Leaderboard

I started to look at my 1961 Bolens Ride-a-matic today. I bought it a number of years ago from a local agricultural auction but for some reason I have never found the time to look at it. A previous owner has added lots of additions. We had a number of visitors today so I did very little other than swapping the front wheels and generally checking it over. It should be gold with white wheels however a previous owner had other ideas and added some blue and silver. The first thing I do with any new tractor is check out the tool box for goodies. Everything went into the bin except a new bronze bush. I then check for bent nails which I replace before they end up in a tyre. I always seem to find at least one. The first job will be to remove the add-ons, clean it up and see if the rear tyres are reusable. Iain

ALL THE BEST FOR NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

This is what i used when i was at the dealership, don't get much use now but very handy

Here is a small update and some more pictures, little by little it is coming along and most parts are now painted, next on the list is the hydraulics 😬

I don't have a tester myself. However I do have a ctek mxs10 charger which will tell me if the battery can be saved or not. It has a number of settings from which I can normally charge a battery and also recondition an old battery, I love it as has saved many of my batteries that other chargers can't. Harry

Happy New Year to you all. Best wishes. Paul

Have been gradually putting all the attachments back together, in between shifts at work....... The transport wheel is done, the plough just needs the nib bolts grinding back, the mower is awaiting the blades to be refitted to the disc and the safety guards refitting to the drive tube. One of the guards was made out of a bit of old can of some sorts. (bottom pic far left) Very thin and flimsy....... so, having made a cardboard template, cut out the steel and curved it to shape and then welded it together. I ended up with a 2nd slightly bigger safety guard to prevent things from getting to the top of the drive shaft too! (bottom pic far right) I've not started reassembly of the tool frame or the rotavator yet.

Great you got it going again Iain Thought you were going to get mowed down by a WH Looks cold in Norfolk!

We got the D160 running today and ran it for about an hour. I am not 100% happy with the carb and will take it apart again to see what more can be done. It has lots of spindle wear and it is very tempting to get one of those reproduction carbs. Has anyone bought one and can give me a quick review? Joseph wanted to do another one of those test drive videos, so here we go Iain

I would have bought it from snap-on or mac tools can't remember which one as both of them called at our garage but at the end of the day you get what you pay for and when you earn a living wrenching quality comes first and a replacement guarantee

That's look a good quality bit of kit.

HAPPY New YEAR EVERYONE

I got a thing from Aldi some time back. Just small with lights that say good down to poor.

Ive got a tester in the shed somewhere still in the box, hav'nt used it since I retired. ill dig it out and give you some info and photos later today

I stand corrected and should have known.

Alan don't you know that Joseph is the driver behind these garden tractors! Iain's the monkey wrench!

Happy New Year to all on M.O.M and the other place. Alan.

Looks good Iain. Shame Joseph won't let you drive it though.

Happy New Year everyone on M.O.M, All the best, Doug.

It felt good to get it running again. Very cold mate, I need a woodburner in my workshop Iain

Iain, it will look a million miles better when the add ons have been sympathetically removed. The 850 on GumTree has a similar problem too with the fenders. You have certainly done well well over the Festive Break to work on those three GTs

At the moment I tend to whack a charge into a battery and see if it holds overnight, which sort of works but takes time often with disappointing results. As such I am in the market for a Battery condition tester tool that will check 6v and 12v batteries. Does anyone have any recommendations for a tool or suggestions on how to undertake the test without a specialist tool? Thanks Iain

Thanks for the information guys, lots of options to consider. The fact that I need 6v as well as 12v limits my options a little That is a fantastic tool you have Chris, it looks like it covers every possible situation, thanks for getting it out and posting the pictures. Iain

Iain, I bought a battery charger from Halfords which got lights indicating whether the battery is charging, fully charged or dead. I think also it indicates how much charge there is as well prior to charging the battery. I used it to charge up the Bolens 1050's battery a while back. Andrew

With the draw bar altered to a pin coupling?

Will be both an interesting project and a useful trailer but with those Indispension units, was it originally built as a " garden trailer"? Possibly a basic lightweight car trailer ?

I know why its taken you so long to find a trailer. The rest are rotting away in Norfolk A great project for any make of GT

'One nib' countersunk bolts arrived today! Didn't have much time this morning before I had to go get ready for work Today was widely reported to be the busiest day of the Christmas period with a supposed 12 million vehicles travelling 20 miles or more! Thankfully my area of responsibility wasn't too bad, and nothing major happened to interrupt Christmas travel! Anyways....... half an hour was spent fitting the plough shear. Plough is just needing the washers and securing pins refitting to the hitch.