Just to put this one to bed (you already thought it was, didn't you? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif), I was finally able to lay hands on my 'Bota this weekend, and I found that elusive air intake. It pretty much matched
the diagram posted by John Miller III from his John Deere/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif manual.
Even in person, I couldn't easily see it from the side the air filter opens up on, so I removed the cover from the other side of the tractor and there, lo and behold, was the fabled sucky hole (see attachment).
BTW, Bird -- it turns out that the whole air cleaner canister is
in front of the radiator, as is the battery. I never paid much attention to that arrangement, but now I know. Different than yours, I gather.
All I have to do now is find a cork the right size, and I can pressure the engine. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
It was a
beautiful weekend -- wish I'd brought a short-sleeved shirt (seriously), but the ground was still too damp to do any real tractorin'. About all I did was to use it to lift up my rotary cutter onto blocks so I could install the chain guards. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif