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I had a bit of time today to sort out my 600. It fired up on its first pull after 4 months being laid up. I gave it a quick service such as topping up the engine oil, pumped up the rear tyres and greased all the nipples. I also gave it a quick run and then rubbed the bodywork down with wire wool and treated it to the oily rag treatment to accentuate its patina. I will give it another wipe over one evening. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone and have a mooch around the two shows.

A tip off from my mate Chris about a 600 for sale with a spare engine and another set of tyres got my pulse racing. The seller, fortunately for me, have misspelt the tractor hence why I got it for a very cheap price. I said a year ago that Bolens 600s are rare as hen's teeth in the UK which is why I bought one from the USA which is now docked at Southampton, U.K. which will be delivered sometime this week. It's strange that I bought two 600 in the UK within a few months of each other......The seller of the U.K. one, bought it from a nursery in Honiton, Devon some 20 years ago with the intention of restoring it. It has sat in his barn in Berkshire since then. My good friend Chris got a friend, Mark, (he got more than one..) who lives a stone's throw from the seller and is happy to help me out with collecting it from the seller. Chris and I have agreed that he can have the spare B&S engine for his 600 project as he will at some collect it from Mark. At some point, Chris will deliver the 600 and my 850 down to Devon to collect his 600 that I collected for him a few months back.It's great that the UK Bolens Boys are happy to help each other out and make this hobby more enjoyable with like minded individuals plus saving some hard earnt dough too.The US 600 will be delivered to me sometime this week so I will have two 600s in my collection by a quirk of fate. Happy Days!

Well it been a busy week with one thing or another. First I picked up the Bolens H16 in Cornwall, then on Thursday I picked up a Wisconsin engine for Chris in Dorset and then today I picked up a Bolens 600 with implements in Devon. Absolutely shattered with all this travelling coupled with holding down my work load and balancing time with the family. Now relaxing with a glass of red wine or two. i was was alerted to its existence thanks to Nick, aka wurzel. Chris also texted me enquiring whereabouts was Tiverton. I replied it was a 40 minutes run from me. A deal was worked out between Chris and I. I won the auction after some buttock clenching moments at the end. The deal is that Chris will have the 600 whilst I have the attachments comprising of Brinly plough with sleeve hitch, tiller and cultivator. The 600 been repowered with a Honda but unfortunately the bonnet been hacked on one side to shoe horn the engine in ( or rather dumped in there). It's a great little beast with character. 600 attachments and fittings are as rare as hen's teeth which is why I went for it. My plan is to clean the plough and treat it with Owatrol and the actual moldboard will be cleaned up and oiled to reduce rusting. A good week Bolens wise but back to normality on Monday with up the usual routine.