New to me 1656 aka H16

Here hopefully are the promised pics. Tires still have nubs and are not cracking yet. The blades don't appear to have ever cut grass, but the belt cover was stuffed with so many acorns the idler spring still held tension even though the belt was broke. I don't believe they could have put another acorn in there. http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194606&stc=1&d=1327332941 http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194607&stc=1&d=1327332941 http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194609&stc=1&d=1327332941 http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194608&stc=1&d=1327332941

A couple of more. Think I did ok for $100 and $60 in gas? http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194610&stc=1&d=1327334275 http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=194611&stc=1&d=1327334275

Thanks for all the positive comments. I am very happy with it so far.

I have learned something intresting maybe. I was looking in the sticky section at AC Delco filters for our machines and found pn pf2049 for the trans filter that I thought was NLA. Just for kicks I plugged it in to Rockauto and it came up sold in packs of 12 for around $7 ea. It is shown as non-stock item that ships direct from manufacturer. Think there is a chance that it will work? I was not able to verify if its actually available or not. Any info on this would be appreciated. This is a dead end, that part is a spin on which I guess some 1656's used. Sorry to cry wolf.

I been wondering about the big mufflers. Was it a heater core to heat the cozy cab? Glove dryer? I like to use the deck to clear leaves, I am afraid this one will blow em out of the way.

There is no sticker on the deck, all the parts diagrams I have seen show 2 ski's, this one only has one, Also has a ton of metal to the right of outer blade, at least 18 inchs from the blade tip. The shell is 55 inchs overall. The chute (which is barely in the pic) is welded on and looks factory, could have been added on by some skilled worker though. Can anyone id this one?

The big muffler is alot Quieter than the generic screw on replacement mufflers for sure! I also would guess it has a spark arrester built in too.I had an original h-14 with that muffler and I dont remember it excessively blowing anything on the ground around.That muffler is "out there" though when manuvering around things they take a beating from hitting things[I did it myself] if they haven't rusted and fallen off.I don't know what you mean by "skis" [the welded runners at each corner of the front of the deck?] there were alot of variables with the decks I have 5 decks and each differ to some degree,big roller in front of deck, different "runner' designs.Does the "piece" you refer to bolt in by the outlet? I have one that had that and I believe it was to prevent your foot from going in the chute to the blades.I removed mine as it clogged up the clippings.Some had a "deflector chute"welded on too I artfully removed mine with an angle grinder on the welds.The bolens decks are incredibly wide to begin with for only the 42 inch path they clear.If I have to transport I have to pull my deck to fit my trailer.I have a part number for a durable belt somewhere,I purchased mine at an HVAC supply house called WW Grainger.I believe it is 119 inches.you can sink some cash in a deck with bearings and idlers etc, but store it out of the weather and it will last a long time.The sitting out in the rain and snowdoes everything under the cover in rather Quickly,Sorry to praddle on,Nice machine.I love tubeframes Steve!!!

Thanks for the replies. Yep the ski's are the runners, or in this case runner. The chute does look to be angled the wrong way to me, more towards the front than back. No front roller on this one. I guess it was pack rats or some other wildlife that did most of the damage to this one. They packed it full of small acorns under the belt cover that held the dampness in. I have ordered a Gates Hi Power ll A112 114inch. belt. I think it is right, in the pic I tried a 108 inch I had on hand and it seems about 6 inchs short. All the 42 inch decks I checked take a 114in. I went to ebay for bearings at slightly less than 3 bucks a peice shipped. I don't expect much, but they should be better than the gritty ones in there now. I am wondering if I should pull the seal on one side like the ones I took out? I am leaning towards leaving them sealed, and just squirt a little greas in there. I guess someone put new blades on it, stored it and never used it again cause I can read the sharpie writing on them, and none of the paint is worn off. That and no welds (and its like therapy to me) is the main reason I am doing it. I don't think I will cut much grass with it, but my other tube frame deck is embarrassing loud. I love em too, I need to see about changing my handle.

My beck is the same. it is 55" wide and the chute does look like it is pointing towards the front. The belt is 114 5/32".

qub qadet said:

I been wondering about the big mufflers. Was it a heater core to heat the cozy cab? Glove dryer? I like to use the deck to clear leaves, I am afraid this one will blow em out of the way.

There is no sticker on the deck, all the parts diagrams I have seen show 2 ski's, this one only has one, Also has a ton of metal to the right of outer blade, at least 18 inchs from the blade tip. The shell is 55 inchs overall. The chute (which is barely in the pic) is welded on and looks factory, could have been added on by some skilled worker though. Can anyone id this one?

Click to expand...

My Bad ,the belt I purchased was a A112 also,the bearings on e-bay are the same brand as the ones I purchased locally at a bearing plase [except I needed them now and paid $7.50 each] they told me to keep the bearings sealed so I did,2 seasons and they are OK,The very older deck transmissions used straight cut gears and were considerably louder than the later models that have spiral cut gears.I have a green one from a old 1050 and it is noisy!!I just purchased gear box seals with help from the community here on the part number. Part number is CR brand 7443 Advance auto had them in stock,cheap insurance to keep gear lube from ruining a new belt.
This is a great place, I wish most of the car related boards I belong to were as helpful and civil as things are here.:trink40: Steve!!

[QUOTE=stevie they told me to keep the bearings sealed so I did,2 seasons and they are OK,

Did you put any grease through the zerk? Did you put the spacer between the bearings? I appreciate that seal part number. It also cross references to a National pn 470954 When I rebuilt the tiller I ruined 2 SKF aka CR seals, tried a National and it went right in. I bought some nos seals from Rick here and they were Nationals in Bolens packs, no problems there either. I could/should have ordered it with the belt and saved shipping. I replaced the gear oil and may have overfilled slightly, it is dripping some though. And for anyone intrested Rockauto has "wholesaler closeouts" available on these seals @ $1.58 ea.

I didn't grease the zerk as I figured there was nothing to accept the grease since the bearings were sealed.I didn't make a spacer or anything as I seem to remember the bearings just "seat" in the hub housing and are sandwiched by the pulley on top and blade on bottom, I do not remember if there were any "snap rings" used to hold the shaft in place it was a couple years ago and my long term memory is getting shorter and shorter,I know I pushed out the shaft from the blade side [after removing the keyway] leaving the pulley on shaft.I tried to remove a pulley with a puller and broke the pulley,so I did it from the other side.I did hit the housing attaching bolts with a torch to heat them up because I didn't want to break any off in the housing.
Thanks for the heads up on the seals I have not tried to install them yet[winter busy work for a cold evening] I get things from ROCK often I'll maybe put a few natl's on my next order if they are available.I replaced the seals in my one deck a few years ago because the gear oil it was throwing ruined a 20 dollar belt.The bearing place measured it and gave me ones in bulk[no part#] thats why I asked here for a number,the bearing place is hit and miss on their willingness to help at the counter lately. Good Luck Steve!!!!

Mine is dripping slightly from the input shaft. I judged it to need nearly a funnel full of gear lube with the fill turned up, it didn't hold it all and was still coming out the plug when I put the plug in with the gear box turned like it sits. So it may go away when the level gets right. It is not leaking from the bottom yet. I have a partially sheared key in the input shaft that I am dreading. But it needs to come out. I saw a post on this here somewhere, but haven't been able to find it again yet. There was a split pipe type spacer between each of my spindle bearings, I guess I am going to leave it out. The IPL's I,ve seen show 2 removable peices between the bearings, but I don't think the big ones come out of my housings. I have a notebook of current seal and bearing part numbers for, rear end, flat top tiller, and most of the deck. When I complete it I will post it.

Thanks for that on the filter. They used 2 types of filters on the 1656, From what I can tell if your Serial number starts with a one its a spin on (pf-2049), if it starts with a two (like mine) it uses an inline filter that looks more like a fuel filter which is NLA. There are threads here on changing back to a spin on set up, which I guess is the only way to go. Thanks again Don