slf-uk

Alain,
I saw this post come in but I was so busy last week that I was unable to reply. I tripped over that problem a few years ago and spent a very long time head scratching before I found the solution. I see the Andrew and Dave jumped to the rescue
 
I only realised the parts manual (1556, H14, H16) was wrong when I noticed that the G14 parts manual also shows a 34 inch belt but with a different part number to the H16. One of them was clearly not 34 inches.
 
It is the only problem I have found with the Bolens parts manuals. If anyone has found other anomalies it would be good to know.
 
Iain  

Yup, tug-o-war is the way to go. Engage the diff lock and sit back to enjoy

Quick picture of my 1054 and a couple of my other tractors, assuming I have got the hang of how to post pictures on this forum. Beware one Bolens is not enough!!!
 
I forgot to mention that I have a good selection of Bolens spares, that I have found alternative sources for some of the parts and both of the parts suppliers I mentioned also sell secondhand parts.
 
Looking at the pictures of your 1254, it looks like the lights are incorrect and you are missing part of the lift lever and fuel tank.
 
Iain
 

Hi Iain, yep there is a fair few feet of box section is the frame, it should keep it from twisting during launch
I'm not sure about how to hold the wiring yet, but I do have a Wheel Horsey solution for holding the brake lines in place.
I'm trying to think up something witty to say about the Triumph air filter, but it's just to early in the morning for but brain to work fully
 
 
 
 
Thanks Charlie.
 
 
 
 
Thanks mate, she's getting there now
 
 
 
 
Hi Norm, the engine and rear axle will be going gloss black, the rest will be normal WH colours. To add a bit of sparkle some of the engines ally bit's will be polished up
 
 
Well, what a week that has been! My step daughter has been seriously ill for a few weeks resulting in her being rushed into hospital for an emergency operation last Monday. Since then she has been staying with us and quite rightly so my workshop time this past week has not really been much!       The good news is Lisa is now recovering quite well, and life is slowly returning to normal for both us and Lisa
 
 
What workshop time I have had this week has been taken up with welding..
The inside of the chassis where it meets the front axle has been plated up giving it a smoother look and thus changing my plans on how the front end will look..
 

 
 
The outside of the same bit of chassis could of been welded up and ground smooth, but it would never look as smooth as the inside bit..
 

 
 
So a cardboard template was made and some WH panel off cuts were dug out.
 

 
 
Resulting in....
 

 

 
 
The very front of the chassis under the axle needed tidying up, and as the whole build has a Hot Rod feel to it I thought the chassis needed the same touch..
Three bits of plate and a bit of box tacked together.
 

 
 
Which go here.... I would of welded them on but early Wednesday morning I ran out of welding gas.. I wondered why the last of the gas vanished very quickly and found a welding burn hole through the rubber pipe!  So watch out for flying sparks guys and girls!
 

 
 
New gas didn't arrive until late Thursday afternoon so instead of welding I did some cutting..  Eight plates marked out on some 5mm thick steel.
 

 
 
These would of been easy to make had I not wanted the curves!
 

 
 
It wasn't until yesterday that I got the chance to weld all the new bits on.. Lot's of welding and lot's of grinding the welds smooth, but it was worth it
 

 

 

Sorry you were all wrong
 

 

 

 

 
Cub cadet original made in January of 1963 with original registration plate registered in Norfolk..
 
What do you guys think?
 
Tom

Your 1254 looks great Andrew. It will be good to see it up and running
 
It is rare that a WH get to tow a Bolens, it is usually the other way around   Pleased you didn't post the picture that really would be letting the side down.
 
Iain

SOLD & Collected today

Something like this would make the job pretty easy  :D
 
 

I dropped off the 1254 this morning at Daniel's house. Here are some photos of my Bolens in its new surroundings and some photos of Daniel's rare Wheel Horse. It's an electronic one apparently. And yes that's a tow rope to tow my Bolens down to his workshop. Childishly, he got a photo of me and my Bolens being towed behind his WheelHorse.

It's surprising just how much metal you have in that frame. The panels do a great job of covering it. Are you planning to weld on some tabs for holding the wiring and brake pipes?
 
You should have used Triumph rather than MG filters, it would have been faster then
 
Iain

Quick picture of my 1054 and a couple of my other tractors, assuming I have got the hang of how to post pictures on this forum. Beware one Bolens is not enough!!!
 
I forgot to mention that I have a good selection of Bolens spares, that I have found alternative sources for some of the parts and both of the parts suppliers I mentioned also sell secondhand parts.
 
Looking at the pictures of your 1254, it looks like the lights are incorrect and you are missing part of the lift lever and fuel tank.
 
Iain
 

Well the C-121 is now up and running.    Still mods to do, but they will get done in time. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Bit different to how it looked almost 12 months ago.
 

 
 
All that's left now is the arrival of the stickers.
 
Also new tyres when funds allow.

Mark,
The steering box on the Cub is a Ross unit which is the same as used on the Wheelhorse D-series and a number of JD garden tractors. When I overhauled the steering box on my D-series I managed to cross reference the parts to JD parts, which were on the shelve at our local JD dealer and considerably cheaper than buying the parts from the US. I posted the part numbers in a post on RedSquare ages ago, could have been within James's d-series rebuild thread. I can't even remember what my ID is on RedSquare without looking it up.
 
It is possible you may be able to get a complete new column, certainly the JD parts lookup will give you an idea of what it available. If you can't easily find my post I will look up the details for you later as I am in the middle of trying to fit the deck to my Bolens HT23 at the moment, and forgot that a goat needs to be sacrificed first before attempting the task
 
Iain

I didn't appreciate how long our grass was until Saturday so some serious grass cutting was in order.
 
The first job was to service the push mower so my wife could forge ahead with the smaller bits of grass and then sort out my son's electric toy car so he could tow trailers of grass cuttings from the push mower.
 
I have been side tracked recently with new purchases and neglected the repairs needed on the main grass cutting tractor, the Bolens HT23. I did attempt to use it but it was too sick, those Kohler twins are a pain. I then spent the rest of Saturday hooking out a deck for a Bolens tube frame tractor which was hidden at the back of one of my storage sheds.
 
The plan for Sunday was an early start, rebuild the tubeframe deck, drop it on a tractor and forge ahead. When I opened the bedroom curtains on Sunday morning I was faced with this surprise from my wife.
 

 
I cut most of it out with the tractor today but as the push mower is set lower it can still be seen. So if you are planning to fly into Norwich fleapit International airport look out for it.
 
Iain
 
 
 
 

Mark,
The steering box on the Cub is a Ross unit which is the same as used on the Wheelhorse D-series and a number of JD garden tractors. When I overhauled the steering box on my D-series I managed to cross reference the parts to JD parts, which were on the shelve at our local JD dealer and considerably cheaper than buying the parts from the US. I posted the part numbers in a post on RedSquare ages ago, could have been within James's d-series rebuild thread. I can't even remember what my ID is on RedSquare without looking it up.
 
It is possible you may be able to get a complete new column, certainly the JD parts lookup will give you an idea of what it available. If you can't easily find my post I will look up the details for you later as I am in the middle of trying to fit the deck to my Bolens HT23 at the moment, and forgot that a goat needs to be sacrificed first before attempting the task
 
Iain

The new cone fit inside the alloy housing perfectly and was pressed into place before assembling the lower bearing with new 5/16 bearings and lots of fresh grease.

Before screwing the end cap into place.

With lots of free grease and fully adjusted up, there's no play, just a little binding at the mid point. But that's normal for a steering box.

Andrew,
Despite my attachment being in very poor condition it is complete. Very happy to drag it out and take whatever measurements and pictures you need. From memory I think the bits I have marked within the blue border are wrong
 

 
Iain
 
 

It's surprising just how much metal you have in that frame. The panels do a great job of covering it. Are you planning to weld on some tabs for holding the wiring and brake pipes?
 
You should have used Triumph rather than MG filters, it would have been faster then
 
Iain

Morning all, a bit more progress for you..
 
Starting at the top... Brake fluid reservoirs mounting bracket.. Only tacked on at the mo.
Middle...                   Bonnet hinges...
Bottom...                  Two bit's of box welded to the engine frame... These will bolt to the chassis and will add vital strength to that area..
 

 
 
Getting the engine out was interesting, slide it forward and lift at the same time!
 

 
 
Engine frame bolted back on to help keep things in line during welding... Plenty of surface rust to be cleaned off!
 

 
 
A view you would only normally get if you were lying on your back and had just been run over by WN
 

 
 
I did make a good start on the cleaning up and welding yesterday, lot's of joints like this needed welding up..
 

 
 
A few more parts have turned up.. New front tyres, sorry for the rubbish photo..
 

 
 
And some shiny stainless pancake air filters..  These are for a 1098cc MG Midget engine so two of them should flow more than enough air.
 

 

They are identical to the set of ride-a-matic wheel weights I am but they are also identical the set of weights that come with my Cub, which still have the original yellow paint.
 
Is it possible that they are a generic weight that was fitted to a number of tractors at the time.
 
Iain

Full owners manual from where I extracted the pictures:
 
 
Iain

Just to clarify what I attempted to say in the previous post.
 
In order to install a deck on a hydro that has previously been used on a geared tractor, remove the bracket circled in blue and replace it with the bracket circled in red.
 

 
Iain

Just to clarify what I attempted to say in the previous post.
 
In order to install a deck on a hydro that has previously been used on a geared tractor, remove the bracket circled in blue and replace it with the bracket circled in red.
 

 
Iain

Got all the wiring done today. Engine turned over, got good spark and front and rear lights worked. So chuck in some petrol and lets see what happens.
  Turned the key and engine spun freely, but did not fire. Removed tank to pump fuel line and petrol came through. Still wouldn't fire. Removed pump to carb pipe and sucked. Fuel came through. Ugh! Spit! Spit! Spit!
  Ok! Lets try again. Whir! Whir! Whir! Cough! Cough! And the Black Horse burst into life.          BTW Tom. It's loud  Well it is now, after blowing the mute out of the end of the inner pipe.
  Ok! Now let's see if it drives. Pushing it about after the trans' rebuild, it was not as free as the C-125. Things felt a little stiff. Into gear and out of the workshop we went. Forward and reverse working fine, in high and low.
  Back in the workshop and shut down. It's little journey seems to have freed the trans' off, as now it's just the same as the C-125 to move by hand.
  Next thing to do is get the wheels cleaned up and painted. Also a bit of exhaust re-designing. Don't worry! It'll still have the stack.