HeadExam

Very nice!! In the USA anything that predates WW2 is really old

I would be looking at the vast array of motorised vehicles, ones used for hauling, and ones used to haul tractors to the show. We don't see anything like that here, just your pedestrian Ford, Chevy, and Dodges

My seller promised me 2 rear wheels and tires and front and rear wheel weights for 50.00 dollars, it cost 155.00 to ship, 205.00 total. I went to the shipping company, no tires and wheels, just the 4 weights. I say I am not going to pay 155.00 for shipping 4 weights that measure 12x12x16 total, no matter what they weigh. The shipping manager says "How about 25 bucks" and I say YEAH. I really didn't want the old tires and rims, I didn't need them especially for 125.00 extra or less in this case. So the front and rear weights ended up as 75.00 for all four. On eBay I see these fronts go for over 200 without shipping and the rears for 170 without shipping

Paul I'm glad to see you and others collecting the smaller vertical shaft machines, they are really hard to find (especially in great shape like yours), because so many people threw them away, now they are starting to be real collectibles, like Mustangs II's.

Really great times, I've made many of those trips, some over 600 miles, the excitement is almost overwhelming!

Very nice Paul, the fenders look like those from a J.I. Case 400 series tractor and the hood almost looks like an early Case GT, size is close as well, but the Case tractors were Hydraulic drive (not hydrostatic), but I do think some models were geared. Very interesting.

No kidding, I can see lots of potential in almost everyone. No beauty queens, but plenty of potential. I don't buy restored tractors, because there is no Honeymoon, no time with the tractor to love it and turn it into something.

I'll take a Ford, Chevy's seem to fold, seriously

Sleeve hitch, best offer http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-cadet-sleeve-hitch-adapter-/261901766349?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cfa8fcecd

Charlie, you can do a search on CL U.S. or Search Tempest, and it will give you a good idea what these are selling for. I can tell you here 'bouts they can run from 500 to 2000 US and that is not always because of the condition, but what the seller values the tractor at and what it would take to buy it. It doesn't always work out for either the buyer or seller, but if both are on the same page, an agreement can usually be had. That said unless the serial number is less than 4 digits 2,000 is a figure that is hardly ever realized, but I think you already know that. I would have thought GT's might bring more money in the UK, but not sure that's really true. Some in the US will pay just for the pride of ownership or owning something someone else doesn't have, not really good reasons to buy or collect, but that is the reality of the situation. It is really super of you to offer this fine old machine to the Club members first, I applaud you. Alain

Wow, those manifold bolts are fused like Pompeii resident

Those are some really nice little engine, glad you saved them and got them up and running!!!! Alain

Sorry Andrew, I can't get the download from GT talk. At the end of my previous post I noted that in Montgomery Wards 1963 catalog they were selling the Simplicity 725 as the Squire 7-1/4, that tractor was produced in 1961 and 1962 only by Simplicity's own records. I know they also sold it in 1962 because it mentions it in the 1962 ad with the Squire 6 pictured. The yellow and white (sometimes blue and white or red and white), Gilson Brothers built Montgomery Wards came later, maybe 1965 or so. I'm not sure what tractor Montgomery Wards sold in 1964. And this from Brian (AKA) Texas Deere and Horse, seems to solve the 1964/1966 mystery: 1964 still saw even more changes for Montgomery Wards. Gone from the lineup was the Bolens built tractor. Simplicity supplied their new LandLord based “Squire 9†Garden Tractor and also the “Squire 6†Lawn Tractor based on the Simplicity Broadmoor. M/W also offered a Garden Tractor called the “Squire 7 ¼HPâ€, built by Quick Manufacturing using a Springfield Garden Tractor, but having a Cast Iron grill and different hood. Quick Man. Also provide M/W with a full line of attachments they built for their tractor. The 1965 M/W lineup was basically the same as 1964. 1966 brought more changes to the M/W Garden Tractor lineup. Simplicity built the "Squire 10 Deluxe" Garden Tractor. Quick Manufacturing provided 2 Garden Tractors, the “Garden Mark 10†and the “Garden Mark 8â€. Both tractors were based on the Springfield Tractors with grill and sheet metal changes only. Simplicity still offered the Power-Trac 2 wheel tractors thru M/W.(GTTalk, 2013) It would then appear that the Gilson Brothers yellow and white Squire 10's and 12s of 1967 were next on Montgomery Wards evolutionary ladder. It is after this that we get a better picture of Wards tractors up into the mid 1980s, but the early years are quite confusing as I have heard the name MotoMower as a builder of some M/W and they may have been a product of Quick MFG too.

better to find the problem there then on the road or while driving.

In another post and on other forums many questions surround Bolens and Montgomery Wards garden tractors, mainly what they they were, and when they were built. So lets start from the beginning. it seems everyone agrees that the date Bolens first built a Garden Tractor for Montgomery Wards was 1959, okay. In 1958 Bolens introduces the first Ride-A-Matic (not the first year for a Bolens rider though), the model 220, The RAM was powered by a Kohler K161-28118E and was rated at 6.6 hp. In 1959 Bolens introduces the Model 230 Ride-A-Matic with the same engine, but rated at 7 hp and being a manual start. The first Montgomery Wards Squire 7 was probably this one. In 1960 Bolens introduces two Ride-A-Matic models, the Model 230-01 and the Model 231-01, again with the same 7 hp Kohler engine, probably with electric start, and definitely a Montgomery Wards tractor Model Squire 7. In 1961 Bolens introduces the Model 233-01 and 234-01 Ride-A-Matic with the same 7 hp engine, the 233-01 having a manual start. Again definitely a Montgomery Wards Squire 7, but still not a Tube Frame or based on a Bolens 600. Before we go any further it must be noted that the early Ride-A-Matics utilized a variable-speed belt system for the transmission, a drive system that was first developed for the walk-behind models. Later Ride-A-Matics models were built with forward, neutral, and reverse gears. That said in 1962 Bolens built two Model 600 models, the 180-01 manual start that was powered by a Briggs and Stratton 142302-019801 and the Model 181-02 electric start with the Briggs and Stratton 142302-019701 6 hp engine. Both Models were 3 speed transmissions. However Bolens also built two Ride-A-Matics that year as well, the Model 235-01 manual start, and the Model 236-01 electric start, both were powered by the same 7 hp Kohler engines on the earlier Ride-A-Matics and employed the later type Ride-A-Matic drop and go transmission. I hope that clears things up and establishes that the first Montgomery Wards tractors were Bolens built RAMs and the last Bolens built was the model(s) 600, concluding that the Simplicity Squire 725 or 7-1/4 was introduced late in 1962 for the 1963 year. However the problem with that is that the Simplicity 725 which was what the Montgomery Wards Squire 7-1/4 was based on, was ONLY built in 1961 and 1962, so the 1963 Montgomery Wards Catalog showing a Simplicity built Squire 7-1/4 was showing a tractor that was out of production, at least it was for 1963. I welcome any input or corrections to this information. In the Bolens built Squire 6 ad it says in the first paragraph that this tractor is built with the SAME quality was as the larger 725, 7-1/4 hp tractor but with a Pow'rKraft 6 hp engine, a Briggs engine.

Good Post over in GTTalk, hopefully there will be some pictures come forward. I believe WilberJ is wrong in saying "The only one bolens made was based off the 600" (GTTalk.com, 2015). Because according to Montgomery Wards, Bolens built tractors for Montgomery Wards from 1959-1961, Those dates are problematic, because most companies started production 3-6 months before the model year just like cars, so it was possible to buy a 1962 model in late 1961. If you see a Bolens built Montgomery Wards tractor from late of 1958 to early 1961 you will notice that they do not have a tube frame, but rather have a buckboard frame as all Ride-A-Matics did, which is what I believe Montgomery Wards tractors were in 1959-1961, In late 1961 for the 1962 model year Bolens built the last tractor for Montgomery Wards, the Squire 6 and it was a Tube Frame and based off the 1962 Bolens 600 that debut in late of 1961 as a 1962 model. Along with the Bolens built Squire 6 a larger tractor was also available, one built by Simplicity the 7.25 or 7-1/4, and I believe was also called a Squire, as picture in my previous posting. If you look closely at the bottom of the first ad there is a notation that the optional trailer would not be available until after January 1 of 1963, that means that both the Bolens built Squire 6 and the Simplicity 7-1/4 were being offered in the same model year, however the Bolens built Tube Frame Squire 6 was not the same as the earlier tractors Bolens built for Montgomery Wards; not a tube frame. Also in his restoration of a 1962 Squire 6, Brian, AKA, Texas Deere and Horse uses his 1963 Montgomery Wards catalog to suppose that the Bolens built Squire 6 (Bolens 600) is a 1963. I believe that the Montgomery Wards 1963 catalog came out in the late summer/fall of 1962, that being said, there were obvious differences between the 1962 and 1963 Bolens 600's, and this might be a clue, but even then not definitive that the Bolens and Simplicity tractors were or were not not offered in the same year, and none of this brings up the 1959 and 1960 Montgomery Wards Tractors that Bolens built. There are some out there that believe them be Tube Frames, but that seems incredulous that Bolens would build Tube Frames for Montgomery Wards, but not themselves. this is from Brian(AKA Texas Deere and Horse's own mouth and from a page he posted on GTTalk: The first fully engineered with the engine and steering axle in the front 4 wheel Garden Tractor was the 7 horsepower “Squire 7", introduced in 1959 and stayed the same for 1960-61. In 1962 a slightly more powerful engine was installed and it became the 7.25 horsepower “Squire 7 ¼â€(GTTalk.com, 2013 This statement is somewhat problematic as Brian appears to lose fact that the first Bolens Tube Frame, according to Bolens History, was built late in 1961 for the 1962 model year and the Simplicity built Squire 725 was built late in 1962 for the 1963 model year. There is a hint in his statement that points to Bolens built RAMs being used prior to 1962 by stating, "The first fully engineered and steering axle in the front 4 wheel Garden Tractor was 7 horsepower "Squire 7", introduced in 1959, that was the same year that Bolens increased the RAM's to 7 hp as well and none of the Bolens built tube frames were 7 hp during this time and the RAMS were made up to a 1961 model year.

Still Andrew, if we can't find the actual tractors it would be great to find original ads and brochures about them just for posterity.

Good luck, I only found the one picture I posted, but you might find some. Bolens made a lot of the Wards tillers and Choremaster walk behinds for many years, but I really don't think they produced many of the Squire 6 machines or the like. After 1962 Simplicity took over and produced this Squire 71/4 hp

We have a similar epoxy product here in the US. Be very careful putting those lugs in, so not to cross thread, might chase them with a die.Thanks Ewan!

What type/brand of epoxy did you use. BTW, Joe's Outdoor Power has the the original West Pullman lug bolts in good shape for 13.99 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-73-Tractor-Lug-Nuts-Bolts-/191570223178?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c9a79a04a

These guys sell on ebay as well, they have many fasteners no longer available at most hardware store or spare shops. https://www.albanycountyfasteners.com/

You did a superb job on that wheel Ewan, just superb!

and me wearing my shirt showing I qualify

That is one sweet machine. If it serves no purpose but to feed the soul, it amply does that.

There are over 300 million guns in the hands of American citizens, given that number, homicide rates are actually fairly low, most gun crimes are committed by felons who stole a gun, not those legally able to possess one, that said lax registration and tracking does allow legal purchasers to make a substantial profit by selling guns to those not able to purchase on their own. If the NRA doesn't address and offer solutions the government will. Those solutions will most likely favor criminals not citizens as there will be even more profit in the black market of gun sales. I used to own many firearms, I actually believe I am safer with one or none. Floods are worse are way worse. We are okay, but many south of us are in really bad shape.