Ian

My brain has the tape measure out

Ahhh.. so that's what it looks like.. I was wondering after our chat the other day

Fantastic photos George, working photos are always good and you all look to be having fun.. Some big grins going on there

Thanks for posting the pic's, keep them coming

That's a serious pair of clamps you have there Angus!!

Top work bringing the rollers back to life

A nice build Max, does TBD stand for "To be decided"?

I like the tube chassis, looks like it came from a dragster.. Which wouldn't be a bad thing

I'm trying to work out in which direction the build is going..

I'm guessing your going for a "Model T tractor" look...

Evening all, as you know MOM is a forum for just that.. Old Machines no matter what make, size and even colour.. All machines are welcome... Not just red ones!

We know there are certain worries out there about the amount of Wheel Horse post's on MOM and that Wheel Horse's are taking over... We hope that's not the case..

So come on guy's and girls, post about your Old Machines no matter what make, size or colour they are.. We would love to see them..

A forum is only as good as it's postings by it's members, but it would seem that it's mostly us chaps that like red machines that are posting!!

MOM has almost 250 members now, and a big thank you to you all for signing up... But it's only about 50 members that own Wheel Horses, which leaves close on 200 of you to post about your machines that are not red..

As the topic title says.. MOM needs your old machines..  Help turn MOM into a truly multi-coloured and multi-make old machined forum that everyone can enjoy

If only I had the floor space and strength in my shack for a lathe like that...

Out of interest how wide on object can you fit on the chuck?

Hi Steve, it's not the same place as the pics were taken in Hawkhurst.. 

The best I can do for you video wise is this er.. speedy harvest..

I like the way the wheels look like they are on legs.. a kinda spider mower but minus a few legs..

I'm not the biggest of "walk behind" fans I thin due to the amount of walking involved, but I'd be happy to cut my grass with your Farmfitters

You always seem to find the best shows George, always with a great selection of different machines..

I second what Neil has said above, Invite your mate to have a look at MOM, it would be great if we could read all about their fine machine

looking good Ian - mig is the future

It is indeed Mark.. Shame it's taken my brain so long to work it out

welds look good ian

Thanks mate, the welds get better

looking good mate nice to see it coming on 

Thanks Ben.

Looking hood looks like you have mastered the mig

Thanks James, I've not quite mastered it yet but I'm getting there..

More mounts almost made up..  

And tweaked a bit to give a bit more space around the starter motor..

They bolt here..

The only trouble with recycling steel is it needs a good clean up first.. This was part of the filming trailer I built ages ago but never used!

Cleaned up and welded on..

And on to today's fun and games, starting with the remains of the frame that the engine top mount was once attached to..  I only needed the threaded tube bit's..

You can just about see it in this balancing act of bits of metal.. Its the bit with the masking tape on it that was being marked out for more trimming.

After a day of careful measuring, cutting, welding and getting really confused until I realized the radiator is mounted on the engine an inch more to the right than left (why did Honda want everything on the outside of this engine offset from the center?), I had come up with most of the engine mounting frame..

I still need to make some cross members for it, but I'm happy with how it's turning out

As I'm only using one of the engine mounting places at the top of the engine, I will be making some mounts which will go forward from the threaded stud and join onto my engine frame.

So does the hood still fit?

That would be a Yes

Nice work James, it's good to see this project coming together so fast

hi new to this site do you have any photo's of the two Lexions in wheat.

thanks

Welcome to MOM Sniffer, sorry I don't have any more photo's. I didn't want to get too close to the action as the dust cloud was horrendous this year!

Me likes Chris, it looks like it was meant to be

The front axle does look a bit on the weedy side though!

that would do for my next project doug have you a pict

I like your thinking mate, it would certainly look good on your next project

Well, it's about time I got on with this project so that's what I've been doing..

The first job is to mount the engine..

A couple of bit's of thick wall box...

To which I need to fit these engine mounting tubes cut from the bike frame.

As I don't have a metal hole cutter big enough I had to use the lathe..

I've had this lathe for at least 6 years but this is the first time I've had to mount something "off centered"!

A short while later...

I'd best weld the tubes in then... Yes that is a MIG welder, and yes it is connected to the bottle of gas behind

Speaking of gas... I left myself a couple of note to remind me to turn the gas off

Zapped!!  I think they should be strong enough..

And attached to the chassis... It is only tack welded on for now just so I can level the engine and get the front mounts done, but the engine mounts will be bolted to the chassis with some thick rubber washers to take out some of the shake

More to come later chaps..

That's a nice find Paul, a very clean machine

I'm guessing your going to get the cutting deck looking as good?

How are the centres attached to the rims Ian ? Before anyone says, I know they are welded, but, a set of wheels I bought from the sale had the centres more in the middle than to one side of the rim. However, the 'spokes' were held with a couple of weld runs instead of spot welds. I just ground the welds away and the centres were then re-welded further in I think they may have been J D wheels, the PCD was the same as WH. Is it possible to transfer the centres from the wheels I sent you to the WH rims? The WH centres in the narrow rims would then become desirable ( £££) items for someone with an older WH.who wants to fit say 6x12 ag's

Morning Doug, I get what your saying about moving the centers but as Mark said Wh wheels are spot welded, and rather big spot welds at that..

I did spend a long time measuring the wheels you very kindly sent me, but I can't find a way of using the centers from them..

More to come later chaps but for now these two pics should give you all the kinda vision I have for this machine..

Somewhere between the two but without a roof and flames that are not mostly yellow

Hi Doug, if by posting the prices up it's helping the good folk of MOM, then go for it

if you hang on ian i should be having a big lathe turning up at my place in a couple of weeks and i will be needing a bit of a lesson of how to use it properly

That could be handy mate, I'd best get on with other parts of this project for a few weeks rather than the wheels

lucky old you 

ian you could get the engine vapour blasted that will bring it up to an intense shine without much elbow grease on your behalf which means you could spend your time getting the tractor finished 

Hi Ben, vapour blasting is a new one on me.. Is it like sandblasting but they use whiskey breath instead?

Not much of an update, but these Wh wheels always amaze me.. They could look like this on the outside..

But inside like new

And this is how I was thinking about cutting the centers out the Wh rims....  The axle stand is for illustration purposes only

I'm looking forward to this, another interesting/mad build

Make sure you keep us updated James

At this rate Mark, it won't be long until Bendy is moving under it's own power

You know you won't be able to stop at two machines Andrew, once you get the collecting bug it's almost unstoppable

I think it would look nice Ian with flame red and some flames airbrushed on keep it up !

Funny you should mention airbrushing James, I've been itching to get the airbrush out again on something       But as it may be a while before I'm at the paint stage I will have to find something else to attack with paint..

you have to go the full monty on this one ian

I know mate, I know...   Me thinks the time has come to raise my standards a bit

i would agree with nigel on this ian that motor needs polishing  and custom paint would be in order it doesnt have to be expensive to be cool 

I'm not sure about polishing the whole engine, but any ally parts that can be removed easily.. As for paint, something tells me I won't be brush painting it with IH red enamel

After a busy morning wrapping stuff up for postage this afternoon turned into more of a thinking session..

But I did get the grinder out.. These are the original engine mounts cut from the bike frame, the trouble is that's what they look like... But the thick walled tube bit will come in handy for making my own mounts..

So I cut them out and cleaned them up..

Now for the thinking bit... Known as wheels..

Even though Doug very kindly sent me down a pair of 12" wheels that bolt straight to the Reliant axle (Thanks again Doug) I just can't shake the picture in my head of "Why Not" running WH wheels at the back..

Which brings me back to the problem of the Reliant axle being a 4 bolt 4" pcd, like this Kitten wheel..

And of course a Wh wheel has a 5 bolt 4 1/2" pcd..   With the measuring caliper divider thingys set at 4" apart you can see the problems with how close the new holes would be to the old, and also the new holes would end up too close to the er.. Big hole in the middle of the wheel..

Another problem is the Wh wheels are not what you call flat in the middle and any 4 bolt pcd pattern would clash with the ups and downs of the wheel..

Making a new wheel center with the right pcd would be quite easy on my lathe... The problem would be cutting the center out of the WH wheel accurately as it's way too big for my lathe..

Until I was sitting with a smoke and a coffee pondering the problem and I happened to glance at the rear wheels on my WH 312...    

It will take a bit of working out but I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to make a 12hp Kohler powered lathe

So the new plan is to cut the center out the Wh wheels and replace them with my own made centers

Great photo's Charlie, it looks like it was a good weekend

Of all the machines I'd like to take home it would be the little Allis Chambers... a nice compact size..

Fantastic photo's Max, I really need to get to more working days, it's nice to see old machines in action