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Rocboni

Ransomes Sand Skimming Tractor

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On 30 July 2016 at 2:27 PM, Rocboni said:

 

 

According to the royalty legend there were about 76 skimmers but I'm not sure if this includes every machine.

 

Alastair does know his stuff ;)

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Having wire brushed off the flaking paint and rust and chipping off all the hard sand/grease I could reassemble. All seal and bearings appear to be in good condition which is good as aim is to spend as little as possible.

 

I Spent ages freeing up all the rollers on the drive wheels, all I could do is hit them with a hammer and twist with a set of vice grips the ones which have been nearest the ground are quite bad but will do. I've still got the other wheel to do!

 

At least it is getting to the point where I can touch it without bits falling off!

 

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Second side cleaned and reassembled.

 

I have refitted the belt drive roller and gearbox, weighs an absolute ton, the engine crane was priceless for this job.

 

I do not like to think about how much this machine weighs all together!

 

Not sure why gearbox is yellow, must have stole it from Jonathan's skimmer!

 

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21 minutes ago, Chris said:

Thats cleaning up very well. I would just oil it up to preserve the paint

 That's what I'm doing, don't have the energy to completly strip and paint ect.

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Tracks back on, one track snapped as I was freeing them up, hopefully no more will snap when driving as bolts are in unknown condition as the are covered with the rubber pads.

 

Off to get some steel today so I can move forward with engine and brakes.

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7 hours ago, Stormin said:

Keeps you out of the pub as well. :P

It does, although when your skinning you knuckles and burning yourself with the plasma cutter, the pub seems much more appealing!:rolleyes:

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An early start this morning seen me trial fit the engine, and decide on packer thickness this allowed me to fully weld in the floor, also cut side and patched that in aswell.

 

Just waiting on a package today so I can rebuild Clutch and fit engine permanently. 

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In the uk our drinking water is collected in reservoirs, the water is filtered through large sand filter beds, these can be larger than football pitches in size. After a period of time the top layer becomes dirty and is required to be removed, originally this was done by hand, Ransomes developed this machine to skim off this layer and load it into a following dumper.

 

Diff cover fitted and brakes set up, clutch relined and fitted today, I was unhappy with the strength of the engine bay floor, even though it is thicker than original at 5mm, I have added a peice of angle iron to stop it flexing.

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31 minutes ago, HeadExam said:

So it's kind of like a snow blower, but a sand sucker, very cool.

I'll let you know how it performs in the winter!

 

 

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 That press has been the best thing I've made.

 

Wish I could find a seat, probably going to have to make one as well. 

 

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