slf-uk

I found that drive linkage on these can be a fiddle to get right and can work loose. They are great once you have them adjusted correctly. It's good to see that it appears to have the original seat with the arm rests still fitted. I seem to recall that the back tyres on these are an odd size, 27x9.50-15 comes to mind. Nigel, I would be interested to know what the size and make of tyres you have fitted on the fitted to the rear as I need to source some for one of my D's. It would be handy to know where you got them from too. Thanks. Iain

I seem to remember that you could do this in our country when I was a kid, unfortunately no longer. It is an ongoing war, enhancing security at every opportunity and reviewing the situation when attempts are made. I really do find it a depressing situation and don't see it getting any better. What makes my blood boil is when you contact the boys in blue and the first response is “would you like a crime number for the insurance company”, followed by “very little we can do sir”. I know police intelligence are two words that are often not used in the same sentence, but you would have thought that the person who was let out of prison for this type of offence and has no apparent income but drives a van, is worth keeping an eye on. Anyway back to the task in hand. The job of getting everything back into the workshop turned into a nightmare. I knew that I would need to find an alternative location for the three tractors on the top of the stand but I was confident that everything else would drop straight back in place. This wasn’t the case for some reason but I did get it sorted, even though I had a bit of a sense of humour failure at one point. Seems mad that it took me two full days to empty the workshop, dismantle the stand and put everything back but it is at least a step in the right directions. No further progress until next weekend. Iain

I have but the size does not work that well for our size tractors, hence making the new store 9' wide rather than the 8' of the container. Having said that I will probably be gettng a couple of containers for something else. No saying they wouldn't work just not ideally dimensions Andrew, I think I have lost that '62 Ride-a-matic to tractor boy. Thanks Alain, love all my tractors no matter the colour or make Security is always a big concern of mine and part of the reason for the move around. None of the tractors in the pictures will end up in the new store. I am planning to move my parts tractors from a secure store to this one and then move good tractors to the secure store. Even though the new store is insecure I have a very bad habit of leaving large lumps of steel and wood in dangerous places and anyone breaking in would be very lucky not to get hurt. I should point out that I have not created traps because that would be illegal, I just have lots of dangerous stuff laying around. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Iain

I like the self levelling bucket, not something you normally see on a small loader. I hope you can find a replacement fender, I guess the US version of the auction site is a good place to look. Iain

I had planned to build a new workshop and as such I was not too concerned about my workshop space being used for storage. A new workshop is not on the cards for a while now and my current workshop is so full I can't actually do anything. As such I decided to build a temporary tractor store and have a complete move around, which hopefully will give me my workshop back and put everything in a logical place. It will take a while! This the new temporary store which is 20x9ish foot Today I emptied my workshop so I could get to the tractor stand at the back I then moved the tractors down and out before dismantling the stand The stand will be modified and reassembled in the new temporary store. With some of the tractors outside it gave the opportunity for a tractor line up (complete with my helpers) I started to run out of time so all the equipment got hurried back into the workshop. Tomorrows job try and get everything back in the workshop and start modifying the tractor stand. Time for a beer or two now If anyone is interested in the way this progresses I will update as things move on. Progress will be slow. Iain

Great find Harry and it must be very rare. Iain

Happy birthday, I hope you have a good one. Iain

I have already started looking, can't believe how few are about.

Looking good Ian, I like your idea for strengthening the suspension arms. I have high expectations for the next video and after the last one you have already set the bar high Joseph has been telling all his friends at school about how great the footage is of you handing yourself a mug of coffee/tea. Iain

I would love a Suburban or an RJ, it would make a great stable mate for my Bolens Ride-a-matic's. What is the difference between a RJ and a Suburban? is it just that pre-1960 the model's was called an RJ's or is it more complicated than that? It looks to me like these type of Wheelhorse should be called nut-roaster's I certainly would be concerned if the rod let go, so to speak Iain

I hope the insurance company offer you a sensible settlement, you have been through enough. Iain

I had one like this when I was a kid, no idea what happened to it or why I still have all my fingers Iain

Very pleased you are ok. I'm with Nigel on this one. It does not look too bad to put right, I have repaired much worse in my time. Iain

Some great advice as always, thanks guys. At the moment I am trying to keep some enthusiasm up for when I get some time and my workshop back. It currently is currently a store for 12 tractors, a Land Rover and gator. Iain

It looks like I may need to fit Tri-ribs to the front of one of my Bolens Ride-a-matic’s which has a standard tyre size of 4.00-8. The easy options appear to be Trelleborg T513 from bigtyre https://www.bigtyres.co.uk/4-00-8-4-ply-trelleborg-t513.html or unnamed brand from Allterraintyres (although the pictures appears to show a Kenda tyre) http://www.allterraintyres.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1087_1242_1248&products_id=5034 I know I have asked a couple of you for advice previously however I am getting old and have forgotten what was said, sorry. Joseph is concerned that we have to buy the right tyres but I am unsure what he considers to be right or wrong. I would really welcome some advice and if anyone has a picture of either or both of the options above that would be great. Some advice from our US based tyre expert would be cool too, as long as it is not to tell me I have spelt tyre incorrectly Thanks Iain

A great buy Alain, looks better than my D-200. Like Andrew, I didn't know about the thrust washers. When I rebuilt the steering on my D-160 I thought that the steering needed thrust washers so I added some, clearly I was thinking along the same lines as the WH engineers (which is a worry ). The Ross steering box on these D-series is not great and if you feel the need to do a rebuild all the parts are on the shelf cheaply at a JD dealer, as some models used the same steering box. I believe I posted the part numbers on RedSquare ages ago, but let me know if you need them. When I get some tractor time I plan to rebuild the steering box on my D-200. Now who do I know that works for a JD dealer who might be able to get me a discount on the parts... Iain

Alain, Generally, any Tube Frame deck will fit any Tube Frame tractor, the only exception I’m aware of is 600 decks and tractors. The two things you need to take into account is the way the deck attached to the tractor and that you are looking to put a deck from a hydro lift tractor onto a manual one. The earlier tractors had rectangular brackets fixed to the underside mounting plate, circled in red in the picture below. On the very early tractors like an 800 the back of the deck attached to the rear axle attachment fixings. If your deck needs these rectangular brackets you just need to take them off the original tractor and put them on the 850. Later tractors used attachment pins which fix onto the bottom holes on the underside mounting plate. I seem to recall that as standard a 1556 uses this method (although as Chris has all the 1556’s in the UK, this is just an assumption ). Again you just need to remove these pins from the 1556 and put them on the 850. Pins look like this. The deck lift bracket is different on a hydro lift to a manual lift and in order to put the 1556 deck on the 850, the bracket needs to be changed. They come up all the time on the auction site. In the picture below the bracket with the blue text is the part on the deck that the lift lever fits on. The two brackets with yellow text are the lift brackets, which as you can see are very different for manual or hydro. For a 850 you need the one on the left, the one on the right is for a hydro. I hope this helps and my rambling makes some sence. Iain

An even later happy birthdday, I hope you had a good day. Iain

Happy birthday, have a good one Iain

Happy birthday Paul, I hope you have a good day. Iain

Happy birthday Alain, hope you have a great day with lots of tractor time. Iain

Thanks for your birthday wishes, it is appreciated No Bolens presents from friends or family so I bought my own, a part for one of my Ride-a-matic's. Shipping was more than the part. Alan, no chance of Joseph buying me a Bolens, he is too busy claiming ownership to the best tractors in my collection. Currently he also appears to have an unhealthy attraction to my WH's I am very busy at work at the moment but I am hoping to get some tractor and forum time in a few weeks time. Iain

Happy birthday Norm, hope you have a good one. Iain

Great 90 Norm, I hope mine looks that good one day.