ranger

Grandsons are claiming all the rides but, they have to earn 'em. The roller worked but, drives needed a little more packing.
 
 

You know those holes I liked?  Yep these ones... Well I found a good use for them..
 

 
 
A bit of trimming and welding was needed along with this small plate to fill up a hole.
 

 
 
And this is what I have made with the holes..
 

 
 
It fit's on the end of the bench to give it some strength and some style.. OK, I could of come up with a simpler design, but I just couldn't help myself
 

 

 
 
Something was needed to cover the cogs that powers the er.. Auto feed is as good a name as any..
Anyway, a couple of strips of steel welded together and bent in a funky shape.
 

 
 
Dig out a bit of computer case..
 

 
 
Chop and weld to shape.. I need to finish the welding and give the edge a little grind down, but I'm happy with the strange shape and look
 

 

 
 
A finishing shot for the day
 

Hi all, 
 
After a lot of trying to get the 1978 Gazelle's engine going, the best we could get it to go was Ok-ish, so I decided I'd put that engine on the back burner and use the engine from my other Westwood in this one (the engine Chris gave me! ), as the other Westwood is more custom anyway I was thinking about dropping a twin Briggs or something like that in it, and keeping this one mainly original. So I finished the job today of getting the engine in this one and it runs and drives great, lots of fun. Here's a picture of the mower and Saxon trailer. Soon I would like to get a new seat and perhaps replace the broken decals, but I like the patina so won't paint it, instead I used Owatrol Oil 

 
 

Many Happy Returns Ian, hope you have a good one, and many more

The sharp eye'd will of noticed a bit of pully damage on the electric motor..   I did try to get the pully off with a puller, but this just caused more damage..
As luck would have it the middle pulley is the right size and it also has no damage, so that's what I will use..
 

 
 
Time to fire up the Mig... I think that should be strong enough
 

 

 
 
Clamped onto the bench.. Yep, that looks good
 

 

 
 
I wasn't sure the bit of box that holds the motor adjust up was strong enough, so it got strenthened   Looking at the photo I need to tidy it up a bit and plate over the hole..
 

 
 
Other than cutting an extra leg ( yes that is 2 bit's of WH chassis weled together!) for the bench, that's as far as I've got... Next on the hitlist is to make a quick release tensioner thingy for the top belt..
 

The new pound coins have been designed so that you can fit a spanner on them. This facilitates removing them from a Yorkshire man's hand.

Spent a lovely day at a garden centre displaying the Bolens today.
It started straight away and was driven to the display area, here's the photos 

Time to bring this lathe thread back from the dead.... Yes it really has taken me this long to get on with it!!
 
 
It's not turned into anything for a long time Norm!
 
 
 
Thanks mate, you know me... If it's there, use it
 
 
 
Hi Alan, I was thinking about using your kitchen chair belt tension-er idea, but where the lathe is positioned the chair would be sticking through the wall  
 
 
Soooo... Fast forward almost 16 months with this lathe project and this is where were at
 

 
 
The poor Southbend lathe hasn't moved, it just got buried!
 

 
 
The idea is I dig this steel framed bench out from it's hiding place and use this as the basis on the new lathe bench..  To use the new-ish bigger electric motor I need something strong to mount it on.... I just don't trust the workshop walls!!
 

 
 
Speaking of electric motors, here's the old one on the left next to the new one.. You can see the sort of weight I need to safely position now!
Interestingly the new motor is a 1/4 of a hp less than the old one, but it has a huge amount of torque
 

 
 
Looks like a re-wire is needed too... Something has leaked onto the cable while it's been stored under a bench and has turned the plastic into a sticky stretchy mess!
 

 
 
A big thank you to Rob at this point for your help in this huge rearrange of the workshop.. Thanks mate 
 
Lathe, be gone...
 

 
 
As luck would have it the wooden bench and the steel framed bench were both near enough the same length, which made swapping them around easy
 

 
 
This bench and I have a long history, I remember collecting it as a bare frame from a friend's yard on a trailer behind my old WH 312-8.. A pleasant 15mins drive across (well around) fields...
The holes on the right are where I had a 9 inch cutter mounted, all the sparks, dust etc would shoot down the hole, through a funnel thingy made from old computer cases into a collection box..
 

 
 
The said funnel thingy..
 

 
 
Off comes the top, two MDF boards bolted through the frame skinned with stainless which was stuck down with "No more nails" back in the day when it first came out and was dirt cheap!
 

 
 
The bare frame..
 

 
 
And the mess the rest of the workshop is now in
 

 
 
Leg extensions as modeled by Rob..... The bench that is not Rob
 

 
 
A test fit of the catch tray and a bit of a measure..
 

 
 
HHmmm... The results of the measuring..
 

 
 
You might say the bolt hole don't quite line up a lot!
 

 

 
 
The easy way would be to grind the flat plate down so the lathe legs would sit level on the tray, but I'm a bit worried about removing strength from the tray at a stress (bolting down) point..
The other way is to make a couple of rather big shims/plates that would bring the tray base level with the flat bit and bolt the lathe down through that..
It's something to think over..
 
By that point yesterday I was quite tired so I did a little gentle cleaning instead.. It's nice to see what colour the paint is and some shiny bits
 

 

 
 

As Jonathan, (expeatfarmer) was not going to be able to attend the HVC ploughing match this year, he kindly offer one of his crawlers and a plough, to anyone who wanted to enter. I kindly accepted his offer and volunteered my mate Dunc. Never having driven a Ransome before, though many other agricultural machines, we met at Jonathans last Monday so Dunc could have a drive and see the plough he would use.
 

 

  MG5 imported from the south of France along with the three furrow plough hanging on the back. You'll notice, now I've told you, the plough at the rear is off set by about 2". Why?, you ask. Haven't a clue.
 
 We collected tractor and plough today and took it to Dunc's for a bit of practice. Neither of us having any idea of setting things up. The afternoon was spent freeing things up and with much debate, a couple of trial runs. More will be done tomorrow or Saturday, depending on the weather.
 
 Below are some shots of the plough.

 

 

 

 

I've already said I'd altered the tool bar as in photo below.
 

 
  Today I rigged up a way to put a bit more weight on the plough. Dumb bar weights and a big piece of threaded bar.
 

 
  I'm going to try with just two of the heavier weights, then may add the two lighter ones.

Couple of photo's of them fitted.
 

 

 
  I did have to do a slight mod. When I fitted the studs to go through the wheels, I used a standard wheel as a jig. I've narrowed the wheels haven't I. Consequently  the studs were to long.  Cut 1-3/4" off them then fitted the weights using nyloc nuts.

Got them finished painted.
 

 
  That's it for now, but I do have a future mod in mind. Covers for the outside to tidy things up.
 

Bit of progress today. All bolted together and studs fitted to fasten to the wheels.
 

 
And they fit. Gap at the top is because no nuts are fitted at the back.
 

 
  They each weigh about 25lb. Next job is to add more weight.
 

Got my working wheelhorse out today, first job was to fit the refurbished rear wheels, change the standard seat for a heavier one and fit the wheel weights.
taken off.
two standand wheels 52lbs.
standard seat.............11lbs.
fitted on.
two narrow wheels 48lbs.
seat........................37lbs.
two rear weights.....100lbs.
so total extra is 122lbs, I'm pleased with that and should help with traction 

A bit more progress today. Managed to get the belt pulley on,
also the belt guard and decal. The simple cantilever clutch
was connected back up, with the operating lever getting a
coat of paint.
The final job for today was the depth foot, which was missing
when purchased but there was one on the doner machine.

One of my first chores, after the rider is runnin', changing from wheel "bolts" to "lug nuts."
 
Although we have cast wheel weights, made some using discarded brake drums.
Weld bolts in the drums, then fill with concrete.
 

You've enough ground clearance now Norm to convert to 3 pt hitch.🏋🏼🏋🏼

Picked up a couple of rear wheel weights from a friend, they are about 50 lbs each and should help with traction,
just got to clean them up and paint them but very pleased with them

Managed to get a few coats of ivory white on them and inflade them.
nice to get the paint down in the rim without getting it all over the tyres, just got to get them mounted on the C120 now.

Used for drilling all the tiny holes for the needle to pass through when stitching the linen covering over the wings and fuselage of Sopwith Camels 🐫

Used for drilling all the tiny holes for the needle to pass through when stitching the linen covering over the wings and fuselage of Sopwith Camels 🐫

Used for drilling all the tiny holes for the needle to pass through when stitching the linen covering over the wings and fuselage of Sopwith Camels 🐫

Used for drilling all the tiny holes for the needle to pass through when stitching the linen covering over the wings and fuselage of Sopwith Camels 🐫

Not quite a ride on , but I have put this in the ride on section as there isn't really a relevant section for signs.
I was having a few signs made up recently for the house and was so impressed this young guys work that I wondered if he would make me a few Wheelhorse logo signs , I picked them up yesterday and was delighted at how they came out . One of them has been polished to a mirror finish & the other has been brushed steel affect . They were made out of 4 mm stainless steel to are very strong and naturally will not rust . I am that impressed with them I am going to make one of them a clock and am also having others made up into clocks .
let me know what you chaps think.
Anyone that may be interested in a clock I will show you the finished product soon and if your interested you can let me know . As you can imagine , the steel is the thick grade quality and stainless isn't cheep so the clocks won't be a £10 cheapy . 
These particular signs are about 3 ft in length
 
 

 

Thanks Iain, it was painted with enamel.
 
 
Neil's RJ is so close to being done I can almost taste the first test drive
 
A few detail jobs, the points cover was missing a gasket so I had to make one...
 

 
 
The exhaust was missing a clamp and little doo dat that clamps between the exhaust and frame... Sorted
 

 
 
The foot pegs didn't have the optional? foot rest thingys (I don't even know if RJ's could be ordered with them?) so Nigel put some rubber shrink wrap stuff over the pegs to give a bit of grip and stop the paint wearing away.
 

 
 
Sorry Neil, a change of plan for the wheels... We thought gold would look much better and Nigel had all these cans of wheel paint kicking around you see..........
 

 
 
Only kidding
 

 
 
A second coat is needed at this point.. As is first coating the other side
 

 
 
Wheels second coated and bolted back on...... I can't help but grin every time I look at the RJ