Bolens G14

[slf-uk 914]

I have just bought another Bolens which I plan to collect over the weekend. I not sure how it happened really as I was not planning to buy any more tractors.

 

It must be a very late G14 as it has a number of differences to my other G14's. It is in very good condition although it does require some work. It comes complete with a 42 inch cutting deck which is not in the greatest condition.

 

The previous owner has done a very interesting modification to the PTO which overcomes some of the issues with rebuilding the original. It has has a home made tow hitch which is very similar to something I was thinking of making to tow my Ifor.

 

Pictures to follow when I collect it.

 

Iain

[OldBuzzard 186]

Iain,

 

Is the belt shield on the PTO 'different' than the standard tube frames?

 

The 1978 G14 and G11 used a different shield that incorporated a PTO brake as opposed the shield used on previous years tube frames.

 

Only one of my G11s has the proper PTO sheave, and it was missing the shield.

 

Here are some pics of the PTO and a NOS shield that I found.  The rod you see hanging down in the PTO pic is used to activate the brake when the PTO is disengaged.  I'm also including a page from the tube frame service manual that discusses the adjustment of the PTO brake.

 

 

BOLENS_TUBEFRAME_Service _Repair 85.pdf

[slf-uk 914]

Thanks for the information OB, very interesting.

 

A completely new PTO has been made for the G14 with the shaft being the only part that has been reused. The seller has the original PTO case but no belt guard.

[Triumph66 1,256]

Iain,

I knew that G14 had your name written all over it; well done!

Look forward to seeing more photos of your latest acquisition.

So the two of us have bought a Bolens each; all we need now is for Chris to buy one as well this week......

[slf-uk 914]

Its been a good week for Bolens tractor purchases this week,  looks like we have all been busy

[Triumph66 1,256]

Monday a new week chaps; let the hunt continues........

[Tom 215]

I thought you might get that one Iain, I look forward to seeing some pictures of it!

Tom

[slf-uk 914]

I picked the G14 up today and managed to miss the worst of the weather. The seller was a lovely guy and is interested in old equipment. I pointed him to this forum.

 

A couple of pictures of the G14

 

 

 

I then had my 7 year old lad helping me for the rest of the day so I was unable to get on with anything useful. He wanted to have some tractor time so I thought it would be good to pull a couple of the working tractors out for a line up as the G14 completes a advert type picture. Left to right is a G10, G12, the new G14, H16 and HT23. No G11 as OldBuzzard has all them and Chris has all the HT20's.

 

 

 

Iain

 

 

 

[Triumph66 1,256]

Iain,

The G14 look better than the advert! What a great buy. Is there a deck with this?

That line up look damn cool and your son is a lucky chap to be able to drive them; another Bolens collector in the making!

The HT23 is distinctly bigger than the tube frames models.

Cheers

[OldBuzzard 186]

Yeah, from just looking a pics it's hard to get a feel for the size of the Large Frames.  Once you put one next to a Tube Frame it becomes obvious  :D

 

Nice 'herd' you have going there Iain  

[slf-uk 914]

The G14 came with a deck which I initially thought was a 42inch deck as that is want is usually fitted to a G14, but I believe it is either a 34 or 38 inch. It has some tin worn but not beyond repair. If I use the tractor for grass cutting duties it will be fitted with a 42inch deck.

 

I took lots of pictures but I am too old and slow to realise that my son photo bombed most of them and I only realised when I went to upload them, bless him.

 

I tried to take a picture highlighting all the model decals but I did not position the tractors well enough for that to work. I'll try harder next time. The horrible Howard decals have been removed from the G14 at some point in the past.

 

 

BTW. Chris, in this picture your uncle lives just over the horizon

 

Iain

Edited February 28, 2015 by slf-uk

[Triumph66 1,256]

I say it again, what a great line up.

[Stormin 4,458]

That GT14 looks great.

[Chris 642]

Love the pics Iain,

 

Think you need a bigger trailer next time   I feel a trip to see my long lost uncle when the weather warms up & I will pop in for a test drive  

 

I love the working clothes look

 

I dont own all the HT20s, just 2 of them

[pmackellow 2,738]

Fabulous line up of Bolens, well done !!  

[slf-uk 914]

It would be great to get even more up and running to have a bigger line up and more for Chris to test drive. 

 

I keep thinking about a full restoration on one or more but they are working machines. With fresh paint and everything working perfectly I would be scarred to use them.

 

Iain

[meadowfield 1,900]

Looks in fine fettle.... What a nice line up!

I've done a few sets of bolens decals, be nice to add a few more to the library if you ever get chance to get some clear pics

[slf-uk 914]

Looks in fine fettle.... What a nice line up!

I've done a few sets of bolens decals, be nice to add a few more to the library if you ever get chance to get some clear pics

 

Mark, very happy to help, just flag which models and pictures you want. Unfortunately not all my  tractors have the original decals.

 

I loaded the G14 onto one of my work tables today and spent a little time looking it over. It has the usual steering wear and a few panel fixing missing but nothing serious.

 

I then had one of those OMG moments  . The engine on a tube frame is held down with four bolts and a spacer between the chassis and the engine. The front two bolts are missing and presumably fell out at some point in the past. Not a problem to resolve but it theory the engine can rock front to rear with the drive belts pulling on the back of the engine. I gave the engine a tug but it did no move even slightly, they really did over engineer these tractors. 

 

In this picture the back of the engine is on the left and the things you can see under the engine on the right hand side is the oil drain plug and the wiring for the lights.

 

 

Same view of a G10 showing where the bolts should be. The spacers are longer on a G10 because the engine is shorter

 

 

I have ordered a carb rebuild kit from the US using the express three day delivery option, which as we all knows will take two weeks. During the week I plan to check out the wiring. 

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

The metal work and chassis look very solid and tidy Iain.

Who did you order the carb kit from?

[slf-uk 914]

The metal work and chassis look very solid and tidy Iain.

Who did you order the carb kit from?

 

The two things that those OHV Tecumseh engines do best is drink fuel and throw oil out of the breather. With 30-40 years of oil being chucked about it keeps the rust down and helps to maintain the original paint. Before I put it on the bench I gave it a quick pressure washer to remove the worst of the oil build up.

 

The carb kit was ordered from the cheapest US ebay seller that I could find that would ship to the UK and had the genuine Walbro parts. The company was called Bob's Welding & Equipment, I have never used them before but they were cheap.

 

Iain

[slf-uk 914]

I have been trying to age the G14 but unfortantly the decal with the model and serial number are missing.

 

I am assuming it is a later G14 as it has the same make/type of tyres as my HT23, which is different to all my other tubeframe tractors. It also has a Tecumseh OH140 engine as opposed to a HH140 which is my other G14's.

 

Does anyone know if you can date a Tecumseh engine from the serial number? I believe it is possible for engines made since 2004.

 

Thanks

Iain

Edited March 3, 2015 by slf-uk

[Triumph66 1,256]

Iain,

According to Brian's article (aka Bolens1000) on the history of Bolens Tube Frames, the production run was from 1973 to 1978. The original Tecumesh engine was the HH 140 overhead model. There were two decal changes too. The Husky Dog was the earlier version whilst the FMC was the later version from '76 apparently.

Hope that is of some help but as you say the decals are missing it could be difficult to age it correctly.

[OldBuzzard 186]

In the 1996 Service Seminar, they reference the OH140 for the 1977 and 1978.  The earlier models referenced the HH140.

 

So, that narrows it down to two years.

 

There was a MAJOR difference between the 1977 and 1978 which was the PTO.

 

If you can determine which type PTO it had you can pretty much pin point the year.  Especially if it is the one that has the PTO brake which was exclusive to the 1978.

 

If you can date the engine, the model year would be one year NEWER than the engine.  So if it's a 1976 engine it would be a 1977 tractor.

 

On the attached G14 Parts manual, on page 4 you can see in the loser right the difference in the two PTOs.

 

Now if your PTO is not there, all is still not lost.

 

If you look on page 8, part 10 is different for the 1978.  It would have a tab and hole that part 55 would fit into and be retained by a cotter pin.

1453-G14 Parts.pdf

[slf-uk 914]

Thanks for the information.

 

I don't have enough of the original PTO to be able to identify it in that way so I check for the tab. I am looking forward to getting out to the workshop tonight to check.

 

Iain

[slf-uk 914]

I was allowed an hour in the workshop by the boss last night and despite being very tired I managed to get a reasonable amount done. Posting it here makes it feel like progress.

 

I checked out the shaft as suggested by OldBuzzard and it does not have the tab at the end, which suggests it is a 1977. Picture of the end of the shaft

 

 

As with most of these tractors the wiring has tangled with the pulleys or belts at some point in the past so sorting that out was the first job of the evening.

 

I then moved to the starter which was seized. The starters on these engines are held on with two bolts through a tab underneath and some have a third tab at the top. I am sure wiser people than me will know why some have the third tab and some don't. The starter on this engine had the third tab which meant that the fuel tank and the bracket holding the tank and hood strap had to come off first. I took the starter apart cleaned it up and it now works great. Whilst I had the tank off I cleaned it out made sure the tap worked as expected. It was then just a case of putting it all back together and getting indoors before I got into trouble.

 

Iain