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Last weekend I collected my Rotovator/ Tiller for my Bolens. I pressure washed the grime off it that afternoon and the following day spent a couple of hours brushing off the rust as well as degreasing it. I read George's (aka The Fife Plooman) recommendation of Owatrol and decided to try it out myself. I had a few hours spare this afternoon and it was relatively warm and sunny so I decided to give the tiller its first coat. I am happy with the results so far. I plan to do another coat over the weekend, weather and temperatures permitting. I also drained the gearbox but nowt came out! Topped it up with non synthetic gearbox oil. Here it is when I collected it. After being pressure washed. Sanded down and degreased. Surface prepared for application of Owatrol. Last two photos show first coat of Owatrol.

I got to order some belts for the Bolens so I will add a couple oil seals with the order. I saw some photos of some 'rat look' Bolens with tillers working the soil and I like the look of them. I want to keep the patina of the tiller and the oil will preserve the metal work as well as accentuating the remaining paintwork. I will apply this technique to the 1254. The 800 will be my Show Queen as it were but another 600/800/1000 shaped Bolens will look cool in its original state.

Nope

First Jobber in the fettling shop for a tidy up prior to Tractor World in March...

Removed the piston, conrod, flywheel and crank today. I know the flywheels were originally bare metal, however this leads to rust so I have given it a coat of matt black. The paint has also cured on the air shroud/recoil starter so I have fitted a new starter cord and handle, along with 3 genuine bolts ( a whole £3, lol!). I also had a lucky find on ebay which was an original spec nos air filter cover. The last thing on todays list was to find out some original 80's spec dipstick out, a bit over the top perhaps but I like to keep things original if possible.

Found the photos of the other one i have, not sure where its gone but its here somewhere

That reminds me of many years ago when my Disco was covered by LR warranty and the reverse light switch failed. The day before I took it in for repair I had to use it on a very muddy cow field and the underside was covered in poo. I apologised as I handed the keys over. The service manager thought it was very funny, the mechanic less so. Iain

I needed a photo of the front grille decal for the Martin Markham Colt so how better to get it than play the Vintage Garden Tractors DVD and freeze it at the appropriate spot ??

I used to work in Barking, but now I'm Cambridgeshire mad :wacko:

Just the thing at the sale today Nigel, 150 gallons! Room for passengers also!