40 replies to this topic

[cookiemonster]

Interesting take on the home-built. I like building and adapting stuff... And don't think this would be past a lot of guys' abilities to fab. But I still don't think it's home built. There are some give-aways like the chain guard that guys who home build often skip or "will come back to later". Also agree with the comment about the rounded corners. Factories don't round their corners, but most guys who custom build do to save cutting their hands in the process. I do.
Think it's a factory deal. From where though? Hey, it could even be made by one of the attachment companies and not by bolens or whoever.

[kb0nly]

Aside from what it fits, or was made to fit, one thing we know for sure is its a 540 PTO reduction. That seems to be the unanimous vote on here.

I also don't think its homebrew, looks factory or at least made by a manufacturer. I see a couple explanations have come up as to why a belt and a chain, let me offer one more. What i have noticed on attachments of this nature looking at many different brands and models is the belt is used on the first stage because it can stand up to slight alignment issues, so if you need a little angle on the input shaft it will still be ok. Then they must have decided to use the chain on the second stage for durability and so it can't slip? Plus the second stage is totally stationary, the shafts can't move, so a chain makes more sense.

[timtractor]

:confuse: I am sorry if I offened anyone by the homemade comment. :confuse:

What I ment is back when this item was produced, the machine fabrication abilities, electrionics and percision measurements were above what a small town farmer was able to do. I am not saying that there were guys out there that are realy good machinests, but if a farmer built this item at home some of the protective features would have been forgotten and it would of been made more simple looking. As in instead of using all the gear reductions it might of been made with only one larger reduction pulley.

I looked at my Bolens 1050 I have. The deck under it looks to be the same color as the PTO unit. The shaft that drives the deck has a square style shaft with the joints that recieve the square shaft design. The reason I think that there is no ID on the PTO unit is on my Bolens 1050 deck the Bolens ID is a stick on decal. I wonder if the original ddecal fell off?

I'd like to say thank to everyone that has helped out on this question, and say I'm sorry to the others that I may have offended.

[OldBuzzard]

Have you tried mating it up to the 1050, just to see how close it comes to mounting?

One thing you have to remember though is that the Bolens PTO shafts are NOT square. They are 3/4" x 7/8", and the standard Bolens PTO coupling will not work.

It's really hard to say if that is 'factory' of home built. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter as long as it works.

ETA:

Heres a link to what one 'factory' front PTO for a Bolens looked like:
http://www.tractorfo...-tuberame-4780/

And here's a link to the same thing on a 'used' tractor:
http://gardentractor...front-pto-9475/

Edited by OldBuzzard, January 26, 2012 - 02:19 PM.
Added info

[timtractor]

Finally I was able to get out with my caliper. It is 3/4 X 7/8 in shaft on PTO. I am going to try to mount it on my bolens 1050 now. Sorry that i couldn't get the right measurements sooner. 20 below wind chills are not fun to be out in.

[timtractor]

It Fits.

I installed it onto my Bolens 1050 and the bolts in the frame mounts of the unit were even the correct size and length bolts. The rod supports hooked over the top of the axle inside the cast support stops on the top of the axle. The PTO shaft is inline with the drive for my jackshaft that opperates the deck. The front of that jackshaft is a fine spline. Now only thing I need now is a coupler to go from the fine spline of the jackshaft to the 3/4 x 7/8 inch rec. shaft.

Here are some of the pictures of it mounted on the 1050.

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[cookiemonster]

It Fits.

I installed it onto my Bolens 1050 and the bolts in the frame mounts of the unit were even the correct size and length bolts. The rod supports hooked over the top of the axle inside the cast support stops on the top of the axle. The PTO shaft is inline with the drive for my jackshaft that opperates the deck. The front of that jackshaft is a fine spline. Now only thing I need now is a coupler to go from the fine spline of the jackshaft to the 3/4 x 7/8 inch rec. shaft.

Here are some of the pictures of it mounted on the 1050.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28735[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28736[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28737[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]28740[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28738[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28739[/ATTACH]

That looks great! Now all that's left to do is paint the rest of the tractor turquoise to match the attachment.
I'm kind of partial to turquoise. I started out with red paint in mind, but it grows on you.

[MH81]

I think it would probably be best to have a short universal joint. If there is any mis-alignment, the universal would make it much more forgiving.

Looks like it was made for that unit, whoever made it.

[jdcrawler]

That swapmeet find worked out really well for you.
Glad to see that you got it figured out and had a tractor to mount it on.

[OldBuzzard]

It's most likely designed to work with a 'standard' Bolens universal like this:
BOLENS TRACTOR UNIVERSAL JOINT / U-JOINT / KNUCKLE : | eBay

A lot of impliments use this U-Joint.

[kb0nly]

Cool! Good find if she bolts right up, just need a U-Joint to mate it up and its ready to go! I like the look of these old tractors. I know of a Bolens sitting in a garage, waiting patiently for the day that the current owner passes, he won't sell it but i bet his family will when the time comes.