103 replies to this topic

[bhts]

Very nice find and you sure can't beat the price.

[Bolens 1000]

Nice acquisition, Brian!

According to the manuals, the K161 should be Spec # 28118E. ....I couldn't read the spec # in your pic.

That PTO assy has me puzzled. ....It appears to be from a #23609 Tiller Attachment, but the tiller could not mount to the back of a 20HD, 21HD, or model 220 tractor.

Do you have any additional info on the PTO? ....I could not find (in my manuals) any other attachments that used that type of PTO.

Also, I can not find any electric starter kit available for a 20HD or a 21HD, but there was an Electric Starter KIt #22736 for the Model 220 tractor. ?????????????????

Its got a K160 not a K161....
As far as I can tell everything is original on it except for the rear tire rims.
I will have to look in my manuals and see If I can find a pto kit that looks like the one I have.

[Bolens 1000]

It appears the electric Starter I have is from a model 220 Tractor....
Is it possible this is a Model 220?? The thing that has me confused is the 220 has a cast iron grille without the husky man in the middle and mine has the aluminum grille with husky logo

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[Bolens 1000]

Here's some more close up pictures of the PTO and starter kit

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[Bruce Dorsi]

It appears the electric Starter I have is from a model 220 Tractor....
Is it possible this is a Model 220?? The thing that has me confused is the 220 has a cast iron grille without the husky man in the middle and mine has the aluminum grille with husky logo

Brian, the 1958 model 220 Ride-A-Matics had a narrow frame like the 20HD's & 21HD's, but the 220 had a wide mounting plate for the steering to mount, which covered the narrow frame and extended back to the seat mounting. ....The 20HD's & 21HD's had a separate chain cover as in your pic, while the 220's chain was covered by the wide mounting plate mentioned.

The Bolens Production info in the 1974 Service Seminar (where I looked) incorectly lists these tractors as having a K161. ....The Parts manuals for the Model 220's and 21HD's lists the engines as K160's. ....So once again, we see that not all info published by Bolens is 100% accurate!

Pics of the tractors show the 220 has having 4 horizontal bars cast into the grill, without a raised circle, while the 21HD has the horizontal bars with a cirlce cast into the middle bar (only 3 bars). ....The pic of the 20HD's shows 3 bars with a circle in the middle bar and the Huski Man with arms crossed in the center. .....Material is not specified if aluminum or iron.

[MailmAn]

It appears the electric Starter I have is from a model 220 Tractor....
Is it possible this is a Model 220?? The thing that has me confused is the 220 has a cast iron grille without the husky man in the middle and mine has the aluminum grille with husky logo

Not that I know much about these old tractors, but is it possible that you have a hybrid (and no, not an electric hybrid!)? Maybe it is not all a 100% original tractor anymore. It could be you have parts there from multiple tractors that were cobbled together over the years. Maybe you have a 220 starter and/or engine with a 20HD body or 21HD hood and a PTO off of who knows what else? Just a thought... That is an odd set-up for sure. Does the PTO just have one toothed shaft coming out towards the back or does it have one coming out the side too? I noticed it has what looks like a cover coming out the side, but for what? I can't tell if there is another shaft there or not (or why there would be). There is also no shaft sticking out towards the front - I guess there was never a snowblower attachment for tractors this old?

Hard to tell from the pics so far as well, but how does it get power to the rear end? It looks like there is a big intermediate wheel mounted along the frame there that would be belt driven off of the engine. From there, is there a drive shaft or chain or anything that goes from there to the rear axle? It is an interesting looking contraption for sure. I always find it interesting how they accomplished things in the early days...

This looks to be a pretty heavy duty tractor as well. I'm guessing with a name like "Super Ride-A-Matic" that this would be a much larger tractor than the regular Ride-A-Matics? Like the Large Frame vs Tube Frame tractors? Looks like it is between a gardern tractor and a farm tractor in size.


(Oh and also, if it didn't come with a starter in the 1940's-1950's, then would you have had to pull start the engine on these tractors?)

Edited by MailmAn, July 02, 2012 - 02:56 PM.

[Bolens 1000]

Its possible the electric starter was added on later in the tractors lifetime. Or perhaps this could have been an early "proto type " Bolens with electric starter kit. Its unlikely, but Bolens was known for adding features on the fly, sometimes 2-3 times on a model that was made only 1 year.
From what I can tell 98% of the parts on the machine all look to be original.

The Ride-a-Matics used a variety of different mounting systems and hitches for the numerous attachments. Unlike the Tubeframes, Many of the attachments were not interchangeable from model to model on these tractors.


Here's a picture to give you and idea of what one looks like all together:
http://gardentractor...&attach_id=6138

[wilberj]

Its possible the electric starter was added on later in the tractors lifetime. Or perhaps this could have been an early "proto type " Bolens with electric starter kit. Its unlikely, but Bolens was known for adding features on the fly, sometimes 2-3 times on a model that was made only 1 year.
From what I can tell 98% of the parts on the machine all look to be original.

The Ride-a-Matics used a variety of different mounting systems and hitches for the numerous attachments. Unlike the Tubeframes, Many of the attachments were not interchangeable from model to model on these tractors.


Here's a picture to give you and idea of what one looks like all together:
http://gardentractor...&attach_id=6138

I was thinking that aswell not the first time I seen that done.

[Bruce Dorsi]

Does the PTO just have one toothed shaft coming out towards the back Yes. or does it have one coming out the side too? No. I noticed it has what looks like a cover coming out the side, but for what? Access to the internals. I can't tell if there is another shaft there or not (or why there would be). No. There is also no shaft sticking out towards the front Correct.- I guess there was never a snowblower attachment for tractors this old? Yes, a snow blower, reel mower, sickle bar, rotary mower, rotary brush, were front-mounted attachments available for most Ride-A-Matics. ....These attachments were belt-driven from the engine pulley, and did not use the shaft-type PTO like the tube-frame tractors. ....The only attachment that I know of that used the PTO that Brian pictured was a rear-mounted tiller which was connected to the PTO by a long driveshaft.

Hard to tell from the pics so far as well, but how does it get power to the rear end? It looks like there is a big intermediate wheel mounted along the frame there that would be belt driven off of the engine. From there, is there a drive shaft No. or chain Yes. or anything that goes from there to the rear axle?

This looks to be a pretty heavy duty tractor as well. They were well-built for that era.

I'm guessing with a name like "Super Ride-A-Matic" that this would be a much larger tractor than the regular Ride-A-Matics? No. The earlier model 20HD Ride-A-Matics had a 3.6 hp Kohler engine. ....The "Super" word was added when the tractors were equipped with the larger 6.6 hp Kohler engine.

Looks like it is between a gardern tractor and a farm tractor in size. No, the early Ride-A-Matics were slightly smaller than the tube-frame tractors.


(Oh and also, if it didn't come with a starter in the 1940's-1950's, then would you have had to pull start the engine on these tractors?) Yes.

A manual for the 21HD Ride-A-Matic is posted at: http://gardentractor...r-ride-a-matic/ if you would like to learn more about the tractor being discussed here.

[Bruce Dorsi]

Here's some more close up pictures of the PTO and starter kit

Kinda' looks like the PTO shown here:
http://gardentractor...3609-01-tiller/

The 20HD, 21HD, and the 220 model tractors used the same type of rear hitch as the VersaMatic tractors.

Starting with the 230 model, the rear hitch was different. ....The #23609 tiller would fit the later-style rear hitch, but would not fit the 20HD,21HD, or 220 model tractors.

I agree the starter could have been added later, and probably was for a 220.

[antiquetractors]

I have a 1958 ram deluxe which is the 220. I think what Doc has is a collection of different years put into one. The rear hitch appears to be off a later (1959 or 1960) ram and the front pto is what is used for the rear tiller. The front mounted pto used for the snow blower and other front mounted equipment doesn't look like that, it has a tube about 8" or so that sticks out the front for mounting purposes. That particular pto that doc has on his hands has the drive shaft that goes to the rear of the tractor for the tiller. The starter is probably from a later ram, possibly a 1958. I do know of several tractors that have had the rear hitch changed over to the later rams because it is much stronger. It is more or less a 3pt set up.

[Bolens 1000]

Kinda' looks like the PTO shown here:
http://gardentractor...3609-01-tiller/

The 20HD, 21HD, and the 220 model tractors used the same type of rear hitch as the VersaMatic tractors.

Starting with the 230 model, the rear hitch was different. ....The #23609 tiller would fit the later-style rear hitch, but would not fit the 20HD,21HD, or 220 model tractors.

I agree the starter could have been added later, and probably was for a 220.

Yes, I think your right



In your opinion what do you think this tractor originally was? I'm thinking its got to be the 21HD

[Bruce Dorsi]

In your opinion what do you think this tractor originally was? I'm thinking its got to be the 21HD

Me, too!

Can you post some pics of the rear end of the tractor, please? ....In one of your previous pics, it appears someone bolted some stuff to the rear of the tractor that is not OEM.

Did you get a tiller attachment with the tractor? ....Any attachments?

[cookiemonster]

Well, I think it's going to be a sharp tractor regardless of what it is..

[Bolens 1000]

Me, too!

Can you post some pics of the rear end of the tractor, please? ....In one of your previous pics, it appears someone bolted some stuff to the rear of the tractor that is not OEM.

Did you get a tiller attachment with the tractor? ....Any attachments?

No attachments came with the tractor.
It was sitting in an old box car untouched for around 20 years, so any of the modifications were made quite some time ago.

The rear hitch is definitely a homemade unit.

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