Howard Bolens

[HeadExam 1,783]

Who was this guy? I would like to know more about the history of the man/company. It seems like an interesting story. A man bent on bringing Bolens tractors to the UK and making sure he had his name on every one. Of course I know a few sneaked in under the fence, lol

[Triumph66 1,256]

Alain,

 

I believe Howard produced implements such as rotavators and apparently he saw an opportunity to import quality machinery from the States such as the Bolens. One of the photos shows a very similar decal to the Howard Bolens decals which was essentially slapped onto the bonnet.

 

 

 

 

[OldBuzzard 186]

Here's some info on them.

 

You will need to scroll down a bit to get to the Rotavator folks.

 

http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/Howard

[HeadExam 1,783]

Okay, so after doing some research on the internet I'm still confused. Much of what I read says that Howard was an Australian company, no mention of the UK, what gives? Reading the link Dave posted, seemed to help, I gather Howard is more than one company.

[Triumph66 1,256]

Thinking about it, I think Iain done some research on Howard. I will ask him when I meet him at RPT.

[S1g 579]

6 hours ago, HeadExam said:

Okay, so after doing some research on the internet I'm still confused. Much of what I read says that Howard was an Australian company, no mention of the UK, what gives? Reading the link Dave posted, seemed to help, I gather Howard is more than one company.

Arthur Clifford Howard started in Australia, ( I do have the dates somewhere) then in the 1930,s moved to the uk and set up Rotary Hoes Ltd with a Captian Griffiths. The Australian company kept going I believe as a separate concern. In the 1960,s Howard bought out the manufacturer of Clifford and for a short time the company was called Howard-Clifford. Then the name reverted back to Howard Rotavators. In 1985 the company went into receivership. The most famous rotavator the gem stayed in production by Dowdeswell as the 650 until 1997.

[HeadExam 1,783]

I learned that a rotavator is not just the English word for rototiller, the way it works, no wonder it was such a hit. I think many rototillers are called rotavators when they aren't one.

[S1g 579]

3 hours ago, HeadExam said:

I learned that a rotavator is not just the English word for rototiller, the way it works, no wonder it was such a hit. I think many rototillers are called rotavators when they aren't one.

A bit like Hoover for vacuum cleaners and Wacker for plate compactors.