BOLENS STASH UPDATE

[Stormin 4,458]

Looks like you've plenty of room for a few more. 

[Alan 1,271]

Thanks to our regular customers, John and I have cleared more of the Bolens Stash, although there were only a few Bolens related items leaving home this time.

 

First off were a load of various rotavators.

 

The second load of goodie's disappeared before I could take photo's. 

 

For some reason, this lathe took a lot longer to extract from the shed and load onto the trailer.  Plenty of time for photo's though.   We all thought Tom had killed the
 hoist when oil started running down the hose.  Turned out to be a slightly loose banjo bolt.  Would have caused MAJOR problems if the hose had split.

 

 

Chris and his 1886 made light work of moving the lathe up to where the truck was parked.

 

 

Just about to set off for pastures new after a long and tiring day.

 

 

John and I would like to thank all involved for, once again, helping to clear more of his collection.   Still lots more to go, but everything Bolens which we could find has now gone, apart from a little ride on mower.  We can now see big holes which weren't there before.   Still more holes to dig though.

 

Alan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slf-uk 914]

As Alan mentioned, Tom and I paid another visit to see Alan and John to collect Tom's lathe and a few other goodies. Much like previous trips we ended up bring back much more than we had intended to. Alan makes a great sales man.

 

Chris kindly said he would bring along his 1886 and it made light work of moving the lathe on the trailer. So much so that we all had time for a rest and to take pictures of the magnificent 1886. These are the pictures I took

 

 

 

 

After Chris had moved the trailer we all had a drive of the 1886. I managed to take a picture of Tom deep in thought, clearly contemplating selling those red tractors to put a Bolens into his life    Fortunately no pictures of me

 

 

It was a very long day and very late by the time we got home. Despite the late hour my wife was ready with very welcome refreshments before we started to unload. Today we moved Tom's lathe into position and my lad Joseph had a test drive with his new Saxon trailer

 

 

It was great to see Alan, John, Chris and Philip, and many thanks to Alan, Chris and John for the help, and to Tom's dad for doing all the driving.

 

Until next time....

 

Iain

Edited June 14, 2015 by slf-uk

[HeadExam 1,783]

Good to cherish these days and great friends!

[Tom 215]

Another great adventure, it was a very long day and I'm sure all who were involved were feeling a bit tired today, well I was anyway! Many thanks to John and Alan once again for your great hospitality, it's always a pleasure talking and dealing with you. Also thanks to Chris for letting us use his Bolens to move the trailer about, it saved us a lot of work. Like Iain said, we always come away with much more than we were planning on but that's the great thing about visiting you guys, it's always worth while. I'm sure Alan's sales pitches are getting better every time too

 

A massive thanks to Iain and my dad also who have helped make all this happen and get the lathe into it's new home today, I'm looking forward to getting it back to it's former glory. With Iain's previous experience of moving lathes I think we made it look easy loading it up, apart from a panic when the engine crane decided to spill a load of oil  Unloading it was even easier though..

 

 

 

Thanks again to all who helped and no doubt I'll be returning

 

Tom

[Phyliss 41]

It was good to have caught up again, although very briefly with Iain, Tom & Toms dad; the weather was certainly better this time.

 

Having already been there for longer than i had said to the family, i couldn't hang around to help with the lathe, sorry. Plus i'd run out of energy myself. , not as fit as i used to be.

 

Cracking photos

 

I was pretty impressed with Chris's Bolens; nice to finally put a face to a machine that i'd seen at a show.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Phyliss

[Chris 642]

It was good to help out again & buy another trailer full of goodies. Even though some will be on route to new homes soon. I just picked it up & looking after it for now

 

Theres lots more to see if your into old iron & claasic morris cars

 

I too will be back for some more when the time comes

[Chris 642]

Alan,

 

It was my trailer load of goodies that left with out a pic

 

For those wondering, I had a uni horse tractor in kit form, couple of tractor mowers & various odds & ends.

 

The Mayfield tractors were brought by MerlinKeeper Kevin who kindly moved some of my howards also

 

Phil ran out of puff as spent all his time cranking the old fordson standard in the barn he now owns.

 

I offered to tow it out with the bolens but dont think he wanted to be shown up!!

[Rocboni 257]

Nice old colchester although i wouldn't have strapped it around the saddle or chuck, thats a big no when lifting lathes. Should have strapped it around the Bed.

[slf-uk 914]

Nice old colchester although i wouldn't have strapped it around the saddle or chuck, thats a big no when lifting lathes. Should have strapped it around the Bed.

 

It does look like we did that in the last picture, however the strop is around the bed and the strop around the chuck is only for balance. The bed is too short to move the saddle out of the way and as the saddle is not as wide as the hole in the bed we centralised the saddle so that it was out of the way of the strop. On reflection a load leveler would have been better as we would not have needed to use the chuck to balance the load.

 

When we strapped it to the trailer we did use a straps to the chuck, which we were not comfortable about but could not think of another way. Those straps turned out to not be very tight so it wasn't as much of a risk as it could have been.

 

Iain

[Rocboni 257]

I guess a machine of that age is not going to be highly accurate anyway, not not to much of a worry

[Alan 1,271]

John and I had a good day today with Mr Showman who came to collect a van load of goodie's.  As with all of our visitors, he had a good sniff around and kept spotting and loading things which he hoped Mrs Showman wouldn't see when he arrived home.

 

Just in case Mrs Showman did spot his latest haul and was about to give him an ear bashing, he also loaded a collection of unusual bottles as a peace offering.

 

A few pics of the load and not a Bolens in sight.     Thanks again Chris.

 

 

 

[Stormin 4,458]

Looks like some handy stuff there. The 4 wheeled trailer will be handy for him, but where is he going to hide it all?

[the showman 4,074]

A big thank-you to Alan and John for their hospitality and talking me into all sorts of stuff that i did anticipate having.

I'm very pleased with the haul and it will keep me busy for a while, all i got to do is find somewhere to hide it.

Thanks for the good photos Alan, I'll do some more once I'm brave enough to open the door and unload it

[slf-uk 914]

Looks like a great haul. You could try telling Mrs Showman that you have bought some new patio furniture

 

Iain

[Stormin 4,458]

 You could try telling Mrs Showman that you have bought some new patio furniture

 

Iain

 

She's heard that one. Many a time.

[HeadExam 1,783]

My wife loves to go get garden tractors with me or even to look or buy an implement. She is the first one ready with a cooler and snacks, sometimes it turns into a two day trip and she is ready to go again the next day if need be. We went after a tractor on our honeymoon and first anniversary. I guess I am very, very lucky.

[the showman 4,074]

You don't know how lucky you are mate

[Stormin 4,458]

Very lucky. He's also got plenty of room. Not that I'm jealous in any way.

[HeadExam 1,783]

Very lucky. He's also got plenty of room. Not that I'm jealous in any way.

Yes, in fact I could store a few of yours if you would be so kind as to send them over.    

[Alan 1,271]

As most members will be aware, all the Bolens and Wheelhorse tractors etc have now gone to new homes.

 

Well almost all. This poor little Bolens mower was left behind, too small for it's big brothers to play with.

 

 

Also still waiting for a new home is a Cub Cadet 81. Last run about 2 years ago, so shouldn't need much work to bring back to life.

 

 

Two Westwood's  would also like to be rescued.  Briggs engines, 8 & 11 HP. Both turn by hand. Electric start. All tires good.

Restoration projects or spares for someone.   Also two more still tangled in the brambles and most likely very ill.

 

 

If anyone interested in the above, I have more photo's and details on request.

 

More small items still being uncovered, plus a few mowers, two Lathes and an Atlas Shaper to dig out.    Thanks again to all involved.

 

Nearly forgot these. Not garden tractor related, UNLESS, Ian wants to convert "Why Not" into a drag racer.  11 x 65 x 12. Ex farm trailer. ?

 

 

Regards, Alan.

 

 

[Alan 1,271]

And another two of John's items.  The Merry Tiller trailer was VERY reluctant to come out from under the brambles.

 

Wheels and woodwork need replacing but all metal looks good, apart from rust. The ball hitch is welded on.

 

 

A hand operated winch, base 22 x 15 inch, with ratchet.  Turns but needs cleaning.

 

 

More details and photo's available if required.

 

Alan.

 

 

 

 

[HeadExam 1,783]

Ah, some of the crustier stuff is the most interesting, love the wench, lol

[neil 524]

I'm interested in winch , would you post ?

[Alan 1,271]

I'm interested in winch , would you post ?

It's a heavy lump Neil.   I'll let you know the cost tomorrow. Over at John's all day today.