75 Kendall Avenue, Framingham, Massachusetts 01701
During May 1990, I purchased a Model B Beaver riding tractor at
the annual engine show held at Dunstable, Massachusetts. Although
it was operational at that time, the entire machine had been
painted and repainted with colors that were not the original ones.
In addition, some of its component parts were handed to me when I
bought it, and some were later found to be missing.
A request published in GEM resulted in receipt of a parts list
from a Beaver owner, and a copy of the instruction book for its
Wisconsin Model BKN engine was purchased from a vendor at one of
the engine shows held in Massachusetts during 1990. Correct colors
for the machine were determined from several owners of unmodified
Beaver tractors.
According to a list of Wisconsin engine serial numbers, it
appears that this particular engine was assembled during January of
1956.
Before the machine was cleaned up, and prior to its repainting,
it was necessary to find a motor belt guard and a special
shouldered bushing. These were located and installed, but a
replacement for a missing plastic hood (4470-2401) has not been
found.
About 15 months after purchasing the Beaver garden tractor, the
wheels had been sandblasted, most of the frame had been smoothed
down, two rear wheel fenders which were not original had been
removed, gasoline leaks had been corrected, and a ball joint link
had been replaced. Also, there were new rubber handles on the
steering lever and on the tool control lever. Magnets in the
Fairbanks-Morse magneto were recharged by John Rex.
A decal was acquired from a Beaver owner in New Hampshire and
installed on the belt guard; a new Champion D-16 spark plug,
together with a new ignition cable assembly, were installed. The
oil bath air cleaner was cleaned and its body and bowl were
repainted.
After determining the carburetor to be a Marvel-Schebler unit, I
disassembled and cleaned it. Short lengths of pipe and an elbow
found between the engine and its muffler were removed and the
muffler was reinstalled correctly on a 21/2
long pipe nipple.
Restoration work on the Beaver tractor was completed when the
machine was painted gray, the wheels yellow, and the seat red.
