slf-uk

Happy birthday Joseph, I hope you had a lovely day.

The important thing is that white is on the top, much like white tractors

Very good job, I like that. Iain

At least the roof is the right colour I need one of those "beware horses" decals for the back from The Showman Iain

Last October I bought a 1984 Land Rover 90 from a friend of the family. It has been used on his farm for well over 20 years, is totally original and had been sitting in a barn unused for over a year. I have not had much workshop time over the last year so it has taken a while to do the chassis welding and sort the other issues. Can't be too many original 90's left. On Friday I put it in for an MOT and it passed with no advisories For some reason the MOT man liked my work and asked if I wanted a job. Not for me, but good to receive the complement and good that he is happy. I had to take some pictures for the insurance company and someone jumped in while I was taking the other pictures. For some reason Joseph thinks the 90 is his and is asking all sorts of questions about running cost. It is his birthday tomorrow so while he thinks it is already his, he will not be disappointed to not have it as a present. Iain

Looks like you will soon have it running great. That really is a tidy 1050 I am looking forward to seeing some of your tractors when I pop down for a visit, even though it will be a six hour drive each way. Iain

Great pictures. I would love to know what Chris is thinking in the first pictures, you can almost see the cogs turning . I can now see why he was pleased Pam was out for the day. The trachorse did a great job. The bit I cut off the back of the roller makes it look a bit rude Iain

Andrew, I am watching this with interest. I usually use POR15 Marine clean but that is not cheap. If it is really bad I then use POR15 tank sealer. I love the POR15 products, they are not cheap but they work perfectly. Iain

Looks great Norm, your making good progress. Have you put insulation under the floor? I am watching with interest as I have been asked by the boss to make a new potting shed, apparently the current one is unusable now that it is being shared with a number of tractors (9 to be exact ). Iain

Alain, finding a ride-a-matic that still has the belt guards is always a challenge, someone could make good money pressing out replacements. Two of the RAM's I have I bought as parts tractors specifically because they still have the belt guards fitted, although I can't bring myself to break them up and one day I hope to get at least one running. Your spot on with the wire hanging out the front, this is for lifting the front attachments which is very crude compared to the sophistication of the rear lift. The earlier RAM's had a chain as a front lift mechanism.

One person's studio is another's tractor store. May be worth making the dimensions multipurpose Iain

Happy birthday, I hope you have a good one Iain

Alain, when I bought this RAM in October 2014 I did well not buying any tractors for a while however since then would you believe I have bought another 20 tractors. She is less than impressed so I am trying not to buy any more. The '62 RAM is a bit of a marmite tractor, BTW Marmite is a spread available in the UK and the company's marketing slogan is "Love it or hate it". I have two '62 RAM's and they are both in very poor condition, this one has been pulled apart and badly repainted before reassembly using most of the essential parts, the others presumably discarded. Also for no good reason a number of holes have been cut into the cast grill. So may even call it a restoration, the other tractor is a lot more honest. The '62 RAM is a good size for my son to use and as it is shiny, it has caught his eye. As such I want to get this one running and then do a running refurbishment over time. We are doing the work together so progress will be slow but hopefully we will both learn something along the way. In addition to adding the original hitch we are also looking to get the clutch/brake to work. We have identified the parts that are missing and are investigating how to make replacements. This is a picture of my other '62 RAM, which some may recognise as it came from John's collection. Affectionately this is known as "the dragster" due to the modified Land Rover back wheels Iain

Great score Alain. Iain

That is unbelievable, I would be concerned about using it in case I scratched it Iain

I really like your 1050, I wish mine were anywhere near this good. Good call on the fuel system, tank clean, new pipe and inline filter is the way to go. Now just get your finger out and buy that seat cover, we all want to know what they are like Iain

Very interesting, this is completely different to the design of Bolens grader blade I was looking at. It is interesting that the Bolens ones fit to the rear axle and the bracket goes forward to the blade and I think the Wheelhorse one is the opposite (happy to be corrected if I have got that wrong. Iain

Earlier tractors however I thought it was interesting to note that the wheel weights for my Bolens ride-a-matic's are identical to those on my Cub Cadet Original. I will have to check them for markings Iain

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'm with Andrew on this one. I hope its not to difficult or expensive to fix. Iain

This is a great picture because it shows what a Bolens looks like with the panels removed. The design started with the 600 in 1962 and very little changed right through to 1978 with the last G14. The chassis tubes were shorter on the 600 and they had a dog leg on the hydros. The steering column is a work of art although the top bush can be a pain. The cast front axle and cradle are unbelievably heavy. The body panels changed over the years and various gearbox, clutch and engine options were available. Everything is widely over engineered which is why I love them so much. Just as well it is really considering the weight of some of the attachments. This big boy for example weighs in at 550lbs (250kg). Have I got one - no, do I want one - you bet! Iain

A very worthwhile project, looking forward to the pictures. Something to keep you busy in the cold winter evenings? Iain

The latest is a little embarrassing. After doing all the work on the exhaust port of the engine and the fuel system it ran great, however the engine had what sounded like a tappet noise and I still had a problem with the charging system. I pulled all the panels off the engine and rigged up a temporary fuel tank so I could get a better idea where the noise was coming from. At that point I got distracted and then I had 12 months with no tractor time, resulting in no progress for 18 months I have three G14's and I love 'em. It is the only G model that has all the great features that were installed on the Husky's, with the additional benefit of a more powerful (14hp) engine. The G models were made at the time when Bolens where trying to match the prices of lesser machines and foolishly they did that by removing all the good bits. The other popular G model sold in the UK was the G10 which had nearly all the good bits removed. It still has a full size tractor type PTO and a tubed chassis rather than angle iron, but no sprung seat, no diff. lock, a belt clutch rather than an automotive one, no sealed beam headlights or ammeter. Andrew, if you have the chance to get a G14 at the right price jump on it, you will not regret it. Iain

Once you have finished the roller project the two spare rollers would make great front wheels for a iron wheel tractor project, and I am sure I spotted some iron rear wheels at the usual hunting ground. Just a thought. Iain

Alain, Ariens were imported to the UK as I remember seeing some new ones in a dealership a lots of years ago and I even have the sales leaflet from the visit. I don't recall seeing any for sale second-hand and I have no idea if they imported any of the cool attachments. Iain

I'm really pleased the journey down south went well, I always worry when I load someone else's trailer. I am sure Pam will love it It sounds like it gave the Trachorse a bit of a workout. What's the plan now? Iain