Wristpin

That was my first guess also, and I'm fairly sure that it is a Turfmaster or its Horwool predecessor but I cant reconcile those names with the number of digits and spacing of the words on the bonnet.

DR was a US brand that appeared in the UK in the late 80s , I think. I went to a dem somewhere in West Sussex and was impressed enough to buy half a dozen . Unfortunately the punters didn't share my entheusiasm and the last one stayed on our books as a hire machine. They had a heavy duty nylon line head which took 4 or 5 mm line and were available with either two or four stroke engines.. The video (vhs cassette) that came with each machine showed them being used in much the same situation as we would use a Hayterette rather than a strimmer replacement. They are still around and a friend tells me that two are used to maintain his local churchyard. Around about 2010 Hayter sold a similar Murray branded version.

The Peerless Transaxle illustrated is an early one with only two selector keys, later ones have four. The keys do not have to be broken to cause the lurching and jumping out of gear, just worn. It is the small triangular bit that does the work and engages into the free running gears to lock them to the shaft. If those triangles have rounded edges they will not make positive engagement BUT the matching faces of the gears do wear as well , so you need to inspect them as well. General wear and tear is accelerated by " impatient gear changing" - trying to shift on the move . Don't even think about trying to make new selector keys from "key steel" - waste of time! The box would originally have been filled with Bentonite grease which is still available but tends to dry out and be pushed to the outside walls of the casing where it ceases to lubricate where needed. Heavy semi-fluid grease is a better bet but if you are unable to obtain a small quantity , take a couple of handfuls of medium grease and stir in some SAE 90 or 120 oil and ladle that in. The box may leak a smidge but the internals will be lubricated! This may be useful. https://www.dropbox.com/s/69xl46g2qesbctv/Peerless 800 series transaxle0001.pdf?dl=0

Page 13 of today's Daily Telegraph shows a ride-on triple. Looks a bit like an old Horwool or Nickerson Turf Master or even a Jacobsen. A two word name on the bonnet that appears not to match neither Wheel Horse nor John Deere. Place your bets! https://www.dropbox.com/s/2q73dve6ogy79ty/DT pic0001.pdf?dl=0

Looks as though it could br a combined centrifugal clutch and vari-speed pulley . There would be some sort of mechanism to take up the slack or apply tension to the belt to alter its position in the pulley to effect the change of speed, possibly controlled by the heavy cable and lever on the left hand handle bar. An image of what ever is under the guard on the left may give a clue.

Just out of interest was your replacement a genuine BS item or a pattern part?

I take the point about the pin coupling but it could have started life with a cheepo pressed steel ball socket. Unless it was just a one off built with "what we had around us", I cant see that a commercial manufacturer would spend on Indespension units for a low speed off road application. Garden trailers of the day, such as Saxon, made do with a 1" diameter bar for an axle and wheels with either plain or roller bearings.

Will be both an interesting project and a useful trailer but with those Indispension units, was it originally built as a " garden trailer"? Possibly a basic lightweight car trailer ?

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/attachments/imgp2074r-jpg.98763/

Brave man! By the look of it you have a Peerless VST205 transaxle. Countax were the first OEM to fit that box in the UK and it was an unmitigated disaster. Your Hayter is possibly from a batch of machines made for them by Countax - standard K or C series machines painted green and usually with Kohler engines. The attached service bulletin makes the point that dealers were advised not to undertake repairs but to swap out the complete box. The lack of quality control was such that some boxes never gave problems while others failed within days of being put to use . Sometimes a replacement box was so rough that it never left the workshop. Our record was two consecutive dud warranty replacements before finding one that we would let go back to the customer. The claim that they didn't need a tow/dump valve was a bit wide of the mark and it wasn't long before they were produced with a mechanical disconnect kit to make it possible to move the machines without engine power. Needless to say, Countax only used that box for one season. This may be of interest https://www.dropbox.com/s/6b6x1ihhrcns33q/Peerless VST2050001.pdf?dl=0 I think that I have some info somewhere - I'll have a look. Edit Here's some more https://www.dropbox.com/s/6pt795l6vksh1c7/PEERLESS 205vst Update0001.pdf?dl=0

May still be worth looking at this as the author suggests that even the new carbs' sometimes have issues - a bit long winded but valid!!

The best solutions were on the old US Perr Forum which is no longer accessible but one of the former contributors has posted the gist of the solution on the current PPETEN forum - worth a read. If you are going the Pusa Jet repair kit route which will provide the necessary teflon washer the kits are still available under BS pt no 391413 or 4184 for the ten pack. This may be of interest http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/briggs_medium_two_piece.asp

Yes, they do split and an additional test is to hold it under just boiled water and watch for bubbles as the air inside expands. Post a pic of the carb' , if it's a two piece flow jet they are known for flooding due to internal leaking where the angled emulsion tube screws in but doesn't seat properly. If you google Briggs Flow jet there is plenty of info.

It is worth considering that while a sheared or even partial sheared flywheel key is the likely culprit , a sheared blade boss key or a slipping blade can produce the similar symptoms. The key will be obvious but if the blade is retained by a friction mechanism such as friction washers compressed by a big bellville washer , it can appear tight but actually slip a bit under starting conditions. A contributor to another forum who had completely overhauled a rotary mower engine but was unable to start it was mightily relieved to find that a properly torqued up blade did the trick.

Presume that you are referring to the starter clutch. It is screwed to the crank, conventional right hand thread and should be undone using a special tool. However, with care it may be undone with a large stillson or a hammer and hard wood block against the lugs that the top screen screws to. Take care as those lugs were not designed to tak impacts - just a steady pressure. The "bronze" wrench, one in from the right, is the clutch removal tool and the "half moon" one beside it is the flywheel holder . The two cup shaped ones above them are clutch tools, early and late, for use with a torque wrench or breaker bar.

Two BS ones both with their holes elongated to fit other things. One item that is not there is is a starter clutch spigot protector and knocker. On BS engines with the ball engagement starter clutch there is a temptation to remove it and then hit the top of the spigot to dislodge the flywheel . Don't do it as even the slightest distortion of the spigot will lead to screaming starters and wrecked recoil springs but the after market protector with a brass insert makes the job easy and safe. Briggs contact breaker / condenser set, 294628 £15.15+vat , is still readily available but with so many good used Magnetron coils around for less money there's little point (sorry) in making work for the fun of it. Most mower shops have a box of "may come in useful" Magnetron coils from wrecked engines. Just need to make sure of the exact dimensions between fixing screws as there are some small dimensional differences between what appear to be similar engines.

Legged pullers that hook under the flywheel are a strict NO, NO. You can end up with a split flywheel or worse still a cracked one that flies apart later. Make what you need when you need it - will always come in useful!

The thought of a ten set one takes me back to the late '40s when "wireless" sets had rechargeable accumulators which would be taken to the local garage or bike shop for recharging at an old penny or two a time. There would be a row of them all hooked together gently bubbling away. For those of tender years, an accumulator was a rechargeable wet battery , usually glass with a carrying handle. My knowledge of "Portable" as opposed to mains Wireless sets of the era is a bit sketchy but they would have been valve sets (no transistors) and often had an accumulator to run one section (grid bias??) and a dry battery to run the less demanding section.

Line 'em up on a well ventilated shelf, and hook each to a "maintenance" charger once a month. keeping them charged protects against sulphation and frost. I have my stand-by generator permanently hooked to a C-tek charger .

When I saw the title I thought that there would be a lovely image of the truck complete with hand cranked Harvey Frost crane - but no!!!!!

Great pictures - but its only a tiddler! https://uk.usembassy.gov/the-american-embassy-london-chancery-building/embassy_chancery_with_eagle_750x450/

Just depends. If the seal has gone due to a bad bearing its possibly not worth doing but if just the seal, give it a go. If you are not paying labour charges there's little to loose.

A wire from the coil to points and a wire from external condenser to same terminal.Make sure that you have the correct thickness gasket between the cover and the crank case. Without that the points may earth out to the cover. In many applications the condenser is anchored under one of the engine mounting bolts. Edit The "book" points gap is 20thou but experience gleaned the hard way suggests that they perform better at 18thou - long story!

If it's an unmolested 60s machine it will have been fitted with contact breaker points under the flywheel so assuming that it's not been updated to an electronic system, you have a choice, remove the flywheel and clean the points or find a used working electronic coil (Magnetron) and fit it in place of the existing one. A Magnetron coil is identifiable by a "lump" between one armature leg and the coil. Fitting a Magnetron coil avoids having to remove the flywheel either then or ever again! * If you are going for the points and assuming that your machine has a top mounted starter (pull the rope out sideways) it has a stater clutch which must be removed before you can tackle the flywheel. There is a tool to grip the lugs of the clutch which unscrews anti clockwise but with care a block of wood and a hammer or even stillsons will do the job. Under the clutch is a Belleville washer - note which way up it goes. The flywheel is probably drilled for a puller but with care can be removed without the "proper" tool. However do not use a legged puller around the rim and at all costs don't hit the starter clutch spigot with a steel hammer - preferably don't hit it at all! Get the fingers of one hand under the flywheel, take the weight of the machine and tap the keyway side of the flywheel sharply with a copper hammer. With a bit of luck the flywheel will release. If you have a side mounted (pull up) starter there will be no clutch but a nut. From there on in, clean the points, remove the plunger and clean it and make sure that it is free moving, refit the points and set to 20thou.Refit the flywheel (note that it should have an aluminium key not steel) and tighten the clutch to 55ft lbs or **tight. * The book will say that when carrying out a conversion the flywheel should be removed and the points actuating plunger replaced with a blanking plug , but.............!