HeadExam

Back to the Topic. Big thanks to OB for helping Andrew out with this purchase, I'm sure it will be in good hands.

Luke, I don't think many people think a HT-20 is a rare or unusual tractor that cant be altered into a serviceable machine by imaginative ways, you go there!!!

I understand what you are saying OB, but everyone in the situation including the owner had a reason to side and reply the way they did, because they did not want to look like cruel and in humane individuals, and the owner wanted to lessen his responsibility for damages, which the local authorities would have leveled against him had he thrown a fit over the loss of property. "Yeah, it's a shame that it had to happen, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do" Winston Churchill once said, "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else". It doesn't appear that much else was considered and in the end the result is what it is, but by that same thinking we could apply those rules to cats, dogs, or even people. For some reason I had the belief that people had evolved past the tendency to shoot first and asked question later, but recent events in many cities prove that very wrong. It seems there are many among us that see other living things as moving objects with targets painted on their backs, whether it be law enforcement or citizens, the level of compassion doesn't seem to rise to what I believe human beings should exhibit. The quotes from the shooters HARDLY dispels that belief. The difference in your opinion and mine are not a right or wrong situation, it is a situation of how you and I are socially constructed differently, that occurs from the environment, family, peers, and other social institutions. I do understand your opinion and where it comes from, but at the same time I sure wish that you would attempt to see mine as well. No matter what, I still see you as a great guy and one I would stand by anytime. Alain

I hope he's high enough up the ladder to bunk with the Prince. With the load you would have with my garden tractors you would have to throw food, weapons, or sailors overboard.

You are going to need your own ship to take them home, Andrew. Do you have friends or relatives in the Royal Navy that might be able to bring them through as personal belongings?

What do you do in the rainy season, put a snorkel on the air cleaner and exhaust

It is altogether probable that the Rowe Foundry built the wheel weights for many old garden tractors after reading the statement below from the Rowe Foundry company history. I have seen Bolens weights that were marked Rowe, MTD, OLDA, Bolens, FMC, and unstyled as well. Supposedly FMC marked wheel weights are for tractors built after 1973 and BOLENS marked wheel weights were produced before 1973. That's why I have different weights on different tractors. tHE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS. aLAIN "During the 1950's river clamp producers began looking elsewhere for product materials and found that concrete was the answer for the new river clamps. This, coupled with the steel manufacturers strikes, caused management to look elsewhere for business. Counterweights for agricultural and industrial tractors were the answer. At one point Rowe Foundry held more than 75% of the aftermarket agricultural tractor weight market" (Rowefoundry.com). http://www.rowefoundry.com/history.html

Most 12 inch wheel weights fit all other wheels, an exception is the early walk behind 12 inch that may be a little larger. I have seen at least 4 styles of the Bolens weights, but only know of Bolens offering them on their tractors, never saw any other brands offering weights made like Bolens, without the name, but I'm sure a smaller company could use the same foundry and save money. I do think the Cub original rear weights were the same as later cubs as they were modeled after the front Cub tractor weights. Many foundries will reproduce wheel weights from a picture or example, 400.00 for the first pair, subsequent sets go down in price

Got it. Thanks Iain

And some like those had nothing stamped on them, but Jerome says those are RAM wheel weights and the Cubs were similar, but slightly different, I have to say whether he is right or wrong, he knows alot about these early tractors

I have both the parts and owners manual, and after actually reading them I fully understand what you are saying and how to hook up the deck using the parts I have. I was wondering why my other deck had both lift link assemblies though, no matter, if anyone needs an extra, I have two and only need none, lol

Wow there Iain, I have the bracket circled in BLUE on both decks, but one deck has the curved link and one has the straight link, whats the deal??? I'll see if I can pull that page from my manual so I can read what it says. It would appear that the differnce would be in exchanging the small curved link and the straight link, not eliminating the horseshoe link assembly, but hey, I know I'll find out here Thanks, Alain

OB, I'm afraid the tire debate may be like the oil viscosity debate, but in the interest of being absolutely on the right side of this argument YOU MAY BE RIGHT, without a actual test my statement is conjecture. I know the ANCLAs are a smoother ride on concrete. While my ITPs may or may not out perform the ANCLA, I do believe they will outlast them. Daniel (Olcowhand) has a set he uses on the farm everyday that are 10 years old and show very little wear. I bought a set of Deestone 23x10.50-12 bar lug tires (cheapest bar lug tire available) and in one season summer and winter they were done. So I will say I am more than confident that my ITPs will outlast the ANCLA's. The ANCLA's look good and I'm sure they perform well, but they are half the cost of ITPs unless you find the ITPs on sale (rare) and are made by Interco where as the ANCLAs are made by Cheng Shin. I do not like the fact that ANCLA advertises, like many tires manufactures do, that their tires have a 4 or 6 ply RATING, but are not in fact a 4 or 6 ply tire, many of those tires are actually two ply. I'm not saying that will affect performance, because I don't think it will, but it will definitely affect durability. I was selling paint to old guy one time and asked him if he wanted the 5 year paint or the 25 year paint, he said at his age any paint that would last 6 months would be fine as long as the price was low. That's one way to look at things, I look at them this way, never be afraid to buy the very best because you will never be disappointed. In the end tires like oil are a personal choice, I actually bought the ITPs for two reasons, recommendations from several professional ATV drivers and (hard to admit) I like the tread pattern, I believe it resembles a tractor lug or at least compliments my tractor more than most ATV tires, and it is a better performer in the dirt than ANY garden tractor bar lug tire on the market today. To each his own, but what I don't understand is running wide short tires in front of AGs, it would seem to defeat the purpose of setting the tractor up as an AG tractor when one is attempting to steer the monster with beach balls mounted to the front. I also do not understand the use of AG tires in excess of 10 inches wide as they become a flotation tire at that point and reduce their performance and unless you have a 10 inch rim the tires, they will never be as wide as advertised, so a waste of money. I've bought over 20, maybe 25 complete sets of tires in the last 4 or 5 years including 4 bolt front hubs and tie rod steering link up grades, I learned alot about tires, and steering, I've made some mistakes(and learned) that cost me money. I do things without the regard of cost, but in the interest of durability and usefulness, that said, how I do things is not the right way, but maybe someone else might see the benefit in using taller narrow tires up front and taller not so wide tires in the rear because by the law of physics they work better. If enough people do they might bring back the old AG tires. It really bothers me that tire manufacturers pander to a small segment of the population that want tires for their "custom" jalopies of all sizes and shapes, but reduce the amount of decent sized tires for the average Joe. I personally would never buy a 22" tall tire with NO side wall or jack my Buick up like a buck board wagon, but if I did, I know Goodyear makes tires for them, just wish they wouldn't make the 15" car/truck tire obsolete and expensive. BTW, OB the picture of the new ANCLAs and of the older set on the tractors seem to show a reduction in tread height, and in comparison to the ITPs are not quite as deep. Well they might be when new, but it appears they may wear down quicker than I would want, but I could be wrong. It really depends on the conditions one uses the tires in, I believe you said that your area was prone to surface water, your tires would be great for those conditions, in Oklahoma, not so much surface water.

Thanks Iain. The horseshoe (round material) bracket on the top left is the same on both hydro and geared, it is just the small lift link on the right that is different, right? One has a bend, the other is straight, because my horseshoe or U shaped bracket is the same on both decks and I don't see wear they say there is any difference in the horseshoe or U shaped bracket.

Were they for sale? I'd like to have the shop sign, but realistically I might only be able to afford the tattered shirt

You're still a young pup, hope you have a great day. Alain

I agree with Norman, I like the Cortina Estate wagon, add some side curtains and call me Tom Jones

The biggest problem with eBay is that the crooks have found out that eBay is their friend, not yours. eBay does not really care if the seller is selling fraudulent items as long as they get a cut and if need be they will pull money from sly sellers account as a form of tribute to doing business on eBay, but they rarely kick a bad seller off. It is virtually impossible to give bad feedback to a "power" seller or one that does a certain level of sales. I just leave positive feed back in the form of "worst seller on ebay-crook". Ebay favors the seller always, but will refund the buyer if it needs to, out of the sellers account. However many times the seller wants the buyer to pay for return shipping, In other words, pay to get his money back, eBay gets a cut of the shipping too. I've done okay, but I've had to "school" eBay and a few sellers.

Here's some pictures of the restoration, this is after the frame was painted and I put the engine back on

Good job on getting it going. A old mechanic told me once you get one running after a long spell try to let them run for a while adjusting the throttle from higer to lower and back and forth slowly, but run for a good thirty minutes. Some Seafoam would help as well

Could it be a Didier? one that was made to fit several models, somewhat universal

Nice score Paul the small GTs are really hard to come by, you need the next series the Cub 800 as well

Thank OB, good to know!!!!

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.

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.