Leaderboard

I have just completed a similar job with Ransomes kit, 35 tonnes of road planings loaded and spread with the Steiner loader graded out to level with the MG40 and stone rake. My neighbour was impressed and asked me to do his drive as well !

More progress today. Floor frame treated with two coats of preservative over the last couple of days. Put in place today and levelled up. Underneath of the ply floor treated then laid and screwed down. Roof frame with it's first coat of preservative. A neighbour is doing the joinery work. He has all the gear. Frame work we carried round. Ply sheets came round by C-81 and Saxon. And the hospital bed/lift being useful once more.

Beautiful job on the drive! I wish I had the money to bring in stone, maybe next year. These are not toys, anyone who thinks that is unable to put forth an appropriate thought or response, sadly that seems to be very prevalent these days.

Hi People laugh at boys and their toys but it is nice to prove them wrong a job well done

There's one for sale up by me. But isn't $700 a bit over priced? it can always ship to OK fairly inexpensive using Fastenal.

I spotted this little gem on Gumtree it few weeks back. It looks complete but it has not been ran for some two years. I spoke to the seller and a deal was struck. He was well chuffed that it was going to a collector and that sealed the deal. It had a new clutch on it a few years back and the seller repainted the bonnet. It need a new tyre on the front apparently. A mate of his will be delivering it to me from Scotland to Devon for an amazing £100 on one of his regular sorties into England. Here are some photos of it and it nice to see the centre cap on the steering wheel. Just heard from the seller that the cheque cleared and that it will be delivered sometime tomorrow evening. He also said that he put some fuel in and it fired up but was a wee bit smoky. Not bad after being laid up for 2 years. Looking forward to seeing it in the metal as it were. .

You could try Halfords. As they sell Petro Patch they may sell a sealer.

A solution of tri-sodium phosphate (similar to a lye soap concentrate) and water is a very good rust neutralizing agent and I do not know why one could not use the battery charger with this solution to remove rust from the inside of the tank, electrolysis should work like this as well. After the tank is sufficiently clean I would us OSPHO, http://www.ospho.com/ it leaves a clear varnish like sealer that is embedded in the metal and acts as a rust prevention solution without a typical "coating".

Andrew, I am watching this with interest. I usually use POR15 Marine clean but that is not cheap. If it is really bad I then use POR15 tank sealer. I love the POR15 products, they are not cheap but they work perfectly. Iain

Quick update. I drained the tank full of apple cider vinegar through a sieve to capture any specks of rusted metal/ sediments into a bucket. The colour was certainly darker than before. I could see that it was getting cleaner at the bottom of the tank with the aid of my IPhone torch. I refilled again with the used vinegar after passing it through a sieve again. I think it's working, albiet slowing.

Looks great Norm, your making good progress. Have you put insulation under the floor? I am watching with interest as I have been asked by the boss to make a new potting shed, apparently the current one is unusable now that it is being shared with a number of tractors (9 to be exact ). Iain

Top to bottom shed to shed to shed.

Alain, finding a ride-a-matic that still has the belt guards is always a challenge, someone could make good money pressing out replacements. Two of the RAM's I have I bought as parts tractors specifically because they still have the belt guards fitted, although I can't bring myself to break them up and one day I hope to get at least one running. Your spot on with the wire hanging out the front, this is for lifting the front attachments which is very crude compared to the sophistication of the rear lift. The earlier RAM's had a chain as a front lift mechanism.

The price is not objectionable for a nice complete '62, unfortunately this one has some issues. The belt guard is missing, as is the rear lift and chassis cover, looks like it was removed. Also some kind of wire hanging out front for somthing, probably a plow lift, missing plow. The steering wheel shows hard wear. The front axle looks like it might have been replaced, again hard wear. No attachments. I saw a restored one with deck rear lift, front finger mower, and snow plow for 1000.00, I should have bought it, but I was and am still buying accessories (limited funds) of other tractors. I would bet the owner would negotiate on this '62, but I have a strict rule I follow, that if it isn't worth the asking price, it probably isn't worth the sale price. I want the one that is the one, it's always out there. I really appreciate you letting me know about this one, everyone I see I learn more about them. I use Fastenal as well and find it is a better deal for a whole tractor than a set of wheel weights. Thanks

We have 87, 89, and 91 no ethanol petrol at various stations around here for 2.48-2.56 per gallon. A spares distributor sells 90 and 100 octane leaded fuel, but it is in cans and barrels at 5.00-7.00 per gallon. I generally use 89 or 91 octane non ethanol fuel and add 1 ounce of Seafoam per gallon. I have never had a fuel related issue.

Looks a different colour in a glass.

Alain, when I bought this RAM in October 2014 I did well not buying any tractors for a while however since then would you believe I have bought another 20 tractors. She is less than impressed so I am trying not to buy any more. The '62 RAM is a bit of a marmite tractor, BTW Marmite is a spread available in the UK and the company's marketing slogan is "Love it or hate it". I have two '62 RAM's and they are both in very poor condition, this one has been pulled apart and badly repainted before reassembly using most of the essential parts, the others presumably discarded. Also for no good reason a number of holes have been cut into the cast grill. So may even call it a restoration, the other tractor is a lot more honest. The '62 RAM is a good size for my son to use and as it is shiny, it has caught his eye. As such I want to get this one running and then do a running refurbishment over time. We are doing the work together so progress will be slow but hopefully we will both learn something along the way. In addition to adding the original hitch we are also looking to get the clutch/brake to work. We have identified the parts that are missing and are investigating how to make replacements. This is a picture of my other '62 RAM, which some may recognise as it came from John's collection. Affectionately this is known as "the dragster" due to the modified Land Rover back wheels Iain

The 1962 RAM has been on my list for a long, long time, but I have never found one in good order. As most know I'm a collector of later garden tractors, but this one calls to be. Iain, I believe your wife maybe fairly proud (and surprised) of you lasting until October, even if she would not say so. Had you not came up a little short on your promise, she would have not been able to make her handbag purchase. I am fairly sure she was the one that was getting worried that you would make it and that handbag would slip by. The '62 is beautiful, nice to see the original lift back on it.