Garden Tractor Collection

Hi there folks. I've been thinking recently about starting a thread for my small collection of old garden tractors, that way I wouldn't have to clog up the TAA thread with pictures of them anymore, haha. Also this way other members can post pictures of their old garden tractors and maybe some info about them or where they came from too. I know a few of you have a couple old tractors, so feel free to share!

Anyways, I'm gonna try and put them in the order I got them. I apolgize in advance for the very long post.

#1 - 1957 Bolens HD Versamatic walk behind.

These are recent pictures of it, but I've had this old machine for many years, way before I even got my MTD.







It has a Kohler K160 rated at 6.6hp, and a variable speed ("Versamatic") drive to a final drive transmission.

Like I mentioned, it was my first tractor ever, bought right in my home town. I had it running sometime after I bought it, but then it quit on me and it didn't run for a very long time because I needed a very hard to find ignition coil for it and I wasn't aware of the sources I am today. Luckily after locating one about a year ago, I'm happy to say it is up and running again, and I use it as much as I can!

I have a 9" or so moldboard plow for it, a two gang disk, and I made a drawbar attachment for it so I can hook up a trailer with a seat or other attachments.

#2 - 1973 Case 444







It has a Kohler K321 engine rated at 14hp and a hydraulic (not hydrostatic!!!) drive to a two speed rear axle.

This tractor was once my Dad's tractor that he used to mow our lawn many years ago when I was just a little kid. I fondly remember  sitting on and pretending to drive it after he would park it out back to cool off. I loved it because the starter generator and large rear tires made it look like a real tractor. It was gifted to me for my 16th birthday as something to get running, because he had left in it a barn for  a long time. I was extemely happy. After a couple years of use I ended up getting it bored out 0.010" over and rebuilt it in my garage, because it had started knocking and burning oil. After the rebuild it ran great with no noise or smoking. I have had to do a few different repairs to it over the years, but it is a great old tractor and a real workhorse.

I have a model J44 mower deck for it as well as a 54" dozer blade and matching dump cart. Both of which are not original Case implements.

#3 Allis-Chalmers B-110. (Year Unknown)







Has a 24 series Briggs engine rated at 10hp, and a 3-speed + reverse transaxle.

This one was huge for me, my first Allis! I have always wanted a B-110, and I purchased this one a few towns over along with two decks, an Allis dozer blade, and a rolling B-110 chassis for parts. It ran and drive fine when I got it, but I ended up having to put two bearings, seals, and a cross shaft in the bevel gear box. It's worked great ever since though, and probably my favorite of all my tractors. I use this old girl all the time.

I have a few decks for it as well as a dozer blade. It has the factory rear sleeve hitch that I made a lifting drawbar attachment for, and K have made/modified many attachments to work off the rear of this tractor. It is a very useful little tractor!

#4 - 1965 Wheel Horse 655







This tractor was missing the original Tecumseh H60 when I got it, so it now has a 5hp Briggs aluminum block. Has a 3-speed + reverse Uni-Drive transaxle.

This was my first Wheel Horse tractor, and I loved it right from the start! It is a bit underpowered, and it bother me that is doesn't have an older engine in it, but it's still a great little tractor. After I got the engine mounted and had it running and driving, it has been pretty much reliable ever since. Someday I hope to find a more peroid correct engine for it to replace the 5hp Briggs.

It has the original slot hitch that had to be unsiezed, but now works great. I have made a little three row cultivator for the slot hitch that works quite well, and I would love to find a blade for it someday.

#5 - 1976 Allis-Chalmers 716







It has a Kohler K341 rated at 16hp, and a 3-Speed + reverse transaxle with the dual range belt setup, making it a 6-speed

I bought this tractor from a friend as a non-runner, but it had just been sitting for a while so it didn't take much to get it going. I was pretty excited because I have always wanted a 6-speed 700 series Allis, not to mention this was the first 10-bolt Kohler I had ever had! Ever since I got it running it has been very reliablez always starts right up and runs beautifully. It is a real powerhouse, really good for pulling just about anything. Has a bit of a knock to it sometimes though, so someday I'll probably end up getting it bored out and rebuild it.

We have a blade that fits this one, but isn't an Allis blade. It pulls a harrow and other tillage equipment beautifully.

#6 - 1975 Allis Chalmers 710







Has a Kohler K241 rated at 10hp, and the usual 3-speed + reverse.

This one is very similar to my 716 obviously, but a little simpler. (No headlights, no front PTO, no dual ranges) I bought this one a few towns over in non-running condition, but it hardly took any work to get it going. It did however have an issue with the transmissiom being stuck in 1st gear even though the shifter was in neutral. Sort of common on these if they're shifted improperly, but it's an easy enough fix with a bent screw driver and some patience. Pretty much the only issue I've had since getting it running and driving was the clutch not disengaging at all, which I narrowed down to a brake misadjustment. It runs and drives great now and is a pretty versatile little tractor.

I have a mower deck for this one, and we have a snowblower that fits on it.

#7 - 1970 Cub Cadet 106 (Frankentractor)





This one is a bit of a project, haha. Bought it as a chassis that had been sitting under a couple pine trees for years. It had no front axle but the fella found one for me. The reason I really wanted it was because it had the rear PTO option which is quite rare. So after finding a lot of parts from multiple spources, here it is:





It has a Kohler K241 rated at 10hp, and the standard 3-speed + reverse transaxle.

I actually did have it running and driving before I got the body panels by pull starting it and and hooking a battery to the coil. Happy to say it ran and drove just fine. I have always loved the narrow frame Cubs, adnd I'm quite happy that I finally got one. Now that I have the body panels, I'm going to completely re-wire it and put a seat on it. I'm really looking forward to finishing it.

#8 - 1972 Ford LGT125







Has a Kohler K301 rated at 12hp, and an Eaton hydrostatic transmission turning a Peerless 2500 two-speed final drive.

I obtained this tractor extremely cheap about an hour away from home from a fella who couldn't figure out how to get it running. Had all new ignition parts and a newer carb on it, but there were several mistakes made with the insallation of the ignition components, the biggest being the lack of 12v going to the coil. So in other words I more or less stole it from the poor guy, haha. I fixed all the ignition issies cleaned the carb, and had to throw a spare air cleaner assembly on it, and after some fine tuning she runs and drives great! The original steering wheel was pretty busted up, so for a little while I had a Cub Cadet steering wheel on it. The original steering wheel however, was a white one which apparently was only made for one year, so I fixed it up with some epoxy and reinstalled it. I've always wanted one of these LGT series Ford, they are very nicely style and designed very well. This thing is an absolute tank and super nice to operate.

No attachments for this one, but I would love to track down a blade, 3-point, and rear PTO for it someday.

#9 - 1963 Wheel Horse 953







It has a Kohler K241 rated at 9.6hp, and a 3 speed + reverse Uni-Drive transaxle.

This one was purchased from a friend, (same guy that I bought my 655 from) a few towns over. It ran and drove great when I bought it, but was missing the hood, grille mesh, and headlights. This tractor is a real tank as well, has the big 15" rear rims, a super solid frame, beefy Wheel Horse transaxle, Ross steering box, and hydraulic lift! As you can see it has a 1054 hood on it, which sorta bothers me but it still looks real nice. Better than no hood at all, haha. The 953 was a one year only model, and this is one of the real early ones. There were three generations of the 953's, the first of which had the Ross steering boxes, a unique steering wheel, slighty different headlights and a serial number starting with 62-. Unfortunately the unique steering wheel and headlights are long gone, but it has the Ross box and bares the serial number 62-627. I have always loved the style of these Wheel Horse tractors, and I'm very very happy with this one.

It has the original slot hitch on the rear which means the cultivator I made for my 655 works on this tractor as well. The hydraulic lift makes it a breeze to use.


Well fellas, that's the collection! Pretty small still, but I'm always looking for more, haha.

I apologize once again for rambling so much, but I really love these old machines and enjoy talking about them. Feel free to ask questions about my tractors if you have any, I'll be happy to answer! Don't forget to post some pictures and a little story about your old garden tractors too!



Thanks for reading.

I’d say your GT6000 counts as well, may not be the same classic era as these beauts, but I think it deserves a place on the list.

Jeez I had no idea you had so many!

You're not wrong there CQ, and it did cross my mind too but I figured everyone's probably seen that tractor enough already.

Haha, yeah I'm getting a gang of 'em!

cool bolens, the hipster sweater wearing organic wanna be dudes like to buy those things around here to start co-op farms etc.

LOL, interesting. I had no idea!

Nice. I always wanted a tractor with a plow. Maybe one of these days I'll track down a heavy duty cub cadet with one.

And on today's episode of My Strange Addictions we look into the life of AllisKidD21. .....but seriously you have some really neat old tractors there. And here I thought I had a problem, but makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one that's crazy about old stuff. #livebytractordiebytractor

mr.modified wrote:

Nice. I always wanted a tractor with a plow. Maybe one of these days I'll track down a heavy duty cub cadet with one.

A Cub would definitely be a good choice!

BlakeGroce wrote:

And on today's episode of My Strange Addictions we look into the life of AllisKidD21. .....but seriously you have some really neat old tractors there. And here I thought I had a problem, but makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one that's crazy about old stuff. #livebytractordiebytractor

Thank you sir! Yep, I can never get enough of the old tractors, haha.

Quick little update here, had a bit of a lineup change today! I usually keep my Case in town at my for snow and grass duty, but unfortunately I twisted up my homemade blade bracket pretty bad in the wet heavy snow yesterday. So instead of trying to re-engineer the wrecked bracket, I called in an A-C machine!



Haha, oh yeah. The 10 gets snow duty with the thrower, and the ol' Triple Four is hanging in the shed with the other tractors.



Should work out nicely. Might finally be able to build a 3-point hitch for it now!

You sold the Jack yet allis?

Gonna get something to run behind that cub Allis? That rear PTO is pretty cool.

Well they never made any attachments for it, but I'd like to try and make a pull behind mower for it out of an old mower deck. Just have to play with pulleys and a gear box to get the direction and RPM right, which wouldn't be too hard. I think that would be pretty cool.

That would definitely be cool.....I wonder if an international bush hog would work since they used those rear ends on international tractors right?

Only the Farmall Cub used this same transaxle, minus the axle housings. IH did in fact make specific mowers for the rear of them, but most people ran belly mowers on the Cub's I believe. Also Hub City made a bolt on reverser gearbox for those PTO shafts to make them spin the correct direction.

On another quick note, I put the hydraulic lift on the 953 to the test last weekend. I've wanted to try this since I got it:





She's on skidder duty now! Hahaha.

I just kinda rigged up some stuff to try this out, but now I think I'd like to make an actual attachment for doing it. Make it a little more user friendly and what not.

Well, I'm finally adding another tractor to the collection as of today!











Free Bolens 1668 Hydro with hydraulic lift! It was going to be scrapped but I got to bring home. Has a pressure lube Briggs opposed twin, which is a beauty of an engine, but there's a reason the customer decided not to fix it:



 She dropped the exhaust valve seat and hammered around for a while as it was running on one cylinder. I really wish I could easily save it, but I'm choosing to repower the ol' girl instead. I'll be keeping the oppy around for sure though.

Probably gonna make a new thread for the repower!

Real shame about the oppy, especially as it's PL. Looks like a big sturdy tractor though. It seems the bolens always are. If I had that oppy I'd probably machine a slightly bigger valve seat to press into the block and lap it in, but that's just me.

Have AK bring you the block so you can rich! Haha

Looks pretty stout AK. When you say hydraulic lift, you mean like a 3point? Would be really cool to build a wrecker boom off the back of that and use it as a tow tractor for whenever something brakes.

Nice rig there AK. Looks really stout!

Thanks fellas. Yeah I'll mess with the oppy again someday, it might show up on another tractor. I guess you could just make a slighty oversized seat to press in, but to do it right the block should be torn down so the seat bore can be trued up again. But either way.

No three point on on this rig, just a cylinder underneath for an attachment lift. Still gonna put it to good use though!

Ooh ooh, underbelly grader?!?

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Ooh ooh, underbelly grader?!?

That would be really cool

Still waiting for that tug of war video.

Quite the collection. Some of those attachments are pretty cool.

you can never have enough useful tractors like that, I have been stifled now with this corona nonsense I am dying to get something new.....

OOoooo video out there.

Man that thing is mint! Nice find!

Little update on this thread since it's been a while. Obviously the Bolens ended up getting a Yanmar diesel conversion and has been working great:



I'll have to update that thread later, but she's a real nice machine!

Aaaannnd I guess I'll count this as a garden tractor, because it is technically classified as one.





Husqvarna GT2254. Has the 122 series 6-speed trans and a Briggs ELS 22hp V-twin. Runs but needs a carb rebuild (as they all do, haha.) I got the 54" deck with it but it needs some work. I was planning on keeping it around for some reason, but I actually have someone who wants to buy it so I will eventually end up fixing it and selling it off.

Lastly, I was officially a member of the Diesel Sears Club for a short while!   Never thought I would say that....


Check out this winner  







Not sure of the model, but it had a 4hp Yanmar in it! Really ot a bad little tractor all the jerry-rigging aside, haha. I had it running and driving for a little bit but I really only bought it for the diesel, so I ended up removing it and selling the tractor to my cousin.

But anyways, that's about all that's new with the ol' tractor collection. Although here might be some more toys coming home with me here soon, if it works out I'll be sure to post another update!