48 replies to this topic

[NUTNDUN]

Voting for GTtalk Featured Tractor of the Month for the month of January 2012 has now officially started and will end the last day of December. The theme for this month is "Snow Gear"

This is our first Tractor of the Month for the new year. The winner will be featured on the GTtalk Home Page for the entire month of January and in our Featured Tractor Section for infinity. Our featured tractor winners are also printed in the LAGT magazine.

We have 14 nominations this month, I have put them in the order the poll is so hopefully it makes it a little easier.

• Economy King - Lovintractorin
• Frankenstein - wrbouget
• Massey Ferguson MF10 - ckjakline
• Bolens 1050 - fonz3482
• Cub Cadet 129 - Amigatec
• Simplicity 7016H - Michiganmobileman
• John Deere 110 - akretowicz
• Bolens 1456 - Jimbobbillyray
• Bolens HT23 - bhts
• Ford LGT 145 - Chuck_050382
• Case 224 Torq - NutCASE
• Bolens AJ Foyt - danfriday
• Bolens 1050 - Bolens 1000
• Allis Chalmers 710 - Ranchkingron

Before voting please be sure to check out all the entries in the posts below.

Please remember that the winning tractor cannot be nominated again for a full year. Thanks and good luck!

Edited by NUTNDUN, December 14, 2011 - 10:00 AM.

[Lovintractorin]

This is my 1953 Economy King tractor with a 9 hp Briggs and Stratton engine, dry disk clutch, T-92 three speed transmission, a shortened Ford rear end with drop down gear reductions. It sure won't win any beauty contest but it is a worker. I bought the tractor about 3 years ago from a guy in Stockton NY. It ran when I bought it but the clutch was all homemade and didn't like releasing completely. I restored it the winter of 2009 - 2010 and added a Three point Hitch, better seat, and electric lift. I use it every day, or every other day during snow and garden season so it doesn't look pretty anymore. I always starts and only let me down twice. Once with a dead battery but I used a jump from our van to get moving again and again when the old clutch disc threw a chunk but was still able to limp home with a horrendous noise and sparks flying.

It has on it a 4 ft V plow which I picked up close to two years ago and about 250 lbs of belly weights in a home built 'basket' to add traction and keep the front end down when the going gets hard. I had to build the attachment hardware for the plow and it is built a little light. Need to upgrade from 5/8" bolts to 3/4" bolts, I keep bending them. Other than that is works great. I live in the city so have no driveway. I plow about 2 blocks of sidewalk and a couple parking lots and driveways. I don't have any pictures of it in action but it can really do some damage on pretty much any reasonable amount of dryer snow. It would be nice to have a couple more hp for the big wet snow accumulations but I want to keep the tractor somewhat original.

Here's a picture of the tractor with the plow and one of the belly weights. If I can I'll take some better ones and add them later.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25701[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]25703[/ATTACH]


I see I am a little late to add them but I found two more pictures to add, if I can. One is from last fall and one of winter.
Thanks
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25865[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]25864[/ATTACH]

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Edited by NUTNDUN, December 14, 2011 - 10:00 AM.

[wrbourget]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25723[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25724[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25725[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25726[/ATTACH]I call it Frankenstein.
I broke the axle on my John Deere last winter and in a pinch i put this together with parts and pieces lying around my shop and in my back yard. It's an early 80's MTD variable drive, I had a B&S twin 20 horse laying around installed that and bypassed the Variable drive and someone gave me this unknown 46 inch snow blower some ten years ago. After i got it running and driving I propped up and lined up the snow blower and welded it home It is now one of the best snow blowers i have ever owned.
I bought that tractor three years ago and never could get the drive system to work right parked it in the back and kind of forgot about it, at some point i robbed the 18 horse out of it and sold the deck. The snow blower I think is a craftsman it's a monster and with that twenty horse it can move some snow! We had three storms that week and and i am grateful for all the "junk" i have laying around my wife want's me to get rid of.

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[ckjakline]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25769[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25768[/ATTACH]This is my 1967 massey ferguson 10 with snow blower and cab.I got the tractor in may of 2010.My brother was coming home from working his part time job,and gave me a call and said hey there's a massey 10 for sale in ephrata ,About 10 mins from my house.I wasn't really looking for another one but,I said it can't hurt to check it out.I went to look at it and it was an offer i couldn't pass by.It was the tractor,and mower deck, and a bunch of manuals and literature for massey garden tractors.The tractor also had a sleeve hitch.I was looking for one of those for 2 years.I asked the owner why i never saw the tractor around here before,and he said it was there tractor for mowing at there cabin.He had just brought it home the week before so he could sell it.The tractor is all original except for the seat.

The snow blower is a model 620 massey ferguson.I'm not exactly sure why it is white,but that is the original color. I have never seen any other massey snow blowers that were white.They were all red.At first i was making my rounds at a consignment sale just passed it by thinking it was a cub cadet.I didn"t even bother to look at it.The day of the sale came and i was doing another walk around and seen it from the front.It said massey ferguson.I checked serial tag and sure enough it was a model 620.I ended up getting it for a good price..I got the blower in the fall of 2009.I had the blower before i got the tractor it's mounted to.I was going to put it on my other 67 MF 10,but decided to put it on this one because it had the front mount on the center axle pivot bolt.I figured it would be easier.It came with all the brackets.The only thing it didn't have was the helper springs,and the lift rod.The lift rod i made up rather quickly.The springs i got at a local hardware store.

The cab i got in the summer of 2011.I found it on craigslist in a nearby town.The owner had no clue what it was for.All he knew was it was for a massey garden tractor.I knew by looking at the massey emblem it was for the older 10 and 12 GTs.I mounted the cab shortly after i got it so it would be set for this winter.

I used the tractor and blower for the winter of 2010.Hopefully i'll be able to use it with the cab this year.I've been leaving the blower hooked up year round.I have other tractors to do other things.

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[fonz3482]

Hello everyone,
I'd like to enter my bolens 1050. My father bought this tractor in rough shape @ 23 years ago when I was 6 or 7 yrs old. I am unsure on what year it is exactly. I still remeber the day we bought it. He had a tiny chevy spectrum car. We drove over an hour to buy it. He bought everything for $250 which included the tractor, cab, mower deck, snowcaster, and a bolens 800 in non running conditon. We loaded all these items onto a 4x8 trailer and into the back of the little spectrum and began our long journey home(hours of driving at 25 to 40mph).
Once we got everything home we began to repair it. We got the 1050 running well and used the 800 for a few parts. We then disassembled the 800 for parts. The 1050 has had a long rough life. At age 11 I started mowing lawns, raking leaves, and snowblowing driveways for some people on my street. The 1050 worked flawlessly and always was up for work. I ran my small business from age 11 til I was age 19 with it. It also was taking care of our normal house duties. Then my father bought 28 acres of land. It was mostly open field. We used the 1050 to mow down acres of tall grass in 1st gear low for years. Then the 1050 got a break. I moved out into a apartment, and my parents built a house on there property. My dad ended up buying a much bigger tractor to maintain his property. The 1050 got minimal use for many years until I finally bought my house. My father gave me the tractor and I began to restore it. I gave the tractor a fresh coat of paint, a quick check over, and put it to work. Its been my main workhorse around the house. Pulling trailers, tilling the garden, and snowblowing tons of snow! Here are some pics of the 1050 at work in the snow. Last march I did end up buying a scut. So The 1050 is now on snow duty backup, and garden duty. I plan to fully restore it again soon.

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[Amigatec]

Well I will nominate my Cub Cadet 129 with QA42A SnowThrower.

I bought the 129 2 years ago, it was a piece of junk, the wiring was cut up and not hooked up, the motor was shot. I rewired it and used it for part of the year until the motor backfired and caught fire, I have spent a small fortune on it but it's 150% better now. I still have a ways to go with it.

We had a record 13" of snow last year here in Oklahoma, I was stuck it at the house for 2 days with no way way out of the yard. So I bought the SnowThrower from a guy in Eastern Pennsylvania and had it trucked in. You can see from the pictures it was a ball of rust and non working. I had it sandblasted, and a lot repaired were made to make it usable, new chain adjuster, new bearings, and painted the inside with POR-15 paint. It should last me years now.

I currently have the each of the back tires filled with 4 gallons of windshield washer fluid, and have 4 link chains installed, hopefully I won't need to use it this winter, but in the small town I live in, this is the only Snowthrower in town. :smile1:

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[Michiganmobileman]

Hello to everyone, here's one for you to check out:smile1:


Here are a couple of pictures of my current snow removal package in action taken last winter courtesy of my Brother while I was doing his drive.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25897[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25898[/ATTACH]

My 1974 Simplicity System 7016H, electric lift, winter cab, loaded rear turfs with 2 link chains and a normal looking 42 Inch, single stage snow-blower. Ah but not so fast, you can’t see it in this picture but that innocent looking snow blower is my secret weapon when the Michigan Lake Effect snows try to get the best of us:smilewink:.
I got the 42 in snow blower in with a trade along with some other goodies a few years ago. It worked OK the first winter and got the drive done quicker than the 36 inch blower that I had before but the 42 in blower was in rough shape looks wise and there was what I thought an excessive amount of space between the auger and the sides of the housing. A rebuild was in order, so I figured if I took it apart and replaced the bearings, replaced the drive chain, add some new grease, then repainted everything, then I would be set for a long time. I was considering trying to add welds to the edge of the auger to reduce the space between it and the housing. Not being very adept at welding I kept my mind busy thinking of another alternative:confuse:. Then I stumbled upon an opportunity to get a piece of Stainless Steel that was rolled to almost the same diameter as the housing and I was able to have a lip folded over on the bottom. So this is what I started with.:D


[ATTACH=CONFIG]25899[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25900[/ATTACH]


Took some cutting, fitting and cussing:wallbanging:, but I was able to get the SS liner in place and fastened down then completed the reassembly of the blower.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25901[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25902[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25903[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25904[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25905[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25906[/ATTACH]
Now I have a no-stick easy slide blower, worked pretty darn well all throughout last year. Would like to try a piece on the chute but have not gotten around to it yet.
It's not near as pretty now, had an issue with gravel last year.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25911[/ATTACH]
I have since added an electric spout rotator, and have that all set to go, just need to get the cab back on and then I guess we need some snow:smilewink:.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25912[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]25913[/ATTACH]

Thanks to all, Greg:wave:

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[akretowicz]

Here is my recently acquired 1973 John Deere 110 with 47A. I purchased it from the second owner a short while ago fully equipped with wheel weights, and tire chains. She has electric lift which works perfectly with the helper spring. At some point in the past the lift motor has been replaced. Which is fine by me!

Shortly after purchasing, I fully serviced the tractor. Cleaned the carburetor, replaced air filter, spark plug, changed to fully synthetic oil. Changed oil in transaxle. I bought a headlight valance for it on E-Bay. Painted the grill. She looks and runs terrific! I also serviced the snowblower. Adjusted drive chain tension. A few shots of grease on the auger drive shaft. Sanded, primed, and painted the interior of the discharge chute. It now is residing in my garage covered up and waiting for our first big snow. Hopefully, it will be a long wait.

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[Delmar]

Since I finally got it done I would like to nominate my Bolens 1456 with the adapted Bolens 32" Snow Caster.
I saw an ad last summer advertising an old garden tractor and snowblower. Turned out to be a Bolens 600 with the 32" snow caster. I couldn't get the motor on the 600 to run, but the snowthrower turned freely and looked to be in good shape.
I found my Bolens H14 and a 24" tiller on craigslist about a month later. The tractor runs fine, the tiller works great, and I couldn't be happier. Just for the heck of it I lined up the snowcaster with the tractor and it looked like it would fit. I hooked it up, saw that I needed to change the pickup arm on the snowcaster. It was hitting the axle because it was too close to the axle. I cut it loose from the bracket and rewelded it where it would work.
Figuring out how and where to attach the discharge chute direction lever wasn't so easy. I finally came up with welding together back to back two short pieces of angle iron, then I drilled two holes in one side to match the holes for the parking brake bracket on the tractor, used longer bolts and bolted it on over the bracket. Then I made a new direction lever arm with an added piece of steel (the control rod is too short). Then I gave the snow caster a new paint job to match the tractor, and now I am ready for some snow!

[bhts]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]26097[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26099[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26098[/ATTACH]

Here is my 1985 Bolens HT23.I had been looking for several years and this one came up for auction so away i went.It came with a 54 inch deck and a 54 inch blade.It also has pwer steering and criuse control.It also had the cheap plastic wheel weights and turfs on the back and alot of dirt and grim.It has since seen a complete service and new tires and weights to the rear.And a 3 point hitch added to it.

I got to use it alot last winter for the first time and it had no problems pushing 3 feet of snow.This is the main snow machine i use and hope to add a 2 stage blower in the future.Now she is itching for snow wish i could say the same.But if i have any problems that this can't do then i use the HT20D with the loader.

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[Chuck_050382]

I would like to nominate my Ford LGT 145.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26119[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]26120[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]26121[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]26122[/ATTACH]

The 145 was my Grandfather's garden tractor. My dad saved it from being scrapped after grandpa passed away in 2003, and when I got married in 2004 and had a need for lawn mower and garden tractor Dad got the 145 going and gave it to me. The only attachment we had for the tractor was the mower deck. In the winter of 2004 I bought a agri-fab blade and we did some work to make it fit the 145. Winter 2004 was the first year I pushed snow with the 145.

Fast forward to the fall of 2009 and I found the soft side cab on craigslist new in the box for $35. It was a 3 sided cab mainly designed for used with a snow blower to keep you for getting covered in snow. With some work I used it as a starting point for building a cab. Also since previously the blade was manual lift, I did some work and made the blade hydro lift.

The cab isn't insulated but it keeps the wind off me and actually held in some heat, There were a few times when the temperature was in the teens and I was able to plow snow with out gloves, a hat, or a jacket on.

Here is a video of the blade lift,

Here is a video from the day the action pictures were taken

and here is a older video of me blading snow before the cab install

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[CASENUT]

Well guys it has been a long time coming. There aren't very many photos of the Torq on the internet and I suppose some will 'frown' upon me nominating my tractor for this honor.

The time was November of 2010, I had decided to get a snowblower, I started to look around and Found a Ford LGT145 that was pretty nice it had a nice blower attached and was going to be perfect for my application. So, I went to look at it and was pretty impressed. At the same time another tractor a Case 224 showed up on Craigslist about 2 hours from my house...so I did what any normal red blooded American would do I went to the tractor forums and asked a 'general' question. I only had a couple of photos of the two tractors they were downloaded from Craigslist. Since I wasn't really a regular I didn't know what to expect.

Within about a half hour of the post I got a Private message telling me to 'take the photos off the site' and to go get the tractor no matter what. The guy explained to me that there were collectors that would and I quote "Throw their mothers under a bus for that tractor", and if I bought it and didn't like it he would drive up from KY and double my purchase price for it. I live in NWest Ohio. I am like What? for a Garden Tractor? Simply did not make any sense to me...

So I then thought let me see...what my buddy 'Google' has to say about all of this since I didn't know much about the topic. and at the time the GW McGrew company wrote and I quote "Very rare 1974 Case torq 224 tractor with 48” mower deck. Tractor is all original but is rough, features a high torq orbital drive motor on the transaxle. Is one of three total Case torq tractors known to exist and one of only two Case 224 torq tractors." (Mine was unknown at this time, and as it turns out mine is in the best original condition of all!)

This peaked my interest, I called the man at once and talked with him about the tractor. He said it was sold to him very cheaply by his neighbor who bought it new in 1974 from a local dealer. He said his son had been cutting his grass for about 15 years or so using his own tractor so the Case tractor has been sitting in the barn covered. When he told his neighbor he was going to buy a tractor to cut grass because his was broke...the neighbor said 'I have this one sitting in the barn, hasn't run in many years but was good whenever he needed it. So the guy bought it. Well he decided he wanted a loader tractor to to real digging' so he decided to sell this one. He had it up on Craigslist for since Halloween and had 2 inquiries both looking for big wheel tractors. He said it had a deck, a blower and chains with it, plus an extra generator.

I told him I would be up in the morning to look at it. So I looked at it and was amazed at its 'originality' and 'condition'. I decided to purchase it, actually because of the conversation with the internet guy...who subsequently he and I became friends, we exchanged numbers and he talked with me and put me in touch with 'other Case collectors'...After I purchased this tractor I had a conversation with no fewer than 3 collectors and I wasn't even home yet. Little did I know the best was just coming.

The guy couldn't get it started so he dropped the price by $50 :-). But I could see it was awesome. With the guidance of another Case collector it was determined that my tractor needed basic stuff...so I did the fuel lines, filter, cleaned the carb, flushed the tank, and my coil was bad. So 2 days later it was running. I mounted the snowcaster and the steering wheel was stripped which is why the snowcaster looked new. So I put on a new steering wheel. By the time the first substantive snowfall hit the tractor was ready.

Last year we had a lot of snow and I had fun on my new 'Torq'...in fact that little tractor has led to me owning 20+ tractors. I primarily use it for snow removal, although from time to time I use it to drag leaves from the backyard to the front.

Kindest regards to everyone at GT Talk for considering my tractor for this honor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGGn2OFvSWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWGMpKH-_6A

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[danfriday]

This is my 1987 Bolens AJ Foyt tractor that I purchased this past June. It came with the thrower and mower attachments all for $500.
With only 100 and something hours on it it has less hours than my 2006 Cub Cadet. I figured it was a great deal for just the blower alone and I would have a spare mower in Summer . I did cut a few lawns with it when I first got it and it worked quite well. I put the thrower attachment on in September and have been waiting for snow ever since.

A couple of months ago I started looking for a cab for it and was thinking I would probably have to settle with something I would have to refabricate because there aren't many of these around. I was at a local Cub Cadet dealer and found out they used to sell Bolens and had a few scrap mowers out back of which a couple had cabs on. After looking around and trying to decide which one would require the least amount of work to get to fit my tractor the owner approached me and asked which model I had. After I told him he informed me he had a brand new one that had been up in their attic for over 10 years. They used to sell them for over $1000 and let me have it for $300. He just was happy to see that someone could get some use out of it. And I was VERY happy with the price We did get a few inches of wet snow yesterday and it worked quite well. Looking forward to our first BIG storm and will submit video .

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[Bolens 1000]

Since there seem to be alot of Bolens in the nominations, I guess I'll go ahead and enter the competition with my 1966 Bolens 1050

I've owned this tractor for around 11 years. This originally belonged to my grandfather which he used to do yard work with years ago. The other tractor I inherited from him was his Bolens 1000 which is my favorite but I still love the 1050 just as much:D

The 1050 is my main workhorse which is responsible for mowing, plowing, tilling and is used for snow removal. Around a year ago I rebuilt the 8 1/4 HP engine replacing the valves, connecting rod and piston rings. It runs great and it starts right up with a turn of the key.
Basically everything on the tractor has been serviced or replaced with new parts, new carb rebuild, bearings seals ect.

This fall I won a NOS hard top cab on ebay which I installed and cant wait to test it out when we get some measurable snow.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]26357[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26358[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26359[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26360[/ATTACH]

Here's a video of it in action
(note the title says 10HP but its actually 8 1/4)

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[Ranchkingron]

As most of you know I acquired pseudo 1975 AC 710 (Homelite T-10) which I love but to be honest it's ugly !

But even with all the scratches and dents it's a real workhorse strong, heavy and in respect to the others I have powerful.

At the time I got it I also found a couple of dozer blades and some other equipment of which I tried to sell for the owner but there was no interest so I paid for it and thought down the line I may use it.

Once I got the tractor straightened out I looked at the Bolens blade and thought it may work if I could mount it and come up with a lift rod.

So after determining what I needed for steel and how to fab it up I got to work, as stated it's not pretty but it does work well and if the time come that I find the original implements then it can all be unbolted and put back stock with no holes drilled.

So here's what I did :

Fab up a bracket for the blade.

Make a lift rod that would have float and down pressure.

Traction ? : As I had some tire chains that were close to the proper size (they needed a few links taken out) the only thing I wanted was more weight So I made up a bracket to hold some cast iron barbell discs (didn't have time to load the tires), and like the blade mount can be removed without any ill effects or extra holes.

Safety : From reading what other members have said lights are a must have, a couple of brackets later and a trip to the farm store I installed two lights out front one in the rear and red and amber lights out back (the amber's flash) and will add some to the front and sides this week, a SMV placard was the final touch as it will be used to clear the drive and the shoulder of our road.

We have only had one 8" dropping of snow so far but it performed great but it could use a little more weight and some better tires on the front (it has a tendency to be lite with the blade full) but so far I'm happy with how it works, and it works even better in dirt.

Sorry if this is long winded and if need be one of our Great Moderators can shorten it down.

With so many nice entries this month it's going to be hard to decide, but I think they're all winners.

Ron

P.S. You guys make me so jealous with all the great setups.

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