Auction visit yields rare find for Angus vintage vehicle fan
An Angus mechanic made the find of a lifetime at a recent vehicle auction in the county.
Aiden Radysh-Haasis, 17, has long had an interest in anything mechanical, from vintage vehicles to motorsport and is in the process of setting up his own business.
As well as carrying out small repair jobs, he buys, restores and sells a wide range of machines including mowers, quads, dirt bikes, motorbikes and some classic cars, sourcing from online markets and auctions.
It was during a visit to one auction that he made a lucky find – an early garden tractor, produced in Wisconisin, USA, which is believed to be one of just three in the UK.
Aiden said: “I made a fascinating discovery of one of the rarest garden tractors currently in the UK. A 1957 Bolens Super Ride-A-Matic 21HD, hidden at a local auction among a collection of American garden tractors I got. it has the original rear hitch and rare front-mount linkage for a reel mower.
"Nobody knew what it was and neither did I until after taking it home and researching what it could be. I believe the previous owner didn’t know either what it was and painted it to match the rest of his wheelhorse collection.
“It was disguised in red as the tractor had been repainted, concealing its historical significance and allowing it to pass unknown. Originally they were green and yellow, and the tractor still has the original green paint underneath confirming what it is.”
The earliest Ride-A-Matic tractors appeared in 1956, and the particular model Aiden found was produced for only a year.
He continued: “Bolens only began importing Ride-A-Matic tractors to the UK from 1959, with later square-bonnet models, which are more common but still very collectible.
“The early Ride-A-Matic series, especially the rounded-bonnet first models, are extremely rare outside the US. Surviving examples in the UK must have been imported privately at a later date, making them highly sought-after by collectors.
“The series helped establish Bolens as a pioneering manufacturer of compact, ride-on garden machinery, and these early models are valued today for their engineering, durability, and historical significance. The Ride-A-Matic series helped establish Bolens as a pioneering manufacturer of compact, ride-on garden machinery, and these early models are valued today for their engineering, durability, and historical significance.”
He added: "It is believed to be only one in three currently of the rounded bonnet series in the UK, and quite possibly the only one of the Bolens Super Ride-A-Matic series. Numbers are uncertain and can’t be verified as no one knows, and from online it looks like they don’t exist in the uk, but from contacting collectors who specialize in the Ride-A-Matic tractors they only knew of two more.”
The tractor now undergoing restoration at Aiden’s Glen Prosen workshop, from where he documents his activities on social media. A budding motorsport driver, he shares his activities at @Road2ARacer while details of his custom-built vehicles and rare collectibles can be found at @AidensMotorAdventures. His third channel, @LiveLifeandLearnMechanics, focuses on hands-on mechanical work.