Going way back to 1850, Bolens, out of Port Washington, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee, came out with its first powered garden tractor in 1919. This articulating 1960s Bolens Lawn Keeper mower is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Lakeville, Minnesota, and the seller is asking $500. Here is the original listing, and thanks for nothin’ to yours truly for sending in this tip.
This is a pretty niche market, vintage lawn equipment, but anything with an engine (or motor, as in electric), and anything that’s at least a two or three decades old is fair game in my world. We’ve already seen quite a few garden tractors and vintage mowers here on Barn Finds over the years, along with chain saws, outboard motors, and all kinds of unusual non-muscle-car-powered contraptions. I’m not going to restore a car or a truck, but I’ll at least try to tackle something like this Lawn Keeper. This fun l’il mower is 260 pounds and about 4.5 feet long.
Bolens is a great name in tractors, and the company was bought out after WWII by FMC Corporation. Most of these mowers/tractors are labeled as Bolens by FMC, or just show both names somewhere. I don’t know the exact year or model of this mower, but I believe this is likely a model 914, made in 1968 and 1969. The seller shows a great photo of the tag showing the model number and serial number, or where they should be, but they’re both blank, unfortunately. The huge seat isn’t original; it would have had a lower back on it, but it should be reasonably easy to find a more factory-looking seat somewhere.
I believe the wheels (rims) should be white on this era, although some other years of the Lawn Keeper mowers were white and red with red wheels. I’d want to restore this one back to how it looked when it came out of the factory on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. With a 16-inch turning radius, it was pretty revolutionary at the time, especially for the 1960s. There was a bigger and fancier Estate Keeper with a full engine shroud on the back and a bigger engine, but this one could mow any lawn I had to deal with. If it’s good enough for Arnie Palmer, a guy who knew a thing or two about huge grassy areas, it’s good enough for me.
The engine should be, I believe, a 198-cc Tecumseh 5-hp single-cylinder, although some earlier Lawn Keepers had a 6-hp Briggs engine. It’s equipped with a 2-speed transmission with both forward and reverse, and has a 28″ mower. The seller says it runs and works well, but the transmission can be touchy, and one tire loses air, so it needs help. Are any of you into vintage lawn equipment, and if so, do you have a current restoration project going?
Boy oh boy,Howard sure would look good on that..
If Hank Hill doesn’t get there first.
Sure learning about small vehicle and motorized devices coming out of the midwest on this site. What a huge manufacturing market that was. Sad it’s gone, with the jobs.
Mid century modern kitchens, furniture, tables and tools are in demand, maybe it extends to these. Be cool to have and put to work