A friend of my father's who is in her 70s holidays in the US where her brother lives. Her brother's neighbour has a farm and tractors and he let her have a go on this one having cut her teeth on something smaller first (but still pretty big).
Steve - any chance of a decent scan of those D series pages? (no need to explain why I'm asking)
Sadly I don't have much WH literature but I've just posted the Dec 1987 Wheel Horse price list document in the Euro section of Redsquare as there's some interest in prices over the years in a thread there. I can post it on MOM as well if any non-RS members are interested. Also have the 1990 Toro Wheel Horse price list but not scanned yet.
Nice little genset you picked up there Paul, must have been well chuffed adding that to your collection.
I do like gensets but have to resist the temptation to buy - my real favourites are the types used to provide electric lighting for houses beyond the reach of mains electricity in the 1920s & 30s.
Posts that tell a story are simply the best IMHO and this one is great.
Re the headlights, they may not be factory but I can fully understand where your son was coming from, they add so much extra character to that little tractor!
Great to see such interesting stuff from your side of the pond which is much appreciated - spread the word.
Nah, that cant be the same geezer as the one that won that prize at Ardingley , he had a black Redsquare cap
Well spotted Neil, we need to watch out for continuity errors like this. Either 'Ian' is playing an elaborate game with us or, as your observation suggests - one is an impersonator. Bound to happen really what with the fame from the youtube channel which provides pretty much everthing such an impersonator would need to know.
Have you seen that creosote substitute stuff? It works as well as the original (but no longer available do to health and safety), that is the wood sucks it right in..
It even smells the same..
I take it you're referring to products with names like 'Creocoat'? Well, my experience was initially that it smells right and goes in well but 12 months later green algy stuff was growing on the fences. Problem is that it's a mixture of things but deosn't include all of the original Creosote content.
Re did all of the fences a year later with proper coal tar creosote which is available if you go online - comes in 25 litre plastic drums and works out much cheaper than the substitute products. No green gank this winter!
It's like all of the decent paints have disappeared from DIY outlets but are still available for professional or in this case agricultural use.
Here we have a ‘Swan’ generator set that I got about fifteen years ago. The guy that sold it to me said it was military and certainly a number of features pointed to that being true i.e. the bronze green paint, the connection terminals were the same as used on military lighting sets, and perhaps most compelling, the fact that the spec included brass drain off cocks for the sump and gas tank (after all who else would specify costly additions like that?)
On the other hand there was not one piece of hard evidence in the form of a tag to confirm it as military and all attempts to identify it as military or otherwise failed at that time.
I last ran it perhaps eight years ago and it’s been gathering dust on the workshop shelf ever since. In fact I wouldn’t have given it a thought were it not for seeing a photo posted on the forum by Steve D where in the background was a gen set looking very much like mine as far as I could see. It spurred me on to research again and since I last tried a couple of sites had popped up with the answers.
Turns out it is military and is a bit of Cold War memorabilia. These were built by two different companies for the Royal Observer Corps who manned posts which included an underground bunker. Their main role was to report nuclear bomb bursts and monitor background radiation from installations like this:
Lighting in the little underground bunker was provided by batteries like these.
If I’m not mistaken those are NiFe cells with a pd of 1.2 volts, hence the crate of five cells represents a 6 volt battery. Two of these provided the 12 volts for the lighting and the need for a 12 volt charging system. The batteries remained in the bunker and were charged from the surface outside.
The gen sets were made either by A C Morrison (Engineers) Ltd of Southampton or Engine Applications Ltd of Banbury. Documents refer to the engine as Villiers but it is in reality a JAP (Villiers having absorbed JAP in 1959). It drives a three phase permanent magnet alternator rated at 300 watts and the case contains full wave rectifier diodes to produce the DC output.
So there you have it – if you see one at a show you’ll know what it was for. The name ‘Swan’ for the Banbury produced version came from their address in Swan Close Road. The company was founded in 1959, became RTD Swan in 1973, and Swan Generators in 1986. They still make generating sets at Banbury today but nothing this small, their range is 20kVA to 2200kVA.
The following helpful information is from the Gutbrod owners site http://www.gutbrod.co/
Gutbrod was a German company. It was based in Germany. They did things in German. Most of their documents are in German. If you don’t speak German there are a few hints on how to get on with your Gutbrod click here.
They do go on to offer
Betriebsanleitung = Operator’s Handbook Repapaturanleitung = Workshop Manual Ersatzteilliste = Parts List Gang = Gear | Getriebe = Gearbox Wartung = Maintenance | Dichtung = Gasket Zapfwelle = Power Take Off (PTO) Hinterachse = Back axle | Bremsen = Brakes Traktor = work it out
I'm sure most Gutbrod owners are aware of the site but if not it's worth a visit (don't mention the war) and looks like it could grow into a useful reference point.
The biggest Wheel Horse tractor, the D-250, was in fact a rebadged Gutbrod.
Lovin' your work Daren - my father in law had three Atcos, two mowers and a sythe in the 70s. Sold them - wondering where they are now? Possibly still alive perhaps?
The ota you have pictured is the early three wheel version. But these were not known as monarchs .it was only the four wheeled ones that were. Later on ota was taken over by singer cars .and I d ont think it was long after they stopped building these little gems.
Thanks, I'm learning so many new things already on this forum.
Steve - any chance of a decent scan of those D series pages? (no need to explain why I'm asking) 
just amazing really.
Westwood Trailer with attitude
in Home Built Items
Posted
Smart trailer - a real head turner at shows I guess
Too good to use for brick rubble, wet concrete etc!
Andy