slf-uk

Thanks guys. I decided to spend my birthday in the workshop, not had the chance for any workshop time for ages. Chris is nearly right, the chassis on my Land Rover 90 was painted but Joseph did most of the painting while I sat in the chair, very relaxing. I just had to tidy up a few bits. Iain

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)

We finally managed to get the Estate Keeper running. My assistant and chief test driver has made a video covering most of the work we did on the tractor and a demonstration of it in action. Very cool machine, I love it

Alan, I am really pleased you have started a threat on this, it is great to see the detail. Fantastic workmanship, I know I have said this to you directly but stated here for the record. I can't believe how well you have captured the details of a D in this model. Iain

Last weekend Paul and Wendy popped in to see us and we decided to get some tractors out for Paul to try. I managed to capture some video of the five we used which I have posted on Joseph's YouTube channel. The D160 was misbehaving not helped by me forgetting to turn the fuel on. Hopefully we will get a little time today to do a bit of work on it. Iain

Fantastic job Norm, it looks great. I have a Haban sickle bar mower and they are a very handy tool. I used mine in the vertical position once to trim the side of a hedge and it frightened the life out of me. Iain

I took the D-160 out of storage today and put it in the workshop to do a few jobs on it. It will be getting a new carb and I am planning to make a more standard looking exhaust system by modifying a section of Morris Marina exhaust, I wonder where that came from thanks Alan and Chris. I have a few other jobs planned too, time permitting. I would like to identify the year this tractor was made, are any of the Wheelhorse experts able to help? The only ID I could find on the tractor is a Mountfield serial number, which looks like 7053. Thanks Iain

Happy birthday Mark, I hope you have a good one

Happy birthday Chris, hope it was a good one. Best wishes Iain

Great pictures Chris. I love the Matador's and the Bolens 1257.

That would be great, Chris has already marked where he is going to camp. Non Bolens welcome too.

Yesterday Chris made the three and half hour drive to spend the day with us and we had a great time showing him our collection, driving some tractors and doing some repairs to the Bolens HT20. We made a video of some of the fun Iain

It was fantastic to see Alan and Chris yesterday at John's, both are great company and it was worth the trip just for a catch-up, everything else was just a bonus. I popped in to see the other Chris (Bolens Chris as Joseph calls him) on the way home and collected a few other goodies. I am sure Chris and Alan said the tractor was another one of those red Bolens, honest I thought I was going to get away with driving the short distance to the van until I turned the corner and was faced with the Paparazzi clicking away with cameras. I stopped at services on the way home and send advanced apologies to the other Bolens boys but it didn't work as I was getting abusive messages most of the way home It was 1am by the time I had unloaded the van and getting the big trailer out on my own was an interesting experience. I am looking forward to restoring the big trailer and it will look good with the Ride-a-matic sitting back on it, however it will not be done for a while. Thanks for a great day Iain

Yesterday Joseph wanted to create a video of our Bolens HT23. I need to make some belt guards for the deck and then he can cut the grass for me. Iain

Thanks Alan. The tyre changer was a great purchase and from my favourite shop. I have done a few basic repairs to it and a rebuild planned for the future when time permits. The other tyre changer needs to grow bigger muscles We had a demo of the Ride-a-matic to the granddads today and a bit of a move around. Next will either be the blue Bolens 1054 from John's (the one from the workshop) or the Bolens Estate Keeper I bought from Tom. A lot of John-isms on the 1054 but all part of the fun, we like a good challenge and have a fair idea what is missing. It does look like he has done some good work on it too.

We finally got the chance to finish off the jobs we had planned for this tractor and took it for a ride, well one of us did as I got to watch. Video update from Joseph

Really cool build and exactly what I was planning to build when I have a bit more time. I was even planning to use the exact type of wheels you used. What size box have you used for the upper frame and what will be the width and length of the tipping box? Thanks Iain

Chris, the Bolens part number for the switch is 1713595 and the same switch is fitted to all round hood Bolens with electric start (600, 800, 900 and 1000). I don't think a geninue one can be bought anymore although I know that at least one of the Bolens part suppliers, Brian sells a replacement. Link to the part on his web site http://bolenspartsandsupplies.com/bolens-parts/1713595-bolens-push-button-starter-switch-fits-600-800-900-1000/ Iain

I have not had a lot of time recently but we have managed to get a little done. Another Iain and Joseph video update, short one this time Iain

Fantastic find Chris, I really can't believe the gems that keep appearing. That is exactly what I was told by an expert in the US It will look great once you have finished with it Iain

Chris, the short version is that Bolens rock but they don't roll The longer version, Bolens rear ends have a worm gear shaft and worm wheel which is the reason the tractor will not roll unless the transaxle input shaft is turning. That plate on the back of the axle is to allow the removal of the worm gear shaft, often people mistake it for a PTO output. Apparently the worm drive is what makes them great tractors for pushing and pulling heavy loads. When you pull the pin on the o/s rear hub the tractor can be pushed, with the pin in it should not be possible to push the tractor unless the transaxle is badly worn. It should not be possible to drive the tractor with the pin out as the drive hub will turn but the hub (which has the wheel attached) will not. As you can drive it with the pin out this means one of two things. Firstly it is possible due to lack of use the drive hub has rusted onto the hub and as soon as you load the tractor it will free off, then you will have to use the pin as normal. The second reason (and most likely) is that the play in the axle has been incorrectly adjusted. The hub on this model has a single narrow bronze bush inside (6 speed transaxles have two bronze bushes) and it does not take long before the single bush develops a crown and the O/S wheel develops lateral movement. It does not take much wear on the bush for the moment to appear and it looks worse than it is. The way to resolve this problem is to replace the bush but many people over adjust the axle end play instead, which is clearly a very bad idea and the first outcome is that you can drive the tractor with the pin out, the second is that you shorten the life of the diff. Here is the instructions for adjusting the axle end play. Bolens Rear-Axle End-Play Adjustment.pdf If you adjust the rear axle and find the bush is badly worn I think I may have a spare new one which I can hunt out. Alternatively, you can wait until I retire as one of my many retirement projects is to develop a solution to overcome this problem. Probably a very bad explanation so let me know where it does not make sense. Iain

Finished job looks great May have some bad news for you on this one. The Bolens 600 is one of the only Bolens without diff lock unless someone has changed the rear axle in the past. If they have, you will have this round control knob in the centre of the left hand hub: Bolens claim that precision transmission and automotive-type differential (Bolens terms not mine) give you a traction advantage over other brands even without diff lock. I have no idea if that is true or not as I have not done a direct comparison. Please don't shot the messenger Iain

I think your version is much better than the original. I use mine a lot and it is far too wide at the hitch end and it gets in the way. It looks like you have done a fantastic job of overcoming that problem. Iain

We have completed another video on progress. I have to say I prefer working on the tractor to editing a video but my son Joseph wants a video diary of progress. Comments welcomed. Iain

Looks great Chris. I have a genuine Bolens hitch, let me know if you need any measurements from it. Iain