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As Newby Hall and the Smallholders Show are both creeping up I thought I had better give the 81 a fettle Engine and footboards cleaned up and painted today... (Yes I know its a Honda engine but that is what was in it and with my limited mechanical knowledge if it ain't broke don't fix it)

Nice research HE. However, you have a bit of misinformation inre the serial numbers. Bolens started each production run with the serial number 00101. So, the first tractor in the 03 production run would have been 0300101. To determine which unit off the line you have, you would need to subtract 100 from the serial number. That means that your tractor was the 1348th off the line in the 03 production run. With the tube frames and large frames there were two different model/production run/serial formats. The earlier ones has the production appended to the model number with the serial number separate. The later ones had the model number and then the production run number as the first two digits of the serial number. That change over occurred in 1972/1973. Here is a Service Bulletin that details the change. Bolens Serial Number Service Bulletein.pdf

Wow Iain, you have a sharp eye. First the history on the tractor. The tractor was purchased in May of 1977, its a 1976 model. it was purchased in West des Moines Iowa, by a guy that lived near Panorama, Iowa. In 1989-1990 the original engine gave way and the original owner traded it in on a new (wasn't actually new, but was still on the lot, 1989 model, I checked the serial numbers on the dealer invoice) Bolens Duratrac (5120H). The dealer put a new engine on the H16 at that time and offered it for sale. Another one of the dealers customers had bought a used Bolens QT17 (1666) from him the previous year and the engine (Kohler KT17) failed after the first mowing season. The dealer felt bad and wanted to make it right so he offered the guy the Bolens H16 with the new engine at what he had in it. Everyone was happy as it came with not just a 42" deck, but a front blade, snow blower, and tiller as well, all virtually new. Before the second owner could cut his grass the first time his son was driving the tractor around the property and hit a well casing that damaged the deck, gearbox, and PTO. He took the deck to a local shade tree mechanic who promptly left town with everyone's equipment. The second owner then put the Bolens under a tarp in the barn, along with the blower, tiller, and blade and bought a cheap craftsman lawn tractor. the Bolens sat in the barn from 1991 until 2013 when he drug it out to sell. He was on his third craftsman lawn tractor when he advertised the Bolens, hoping to bolster his funds to enable a zero turn purchase. I bought the tractor minus the deck for 550.00, the 1991 OH-160 had less than 50 hours on it. I bought a 42" 18423-03 deck for 100.00 that is in better shape than this one and have the right lift bracket, I bought this deck for 18423-01 deck for 50.00 it was on a G14. Back to the engine, the OH160 and HH160 were supposedly the same engine, just different designations, maybe because they turned the engine 180 degrees in later models, but the dealer actually put the the Tecumseh OH160 engine in it, it has a spec number of 170182F, serial number 1151E, which makes it a 1991. The tractor is a 1656-03, serial number 0301448, or the 1448 -03 to come off the line, serial number 309999 starts model year of 1977. I try and research history and specification of every tractor I buy and try to buy from th original owner or second owner. I also like to get names of people that sold the tractor or worked on it to call them and ask questions. Yep people are surprised when i call them about a machine they owned, sold or worked on 30 years ago. By the way our local O'Reilly's auto parts stores still sell the same tail lights for under 4.00 each, I bought the single taillight for the 1556 from Grainger for 7.82. the 1556 is a Grote taillight. I forget what the H16s are, I have the invoice around here somewhere. Sometimes I get on the hunt for a OEM part and I can't stop.

Seems there is a new addition to the herd As far as I know this is one of the earliest Westwoods. If you look at the foot rests they are very different from the later ones which rise up near the front of the mower, and have some pretty nice sharp angles The gear selector is in the same sort of place in front of the seat as a classic Wheelhorse instead of being column shift. The whole mower also seems to sit a couple of inches lower than my other Gazelle. It is basically exactly the same as my other one but everything is slightly different. As far as I know this is from the late 1970s, but I shall check tomorrow, and get some better photos. It does not run currently, the carb needs some attention and the deck needs a new belt to mow with. I plan on keeping this Gazelle as original as possible, I have rarely seen ones of this age about, and it isn't in bad condition at all, only some surface rust. It needs some TLC but overall is very solid. I think it would be a shame to repaint it but I wouldn't want it to eventually rust away, is there any product I can use to preserve it whilst keeping it with an original look?

I took some time to drive the Bolens H16 and then wash it up after sitting in the shed for a few month, also scrubbed and sanded the deck. It's got a first coat, next it will get a vigorous sanding, filling primer, and finish coat with poly converter added for hardness and gloss retention. The white specks are ash from the burn barrel, paint was more than dry

Don't let Ian near it, he'll put a Hayabusa engine in it or something similar !!

As it turned out the remains of the Reliant prop shaft was too short, but I did have these Reliant axle off cuts which could be welded together to get enough length. A template for cutting out notches. A nice tight fit.. Lot's of cutting, grinding and welding later.. I need to "port" the inside a bit more to help air flow. Fitted to the carbs. But will the hood stand still fit?? I had to trim a little off the hood stand, but yes it fits The left side was an even tighter fit with the fuel tap present, but fit it does.. All I need to do now is by a pair of correct size air filters and trim the tubes to length.. Speaking of air filters, I thought it would be a laugh to put on the way over sized filters I had bought a few weeks ago And to finish off this update, here's the last two parts I need to fit before I pull the whole thing apart for final welding.... Test drive time is getting closer by the day

Alain, Your H16 is fantastic, you have done a great job on it. As a fan of the H16's, I would like to ask you a few questions about it. The XL decal on the front of engine is interesting, I have only see that on the later OH Tecumseh's. Does the tractor have a OH160 or is a HH160 and does it suggest that your H16 is one of the later ones from the second batch? I also noticed that it has rear lights installed which look like the originals. Are these made by Speaker or the earlier Peterson lights or something else? The deck is in very good condition however from the pictures I can't see if it is 38" or 42", from the support bracket for the gearbox I would guess it is a 42". I did notice that it has the lift bracket for a geared tractor installed rather than the one required for the H16. Andrew, your sleeve hitch is in great condition, you don't see many like that these days. Iain

Just got back from a day trip to Cornwall (as you do) with this, its an International Cadet 81 of the late 70's period, complete with mowing deck... rather pleased but somewhat tired now, started out from home at 2am and got home at 5pm... I will have a good look at it tomorrow, it's parked in its new home now, here's some photos to be going on with...

While searching ads for a hand held earth auger to do some fence posts, I stumbled across an ad for this machine. DIG R MOBILE earth auger machine. Found it very interesting, went to look at it and impulse bought it. I don't really have a need for this much hole digging machine but I'm a sucker for old cool machines. Hopefully I can find some side work for it to help pay the bill. Everything works but it needs some TLC to get everything tightened up so it drills straight. Made in the 60s by a company called General. Came with it's own factory custom trailer. Just thought I'd share some pics.

That would be what we call the "Square Back" tiller for the tube frames. It's a very heavy duty tiller and is capable of working virgin ground.

Color looks right for the earlier Bolens. I can tell you that it DOES NOT fit the tube frames or large frames.

Sorry to keep you all waiting. The first of the stash has just been posted in the FOR SALE section. More to follow over the weekend. Thanks again to Nigel and Ian for the help and guidance in identifying a lot of the stash. As they suggested, I am listing some of the attachments first, followed by a few of the better condition tractors, although the listings could be mixed due to circumstances. As some may already know, these items belong to an old friend who is in very poor health, and is having to dispose of his collection. He is sorry to have to part with years of collecting but needs to downsize to a much smaller property. He lives near Cranleigh, Surrey for those who will be wondering. A lot of the collection is dry stored but some, which was stored outside under covers has suffered from the weather, the covers having rotted away over the years and with everything being covered in brambles. Still in the process of digging out which is a slow job as I can normally only get over to my friends place once a week, and he is not always in a fit state to help. Any questions please ask. I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge. Alan.

My MG40N arrived from France on Saturday evening ticking one more box on my model list only two or maybe three more to complete the set, wheeled itw, skimmer and an English spec MG40 with Sachs engine and bonnet. If anyone has any leads on any of the missing three I would be very grateful. The MG40N was built by Ransomes specifically for the French market, this one is fitted with a pto driven hydraulic pump to raise and lower the implement crane which the French seem to prefer over three point linkage. The drawbar is much heavier than UK spec. and it is also fitted with a NATO hitch. The engine starts and runs well, steering brakes a bit iffy and it needs a jolly good clean but apart from that I am well pleased. I even managed to buy an original French Sales brochure for this model on E bay France last week.

That is shiny!

Well, I got the paint on. It was really to windy to be painting today, but I did anyway. The problem is, even with doing the painting in my shop, dirt is blown around from the wind coming in through the ridge cap at the top of my roof. Needless to say, I have some unwanted debris in my paint, particularly the shroud. Oh well, it still looks decent, and its shiny. Matt

Paid a visit to Jonathan, (expeatfarmer) while out this morning. As we talked and perused his latest acquisition, something caught my eye under a bench. A length of stainless pipe with a flap on. Surplus to his requirements, it found it's way into the Discovery. Back home and a bit of scrating about in the workshop, some welding, some lath work, some drilling and the result is below. Not what I expected to do today, so thanks Jonathan.

Thanks Philip! That is very interesting to know, must be an early Westwood then. I managed to get some work done today. First thing was to change the flat tyre, luckily I had a spare Westwood wheel in the garage. The "split pin" holding on the old wheel was pretty interesting Here is the side-picture for HeadExam The "battery box" is also pretty interesting, I'm not 100% sure it's original Now I have a problem when I open the fuel line tap near the carb, petrol comes pouring out the part here circled in red. I will have to investigate further, especially since the first place it will reach is the exhaust. This may be hard to work out but it is where the gear stick attatches to the gear box and the rusty lump on the left is the end of the exhaust, which seems to exit inside the seat box, how strange, but seems original. Although this Westwood is built like a tank the quality control seems pretty awful, they welded the seat box to the chassis with a huge gap one side and a tiny one the other Interestingly, on my 1984 Westwood Gazelle, the seat box is bolted on, not welded. EDIT: I wonder if the different gaps are intentional due to the positioning of the exaust and other parts inside the seat box? And finally just some nice pics

Afternoon, I believe the engine was made on 14th June 1978 so possibly a 78 machine being midway through the year? Philip

Its on the engine shroud should be on the round part of the shroud with a model/type/code stamp into the metal/tin. Might need to burnish a little or rub with a wet rag to see the numbers, flashlight helps too. As long as that is the original engine it will give you a good idea when the mower was made. Most mowers of a certain year started production and sold tractor before the actual year. A 1977 tractor or mower most likely started production in September of 1976 and ended or started a new years production run in August or September the following year. if you have a low serial number 1972 (or whatever year) tractor it is likely it was built in the calendar year before the model year.

Thanks all! I shall get some decent pictures today including the side I'm sure someone has told me before but I've forgotten, where is the serial number on these 11hp Briggs and Stratton engines? I would love to see a picture of that Westfield, Andrew.

One of my customers' neighbour in Dittisham got a old Westfield from around that era parked up in the orchard. The gardener uses it from time to time and it always fires up first go. Amazing as it is outside in all weathers. I will try and take a photo of it when I am next out there.

Awesome! First time I've seen the shift lever in that position. Is there a serial number? Or stamp on the engine to date it?

it's nice enough to keep original, great little tractor Thanks for posting it. How about a side pic?

Andrew, Yours actually has a partial decal on it:

Thanks for the kind words Pete. I really love these old Briggs engines. I have a couple Model I lever start engines that I really like. I'll put a pic below of one of them. Its all original, and runs like a top. Made a bit of progress today. I was working on my most disliked part of any restoration today. Sanding Bondo, prime, san, prime, sand, repeat, repeat, repeat, until smooth! I started off with a coat of (green) self-etching primer, to make sure it sticks to the bare metal. Then followed up with sandable (brown) primer. Everything turned out decent, so I should be able to paint tomorrow. Matt

I have four extra copies of the two brochures in the post. I'd be willing to send them over for postage and you can throw darts to see who gets them, lol, or go together on them and share the postage.

Here ya go mate, take your pick, the decal on mine is the third picture

The other day I received a letter purporting to be from the Post Code Lottery. It said my ticket had won a considerable sum. I was a little suspicious as I don't have and never had a Port Code Lottery ticket. It also said in had been drawn in Spain and also asked for a registration fee. Which of course would need me to give them my bank details. No chance! Be warned.

Alain, Can you take a photo of your sleeve hitch decals please as I just bought one myself. Be good to try to get one made up if possible. Thanks Andrew .

I wore my good clothes to finals, a haircut would have been in order, but it was either keep the water on or get a hair cut, monthly water bill runs the same as a good haircut around here, about 20.00 US

I like the older Briggs engines, so far I have restored a Model A with kickstart and remote fuel supply (no holes drilled for tank brackets) and a Model B which has been fitted with a flywheel and runs lovely and smooth. I also had a Model I but sold that last year, I also sold my A because a chap kept pestering me for it until I gave in, however he only kept it a week or two and sold it on for a profit! Wish that I had kept it myself now, you live and learn! I know of a ZZ with a generator, not sure about taking that on yet though. You are making a good job of your one, it will look great when finished. Pete.

Glad you didn't paint it green like this one! I'm not sure what it's meant to be.

I have not been this excited since I collected my ex girlfriend from a Anne Summers' Party back in the 80s. The anticipation was unbearable. All this teasing just got to stop!