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Rigged up a temporary hitch today and had a trial run. Turned the tool bar upside down to lower the ball height And packed up the coupling. When at lowest point front of Billy Goat one inch from the ground. Had a trial run but was not very successful. The main problem was the grass I was trying to pick up had been lying for two days and we'd had some rain. So I'm having a re-think. The ground I mow is a little on the lumpy side and not flat. The front of the BG can catch if I don't raise it fast enough. Also I think something to loosen the lying grass would be handy. I'm thinking of towing it reverse, with a rubber strip along the bottom of the scoop to loosen the grass, which should then be sucked up. I'm going to try turning the body round on the chassis so the outlet still points rearwards. Also turn the engine round on the body so it stays aligned with the handle. This is going to be a long term project methinks.

Another little update on whats been going on with the resto Chassis nice and rust free Pits were filled and sanded down and then given a quick coat of red oxide primer to keep the rust away for a few weeks until I got back to it. Next were the wheels, the front ones are missing and i'm struggling to source some. The rear rims are pretty much ready for the bin, the metal is extremely thin all the way around the edge, 30% has rusted all the way through. On the plus side I have managed to source a cub cadet steering wheel with just one small crack in it, its now been repaired. It just needs painting now and we need to figure a way of mounting it to the steering shaft, the original used a roll pin but we won't be able to drill a hole for one now.

Happy birthday smiler!

A few photo's of a few welded up bits. The welds on the rear end of the chassis were nice and neat. No photo's of this. The welder decided to be naughty at the front. Wire feed kept jamming until speeded up which resulted in heavy welds. Some ground or filed down and others left as will not be seen. The used Austin 7 king pin used for the axle pivot seen in the third photo. A bit rusty but good enough to use after a clean up. The chassis was cut away to allow for more axle swing. The rear wheel adapter hubs were made up from 2" thick walled tube and round plates into which the tube was welded. The plates already had bores of near enough the correct size. The cut to length tubes, after a lot of head scratching and measuring to make sure the holes would be in the correct place, were drilled 5/16" using a standard center drill for the first hole. I was going to use this as a guide for a 5/16" drill to spot the lower hole, followed by gradually opening up with other drills, but found a long series 5/16" center drill which did the job in one go. This also did away with numerous height adjustments on my not very accurate drill press conversion. The plates were drilled after marking out using a card template which was cut to just fit into the wheel dish and over it's hub. 4 holes were also drilled through the wheels using the same template. This ensured that all holes lined up. Even though my drill conversion was a bit of a blacksmith job, after drilling the axle shaft I found that it and the hubs lined up almost perfectly. Before converting this drill press I had ordered a bench drill from Germany. Good reviews etc. It arrived 6 days later. All excited I opened the box. Hmm ! All very nice but how can I drill holes with a heavy duty garage style BATTERY CHARGER on wheels ? Email to Germany, "Don't know how that happened, send it back carriage paid and we will send correct item" Did that, no correct drill, refund instead. No explanation. Followed this up by more research. Ordered another make bench drill from Screwfix. Delivered from London next day. More excitement. Unpacked, assembled, tried out, dissembled, back in box, taken to Screwfix depot nearby and refunded. There was more side play on the chuck when fully extended as there is on my conversion. Plus, the table was only a pressed metal affair which flexed with hardly any effort. Didn't expect a Rolls Royce job but.!!

Thats the plan Norm, another 12 weeks to work on it yet It wasn't too bad, its all fixed and primed now and looks good as new, plus its original Haha, you say that but we've got plenty of new steel here , I could've made one but i'd like to keep as much original as possible. Next job on the resto was to tackle the gearbox which didn't work There was holes drilled in the axle ends. Mangled input shaft To make the axles on the diff useable we flipped them around, first we welded the holes, turned them down and cut new keyways. one of the bushes was worn so we machined a new one and fit it. To turn the input shaft down we had to use a bit of ingenuity, we clamped it in a taper lock and turned it down so I can use a taper lock pulley on it. The jig worked a treat. Next everything was cleaned of rust. New gaskets were made. We welded up surplus holes. The gearbox is now back together, primed and works as good as new

Didn't i give you a rake thingy, you could hang it under the tractor a mid ships ?

Most impressed with your approach and developing a wealth of skills playing with old metal Ewan !. The subject is about as challenging as they can get. I'm sure you'll overcome the problems. I'll also be following with interest.

What more can one say Gareth?. Classic example where a combination of addiction and quality work only produces perfection. Well worth the effort (and the aches 'n' pains)

Nice job on the chassis, looks good.

Are the rear wheels the same as the later C series, Ewan, or narrow ones? If they're the same I have two you can have. You could always narrow them like I did with he Black Horse.

Looks an absolute minter! Superb job

Happy Birthday Nigel!

Happy Birthday Not bad for 102 then

Once again a stunning job Gareth 👍🏻

Just a photo of the wheel change. Been working/thinking of a hitch arrangement. It won't be going on the C-125 as shown, but on the C-121 (Black Horse) with electric lift. That will allow ground clearance to be adjusted on the move. The wheels will most likely stay in the raised position, as shown.

I've got one. But that's not ideal for uneven ground either.