expeatfarmer

What a frustrating day today. The ITW took ages to start, the Whitlock loader has a major diesel leak behind the engine cowling ( fuel pump banjo) 137 decided to play silly beggars and not start and then to cap it all the digger dozer decided to shear the key that drives the hydraulic pump in addition to which it is running badly. Thanks to Norman who was busy washing off machines and helping to sort the keyway all back on track again but knackered my back and feeling very grumpy. Only good thing for the day is that my wife janet has stitched up a beautiful leather cloth seat cover for the ITW which I am about to staple on. had to leave the Whitlock and ITW outside as it is now freezing and I have not the energy to fanny about getting them started. With my luck it will be pouring with rain in the morning.

Machine is mobile and running Neil is going to bring most of the parts he has found for me to display alongside the machine.

Yes steered by your feet which some people seem to have no control over !!!!!

Somebody was heading into the garage with head held high I shouted to him to duck so what did he do ? Stamped on the brakes and swerved to the left heading for the garage wall and all between him and it ! Being a man of iron he let go the brakes and eventually shut the throttle coming to an ignominious stop amongst power packs , compressors and Petrol engines people want to pay me money for. No damage done and no skin lost so all's well !

I was not going to mention your near beheading Norman but as you have!!!! Managed to get all 7 running by 7pm tonight the MG5 had not been touched since July and just needed a bit of love and a mag clean. On target for Malvern!!! Tittyvating starts on Monday !

Skimmer now finished as much as it is going to be before Malvern. Changed the condenser yesterday fired up first pull on the handle from cold. Took it for a spin around the garden Stormin will post the photos. Considering the extra track length it steers really well even on concrete. Flat out in first gear is so slow at 25ft per minute top gear is 1 mph but it would climb the side of a house or push it over. Glad I fitted an electrical stop you feel very vulnerable sitting up on top but not as scary as the Whitlock. The ITW is hard to start when cold, I am sure it is a case of finding the optimum settings for choke heat and throttle. MG40N starts first go from cold with no heat, Whitlock needed a few turns and heat but has not been run for about 4 months. Digger fired first turn of the starter and started after a couple of goes. Old thumper 137 starts like a dream the blast off the exhaust is amazing you can feel it at the far end of the garage. MG5 let me down, no spark so guess the mag is damp or the points stuck just about to have a fiddle.

The oil filler cap is 21/2" od and 2" id. The slots are 1/4" wide.

Up and running today, fired first pull but as with 137 would not run until I turned it over with my petrol drill starter and then it ran well, not able to get a good slow tick over and still wont re start on the handle. I am going to fit another condenser in the morning as when I tested the spark with a tell tale it was firing well on no compression but no spark on compression. The condenser fitted was a NOS one but I now have some brand new ones so hope that makes the difference. This engine is in superb condition and has more compression than any of my others. Once I had it running I put it into gear only to find that the gear lever is marked up back to front reverse is forwards which caused me to just about demolish a trestle I had at the back of the machine fortunately I managed to stop it before too much damage was done. I guess that when the Ford engine and gearbox were fitted the engine turned over the opposite way to the Ransomes. I have now blanked out the markings and made up some new markers. I am going to fit an electrical stop switch at the driving point as I think that if anything goes wrong when you are sat up there on Norman's beautifully fitted seat you would be in trouble even though it only does 1 mile an hour flat out in third it would not stop even if it hit a wall it would climb up it or demolish it. One part I am missing which would be good to have before Malvern is an oil filler cap, in the engine close up you can see the four slot location, I have scoured the usual sources but not been able to find one, if anyone has a spare that may be suitable please give me a call.

Engine mounted today, timed up magneto and fitted carb, two of the manifold blots needed to be tapped oversize. I was going to retain the marine throttle lever meantime but the amount of travel is far too much for the 356 carb so looked out a long cable that will fit an original Ransomes throttle lever. Norman has fitted up the seat frame adjusters using the spare frame and slides from the Turf Trak, needs a bit more fiddling though as I dont want to change too much from original.

Repaired and strengthened the engine bay floor today using heavy angle iron and 3mm plate. I cut the plate to the ford gearbox cut out using a plasma cutter, welded in the plate and then ground the welds flush. Just given it a rough coat of primer to stop it rusting. Drill the engine bolt holes in the morning and then fit the engine. Waiting for my professional seat fitter to arrive and fit the new skimmer seat. Had a test sit yesterday definitely not a job you could do with a kilt on !!! Would have been nice to restore the body side plates but at this stage I dont know if Ransomes cut them away when fitting the auger orv if it was done later so no point until I have some more bits.

Planning a massed start up on Friday so crank handles better not be doomed!

All back together again thanks to Stormin, even have the new seat fitted so no wet bottom any more! Not tried again with fitting the loader, factory tell me to bodge up the rear mounts with angle iron but that also means re making the clamps and moving the pump back so will modify front pick up mounts instead so that it all fits properly.

With a bit of encouragement from Norman and Rhys we managed to dismantle the stiff cable cleaned it up on the wire wheel loads of copper slip and it was good as new, removed the gear change slide from the gearbox and made sure that was free now all working as it should. Rhys re assembled the brakes so all we need now is the engine mounting plate and engine in.

The winch is complete but is currently jammed in gear I shall have to remove it to find out why. I just have to be careful not to engage the pto or it will jam the cable.

You know that chequer plate you were looking for Rhys, the plate under the Ford engine would have cut in half and been ideal for what you needed.

Started work on sand skimming tractor again, Norman and I towed it down to the workshop on Wednesday and winched it on to the lift, just fits with a scrape on either side, lift is brilliant I can set it so that I can crawl inside to get to the back of the gearbox. I have fitted a replacement 3 speed gearbox and renovated the power take off, both of which had been removed and modified when Ford engine fitted. Been struggling today with gear change cable it was free running when off the machine but when in situ is too tight for gearchange lever to move have run 1/2 pint of plus gas through it and spent half an hour pulling it back and forth from the gearbox end but still not good enough hoping I can find a new one. The engine is ready to lift in but first I have to weld in a new support plate as again this was cut away to fit the Ford unit.

Stormin around the garden

Nice guy a drummer by profession he has a number of beautifully restored Ransomes he bought and a number he has done himself.

All done! Went for a ride up the road to the next farm. Starts really well from cold or hot, seems to lack power but hey who cares it moves and smoke is minimal. Steers well on grass and gravel bit sluggish to steer severely on tarmac but then new tyres etc. Throttle still a bit stiff but again newness in the governor and I am certainly not going to mess about with it. First two pictures are engine ticking over at 510 rpm, third picture is full bore at 2100 rpm. Does smoke more under load but again it is 4 degrees here.

I would go for new rings first as loss of compression is a cause of both symptoms.Also well worth setting the bump clearance on the head to make sure you have best compression.

What actually is wrong with yours just smokey?

Ransomes exhibitors now up to 36, Nat Finnbow from Suffolk is bringing his MG6 Prototype.

Much better thanks Norman. Made up a panel for the ignition key and heater plug switch. Have to keep going back to it and starting it just to make sure it is sorted. So far so good ! If it was not for Neil Jarrett being able to supply me with parts more or less next day I would be screwed.

That is my plan at some point well after Malvern!!

Fitted a NOS governor today courtesy of Neil Jarrett. Engine fired up and started perfectly first go! Looks as if this has been a similar issue as the magnetos on 137 I have two faulty governors, one of which came off a good running engine. There are various parts of the governor that can be adjusted although the books tell you to leave them strictly alone you cannot tell what someone else has done in the past to make an engine run.Unfortunately there is a lack of data which would enable you to set the adjustments back to standard.