My MG40N arrived from France on Saturday evening ticking one more box on my model list only two or maybe three more to complete the set, wheeled itw, skimmer and an English spec MG40 with Sachs engine and bonnet. If anyone has any leads on any of the missing three I would be very grateful. The MG40N was built by Ransomes specifically for the French market, this one is fitted with a pto driven hydraulic pump to raise and lower the implement crane which the French seem to prefer over three point linkage. The drawbar is much heavier than UK spec. and it is also fitted with a NATO hitch. The engine starts and runs well, steering brakes a bit iffy and it needs a jolly good clean but apart from that I am well pleased. I even managed to buy an original French Sales brochure for this model on E bay France last week.
As a relative newcomer to actually showing machines, I am interested to know how judging is carried out. Most of my machines are either original patina condition or fully restored but used and as such have battle scars. Having a nice shiny machine is ok but hard to maintain if the machine actually does a job. Winning a prize is very nice but taking the machines to shows for me is about meeting like minded people and spreading interest in the machines of your choice.
At Tractor World it was quite amazing just how many people approached me with stories about Ransomes tractors they owned or had owned and indeed that is how I came to own MG2 137 because the owner was sad to see it languishing at the back of a shed in bits.
Yesterday I rescued a Norman twin cylinder 600cc marine engine. It was originally fitted to a small launch on Windermere.
A neat little unit horizontally opposed crank start. The magneto has been modified to external coil ignition but looks as if it could be easily reversed.
Not sure what I will do with it but too good to scrap, if there are any vintage boat enthusiasts that can make good use of it let me know.
Both main drive wheels are badly worn outer rims are available but the wheel centres are not, I decide to use two repair rims on each wheel and cut down the wheel centre with a plasma cutter so that I can then weld on a repair rim.
Repairing or replacing the engine cowl might not be so easy.
I will have to clean it up this week and tidy up a few battle scars, although it is fully restored it is definitely a working machine and I try not to worry about the odd scratch.
Today I discovered our main house drain was blocked, out came the digger dozer with a vengeance, I dug a trench 4ft deep and 14m long through heavy clay soil in less than an hour, that's good enough for me!
From my experience there should be a lot more numbers on the crown wheel than those you have found so as you say they may be a replacement.
If you are really lucky there may be the serial number of the tractor stamped into the underside of the gearbox cover or you may be able to decipher the number off the plate by removing it and looking at the body in the hope that the stamp marks have indented the body.Sometimes you can extract the number by taking a photo of the plate and playing around on a computer with editing the contrast and tones.
Which engine does your tractor have? If you have the engine number we may be able to date that by comparing it to known tractors.
I have just been given a 6L cleaner from Maplins for my birthday, tried it out on a carb that was absolutely caked in crud, came out spotless but discoloured. I am experimenting with different fluids for different metals. Well worth having if you clean up parts regularly.
I am amazed , so lucky with this machine, I now have it completely stripped as far as I am going, the only force applied was an element of heat to the taper that holds the gear lever. All the diff and final drive bearings are good, machine date is February 1936 and as a bonus the chassis number 137 is stamped into the underside of the alloy gearbox cover. The steering brakes are a bit oily but nowhere near worn out.
The bolts on the pto gearbox were covered in what I can only describe as clay marl a really thick soil which is like putty, once scraped off the bolt heads were like new, the same material is all over the underside of the tractor. I can only assume that very soon after new the machine was bogged in clay which was never washed off. Stripping out the brakes today and then time to draw up a list of spares I need.
New addition to the fleet
in Ride On's
Posted
My MG40N arrived from France on Saturday evening ticking one more box on my model list only two or maybe three more to complete the set, wheeled itw, skimmer and an English spec MG40 with Sachs engine and bonnet. If anyone has any leads on any of the missing three I would be very grateful. The MG40N was built by Ransomes specifically for the French market, this one is fitted with a pto driven hydraulic pump to raise and lower the implement crane which the French seem to prefer over three point linkage. The drawbar is much heavier than UK spec. and it is also fitted with a NATO hitch. The engine starts and runs well, steering brakes a bit iffy and it needs a jolly good clean but apart from that I am well pleased. I even managed to buy an original French Sales brochure for this model on E bay France last week.
