And Now For Something Totally Difference!

[Triumph66 1,256]

Can anyone hazard a guess at what I bought recently?

[Triumph66 1,256]

Here!s another photo.

[meadowfield 1,900]

now I recognise it

[meadowfield 1,900]

now I recognise it

 

or thought I did - the engine is in backwards!   more research I think

[Cub Cadet 613]

Is it a Simplicity landlord?

[HeadExam 1,783]

Simplicity made Garden Mark 6 or 8?

[C-101plowerpower 548]

i'm guessing a garden tractor

[Charlie Smith 192]

Hmmmm my guess is a Simplicity 725, or a 2210 garden tractor.......?

[Triumph66 1,256]

You are all on the right lines. It's a Montgomery Wards Squire 10 based on the Simplicity. 101 Landlord. It starts, runs and stops and it also came with a mowing deck that will need some attention. I like the fact that it's complete and it's all original. The steering wheel shape is just so cool.

[HeadExam 1,783]

Hmmmm my guess is a Simplicity 725, or a 2210 garden tractor.......?

Both of those tractors were red, well thee 2210 was red and white, but the 725 was red. I'll be more specific and say Montgomery Wards Garden Mark Squire 8

EDIT: Well I was close. Are you the proud owner of a Simplicity made Montgomery Wards Garden Mark Squire 10 tractor? They are considered to be the best designed tractor in America.

[Triumph66 1,256]

Alain, you were almost right! It's a 10 model!

[Triumph66 1,256]

Both of those tractors were red, well thee 2210 was red and white, but the 725 was red. I'll be more specific and say Montgomery Wards Garden Mark Squire 8

EDIT: Well I was close. Are you the proud owner of a Simplicity made Montgomery Wards Garden Mark Squire 10 tractor? They are considered to be the best designed tractor in America.

Alain, yes I am the new owner. Also thanks for the additional correct info on the model name (Mark 10)

[slf-uk 914]

Great one Andrew.

 

I like the rear hitch arrangement. What is the bar sticking through the grill, hand crank?

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

Here's the manual for the Simplicity LandLord.

http://gardentractortalk.com/forums/files/file/3711-990350-landlord-101/

Iain,

I am not sure what that is. My first thoughts were that it is the front PTO or the starting handle.

[Wallfish 698]

Great one Andrew.

 

I like the rear hitch arrangement. What is the bar sticking through the grill, hand crank?

 

Iain

Front PTO to run attachments

[Triumph66 1,256]

Front PTO to run attachments

Thanks. I thought it was a PTO.

[Triumph66 1,256]

They are considered to be the best designed tractor in America.

Alain,

Just out of interest, why is that?

[slf-uk 914]

Front PTO to run attachments

 

That is interesting, does it have a pulley fitted and belt to take the drive down to a more usable level?

[nigel 1,877]

i like that a lot andrew, now it looks like its always been gold, so tell me alain were some gold or is this a special one

[pmackellow 2,738]

Great find, well done !!  

[Triumph66 1,256]

i like that a lot andrew, now it looks like its always been gold, so tell me alain were some gold or is this a special one

Thanks Nigel. I believe that most Montgomery Wards were painted in gold with a stripe on the bonnet. I am sure someone with more knowledge than I will give the definitive answer.

[Triumph66 1,256]

That is interesting, does it have a pulley fitted and belt to take the drive down to a more usable level?

Iain, here a picture of a Allis Chalmers with the same design as the Simplicity with a snow blower on the front PTO.

[HeadExam 1,783]

Alain,

Just out of interest, why is that?

 

Simplicity employed the best engineers and used state of the art engineering going back to right after Word War 1. William J. Niederkorn founded the company in 1922, and started building riding garden tractors in 1939. Their planetary gear transmission was one of the best, their trans-axle one of the toughest, and the design top of the 

line. They offered a high/low transmission, dual lift levers, front, mid mount, and rear PTO capable implements and later introduced a shuttle shift transmission that was a vast improvement over vari-drive transmissions. A shuttle shift was a four speed hydro, pick 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gear and the shift lever gave you that gear in forward OR reverse. In the mid 60s like many other brands they also started offering a hydro, but its design was not borrowed from any other design Simplicity made their own and made the best. A drive shaft went from the engine to a bevel gear box with pulleys on either side, one ran the mid mount mower deck and rear tiller PTO drive and the other pulley powered the hydro. This balanced design gave the right amount of power to tractor and implement. With this design the mower decks attached to the tractor on the bottom of the front axle and the rear of the mower drug on wheels, the belt came from below the seat forward to the mower pulley, that way the mower followed the axle and terrain. This was the mower that striped your yard. The Simplicity tractor built in the 1990s was not that different under the tin than the one built in the early 60s, albeit an larger engine. To give you an idea of their competence Allis Chalmers bought them and had them produce their outdoor power equipment going back to 1965. Montgomery Wards also used them to build their tractors including the rare and beautiful Montgomery Wards Twin 20. My 1975 Simplicity built Allis Chalmers 716H was 4100.00 new with just a deck, that was the same price as a nice Ford or Chevrolet car. Simplicity still makes Massey Ferguson and Snapper lawn equipment and is owned by BASCO, you know them better by the name Briggs and Stratton. They also make Ferris ZTRs and own Giant Vac. I will say, in my opinion, Bolens built the toughest tractor made, however Simplicity's design was and is one of the best ever made. All that said, I also believe the Ariens GT was the most versatile GT ever built. All these companies reside within 50 miles of one another in the state of Wisconsin and like John M. Kohler, Harry Bolens, Henry Ariens had a dream of building his product, his company and America. Under the stewardship of the elder Ariens grandson, Michael Ariens, the company acquired the assets of the lawn and garden division of Sperry New Holland, the New Holland tractor division was sold to Ford and Sperry went into a diversified business of aviation avionics and oil production equipment. Ariens had only produced a rear engine rider in the past and while a "johnny-come-lately" in the front engine tractor field, they built many walk behind tillers and introduced the first residential walk behind snow blower, so tractors were not their first or main game anyway. There is rumor of a Simplicity built Ariens and also a Manitowoc built Ariens front engine tractor, but very little is known about either. The Sperry Rand tractor was offered in 12, 14, and 16 hp S models, the last model year (1974) having a tilt wheel. These tractors were painted green and gold, but with the Ariens acquisition in July of 1974 Ariens coated them with their now familiar Ariens orange. Like Simplicity the tractor was virtually unchanged except for larger engines and power steering from 1969 until 1999. Features of the Sperry design included front, mid mount, and rear shaft drives for snow blower, rotary mower, and tiller/brush cutter, as well as hydraulic lifts front, mid, and rear, with a available 3 point lift on the rear and integral lift brackets on the front. The operator could select the desired hydraulic lift by a knob on the left side and employ one 1100 pound cylinder that could raise, lower, and float, as well as having down pressure.  At first a Vickers Hydro was used, later the transmission was upgraded to a Sundstrand with a Dana trans-axle similar to the Dodge Dart. Kubota liked the design so much they virtually copied the tractor for its early intrusion into the American lawn and garden market, decks and most tractor parts were interchangeable. Andrew your Montgomery Ward tractor was originally gold as was most of their early power equipment, and yes there was a pulley for the front PTO and the snow blower attached to the tractor in reverse of the mower deck and utilized an upside down mule drive to power the snow blower, flail mower, or brush cutter, compressor, sprayer, or any of a host of other attachments. Back to the Simplicity, In 1967 after years of investigation, Allis Chalmers and several other American firms were found guilty of price fixing and operating under a monopoly. In 1960, the U.S. government uncovered an attempt to form a cartel in the heavy electric equipment industry. It charged 13 companies, including the largest in the industry (Westinghouse, General Electric, and Allis-Chalmers), with price fixing and bid rigging Most feigned innocence, but Allis-Chalmers pleaded guilty. Although one motive for the forming of cartels is so that amply profitable firms can try to become obscenely profitable, it did not apply in this instance, the attempt at a heavy-electrical cartel was a desperate (and foolish) attempt to turn red ink to black ink among fierce competition. To punish Allis the government required them to sell off many of their assets and acquisitions, one of them being Simplicity Between 1967 and 1974 Allis built their own line of riding mowers, tillers and tractors in Lexington South Carolina, in 1974 the lawsuit and punishment was withdrawn and the partnership with Simplicity was renewed, However many of those Allis built tractors of the last few years had no Simplicity counterpart and were much of their own design, especially the 300 and 400 series from 1972 to 1974. After renewing the partnership with Simplicity Allis closed the plant in Lexington and moved its operation back to Port Washington Wisconsin and in the end destroyed all spares for the tractors built in those years. The 1975 year saw Simplicity model 7000 series garden tractors like the 7010, 7012, and 7016 the Allis counterpart models were badged the 700 series like the 710, 712, and 716 and were offered in four transmissions and five different engine combinations. For the most part, after 1972 Simplicity used Briggs and Stratton engines and Allis Chalmers used Kohler engines. Sorry for the "novel", I tend to get carried away about OPE history, BTW, I did abbreviate this considerably from its original length , lol.

Iain, here a picture of a Allis Chalmers with the same design as the Simplicity with a snow blower on the front PTO.

image.jpg

It was close, but the later B series Allis tractors had differences from the Simplicity models, some so small they confounded many dealers and owners. 

Thanks Nigel. I believe that most Montgomery Wards were painted in gold with a stripe on the bonnet. I am sure someone with more knowledge than I will give the definitive answer.

yep, that is right

[HeadExam 1,783]

The rod sticking out of the top left side of the lift is for a pulley that runs from the bevel gear box to power a tiller via a belt, pulley, idler that attaches to the rod,  at least that's the way the newer ones work

[Triumph66 1,256]

Alain,

Thanks for your superb and detailed response!

Brilliant answer and I now know something about Simplicity and Montgomery Wards.

I couldn't find any good photos of a front PTO driven attachment for the Simplicity, A/C and M/W hence the one I posted up.

Thanks

Andrew