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baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:09 pm
by les70
i found one of these near me. it has a tiller and a disc and a ripper attachments. has been updated with newer honda engines. it just needs some new drive belts and a little love. dose anyone have one of these or know about them? they seem pretty simple, do they make good garden tractors?

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:16 pm
by Eugene
The Baird Beaver tractor has come up a couple of times on this board. Type in "beaver" the search function at the top of the page.

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:43 pm
by les70
ok thanks, will do.

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:36 pm
by BigBill
Tiller steering??

Manufactured by the US Baird Company in Stratford, CT. They also manufactured chuckers, drum tumblers and foreslides too. There out of business now but they were family owned. I believe the only machine tool business thats still in business in the Bridgeport/Stratford area is Moore Tool there the last one left. Bullard Machine Tool Company, Bridgeport Machines, Producto, Bridgeport Brass Shop, Carpenter steel, IH body, ect are long gone.

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:19 pm
by les70
it has the steering wheel option on it. it is a cable that was attatched from the steering wheel to the gearbox through a tube. it was a very poor setup as you can imagine. the previous owner tried to make it a solid steering shaft but tried to make a 90 degree bend with only two u-joints whitch just binds up. i want to convert it back to tiller steering by fabricating a new steering handle close to original. i need to put up some pics of it. dose anyone have a pic of the front end of one with tiller steering?

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:27 pm
by Eugene
I did a web search for "baird beaver garden tractor". First two hits had photos of the tiller steering system.

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:16 am
by les70
the tiller steering was the most common set up. wheel steer came later in the production run. didnt seem like a great set up by using a cable attached to the steering wheel to turn the gearbox.
i went to go pick it up. besides the ugly and very poor steering set up and a run to kragen for a drive belt, it ran pretty well. it just needs a new steering set up( probably to tiller steering), tiller tines, and a little love from a welder, grinder and possably some spray paint. it should make a pretty good cheap garden tractor

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Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:36 pm
by P B G
Cool tractor, you could probably find a 90 degree gear drive of some sort, maybe even with a reducer to provide something like power steering (more turns less effort)

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:59 am
by les70
a 90 degree gear box sounds like a good idea but finding one might be hard and pricey. i think tiller steer is the way to go. i will get rid of all that iron above the engine, keep it original looking, and i can steer with one hand instead of using two to crank the wheel. and you dont see hardly any tractors with tiller steer.

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:02 am
by BigBill
Me, my dad and my older brother worked for US Baird manufacturing machine tools long after they gave up the family tractor business.

You can get an affordable 90 degree gear box from; www.surpluscenter.com

Re: baird beaver garden tractor?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 2:29 am
by les70
i just got the idea of using a steering coloum from a garden tractor possibly from a cub cadet. you think that will work?