Bolens G11 XL
- Thread starter Sawdust
- Start date
Well I bought it even a little less than listed. The good is everything works well, runs smooth idles up & down well, strong in all gears, almost new rear turfs, new deck belt, deck is in real good shape. The bad is I hate to make it a donor for my H16, monkeyized choke lever is the throttle, choke is manual & bad battery. These issues aren't serious at all. I'm glad I bought it.
I finally got to get some good seat time a few days ago. I'm still amazed at how smooth running this engine is. The GT performed well beyond my expectations. I had first wanted this for the engine for my H16 but now I'm going to do some minor repairs on it & keep it for what seems to be a dependable grass cutter.
I tackled various elevations & considering it's got turfs & it was wet out it did very well. On a few occasions it slipped a bit pulling up a hill in reverse. Once I got it back to the shop I noticed the drive belt slop was way beyond the factory limits. I went to make some adjustments & noticed the belt had a couple of cracks so I'll wait for this then install a new belt at the same time. It has a very nice turning radius & steers effortlessly. The mower engages smoothly & runs smooth as well. It has new blades & really cuts nice. I know this model was considered an entry level to the typical grass cutter but it feels much more heavily built than my H16. I love the long hood on this as well.
I ordered a throttle lever & installed that yesterday. The PO was using the factory choke lever for the throttle & rigged up a manual choke. I was glad & could keep the same lever on the choke & use it as intended. I hate having to remove those plastic red handles. I had a hard time getting the broken manual choke pull out of the dash plate. They also drilled a larger hole for that. I had to use a washer to install the throttle lever, my OCD kicked in so I added a washer to both mounting bolts to make it look better.
I went to start it up to make sure both levers worked well but no go just nothing. I have some wiring issues I didn't like especially since this is a repower. It ran so well I was going to wait & tackle this later. I have a red wire coming out of the ignition switch & then a black wire spliced into it going nowhere just hanging. I'm not sure if it came out of something while I was moving things around but I'll have to get a schematic of this engine & compare it to the GT schematic. I have a pet peeve when it comes to wiring. I have rebuilt three GT's & rewired all of them. I pull everything out & use the same colors & gauges so I guess I'll be doing this one as well.
I tackled various elevations & considering it's got turfs & it was wet out it did very well. On a few occasions it slipped a bit pulling up a hill in reverse. Once I got it back to the shop I noticed the drive belt slop was way beyond the factory limits. I went to make some adjustments & noticed the belt had a couple of cracks so I'll wait for this then install a new belt at the same time. It has a very nice turning radius & steers effortlessly. The mower engages smoothly & runs smooth as well. It has new blades & really cuts nice. I know this model was considered an entry level to the typical grass cutter but it feels much more heavily built than my H16. I love the long hood on this as well.
I ordered a throttle lever & installed that yesterday. The PO was using the factory choke lever for the throttle & rigged up a manual choke. I was glad & could keep the same lever on the choke & use it as intended. I hate having to remove those plastic red handles. I had a hard time getting the broken manual choke pull out of the dash plate. They also drilled a larger hole for that. I had to use a washer to install the throttle lever, my OCD kicked in so I added a washer to both mounting bolts to make it look better.
I went to start it up to make sure both levers worked well but no go just nothing. I have some wiring issues I didn't like especially since this is a repower. It ran so well I was going to wait & tackle this later. I have a red wire coming out of the ignition switch & then a black wire spliced into it going nowhere just hanging. I'm not sure if it came out of something while I was moving things around but I'll have to get a schematic of this engine & compare it to the GT schematic. I have a pet peeve when it comes to wiring. I have rebuilt three GT's & rewired all of them. I pull everything out & use the same colors & gauges so I guess I'll be doing this one as well.
Congrats on the new lawn barber 
What's that in your avatar? I think I saw one of those for sale locally and I think the guy said it was an MTD from the 70's. Were they even in business back then?
EDIT: Turns out it's not local to me. It's in Saskatchewan
www.kijiji.ca
What's that in your avatar? I think I saw one of those for sale locally and I think the guy said it was an MTD from the 70's. Were they even in business back then?
EDIT: Turns out it's not local to me. It's in Saskatchewan
Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds
Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.
www.kijiji.ca
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Those MTDs like that are super nice. I've always wanted one. 990? Lance Skeene is the resident MTD Expert
Yeah Floater mine is a MTD 990. There hard to come by, there very well built & parts are still out there. Here's a few before & after pics to inspire you.Congrats on the new lawn barber
What's that in your avatar? I think I saw one of those for sale locally and I think the guy said it was an MTD from the 70's. Were they even in business back then?
EDIT: Turns out it's not local to me. It's in Saskatchewan
Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds
Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.
It's a sweet looking rig but buddy wants $900 for the one I linked. A tad rich and way too far away for me, considering current projects, but I really like the looks of it that's why I recognized yours, it stuck in my mind. Kind of an art-deco grille.
You did a really nice restoration!
You did a really nice restoration!
