expeatfarmer

Made further progress today , Lift fitted, one final drive, floor board mount and drawbar. all final painted.

Come over and fit some engines for me and earn some pocket money!!!

There is some bloke in Jedburgh that makes them but they cost a fortune !!!

Finally managed to put a coat of blue on the whole tub, had a disaster yesterday primed one side and top coated another only to find that both paints came up in little blisters due to moisture on the surface, the primer settled back but the blue dried with a surface like sandpaper which required half a day rubbing back to smooth. Increased thge workshop temperature and upped the speed on the de humidifier also went over both sides with a heat gun before I started any painting today. Bolted on the pto shaft and gearbox plus a few other bits and bobs ad then spent a couple of happy hours cleaning up nuts and bolts to bolt back the other major components.

Would you buy a used tractor from this man?

Showman's looks as if it could be a Ransomes ridger or possibly Ferguson. Norm's is off a Trusty or similar.

Change of plan it was going to be satin then a flash over with gloss now it is gloss to be flashed with satin. You are welcome anytime.;

Spurred on by a visit this weekend by Ransomes enthusiast Anthony Brennan and Laura, I have cracked on and at last have the first blue coat on the body well 70% of it. Very pleased with the finish although stupidly I have some runs in the paint which resulted from not having enough light on the job. I am sure they will flat out for the next coat. Also managed to reclaim a couple of petrol caps, I dismantled them and put them in the lathe to polish out all the rust pits finished off with wire wool and then nickel plated for some reason one of them has some bald spots with no plate despite degreasing and etching not sure what I have done wrong so will buff it all off again and try again.

Looks very good Norm I would be tempted to have a tweak on the pressure relief valve as it sounds as if it is blowing when you lift.May be an issue when the plough is covered in mud and stubble.

I have been meaning to post this for a while, not only was I supremely fortunate to be given the lead that lead to the purchase of the sand skimming tractor but last week Neil Jarrett the MG parts specialist sent me up a seat he had found on a recent skimmer parts hunt, I cannot believe my luck , a brand new 50 year old original seat in incredible condition, just goes to show what is lurking out there waiting to be discovered.

Todays tasks have been plating the carburettor parts, throttle lever,rebuilding fuel tap and reassembling carb. The slides of the carb were originall quite worn and a sloppy fit in the body, by plating the body and main slide with Nickel it has now restored the slide function to a neat sliding fit in fact I had to rub the slide down a bit with 1200 grit. Useful tip if you have a worn carb. loose fitting slides give rise to lumpy tick over or poor slow running. I am very pleased with the results of my nickel kit, I have tried to achieve a sensible balance between retaining an element of the patina of age whilst restoring the original finish so nothing is too shiny and some of the dings and scratches remain.

The plating instructions advise agitating the mix whilst plating with something like a fish tank aerator, I dont have one but I just happened to have a vibrating fret saw on the bench next to the tanks, I switched it on and it worked a treat just enough to jiggle all the bits in the tanks without shaking it all on to the floor.

Not looking for a nice finish on the carb it was sand cast so would never have been shiny.

Yesterday I sandblasted the kettle because it was black and very dull. Today I set up my nickel plating kit and spent a lovely time sitting in a comfy armchair watching molecules swap over. Chuffed with the results the sand blasted fuel filler bowl from the carb has come out a dull finish ( what I wanted ) and the de compressor lever has come out shiny ( also what I wanted ) I tried to buy a new lever but could not find one identical. My ethos has been if I could recover an original part then I would, this lever was corroded to B -------ery but after an hour with my power file dremel and some 1200 wet and dry it looked half decent. The main carb. is in the tank as I write. Both parts bear scars of history which I could have polished out but then there is more to life than absolute perfection !

Plan is to have it finished this month so that I have time to get the sand Skimmer and the ITW mobile for February.

Finally managed to get back to the main tub today, welded up the scars caused by worn idler bearings final filler skimming and then the repaint. Studying the original handbook with a magnifying glass for the final details I discovered today that the straps holding the fuel tank have pin stripes of white across them so that is another challenge!

Made a new starting handle yesterday

stangly if i used a gloss topcoat no problem

I am trying to make sure that we have at least one of every model MG Crawler and derivative that Ransomes produced between 1936 and 1965/6. I would also like to see any modified machines that have been adapted to suit a need such as the Garrard three wheel shunter . If you have a machine you would like to exhibit or know of a friend who will exhibit but does not post on MOM ,I would be grateful if you would post brief details on this thread so that we can keep track. Many thanks Jonathan. Also Neil Jarrett the Ransomes MG spares stockist will be part of our display, he will have a stock of most common consumables but if there is something you would like him to bring for your machine, give him a call on 01656 665304.

I will have to get you to build one for my Turf trak

Thanks, it does the same thing on the red paint too and I have a de humidifier running 24/7, it may be because I am using a satin finish rather than a full gloss. I will ring the supplier today and see what they say .

Becoming quite frustrated with my painting, for some reason the areas of filler are showing through on the top coat despite rubbing down with 800 grit, high build primer coat rubbed down again and then top coated twice, anybody have any idea as to what I might be doing wrong? After spending the best part of two days solid on the cowling it is now looking half decent I have sprayed it with a guide coat tonight with a view to a final rub down fill and paint in the morning. I don't want the same to happen on the cowling or it will look awful.

Just about to lift out the Ford engine but not touched the Kohler yet.

Nice new sets of i.d. plates for Sand Skimming Tractor,137 and engine arrived today from Vintage Brass Plates.

does it have half inch wide belts?