# New Purchase- Bolens ST140 Hyrdo



## Kmfinley93 (Aug 5, 2016)

Good afternoon all, 

New Member from Wisconsin and I just purchased a house with a long driveway and a decent sized yard. having had a bolens St120 growing up that was a great machine, as well as a few Simplicitys, I set out in search of something similar. 

I ended up purchasing this guy on craigslist for $375. All I knew going in was that it was an ST140Hydro with a 36" deck and a snowblower. 

The tractor ended up being a little rougher than I had anticipated, but started right up and ran good, even though everythign was out of adjustment. As an added bonus, it has a bolens backpacker bagger system, which I think will be great in the fall. 

Issues: 

-Front wheel bushings need done immediately, already ordered
-Front tires. 
-Headlights do not work. 
-Throttle cable adjustment
-Hydro creeps without touching pedal
-Reverse is painfully slow and pedal hits on deck. Needs adjustment. 
-PTO switch is backwards (Down is on, up is off) 
-Manual lift has been replaced with a homemade electric lift... not sure how I feel about it. 

None of these are expensive fixes, and I think this work plus some cleaning and buffing and it will be a very nice little machine. The model number is worn off, but based on it not being a Vanguard engine, I think it's a 88 or 89 3114H model. 

Where I am going to need help is with the snowblower. I've never had a tractor mount blower, and I can only assume that all of the parts are here. The guy I bought it from said it came with his house and he never mounted the blower. Having the homemade electric lift may be interesting as well. 

Once I move into my new place I'll get her off the trailer and get started on everything. For now I'm just soaking up as much info as I can!


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## Trubble (Apr 13, 2015)

Kmfinley93 said:


> New Member from Wisconsin


Ramping up the Wisconsin contingent! arty:

Welcome to the forum.

Looks like a pretty sharp machine you picked up.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Welcome to the forum Kmfinley93! Glad you stopped by. That's a nice mtachine, doesn't look bad at all! I'm sure you'll enjoy working on it and using that bad boy around your new property!


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## Kmfinley93 (Aug 5, 2016)

Thanks for the welcome guys. 

It's been stored inside it's whole life so everything looks good as far as weathering... however, I think the previous owners hit anything and everything they could with it. I am going to pop the grill off soon and see if I can't get it looking normalish


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

Welcome to the forum!
I see a lot of electric lifts on tractors.
Usually it's because the owner is older,and can't use the manual lift lever,without straining.
Nice looking machine .


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## Kmfinley93 (Aug 5, 2016)

First question: 

Do you guys have any good bolens resources? Sams Bolens seems really good, but it would be nice to find a site that could cross reference part numbers with more widely available parts. I've already done so with the blades and wheel bushings (Simplicity, troy bilt, ariens) are all similar. 

ANy good cross referencing sites?


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## pigseye (Jul 21, 2016)

Welcome fellow Wisconsinite! Great looking tractor. I'm embarrassed to show pictures of my tractor now.


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