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Many happy returns of the day Iain, hope you have a good day and Joseph lets you drive a Bolens 

All the Best Iain. Have a good day.

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
 

 
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We had a great day at Tractor fest on Saturday and it was fantastic to catch-up with everyone. Thanks Norm for letting me borrow your C81, lovely tractor. Joseph took a few pictures
 

 

 
 
When we reviewed the pictures this was our favourite, Andrew with a bucket on his head :-)
 

We finally managed to get the Estate Keeper running. My assistant and chief test driver has made a video covering most of the work we did on the tractor and a demonstration of it in action. Very cool machine, I love it
 
 

Fantastic job Norm, it looks great.
 
I have a Haban sickle bar mower and they are a very handy tool. I used mine in the vertical position once to trim the side of a hedge and it frightened the life out of me.
 
Iain

Alan, I am really pleased you have started a threat on this, it is great to see the detail. Fantastic workmanship, I know I have said this to you directly but stated here for the record. I can't believe how well you have captured the details of a D in this model.
 
Iain
 
 

Last weekend Paul and Wendy popped in to see us and we decided to get some tractors out for Paul to try. I managed to capture some video of the five we used which I have posted on Joseph's YouTube channel.
 
 
The D160 was misbehaving not helped by me forgetting to turn the fuel on. Hopefully we will get a little time today to do a bit of work on it.
 
Iain  
 

Last weekend Paul and Wendy popped in to see us and we decided to get some tractors out for Paul to try. I managed to capture some video of the five we used which I have posted on Joseph's YouTube channel.
 
 
The D160 was misbehaving not helped by me forgetting to turn the fuel on. Hopefully we will get a little time today to do a bit of work on it.
 
Iain  
 

Last weekend Paul and Wendy popped in to see us and we decided to get some tractors out for Paul to try. I managed to capture some video of the five we used which I have posted on Joseph's YouTube channel.
 
 
The D160 was misbehaving not helped by me forgetting to turn the fuel on. Hopefully we will get a little time today to do a bit of work on it.
 
Iain  
 

Last weekend Paul and Wendy popped in to see us and we decided to get some tractors out for Paul to try. I managed to capture some video of the five we used which I have posted on Joseph's YouTube channel.
 
 
The D160 was misbehaving not helped by me forgetting to turn the fuel on. Hopefully we will get a little time today to do a bit of work on it.
 
Iain  
 

Alan, I am really pleased you have started a threat on this, it is great to see the detail. Fantastic workmanship, I know I have said this to you directly but stated here for the record. I can't believe how well you have captured the details of a D in this model.
 
Iain
 
 

As some will already know, the Showman and I have been clearing a friend's land of his large collection of various garden tractors, horticultural machinery, workshop equipment and whatever else you can think of.    Nearly 2 :1/2 years later the end is in sight.  As friend John is having to sell up and move soon due to ill health, my Roper tractor which was stored on his land has now moved on to a new home.
 
As I have very little room at home to work and store in, mainly a single car size garage which is already half full of stuff, thoughts turned to something small to build which could be transported in the back of my Meriva car.  Small enough to fit in the car, but hopefully big enough to ride on, but if not towing a trailer which I can sit on and operate the tractor by remote steering etc. Various options were looked at, thought about and discarded due to too many compound curves etc.  Then, after studying photo's of the D-series Wheel Horse which has very few awkward curves a plot was hatched.
 
During the clear out lots of "might be handy one day" bits and pieces were kept.  One of the few tractors which remained, unloved and unwanted, was this Bolens ride on mower.  
 

 
It was eventually stripped of useful parts, gearbox, axle / diff assembly, wheels and various other bits before the remains were left to be dumped much later.   Also found among the junk in John's barn was the bottom end of a small engine which was later found to be a 65cc BSA 4 stroke.  After further hunting by the Showman other parts were found in various locations in the barn loft.  Enough parts to build a complete engine with spares left over.   Engine just roughly assembled in this photo.  John never stored related parts together and in one place.  We think this was his anti theft device.  Find a few parts, no good without the others, so leave alone.  Appears to have worked as we have found on various occasions.  Tri rib tires Chris. 
 

 
To be continued.
 
 

Happy birthday Chris, hope it was a good one.
 
Best wishes
Iain

Yesterday Chris made the three and half hour drive to spend the day with us and we had a great time showing him our collection, driving some tractors and doing some repairs to the Bolens HT20.
 
We made a video of some of the fun
 
 
Iain

Never mind Alan. I'll take good care of it and you can see it and maybe have a drive in August when I come down south.
 
BTW. I hope any tear stains have been cleaned off the bonnet.

Dearly beloved, we gathered at Johns today for the collection of the Sears Roper where it has been kept for the last few months in a nice warm workshop wrapped in blankets.
It was pulled from the brambles years ago and nursed back to life by Alan and his heeling hands and now due to lack of storage he has to pass it on reluctantly to a new owner.
A very sad day as he tried to stop me loading it into the awaiting Sprinter all without success.
Heres some photos of the proceedings.
Hankys at the ready 

That will keep Iain and Joseph busy.    "Now where do I start".

Some of Johns oldies next time Alan

Scaffolding grandstands for the viewers.  Trailer rides for the kids oldie's.