Another piece of the jigsaw...

[meadowfield 2,758]

I'm trying to sort out road registration of my C-101 and in order to get an age related registration plate in the UK you have to have proof of manufacture/import into the country.

Those nice folks at Toro have not only sent me a headed letter confirming the age and manufacture but also a cover note to explain the 'odd' serial numbers.

Dear Mr. Smith,

Attached is a copy of a letter from our Technical Services Manager. The following is additional information regarding the product in question.

If there is a question concerning our product database not referencing the 91-10K892 model directly, in the pre-electronic days at the time, was “understoodâ€Â. A model number with a “9†in the next-to-last position = built in Belgium. If a “0â€Â= built in USA.

As an anecdote, the plant in Belgium was a final assembly plant, not a manufacturing plant. All of the parts for the tractors were actually made in the USA and shipped to Belgium, where they were painted and assembled. These were what we called KD (Knocked Down) models.

Best regards,

Liz R.

Toro Customer Care

Some of you may recall the trying to work out my serial number a few years ago and it was thought perhaps it was a mis stamp.

Now we know !

mark

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,284]

Thats some cool info Mark. I bet the USA guys are real jealous as we can not get a registration for our tractors to be used legally over the road.

Mike......

[Jake Kuhn 1,579]

Thats pretty cool

[sorekiwi 761]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing that Mark.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,162]

Glad to hear you're finally making progress, Mark - but...........

That numbering system didn't start until 1976 and the "9" very well may apply from then on, but that doesn't explain the models like '74/'75 3 speed Raiders, the C-140, etc. that were never built / sold in the USA. There has to be a model number list specifically for the tractors built at the Oevel facility. I guess I'll have to resume my quest to find that list.

The "All of the parts for the tractors were actually made in the USA and shipped to Belgium" part is not technically true. It's not hard to see that the seats and steering wheels on many models were sourced locally and not shipped over from the USA.

[meadowfield 2,758]

Terry,

Yes agree - hence the comment another piece....

My brother has a raider 10 that is a 72' model year - decals and engine serial/model all tie up, model serial says 74' Raider 12 !

Another friend has a 74' Raider 14, Toro have confirmed this is a 76' C-160 !

That Belgian model list would sure be handy.

Mark