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While on his weekly fix to John's today, Chris and I decided to start up the Kobota digger which had not been used since the last time it was used to see if we could unearth the 3 furrow Ransome plough which had sunk itself a couple of inches into the ground. John, when asked, didn't want to drive, so I did the pushing and pulling while Chris placed lumps of wood under the now uncovered lower sections which, apart from a bit of rust, were not as bad as we had expected. As the digger usually lived outside, and as there was now space available in the barn, we thought it would be nice to offer it a new home. After hearing the cogs clanking in Chris's cranium, and guessing what he was thinking, he was asked if he wanted a play. Silly question. He was like a little kid at Christmas with a new toy. To cut a short story long, he managed to get the digger through the barn doors without scraping the paint. A tank would have gone through with room to spare but I didn't want to upset Chris by mentioning this. He said he used to drive mini diggers BIG brothers years ago. A few action photo's. As can be seen while on his way to the barn, Chris is trying to decide what new project he can use the digger for. A few thoughts spring to mind. First, will it fit into the Sprinter. How about a half track Wheel Horse. The engine would look good in a Wheel Horse RJ. In the third photo it is difficult to decide if Chris is dreaming of his new project or if he is nodding off. And finally, Chris wanted to take home a little present for Nigel. Not wanting to splash out on a bunch of roses and with no pansy's in sight, a dead branch of drowned leafy things was spotted in the digger bucket after tipping out a lot of frozen water. With a naughty gleam in his eye's he muttered THAT WILL DO. Only the best for Nigel.

Up and running today, fired first pull but as with 137 would not run until I turned it over with my petrol drill starter and then it ran well, not able to get a good slow tick over and still wont re start on the handle. I am going to fit another condenser in the morning as when I tested the spark with a tell tale it was firing well on no compression but no spark on compression. The condenser fitted was a NOS one but I now have some brand new ones so hope that makes the difference. This engine is in superb condition and has more compression than any of my others. Once I had it running I put it into gear only to find that the gear lever is marked up back to front reverse is forwards which caused me to just about demolish a trestle I had at the back of the machine fortunately I managed to stop it before too much damage was done. I guess that when the Ford engine and gearbox were fitted the engine turned over the opposite way to the Ransomes. I have now blanked out the markings and made up some new markers. I am going to fit an electrical stop switch at the driving point as I think that if anything goes wrong when you are sat up there on Norman's beautifully fitted seat you would be in trouble even though it only does 1 mile an hour flat out in third it would not stop even if it hit a wall it would climb up it or demolish it. One part I am missing which would be good to have before Malvern is an oil filler cap, in the engine close up you can see the four slot location, I have scoured the usual sources but not been able to find one, if anyone has a spare that may be suitable please give me a call.

Landmaster company literature for the mower, c1966...

And the new tyres have arrived !!

Been cleaning up the engine today. The ali was very tarnished in places so after scotch clothing it, I etch primed it then sprayed it with aluminium refinishing paint. The barrel and head were also etch primed and then sprayed gloss black.

After the weeks drama I've had it was good to get away up to Johns and spend the day having fun. It was a lovely sunny day and it was spent outside ( apart from drinking tea ) having fun in the mini digger. It's certainly given me some ideas on a new project and I wasn't nodding off in the last photo, the sun was shining in my face

A few more bits done over the weekend and yesterday. Finally started work on the other side of the chassis which was in a worse condition than the other side, we replaced the side in three sections so that the chassis didn't twist. Just before welding in the last piece. Finally finished all of the repairs on the chassis, it just needs its final coats of primer and then I can start on the yellow paint With thanks to my grandad the tyres have been taken off the rear wheels so I can start cleaning them up. Some more bits sandblasted

Can anyone better this ? Granddaughters been around.

First coats of white on the rims, I knew the old tyres would be useful for something...

If you are quick Norm, you can whisk the Kubota away while Chris is still dreaming.

Thought that was a hair cut!