morning, my son and I went to get the Belarus, pull started it, and made the 4 mile drive to our place rather slowly. Truly amazing how this tractor has held up to so many years of use/abuse, and 10+ years of retirement, only to be brought back to life, once again.
There’s a few leaks, bumps and bruises, (most of which I either put on her, or remember when they happened) but she made the journey. Now’s the time to begin the semi-restoration, and get her back in shape to start and run, and maybe pull some light duty equipment. Nothing to difficult, as she’s had a long hard life, and looking forward to enjoying our retirement together!