I have two 169's...
The working one is from October 1974 and has the original engine. Apparently it is a special run as it has a Manual Lift, the factory was out of HydroLift parts at that time and needed to ship orders to dealers. The dealers got a discount on their invoice and were supplied with a Part # for a retrofit kit (The HydroLift Parts) to order at a later date, I have a Factory to Dealer letter regarding this issue.
The second 169 is in engine swap mode now. Unfortunately the PO had done a 70's Dodge Go Mango rattlecan sprayover of the IH Yellow. If I remember correctly that one is a bit newer & toward the end of the 169 run maybe 1976.
I use them to mow (have 2 50C decks and a 42 cast front that is my favorite) 2 acres of lawn & 3 acres mix of field grass & meadow. Sometimes I let the field grass go to over 20" tall in areas but the decks just mow it down and in 4 passes it is all mulched.
The meadow sometimes gets overgrown with Russian Olive an invasive species of brush that grows woody trunks about wrist size & 8 foot high. The power of my tractor can just knock them down and decks can just chew them up! Rarely do I get out the chainsaw Love it and great seat time!
Use 42" Blade to plow my 800 foot single lane paved driveway. Can move 12" of heavy snow, over that I have to get it plowed because the side drifts get too high to make it wide enough for a car. To remedy that I got a QA42 Snow Thrower but its mounted on a NF mount, have the parts to swap over to WF but pulley is frozen on shaft and not allowing the plate to be removed. Breaking out the torch soon.
Tom
Newton NJ
