WOW, that sucker is solid metal. That was easily as bad as any of the Ariens or Craftsman 32"s I've loaded.

It's in pretty bad shape. The chute rotation u joint is shot, it's missing the shift handle and control rod so they bent the clutch rod to go from the left side handle to the right side control !! The speed shifter is held with a bungee cord. It's raining out so I didn't spend much time looking at it.

I think this is going to be a parts machine but I'll have to wait till the rain lets up to drag it out to the shed and look it over good.
Think the oil problem is just a blown head gasket.
Model 835 Ser# 735975 trying to figure out the year. Seems it could be a 1967 or 1968
The engine is a 7hp, Aug of 1967 Briggs

Photo from the ad.

Man, it looks heavy KaF!

It's too bad the previous owner(s) didn't see the value in maintaining a vintage piece of old iron.

When you get that old Briggs running, maybe you'll have a renewed interest in keeping her whole

The Briggs runs according to the owner. I just haven't tried to start it up.

There is a sister machine (Wards) on craigslist for $50 asking so maybe between the two of them ... offer $25 for the other one.
At 25 to 50 bucks it's worth it just for the shifter handle and rod !!

$50 machine: Newer 5hp Tec engine and no chute control crank rod or belt cover. BUT it does have a drift cutter, one !

On mine the back of the transmission body where the clutch and shift rods go through looks like someone took a cutting torch and cut it out ??
There are two large angle iron pieces welded on that bolt it to the sides.

Anyone know if the transmission body top, sides and back were all one part and only the bottom was removable for access to it's "guts" ??

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Hopefully Spectrum will swing by and let you know what's cross-compatible.

Otherwise...before you know it, your new Gilson collection will start growing exponentially

I can't tell...is the U-Joint for the chute crank there?

Hard to tell without pictures, but check and see if you have this "sidewinder" shift control set-up as shown below in the pictures. These came from the factory this way and these type of non-traditional Gilson machines come up from time to time - particularly on 5HP 1969 or so Montgomery Ward branded Gilson 835's. The traditional shift is not on the console but is on the right hand side of the machine.

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I didn't notice that mine has a handle bar control, cheesy lever control and a flimsy rod.

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That handle lever on the left hand handle bar of your above photo is the "final engagement lever".

There is a 3-part process to make the tractor engage and move forward. You have to put the machine in the speed range that you want (2-speed left or right knob at the very bottom of the chassis - waaay down there), then use the shift handle to put it in gear (forward or reverse), and only then do you squeeze that dangling handle there to make the machine go forward. It's an early gear drive so things are a little different than the traditional friction disc mode of operation.

Also, that "knob" that the bungee cord is attached in your initial above picture is your shifter knob - I just saw the photo now. That is the first start of the engagement process I mentioned above.

The reason it is attached w/a bungee cord is that the internal sifting parts (left side and right side) need some lubrication. Once lubricated, you can gimme the knob left or right to make it shift correctly (it's a process where you hold the shifter either in the left or the right side (second gear vs. first) while moving the machine a few inches back and forth with your other free hand. This predicament can occur when the internal transmission chains are stretched and need to be slightly tightened. Let me go did up some internal transmission part pictures and explain....

That cheesy lever was state-of-the-art in the late-60's / early-70's

It's referred to as "Touch-O-Matic" on my '70 Allis.