Hillsider

I am inclined to think they are not the same machine to much distance in between locations, I don't think that UK farmers are into the custom harvesting operation like they are in USA. Those guys cover immense mileages between farms never mind around there fields. I think that the combines shown in wristpins photo are the Massey model 780 with the air intake to the radiator vertical, the later 788 had the horizontal intake. The machine nearest the camera is not one that I am familiar with I would guess it is a Viking by the name on the grain tank but don't know who sold those around this area. Ray

That is an interesting selection of old tools, my guess for the first picture is that it is a corner or mitre clamp whichever you prefer to call it. The vice shown in pic five looks meaty, is it a blacksmiths vice? Ray

Re post 25, The reason I recognised the tool was because we had one in the workshop where I worked, it was a Ridgid screw cutting machine made by the Ridge Tool and Die company in the USA and we used it for making the bolts that hold wooden fenders and mooring Bollards to the Quayside, the largest bolts were 50mm thread diameter and if I remember correctly that size needed two passes of the die to form a thread, anything up to 40 mm could be done in one pass but the machine was working pretty hard on the larger sizes. Lot easier than threading steel bar by hand though. Ray.

Do suppose we have seen the same machine? The one that I passed was a few years ago near Eastry on the Dover to Sandwich road.

The dies shown in post 10 are from the a ridgid (or similar) thread cutting machine. They fit into a die head in numerical order as has been suggested and can normally be adjusted for depth of cut and released by rotating one half of the die holder against the fixed half. http://www.amazon.com/Diehead-RIDGID-97065-Automatic-Oiler/dp/B0015RWYPQ

There is one of those machines that works around here and travels between jobs on the highway, doesn't hold the traffic up to bad either it trundles along quite well with the header removed, would not want to meet it head on in a narrow lane though! Makes the old Massey 788's, 400 and 500 combines with 8,10 or 12 foot fixed headers seem small in comparison and we used to get a police escort to deliver those out to farms. Ray.