OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Ride On Greenfield identification

Hi all,

I have a project/s that i am about to start on which involves a Greenfield ride on (which i will start a post on shortly). Before i do start though, i was hoping to get a little information from the experts amongst us here on my two ladies.

Can anyone give me the model of these two and a rough date of manufacture?

Both look to be very similar units, there is a difference in decals for starters, other than this, they look to be the same?

Can anyone notice any components etc that may be missing from these?

Any feedback would be much appreciated, Thankyou in advance.

Hi Blended, welcome here, you have a fine pair of Anniversary models there that look to be in pretty good condition with years of working life left in them

Thank you kindly for the welcome, and for the reply Norm!

Can i ask, if you may know, what would be the difference in decals due to, and seats? simply different year models possibly?

Hi Blended, I don't know how long they made the Anniversary for but it was a lot of years. The decal with the green background is obviously the older one as they used the other one on the Evo models and I think that is still being used, or it was up until Cox took them over in July last year. Seat could have been changed or Greenfield grabbed whatever seats they could at the time. Also they varied slightly in other ways, some had the running boards some didn't

Gday Blended and Norm,

My knowledge of these and other later model Greenies is poor indeed. My own area of interest has been the earlier machines. That said, it’s high time I got better acquainted with these later models. Let the learning begin!

The anniversary model celebrated the 21st anniversary of the Greenfield. The company started in 1966 so the anniversary model kicked off in 1987? It was much more than a marketing gimmick. It heralded a complete revolution of the design (and the design philosophy) of the make. It was a complete re-think. Up to that time Greenfield used a welded frame design. The anniversary model is a bolt-together design with the chassis components pressed/stamped and then bolted together. I’ve often wondered why Theo made this change. I can only guess that it offered more automation (in the stamping of the individual components) and a less skilled workforce to bolt them together. Also, the new Australian Standard for ride-on mowers was just around the corner. Perhaps this design change gave an opportunity to address the new requirements.

Perhaps a good clue as to the age of your machines can be gleaned by finding out the age of the engines. This assumes the engines are the originals. They look as though they might be. The age of the engine can be found in the code which is either stamped on the fan cowl above the spark plug or on a plate riveted to the cowl.

Looks you’ve scored a couple of nice machines! What’s your plans for them?

Cheers

Excellent reply prd, thank you!

I had given google a good hit when acquiring these but found very little information on them outside of what you have mentioned above. The is an "88" decal on one of the ladies (pictured below) wondering if this, even though just a sticker, plays some part in this ones age/DOM?

Regarding the engine numbers, i have used these numbers quite a bit in the past helping dad identify required parts for push mowers but am yet to look into these ones. Thanks for the reminder, i shall do this tonight.

Plans.. I have a few ideas, some notes on paper for what i would like to do. The fact i have two complete, running examples i feel that one should be completely restored.

My main idea for these was a little left field. Dad wanted to build one up for racing, i wasnt so keen on that but to more so push my mechanical, electrical, fabrication and limited engineering capabilities to the limit and fit one with a motorcycle engine, much like the MowZuki

Not everyones cuppa-tea, i understand that but im keen to give it a try. I chose (with little knowledge of Greenfields) this model from a google search purely due to its body and chassis shape.

I will post up tonight the engine numbers!

- Wayne

Hi Wayns, please don't cut up good unmolested Greenies, if you wish to go racing get hold of a wreck, blown motor (you are going to chop most of it up anyway) and build the racer from that. You can offload one of these if running and working no problems except you may have to wait till spring when the grass starts growing

Hi Norm, Definitely not heading down the racing scene mate, not really interested in banging around a paddock in the dirt and dust.

I do have a very creative side which i wish to bring out as well as pushing myself mechanically to see what i can achieve.

If you can envisage a completely restored Greenie, front to back. Fresh paint, decals etc, pretty much as it would have rolled off the production line, but with a few subtle changes that gets you interested and looking deeper and deeper.

I don't plan on butchering nor rushing, but to complete this project to the best of my ability.

As mentioned above, it wont be for everyone, but hopefully it gets a little interest and sparks some creative discussions.

Thanks so much for your input Norm, Appreciate it mate.

Hi Wayne, there has been a lot of beautiful restorations done over the time, mostly on the earlier Tractor models but a well restored Anniversary is always a beautiful thing. Don't rush it, and another alternative is to find another wreck, they do come up, restore the Chassis underside in that one and swap over the good bits from one you want to pull to bits.This way you can get everything underneath up to the standard you want before you start pulling the complete one apart.

Engine details:

G’day again Blended,

So 4/88 and 9/89.

The 88 decal is a dead giveaway of the build year of that machine (good ‘ol bicentennial year. expo 88 too). I’m assuming it’s the machine with the 4/88 engine.

It’s a fair bet those are the original engines and probably your best indicator of the age of the second machine. Folks here suggest adding up to 6 months (maybe more) from the date of engine build when trying to estimate the age of a machine. This allows for shipping and storage of the engine before it’s use by the OEM. This suggests this machine is a very late ‘89 or early ‘90 build.

Looks like a couple of very tidy machines you’ve got there. I’m curious to see what you do with them.

Cheers,

Thanks again prd for the great reply!

I have taken the body off the "88" last night and from my somewhat limited experience with Ride-on's/Greenfields i would happily say that this machine is original.

The "89" i haven't yet dove too far into, i plan on removing the body panels over the next few days in order to thoroughly pressure clean both of them before i do anything else.

I also grabbed a (from what i can tell) a Tractor 11 last night as well. $25 was to hard to pass up lol.

With some great advice from Norm, i think i will use this one as the donor chassis for my project.

Hi Wayne, just be aware that there are differences between the Tractor and Anniversary, some things won't just swap over. From memory the chassis is different

Hey Norm, 100% correct, after a bit of an inspection, they are quite different. The Tractor chassis looks more "user friendly" for a project along the lines of what i will be undertaking.

I'm sure you will be pleased to hear that

Hi Wayne, yes I feel much more comfortable in the knowledge that you aren't going to chop up either of those Greenies that are in surprisingly good condition, they have years of good working life left in them. Much happier to see you have a play with the Tractor and for $25 you could never go wrong. Only big issue with these Greenies is getting the rear wheels off. On a Tractor once I had to eventually cut the rear axle out of the chassis so I could get the axle in my press to get them off. I think in the end it took me a couple of days to achieve it. Probably one of the worst feature on a Greenie. The ones with the bolt on wheels means you can remove the wheel and then get a puller onto the wheel boss to get it off

Thanks for the reply Norm!

I will start a build/documentation/conversation/ideas thread later tonight with a few more pics of the ladies.

I do so agree Blended!!

The Tractor design is much easier to maintain and I found the welded/fabricated Tractor frame lent itself well to the the modifications needed for the ztr experiment.

I’m v curious about what you have in mind for your machine!

Cheers,

Thanks for the input prd, i am currently in the body off/pressure clean part of the pre pre pre pre build.

Hi PRD, just going back a bit, how is the ZTR project going, that machine impresses me, if only Greenfield had gone that path they would have been on a winner. No costly wheel drive boxes, just the most basic simple design and they had all the bits there

Hey Members!

Just wondering if there was ever a register or the likes of engine/chassis numbers combinations manafactured?

Would like to see if my two are as they were new PLUS looking at another complete Tractor and wondering if it is as was or has been modified at some point in its life.

Hope everyone is enjoying there Easter long weekend!