# Bolens 1250



## freeisforme

Hi, First post here!
I came across a tractor the other day, a Bolens 1250, it's been sitting for at least a decade after its last owner passed. 
It's in a garage, hasn't run in years but is complete. It's got a front end loader, snow plow, deck, disc, cultivator, plow, drawbar, and weight box.
The deck don't look like it's seen action in many years, and I can't spin the driveshaft by hand. 

I wasn't really looking for a complete package, nor a project but it's kind of neat to say the least. It doesn't have any spark, and the gas smells pretty stale, so at the minimum I'm looking at a tune up and cleaning out the carburetor. 
I am after a machine to pull a garden cart or small trailer, and to move my boat in and out of the back yard. My yard isn't large enough to justify a garden tractor for mowing, my lawn is only 90 x 40'. 

It belongs to a friend of the family, who will most likely never do anything with it. My question is, what's a fair price? I have no idea what one of these goes for. I've seen a few in really rough shape go off on eBay for $400 or so, but this is complete, has many attachments, and has the loader on the front. It's only drawback is that it's been sitting so long.


----------



## Steevo

Wow, I'd be on that like stink on $#!t.
What a find!


----------



## freeisforme

Its still there, I've been hinting around trying to get a price but haven't been given one yet. They've been hinting around that they'd like to swap it and all the attachments for a new tractor to cut grass with. He said what he needs is about a $1700 machine. I'm not sure it's worth $1700 to me to just pull my boat in and out of the yard. I can get a junk Sears tractor to do that and not have something that I have worry about taking space in the garage. The Bolens takes up the space of a car with all the attachments and the loader.


----------



## urednecku

Sounds like a nice find...the implements alone would cost a nice bit. Would there be a chance they would settle for something in the $1000 range, like this? http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_115812_______54722|54723|115812?navSource=giftStore&giftStoreLevel=&identifier=L%26G2009MowersRiders&categoryId=54723&categoryIdAncestor=54722&listingPage=true&Special=false


----------



## freeisforme

I think he's brainwashed that John Deere is the only brand that's any good. 

I offered him a 20hp Cub Cadet that was about 3 years old but I think it has to be green.

I got the impression he's been to the local Home Depot and has one in mind. 

I offered him $1100 cash and that didn't do it, for what I need, that's my limit, although having the front loader would come in handy at times, if it all can be gotten working again. The machine looks pretty decent and has been stored in a barn but keep in mind it hasn't run in years. The battery is gone, the deck will need bearings, the fuel tank and carb will no doubt need some serious cleaning. 
He does have some spare parts, it looks like he may have bought a parts machine and stripped it for spare parts at some point.


----------



## Steevo

$1700 is not at all unreasonable for this tractor and the attachments.
You could sell off what you don't need and get half of that back, and still have the tractor with loader.
The loader alone is worth what he wants.


----------



## freeisforme

Well, I bought myself that Bolens 1250, after some haggling I got the whole package for $1600, with him buying and putting on a set of new front tires so I could move it. 
It took three trips with my 12' trailer to to get everything. 
The total list is as follows:
1250 tractor with Johnson Loader
Bucket
Snow plow
Mower deck
disc harrow
1 bottom plow
cultivator
spare engine
spare dash
spare fuel tank
spare front axle assembly
seat cover, (looks new)
weight box, three point hitch
spare set of rims, front and rear.
tire chains
spare transaxle
spare hood

It looks like he must have stripped out another machine at some point. The spare motor is complete minus the carb and exhaust, the trans is missing the Hydro pump and fan. 
If it runs as is, which I don't doubt it will, I don't see the need for any of the other parts other than for future use. Right now I have two garage bays filled with tractor and parts. 

One thing I did find out is that its been sitting since at least 1983, when the owner died. The place was locked up and boarded up till his wife died last fall. I suppose there's even some non tractor parts in the lot.

I'll be some time sorting through and getting all this working. Other than the deck, all of the attachments look unused. The deck is seized, but I haven't dug into that to see why. Probably won't unless I get bored. I don't have enough grass to ever justify a riding mower. The loader and rear hitch will be the only thing I'll likely use, and if I clear out enough of the yard, maybe the disc, cultivator and plow. 
I'm really not sure if the blade is a snow plow or a dozer blade, it's pretty heavy duty looking and straighter than the average snow plow. The snow plow and deck say Bolens on them, the rest of the attachments are Brinly made. 

The loader bucket is a two piece unit, it looks like the front shell unbolts leaving just hay spikes too. The bucket is about 60" wide or so. 

Did I mention this thing is HEAVY. I thought I was going to break my trailer on the way home. It had my single axle converted pop up camper flat bed maxed out, not only with the tractor, but with the second load of attachments as well. 

I ended up making a third trip to get the spare parts and some other small parts.


----------



## ljohn6

Great Find you'll love it and find more use for that front end loader than you think add a draw bar to the 3 pt hitch for moving your boat.
good luck and check out the manuals on sonnys-bolens.com 

John


----------



## freeisforme

Not much progress on the 1250, I got it home and pushed it in the garage and it's sat there all summer. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take up the whole garage. I'm thinking I should have found something smaller. 

Between paying to store all the attachments and the tractor itself taking up all the free space in my garage, I've not been able to move around it at all. It barely fits in the space I have to keep it here. 

I'd hate to put it outside, the weather would no doubt take serious toll on it there. I've been gathering parts slowly for it, mostly just little items but so far I've got over $2k in it and haven't had time to work on it. I'm not even sure it will work for what I wanted it for in the first place, it maybe too big to get in and around the yard. 
I've been using an old Dynamark to move the trailers with, it's fine but the idiot that engineered that thing put the gas cap on top of the hood, where it takes on rain water in the tank. The tank has filled up with rain more than once and since it sits for so long, it rusts up the carb before I get to drain it out. I need a machine that can sit out and handle wet weather, full time. They don't do me much good if I have to take time to rearrange the garage to get to the tractor every time I need it. I need to just be able to hop on and turn the key and grab the trailer needed.


----------



## chrpmaster

It sounds like you got a pretty good deal on the tractor with all the stuff that came with it. If you spend some time and get it running you will be in a better position to determine if it is too big for your needs. If so once its running you should easily be able to sell it for what you have in it. 

Few tractors will sit outside uncovered for very long and fire up easily. Plan to either tarp it or somehow keep it under cover. If you never need the attachments and mower deck they are all very saleable in the spring time. 

If you get a chance we all love seeing pics.

Andy


----------



## freeisforme

I'll try to get a few pics next time I have it out of the garage. Its sort of buried right now. I took the attachments over to a storage building since I really didn't figure being outdoors would do them much good. One of the problems is that the loader adds about 3' of length to the machine, plus another few feet for the weight box. It won't fit in the shed at all, it's too long and too wide and I have to pull the weight box and loader bucket to get it in the garage. 
The carb will no doubt need to be cleaned out real well and the tank looks like molasses inside. I found a good used tank that's clean. The front tires are new, the back tires are still fine, and I bought a new seat cover for it. I replaced all the belts, but noticed that the PTO rod has a spring on it that's broken. I have a new rod but it looks like the motor has to come out to install it, may even have to pull the front axle? I'm not too concerned with that since I most likely will never use anything besides the loader. I'd like to loose the weight box too, it gets in the way of putting a drawbar and trailer ball on the back. The last owner had the weight box sitting on top of the three point hitch, with a ball in the tab on the weight box and anther in a drawbar behind it. 

It actually came with a trailer too, it was made from an old 1930 something pickup truck, they welded a coupler to the torque tube and removed the driveshaft. It was pretty rough so I found it a new home the first chance I got. 

The deck has a tight or near frozen spindle but I suppose it's just a matter of replacing the bearings. It was the one that was stored near the ground where I found it, and it looked like it had been there for a long time. Of course, it maybe just rusted belts, I've not removed the cover yet. The disc looks new, as do most of the other attachments. 
I'd really have to sit down and make a list of all the attachments that came with it, I think it's pretty much the whole Brinley and FMC line of accessories minus the rear tiller. 

My need of the Bolens lessened even more today, I picked up a running Simplicity today. It isn't pretty but works as is. I can park two of them in the space that the 1250 takes up, not to mention the attachments. 

I kind of hate to sell off the attachments, if I decide to sell the 1250, the complete assortment of attachments may be what sells it. 
A few will also work behind my John Deere too. The snow blade and disc are the most likely to be used. I do like having the loader around but I don't see needing it very often.


----------



## chrpmaster

I agree that you may not need the tractor and selling it is probably your best option. If it were me I would research ebay and Craigslist to see what the individual attachments sell for. 

The problem you have with selling it as a group is both price and if the buyer actually needs all the attachments. Most people may be attracted to the tractor with loader but if the price is higher because of all the extra attachments it could be too much money for many buyers especially if they don't need the extras. Few people I know actually use all those attachments without having several tractors. 

If you just clean out the existing tank and the carb you may be surprised how easily it starts and runs. Then you have more parts to sell. The same could be true of the mower deck. It may just need cleaned up and greased. These tractors are very collectable and the parts go well with the restoration gang. You may find in your research that the loader would fit several models of tractors and may be worth more being sold separate of the tractor.

Andy


----------



## freeisforme

I pulled the tank off today, it's got about 4" of what looks almost like gritty tar in the bottom, the carb bowl is about the same, full of rust and scale. The housing is badly pitted. It will most likely need another carb to be right. Even the fuel line was clogged up. It fires right up with a shot of gas sprayed into the intake though. Compression is 142 psi. 
I drained out the old oil, it looked pretty clean, no water, nothing floating. Refilled with straight 30 weight non detergent for now. 
I have the carb soaking but it don't look promising. I used two lawn tractor batteries for now wired parallel to crank it up. I was able to keep it running by putting gas in a spray bottle and shooting it into the intake port. I didn't try to move it since its sort of trapped where it sits by a bunch of other stuff. ( I could barely get to the carb side to work on it last night, it looked like rain so I wasn't going to unload the whole shed outside).
I have a tank from a part machine, the carb and hydro pump were gone off that machine. 

Does anyone know what size car battery fits in these off hand? 

Anyone have a good carb for an S12D?


----------



## chrpmaster

Is the rest of the carb full of crud or just the bowl? I had a problem on a Briggs that sat outside for several years. The bowl was very rusty but before replacing it I wire wheeled it out really good and used it. I also had to replace the fuel lines but those were only a couple bucks at an auto parts store. It has worked fine for over a year now. 

Andy


----------



## freeisforme

The bottom of the carb is all pitted, it looks like its been at the bottom of the ocean. I cleaned it up but there's a lot of metal missing.

The fuel bowl is usable but pitted, not rusted through anyhow, but I doubt if the rest of the carb will survive. The fuel lines are no big deal. 

The area where the float hinges is nearly gone. and there's not much metal left around the bottom threads, I doubt it will seal to the bowl. 
I filled the original tank with some carb cleaner and will let it sit but even if I get all the dirt and varnished fuel out the rust will always be an issue. 
Did anything else use the same carb?


----------



## junkpile

I can't help you with the carb, it took me a year to find one for mine, which came minus it's carb. 

I have to agree that if you sell it, sell all the attachments separately, I sold my disc, alone for $400, sold my one bottom plow for $250 and took a snow plow in trade. I only gave $1500 for my 1250, and it needed a motor overhaul, the deck was shot, and it needed 4 tires. But it had a fresh repaint on it. The guy that had it was 3/4 of the way through restoring it. The carb was lost at a shop the last owner left it with to rebuild. The motor cost me about $600 to rebuild, between machine shop labor and parts. I've got over $3400 in it now and am not done yet. I still need to find a rebuildable lift ram and would like to add a front end loader. 
It took two days to fix up my deck, it was bent and rusted, and had been left outside to rust away. 
I found a new seat cover for mine on eBay, I had to replace my hood, replace the front axle pivot and bushings, and install a good used hydrostat pump. 

It sounds to me like you got one great deal on yours. If the worst you have to deal with is your carb and some fuel lines, your in great shape. Those are some tough tractors that have never been matched. I don't think there's anything in it's class that matched up with it. A bit more hp would be nice, and maybe a bit more ground speed, but I understand the newer models had those issues covered. 
The Bolens Large frame machines sort of border on compact tractor size as they dwarf most garden tractors.


----------



## nhtess

Bolens 1250
Looking for a good mower deck and any leads on a loader bucket. I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks,
Marc

Weare, New Hampshire


----------



## OneReallyBigDog

Howdy,
Interesting reading here.
I too have a Bolens 1250 with a front loader and my question is: can anyone tell me where to find a trans dipstick for mine? I got in a hurry and took mine off and filled with fluid and forgot to put it back on. Of course, it fell off my trailer when I left the church lot where I used it. If no idea on the part, do you have an idea of the thread size for something that would fit it? 
Thanks a million

Anthony in Aurora, MO


----------

