expeatfarmer

I did think of that and then thought if it has lasted 60 years loading sand it should be strong enough for the odd load of soil.

I meant to say that it never ceases to amaze me at the quality of the steel used by Ransomes, this machine is over 60 years old and look how the metal cleans up for welding, the paint must be good too!

Waiting for the clutch I decided to refurb the engine bay and clean up the engine, in the process I discovered some nasty stress cracks in the body at the point where the main lift rams are bolted to the body. Any worse and the arms could have ripped off! I drilled the crack ends to stop the stress line, ground out a deep vee and then welded first from one side and then repeated the process on the other side. All better now and sprayed up with primer. I also found tha the diesel tank was full of pinholes that had been filled with Isopon, hopefully I will have a new one before Malvern but if not I will have to solder up the old one.

I saw that MG2 at the auction it was sitting at £200, I didn't really want it but it was a decent refurb so I bid it up to £400 and then saw that I was bidding against a young lad, being a kindly soul I let him have it at £460, I met him afterwards and asked him what he was going to do with it, instantly he replied "bang it on Ebay and make some money it was so cheap". True to his word it was on later and sold for £600. So much for being a kindly soul.

Hi Stormin Don't think I have ever been called johanathan before! First for everything. If you are passing Rumneys would you call in and ask if my MG6 barrel/ valves are ready. Thanks

if anyone knows of another of these I would be interested, they are a very clever machine with loads of pull.

Many thanks, I have found a company in Bedford, Auto and Industrial Friction Services, they seem to specialise in oddball clutches.

When I bought the Whitlock a few years ago, the unique centrifugal plate clutch was inoperative, I stripped it down and found that most of the internals were missing. Using a parts diagram and reference parts I managed to make the missing parts and reassembled it. The one unknown was how thick the clutch friction plate should be, the original was worn but not u/s so I refitted it. The clutch worked but was unable to transmit much power without slipping. As I have entered it for a display at Malvern in March I thought I better strip it out and have the plate re lined so today I removed the engine and split the clutch ready to send the plate away, does anyone know where I might go for a re line? The previous owner had rebuilt the tracks with new grousers,rubbers plates and bolts but unfortunately had not tightened the track bolts enough with the consequence that the tracks are at full adjustment and still slack, a nice job for a cold day will be to go round each bolt and tighten them, fortunately my new platform lift makes life a bit easier , I will also replace the two track roller pins with new units instead of the current bolts.

She did , which is why I had a few hours to play!

Some things are best kept to yourself!

Chores become easier when you can tinker with your toys at the same time. Need a tow behind gritter for it now. Even more brownie points because Janet's car was snowed in and now she can drive it out thanks to the snow plough. She says I should have got one years ago.! I did not tell her I had all the bits for years.

Had a day out with the Digger today in snow plough mode, worked well with plenty of grunt but ideally the hydraulic ram for the dozer could do with a float position. The ram is double acting so stays where you put it instead of following the ground contours. Gave the old Whitlock an outing to blow the dust off.

Neat little dynamo what is it off? Shed looks good where have you put it?

Is it a croftmaster?

where is that and when?

Thank you. I am hoping to take it to tractor world along with my unrestored Whitlock loader

I should be about Norman.

Hooray up and running today, 40 psi oil pressure at tick over. Took it for a test drive along the road delivering Christmas cards and then back home for a dig.I am amazed it is fast powerful and operates on multi service functions so that you can lift and crowd etc at the same time. Going to make a set of swamp pads for the tracks next.

Some photos showing the extent of previous block repair and the stellite weld peeling off the crank. The stellite must be very hard, the grinder said his machine had taken 4 thou off the crank and 10 thou off the grinding wheel !

Managed to get all the parts back today, replacement crank was ground to -30 thou. to suit available shells. Hope to start re-assembly in the morning.

Must have been that tasty fairy cake that you had with your coffee that focussed your mind!

Bad news, at some point in it's past there has been a catastrophic failure in this engine which has smashed various holes in the block. These have been superbly repaired with alloy welding, it now turns out that the crank must have snapped and been welded and then re ground. Before grinding it measured 40 thou. oval, machinist tried to grind it round and found a cavity in the weld so unfortunately crank is scrap. Goods news is my friend Anthony in Hereford has sent me a replacement which just needs a tidy up and we should be good to go.

In readiness for the rebuild I decided to strip the oil pump s and check the internals. One of the ball valves at the base of the pump was completely blocked with a jump of white metal !

Thanks Chris It is in Suffolk collection in person only!!!!

A few more tweaks on the digger today, Titch made me some decals for the Ramdozer which I spotted on an old brochure. Not that I am that old but I do find it hard work moving dead machines and working on them so today I set up a new toy to make life easier and hopefully let me carry on playing. I also managed to get my 1952 MG5 running nicely and have now placed it on the for sale page.