Leaderboard

Got a few more bits sanded down and primered

View from rear. Side view set for 6" deep. Set for 4" deep. The wheel can be adjusted from 6" to 4" in 1/2" increasments or reductions. Most likely 6" or 5-1/2" will be the settings to use. Trial and error will tell. The complete plough.

While still at the rear of the tractor, another item which had me head scratching for a long time, was how to provide a support for the steering shaft. As this emerged through the rear panel at an angle due to the differential being in the way, a block of something with an angled hole was required to give more bearing surface than the thin panel. Could I drill an angled hole in an alloy block without a lot of measuring and setting up. ? NO. I had already looked at various plumb blocks and rose joints on eBay, all being unsuitable for various reasons. Then I remembered some small rose bearings I had found in a box of goodie's while clearing at friend John's. Problem nearly solved. The first few photo's show an alloy block being bored and the edges milled to tidy it up. The lower inside face was also milled to clear the tow bar. As is often the case, a change of plan meant that I needn't have removed so much metal. Also seen being turned is a reducing bush for the inside of the rose bearing. The steering shaft is a length of 7mm steel rod. Why 7mm ? Because I had a long length which was originally the drive shaft from an old strimmer I was given years ago. There was already a short 7mm thread on one end, made slightly longer, and a new thread cut on the other end. The bearing block assembly is shown next with the unfinished overlong thread. Overlong to start with as I just eyeballed the squareness of the die to the shaft. If it was out of true after an inch or so, I could cut off and have another go. After a little tweaking of the first few threads and checking at intervals all appeared OK. After threading 3 to 4 inches there was no obvious run out. I can do small threads using die holders in my Unimat 3 lathe but it would have been a struggle with this especially as the die was not of the split type. A few nuts were drilled and tapped 7mm. A 3/8 impact wobble drive socket was obtained to connect the drive shaft to the trailer steering ( when finished ). There appears to be no slop in an impact drive compared to a standard universal joint, but not sure at this stage if there is enough wobble. Time will well. The square plug, drilled and tapped 7mm, was part of the previously scrapped 2 speed drill. Just needed filing down slightly to be a good tight press fit. The front axle end of the shaft uses a 3/8 to 1/4 adaptor with a standard U/J to allow for clearance at the differential. These last photo's show how little clearance there is between the shaft, axle and gearbox. Approx 3/16th above and below the shaft. Still need to paint the wheels and hubs too.

The implement lift on my C-121, aka The Black Horse, is electrically operated. This works well but has a down side. The plough is either up or down and no way to adjust plough depth. When in the ground, the plough pulls the actuator fully out and results in the furrow being 7" deep. So a way to set plough depth had to be devised. The tool bar has two positions in the slot hitch. One gives a plough depth of just over 5" and t'other just over 7". Somewhere in between being required. The only thing I could think of was a depth wheel. Simple, cheap and not heavy. A search around the workshop provided some box section. One size sliding nicely in the other. A wheel off a push rotary mower, some flat bar, a couple of pins with R clips and a long 1/4" cap head allan bolt. A bit of thinking and measuring, cutting and drilling and I had some bits. I took more photo's but the quality is poor. Out of focus. I'll take some fresh ones tomorrow.

I know some of you have fitted some Tri Rib tyres to the front of your tractors Where is the best place to buy a pair of 400-8 then? Thanks

Can you get 400-8 tyres on a Large Frame No Alain, they going on my Bolens 600 Thanks guys I have ordered some from All terain tyres

That's what we found too Norm. OK from week to week but needed a boost if left longer. Came off one of John's tractors which he said at the time was a good one. Before that it had a 12 volt 17 amp battery which I used for starting a model boat engine. I think the Roper killed it.

Brilliant machining work as usual.

Allterraintyres.co.uk 01579 348843

Proper looking bit of kit . Nice !

That's a real shame, but I would be really interested to see a photo! Welcome to the forum, MowMaster! I am glad you're liking the thread, and I agree Westwoods are great tractors. There are a few Westwood fans here with W11's. Also I thought you folks might want to see these photos that my brother took (he's an amateur photographer), I think they look great: