# Poor old Bolens



## Ed_GT5000

I went to a lowes store last night, of course I had to check out L&G dept. They had a Troy-bilt garden tractor, a cub 1525, and a bolens garden tractor. I looked at a bolens last year at this same store last year and noticed that this was the same machine! I know that it is the same one because there is a suff on the rear fender. Same price too $1899.00 

I wonder if anyone has bought a bolens GT? I ask this because I was looking at them and considering one before I bought my craftsman.


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## Argee

I didn't know they were still making them.


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## jodyand

*They are not*

Its a MTD in sheep's clothing not at all like the old Bolens these are cheap.
Jody


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## Ed_GT5000

Yup, it is a MTD at $1899.00 it aint so cheap for what it is. If they dropped the price to about 1499.00 I think they would move better. As far as the cheaper MTD's go it is not a bad looking machine IMO.

http://www.bolens.com/servlet/BrandProductDetail?ID=952&CAT=28&SUB=135#


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## johndeere

It would have to drop lower then $1499.00 before it would sell.Look at the light duty rear axel in that thing.It is not a hydro either.The only thing Bolen about it is the name on the hood.That decal even appears to be made cheap to me.


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## Ed_GT5000

A lot of people who don't own MTD's moan about how cheap they are. Then someone pops up with a 25yo one that still runs like new. There are no cheap tractors only cheap owners :doubledev


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## johndeere

I did not say all MTD products are cheap.I own a Cub Cadet and it is not cheap.My parents own a Yardman that has had some issues but has done very well on there large lawn for several years.I have a Yardman push mower that I would put against an expensive brand any day.Im sure the Bolens you talk about is fine also.But the non hydro yet they call it a automatic is what makes it a model atleast I would avoid.There are many other better buys out there.They try to deceave the consumer with making then believe it is a Garden tractor.Just like they deceave about it being an automatic.Most think it is a hydro until they look close.The transmission appears to be no tuffer then you can find in a 1500 series Cub.The 1500 series Cub is a lawn tractor not a garden tractor.Those large tire found on the Bolens do not fool me.


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## jodyand

*Now wait a min*

johndeere the 1500 Cub is a hydro 7 piston pump and it has a 1" axle its a heavy duty transmission. But you are right the 1500s are not a GT its a LT. The Bolens uses some pullies and call it an automatic.
Jody


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## Ed_GT5000

"They try to deceave the consumer with making then believe it is a Garden tractor."


I must disagree with both of you on this, If you explore the MTD web site you will find that MTD sells 2 types of sleeve hitches for this tractor, a 48" dozer blade and a pto driven rear tiller.... I do agree that Bolens, yardman, Troybilt, or White are not as good as cub but there again you have to look at the price difference.

Obviously, MTD are selling these tractors otherwise they would not offer them year after year. I would like to hear from owners of these units to see how they are holding up.

:friends:


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## jodyand

Ed
Iwas talking about the Cub 1500s are LTs not the Bolens
Jody


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## slipshod

*I only Wish*

I knew something about either of these machines so I could join this bloodbath!


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## Ed_GT5000

Jody I reread your post... my bad... BTW This lowes I was at had a cub 1525 with a kaw engine... I understand these are not being made any more? How long were they made? I have never heard any thing bad about them. Are they getting scarce?


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## jodyand

Ed they made the 1500s for 2 years the first year they had the 1515 it had a Kohler then they put a 15hp kaw and named it 1525. this year its the same LT but with a Briggs and and JD Ls hood and its called the 1000s sereis. I very happy with my 1525 so i guess its a colleter now:smiles: 
Jody


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## johndeere

Jodyand I was complimenting the 1500 series not knocking it.My point was the 1500 series is a lawn tractor yet has a heavier transaxel then the Bolens Garden tractor.The 1500 series is a nice machine.The Bolens is a light duty Garden tractor would be fine for mowing grass but not much good for any real ground breaking chores.


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## guest2

In the 2003 Lowes catalog thet offer 3 Bolens lawn tractors and 1 Bolens garden tractor all low end stuff. The garden tractor doesn't even have a cast iron front axle. The real kick is in the front of the catalog they show a late '60's Bolens 1250, and talk about how great these tractors have been since 1850. The 1250 was a large frame 3pt hitch front and rear pto hydro trans foot pedal control hyraulic lift w/down pressure built in not added on and a 12hp wisconsin engine. This is the heritage they imply for these new mtd machines.
These new ones showup on ebay from time to time there's one there now 5months old starting bid $650 and no takers yet. Guess they waited 4 months too long to return it.
I don't have any problem with the machine itself but they are definately disrespectinng a great name. Just hope MTD continues to treat CUB better, they better sell a lot of the 5000 series or some mtd exec will think the low end stuff is the future, after all volume is what makes money they really don't have much regard for tradition. What happens to cub when some mtd guy who knows nothing about cubs history takes over one day?


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## Argee

Jody.....I think yur tractor is purty!!!!:lmao:


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## jodyand

> _Originally posted by Argee _
> *Jody.....I think yur tractor is purty!!!!:lmao: *


Isnt it:smiles: 
Jody

<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=69490>


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## guest2

I know take some new pictures


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## markfnc

*MTD Employs Americans*

A lot of people on this site and the "other" one bash MTD, and I would only consider a Cub or White (I have a Craftsman DLT 3000). But, MTD employs a lot of Amercians. They still make their products in the USA, they make their transmission here etc. They provide a product that a lot of people must buy. Many peole do not care about the tractors that much, and just go to the nearest Lowes when they move in and say "oh, Troy Bilt that must be good", or "oh, Bolens my dad had one of those" and buy it. 

We can bash their quality, but with so many companies moving to China, I think it is good that the are Made in the USA! 

Cliff Claven should go to their factory with his new show 'Made in Amercia" Good show if you have not seen it. Tuesday at 9:00 pm
on Travel,Discovery or one of those chanels

:clap:


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## noWeedZone

*Poor Ol' bolens*

I have the CC 1529, and I think it's great. I don't know about the tranny, but I like the way it handles. A good mechanic who works on Mustangs says the Kawasaki is great. Of course the drive shaft on the 2180 is better, but what lasts forever? For that matter, who lasts forever? There's a point of diminishing returns and for me it's anything over $1799 + tx. 

I won't be doing the south 40, but it'll take care of the yard. I've seen many questions about Cub and MTD. One reasonably informed member said that despite information to the contrary, and reputation not withstanding, the fine CC's of the mid-eighties through today have all been made by MTD. Ownership is one thing. Integrity is another. In fact, one small engine repairman said the small JD's are made by MTD. Hey, look at the auto industry. And Dell, HP and IBM all have one company putting the parts together which they buy from yet another sub-contractor before they stamp their JQ Logo on the PC. It's all marketing till you get to the door.


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## jodyand

Welcome noWeedZone:friends: Glad to have another Cub owner here. How long have you had your 1529 and how has it preformed for you. My 1525 i have had for 11/2 and it has about 80hrs on it. It runs , cuts and best of all looks GREAT Here is a picture of mine. 

<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=69490>


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## bontai Joe

Welcome noweedzone! Glad to hear your Cub is doing well. And yes, MTD has owned Cub since the mid 1980's. But The low end Deeres are still made by Deere, just in a different factory than the "good stuff". And to go back to the mention of the Bolens tractors seen at the box stores, they are ok tractors for the price range they are in, but I think the original posts were referring to the fact that these would never measure up to the original Bolens machines from pre MTD. Price points are a fact of marketing and consumerism. Your point was you wouldn't go past $1799, while someone else has a different number they are willing to go to (lower or higher) and that is why there are machines out there that range from $699 to $20,000. I give the various manufacturers credit for figuring out ways to keep the prices below $2000 and still offer something that is useful.

So what kinds of attachments do you have for that 1529? Gonna do any snow blowing this winter?


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## guest2

Getting back to the original point I was trying to make about MTD.
This is a scan from the 2003 Lowes outdoor power equipment catalog re-introducing "Bolens"


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## jodyand

They also used a ih Cub and these new Cubs are not built as strong as the ih Cubs.


<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=69506>


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## guest2

Here's the 3 bolens pages showing the 4 models offered, 3 lawn tractors and 1 garden tractor w/o a cast iron front axle. These tractors couldn't hold a candle to that late '60's 1250 they show in the front of the catalog. 

Yes, it's great that MTD makes their products here and employs Americans, but they are only useing bolens, troy-bilt, mcculloch,etc for their own benefit. They are in no way keeping any legends or traditions alive.

If you go to the bolens website now, they only offer 1 model a lawn tractor with a 38" deck and a 15.5 hp engine. Seems the public wasn't fooled.


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## guest2

Jody
That might be true also, but a 3000 or 5000 series Cub is what one might expect to be the offspring of the old IH Cubs. 

Here's some of the bolens lawn tractors.


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## guest2

This shows the only garden tractor in the Bolens line for 2003


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## catmando

*1975 MTD*

I purchased a 16 hp hydrostatic drive MTD back in 1975. It still runs. (Yes Joe this is the one with the choke problem). The transmission cooling fan got busted while clearing brush in the yard. Decided to replace it this spring. After I finally got it apart I decided to investigate the metal particles in the tranny oil. Found it would cost about $800 to replace the hydrostatic drive. So went shopping for a replacement for it. I paid $1500 for this back in 1975. Now you can double that and still not have a machine that is built any stronger. This is rated at 400 # on the 3 pt hitch. I have had a FEL on it since about 1977. 

This tractor has a cast iron Briggs and Stratton engine. 1" axles, and a full housing for the rear axles with outboard bearings. Even the Cubs that I looked at had exposed axles.


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## bontai Joe

catmando,
I'd replace the hydro fluid with fresh, and install the new fan and see if it runs another 10-20 years. Since this tractor is equiped with a loader, it is worth investing at least a few bucks into to see if you can extend it's life. As you are finding out, you won't touch a new loader equiped tractor for anything under $6000 +/-.


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## catmando

*MTD with FEL*

As it turns out I found that the hydrostatic drive is an Eaton 11. Took about 5 days on the internet to discover that. I then went to a hydraulic pump/motor/drive repair shop to see if they would repair it. The cost of repairs would be about 450. New unit in 1 month about 650. Now would be 780. I finally decided that I didn't want to wait, so paid the 780. 

This was after I looked at the new machines. I'll post a picture of it as soon as I figure out how to do it.


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## catmando

*My MTD*

Try to post a shot of the old MTD. With my hard drive crash I lost something. I have converted the pic from BMP. to TIFF. Couldn't do JPG.


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## guest2

Let's see if this works
<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&attachmentid=5026>


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## guest2

It looks great!! Well worth the $780!! You could probably get 2-3X that on ebay!


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## aegt5000

catmando...

Glad to see it is back up and running.
Fixing it was definitely the right choice, looks like it’s good to go
for another 20 years.


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## catmando

*20 More*

OK sixchows, what did you do to post the picture? Or is it a trade secret?

Ya now that I've mellowed out in my old age it will go another 20 years. Years ago I sheared off the 5/16" differential carriage bolts that support the spider gears by ramming it around. The transmission was my fault too. I knew that there was a fluid leak and should have check it more often. Couple of times I waited until the tractor wouldn't go good.

It has been a fun little machine.


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## guest2

catmando
All I did was download your pic and save it as a JPEG You might be able to do the same now. If you download it from here, it should save as a JPEG.

Then I used "post reply" and clicked on the saved pic at the "browse" box. After this post downloaded, I clicked on "edit" at the lower right. In the edit screen, I right clicked on the title of your pic and used "copy shortcut" Then I used right click "paste to insert it in the text portion of the thread. Once the http......part was copied I added < img (space) src = before the http and >at the end. Don't type the parenthesis or the word space just leave a blank space between the g and the s.
Don't use spaces between the < and img or src and = or at the end of the link before the > I had to use spaces here to get the formula to appear. The only space is the one between img and src.

SimpleJohn has a complete thread somewhere on here about posting pics.


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