Leaderboard

As some may recall, I mow the green and verges in our little hamlet. Recently, while doing the verge 'twixt lane and pond, I thought the foliage above seemed to be getting lower. On doing some investigation, I discovered a tree on the opposite bank was reaching right across the pond. The only thing stopping it falling in was a large Leylandii tree whose branches it was resting on and it's weight pulling that down.. It would be only a matter of time before both ended up in the pond and on the lane. So today, as not much water in the pond, myself and a neighbour's son set too to remedy the situation. First, using one of those pole chainsaws and my extending loper with pull saw attachment, we cut of as much as we could off both trees, to reduce the weight. Next I cut through the trunk of the tree on the far bank. Not completely, just enough for it to start to fall. Then back over to the Leylandii and cut through the branches supporting the other tree. until it descended gracefully. The Leyladii was then felled dragged out using my Discovery and cut into manageable pieces. The Disco was used again to extract the other tree from the pond. My C-121 (The Black Horse) and Saxon trailer were then pressed into service transporting several loads of logs. More to move tomorrow and another dying tree to fell.

I generally upgrade the wheels/tires/bearings/bushings on my larger garden tractors. I do this for several reasons, first it makes steering easier, improves handling in dirt/snow/mud conditions, second, for more ground clearance, many of these machines were very low to the ground with 8 inch rims (with a 16 inch tall tire, that's barely 8 inches of clearance, not much if you are in deep dirt/snow/mud), and by having a higher ground clearance it gives more height to a front blade. Lastly the upgrade substantially increases the life of steering and drive train parts. The Wheel Horse will get Maxxis 27"x9"-15 inch crossover tires on stock Wheel Horse 7"-15" rims for the rear 257.31 delivered to my door. The front upgrade is a little more extensive as I am opting for thrust washers (14.00) on the spindle tops and Dexter 4 bolt hubs (63.00 delivered) on the 4-1/4 spindles. These 4 bolt hubs take a standard I inch L44643 bearing with grease seal and cap, Instead of the usual 5.00-10 tri-ribs, I'll be using the 5.00-10 narrow cart tire (139.00 for 2 tires and wheels delivered), This set up will allow for good use on the grass as well as on more extreme surfaces/conditions, such as in the garden, in the mud, or in the snow. At just under 475.00 for this upgrade it is expensive, but like a new motor it is a once in a lifetime expense that may also save other parts and allow for more use of the machine.

Was pleasantly surprised to find the 'postie' delivered the bits from Meetens today, So an afternoon wielding spanners was had. To say it wasn't a challenge would be a lie. The rings supplied were +20 and needed filing and gapping, never done this before, something new to add to the resume! The sump gasket was of a later style and didn't fit, So I cut a new one...... Then I discovered an oversight from the valve seat re-cutting. Once the tappets and valves were refitted the valves didn't close properly? I ground the required amount from the valve stem to give the correct fitment and clearances, pleased to say it all went back together ok after that. The engine is almost done, just needs the flywheel and timing finishing, the carb overhauled and perhaps a squirt of fuel to test fire it...........

Here's a few more. One for Nigel to race against Ian on "Why Not". :D

Wasn't sure where to locate this, so as it will be 95% Metal, here's as good 'a' place as any. Wanted to use the spare Villiers Mk2 Midget Engine I am rebuilding to power something stationary?, but will also need to have additional cooling. I've been thinking about what I already have laying around in parts n materials I may need and started digging them out from various storage places. Blowing the Cobwebs from my memory, I recalled back in the early 90s salvaging some parts from a 1948 Ransomes Simms & Jeffries Lawnmower, namely 2 hefty brass bearings in Plates that carry a heavy lump of (rusty) cast iron that acted as a PTO Clutch, rpm increase Gear Box and stored a lot of inertia. The Mower itself was way past fixing up. Shame, as it had a large Starter Hand Crank, the likes of which I have never seen anywhere since. Anyway, I managed to recall where they were. There's 2 remote Screw Capped Oilers, an old Line Shaft Bearing block (5/8" bore) with Brass Screw Down Greasers. Length of Box section Steel and 15/16" AF high Carbon Steel. Also dug out some stubs of 1" and 5/8" AF Brass from my Garage Door Counter weights which turned out to carry several other useful bits. Previous owner/resident of my property (60s/70s) must have been a Turner judging by the very dusty tarnished evidence- The inside of this PTO Clutch is similar to a Diff which spins freely when drive is not engaged. A large Brake Band clamps the outer surface and the planet gears inside transfer the drive to the opposite shaft at a 5:1 increase in RPM. I plan for it to act as a speed reduction unit and PTO Clutch. Condition inside is fairly good, considering there was water amongst the old grease. I need to make new heavy bushings, fit new bolts and machine the outer friction face which is pitted, but still has the 'Witness' and number marks Stamped in by the guy who first assembled/finished it- . My main intention on this project is to refresh my limited familiarity with Lathe and metalwork practices on a fair amount of old Brass, Copper, Bronze and Steel parts. I'll be using BSF, Whitworth and BSP thread forms , and I won't be in any particular hurry to finish it, so please bear with me, as even I don't know what it is to look like yet! .

Yesterday I collected my Jacobsen built Ford 100 from Chard in Somerset. The owner, Tony, gave me the background on the Ford as referred to below: "I have what I believe to be the only Ford 100 imported into the UK . It has a mower deck, beltdrive rotorvator, bulldozer blade, and most of the bits of a trailer plough.The story I had back in the late 60's was that "it was sent for evaluation as a saleable item and used by the then boss of Ford UK. He found it too small for his needs so traded it in with a local tractor dealer for something larger. They were supposed to remove all the Ford markings before re-selling it, but they left them on!" My late father bought it. It was in use as a grass cutter for many years by my late father who passed it on to me when he moved to smaller housing. I used it either for grass cutting or rotorvating, but it has been stored now many years with only one minor attempt at renovation 7 years ago. I have no further use for it and I guess I want to sell it, but I would rather it goes into the hands of someone who can properly restore it, maybe that means it needs to return to the USA?" He carried out a light rejuvenation of it in the 70s as detailed below: "If this turns out to be successful attached are some old pictures I took abaou 20years ago before my last attempt at refurbishment. The decals, from a ford 2000 were added in the 1970's following a repaint and DO NOT really suit this old lady, hey I was a lot younger then. in my refurb I made a new seat can cover. not easy and could not source the rib moulded material, but looks MUCH better than the ragged old one. The off road tyres were a 1970's purchase when I hoped to get some 12" rims adapted to suit the hubs and gain more grip for the plough. project submerged by marriage failure. The potato ridger was added to the plough frame from a merrytiller and is not original. For some reason I dont seem to have pic of the rotovator but the drive/attachment mechanism is in the third pic along with the plough attachment. The original exhaust was side delivery but this vertical one (now defunct) and a later one now added, though awful to a purist somehow make it look more macho." I contacted the vendor and agreed to meet up in late August and a deal was struck. He was keen that it went to an enthusiast. Yesterday I collected it and drove it up the ramps onto my pickup after it was jump started. It is the first time it moved under it own power for 7 years. Previously prior to that some 30 years ago, as mentioned above, it was fired up and back in the 70s it was given a fresh coat of paint to freshen it up. The decals are from a Ford 2000. Today I unloaded it and gave it a good wash whilst assessing what needs doing. I pumped up the tyres, grease the suspension and to drive and cleaned the plug. My plan is to give it a service (oil change, air filter, spark plug, drain the tramission oils,replace the fuel line etc) and buy a battery. It's missing a belt guide on one side but it's all there and original ( apart from the stack exhaust). The Ford is based on the Jacobsen Chief model from that era. I will be picking up the Ford Tiller and front bulldozer plough in a few weekends time. Ford 100 on collection Ford 100 washed and given a quick grease up with tyres pumped up. Surprisingly a solid lump of metal.

Managed to get a few more hours in on this machine today. The exhaust had my attention today, It was holed in several places but was generally sound, so I decided to weld up the holes, or rather chase them around........ Eventually got it all plugged up and looking half decent on the outside. I then set about replacing the missing 'pipe part. Not sure if it was meant to be down swept or what? But it will be fine like this..... A few coats of VHT paint and its one more thing ticked off the long list!

Or black and silver.

Your lucky mate, 27" tires for 15" rims (my Gt-14) are very hard to find over here... Years ago I did fit much bigger tires to the rear of my Wh 312-8 and extended a paif of kingpin thingys to raise the front up to match..

Great photo's Doug, thanks for posting them I'd happily give a home to the Bristol crawler, and I'm sure I'd find a use for tha Daimler Hemi V8 engine

Nice job you've made of it, Darmic.

It might be worth it for me to fly you over for a day or two to paint a dozen of my machines

They won't be junked Richard. Just need time to go through the rest of the tools to see what is still usable before listing here or possibly on eBay.

It's my guard kitten Norm, Tiddles stops the pixies from pinch my swarf Well I had to cut him in half so I had a flat surface for gluing him to the ad board (No Kittens, ad boards, bandsaws or tubes of glue were harmed during the typing of the above)

At least if it's only you at the show Alain there won't the normal long que for the toilets which is normally found at shows I wish it was that easy over here, I hate getting insurance just in case someone manages to trip over a big red machine that you can't miss! I hate having to pay for someone elses stupidity!

I'm ok with this now, spent a couple of days fiddling with the mag, cleaning and changing the points. Refitted and kept moving the spocket round and finally it started, had it running for an hour and it seems ok

The nearly finished article at one of my local shows lined up with its siblings

I was going to have a fall garden, but recent rains have prevented planting and would probably prevent adequate time for growth

That's one hell of a mean looking beast! Ill put that on my Christmas list!