Anglo Traction

Well Norm, you get another Lathe and your already pulling bits of machinery apart to find parts to 'Spin Up' on it . There is no cure for this obsession, so you just have to go along with it..... Good project and I'll be following it .

Bit of a delay with some closing posts on this little project, mainly because I have not had time to get down to finish it. Back in early July, I obtained a full Muffler Kit to replace the old one, mainly due to the sheared Bolt, but I would've had to pay nearly the same for 2 bolts as the whole Kit !!. The broken stud came out real easy and I fitted it all up ready to go- . Rear Wheels looked real tatty, so I pulled them to get Sandblasted, primed and repainted. Front Wheels only had bearings cleaned out and re-greased. Also wanted to clean off and protect the underside while it was bone dry, so I liberally coated it with old Oil and let the surplus drain off for a while (all of August). All the metal is solid and still some original paint under there- Put the Oil in and fuelled up, took about 3 pulls then burst into life after who knows how long . A little Carb tweaking after warm up and then took it for a spin to check the governor response in tall grass,,,, all good and engine is smooth and powerful. Did about 200 metres of field boundary path cutting and had to call it a day. Real happy with it and no more strenuous to use than the 1971 JD 624E Tiller I rescued from there a few years ago (I'll get some images of that).

Hi Norm, Thanks!. Ranger- I recall Alum being used for something by my Father. Didn't ask what he used it for, but it was the first compound to disappear from my Chemistry Set when I was a child . Well, with a wet Bank Holiday weekend forecast last week and the Postman having brought me various goodies, I was able to crack on with the engine. I had previously also found that all 3 (original)HT Coils I possessed were dead in the secondary windings, also that the Condenser on this engine was iffy, as the Points were quite blackened and pitted. Ordered a New Coil and took a good Condenser and Points from the other 'Donor Engine',(as well as the Cylinder/Head and Cast Iron Piston) . The Engine bits shown loosely assembled, the nice Donor Cast Iron Piston, Gasket Set and the new Upper cylinder parts - Engine finished, except for the Pull Start bits- Clutch Friction Plate 're Corked', Drive Shaft bits painted and re-assembled. Just out of shot is a new Cylinder Bearing fitted into it's housing - Yet another delivery the other day was the rebuilt Cylinder (Reel) and New Bottom Blade/Screws- Garfitts had done a superb job, right down to the thickness of the Knives. Freewheel Sprocket/ Pawl Plates and Drive Pinions shown fitted on each end are now all good. I'll reverse the Pinions so the unworn parts will do the work in future (not much wear anyway). Back to cleaning plate work and panels etc and decide on painting method.

Very nice. Would like to see pics of it from different angles if your able?. Would make a good subject for Scale Model.

Good job you have double width doors on the Shack Ian !, Is this one going to need a Drag Chute and Castors on the back?.

Glad you find the process beneficial. It won't prizes for a speedy process, but I'll be using it again on 2 Atco Bullet style tanks soon. Lambretta !. That takes me back to happy memories in the 60s .

Glad to see someone has achieved this conversion. I've been chewing the fat over modifying one of those to fit on a Garden Tractor for ages. I had doubts about the Cutter width in relation to the Track width, but look's ok. Nice job

So be it, and here it will stay. Well I've made some progress on a couple of iffy bits and incurred some more (predicted) expense. Wanted to get the old Cylinder Shaft bearing out of it's carrier housing that was shown in an earlier pic. Didn't want to damage or distort the housing, so having soaked it a few times with the cellulose thinner and Redex mix, I applied only progressive hand tightening pressure to shift the old bearing- Went off with usual satisfying BANG when it finally relented and then a few more and it was out- I'll clean the housing up in the Lathe and make a new Dust Excluding/Spacer Washer to fit the larger diameter. I'll also be making a different lubrication system on this using a 'Screw Down' Greaser later. Second challenge was to get most of the Carb issues and deep clean dealt with, mainly get the broken screw out and replace all the important bits- Postman had arrived with Carb O/haul Kit, new Top Plate screw and I had to replace the Oil Bath Filter Body, as the old one was covered in cracks and leaked. Got one of the last few NOS ones in the country and not cheap . The operation began with the usual trepidation wondering if my smallest 'Easy Out' stud extractor would do the job. Set it all up on the Vert Mill and commenced the surgery with a 1/16" diameter Ball Nosed Slot Drill- Followed up with 5/64" drill for 1/4" and then ran a 3/32" Ball Nosed Slot drill for 1/8". Bearing in mind that the core diameter of the screw I am/was trying to remove has a core diameter of about 1/8" (3.2mm), I had to be sure I didn't touch the threads in the Carb body !. In with the 'Easy Out' and out it came with ease (mopped brow)- I will change the 'Strangler' (choke) Lifting rod by making a Stainless Steel one as the old one is badly rusted and as all the old Bakelite type plastic button grip has disintegrated off the threaded brass fitting long ago, I'll mould a new one around it. Just the 2 Filter Body screws to make and all Carb bits are done. Turned my attention to the Drive Sprocket and Pawl Plates where they had suffered from damage when past attempts were made to undo them with Chisels etc (usually undoing the wrong way due Left Hand Threads or tightening them up). All the red lines in the pic show where the damage repair is required has been done, chains now run smooth and virtually no wear on the rest of the bits (no pic)- Engine will be next, then the Framework.

Sorry mate !, missed this question. Afraid not really. Don't like spending any more time on the roads than is absolutely necessary these days. My 290 mile round trip from Gatwick to Worcester took 9 hours last Thurs !, just glad the Ole Transit T200 is real comfortable to drive.

Look's like it is doing the job ok. What initial amperage are you using?. I found that doing a good shake up with a handful of Pea Shingle in between the treatment, helped to clean off a lot of the areas inside and allowed the electrolysis process to concentrate on the inaccessible areas like narrow joints. .......................................Just put the Maverick's 'Dance the night away' CD on and pretend your playing the Maracas along to it ! ...I did.

Agreed, good selection. Manual Shears back in the days for when labour was cheap and machines weren't !.

Glad to see you checked it out first, before trying to push fuel through it to start it up . Good of Ranger to offer the #52 Carb. Just be aware that you actually need a Walbro #60 or possibly #64 for a 16 K' Mag, the venturi being slightly larger. It'll probably work ok, but you will probably find it will 'Hunt' erratically on top RPM. Will be advisable to peg it at 3100rpm (fixed jet) with a clean/new Air Filter, it will also 'lean out' and run hotter than usual. Depending if both your original Walbro Carb and Ranger's are the older type with adjustable Main High speed fuel mixture needles or the later Eco Non adjustable Fixed Jet types. The early adjustable ones are worth repairing if there is no Body metal/ Venturi Corrosion, as there are quality parts fitted originally and wear rate is low. As for your original Carb, I've seen worse and cleaned up. If you can post the Numbers off the Carb and your Engine serial number, I'll do some checking for you. As you probably know, the white powder is Alloy corrosion where Galvanic corrosion has occurred, so there will be a lot of metal pitting there after cleaning. If not in a vital place like a sealing face, bore hole or thread, then it may ok. Vinegar, as Mark has mentioned, should be ok for a start, but neutralise it completely after treatment and then soak the whole Carb in a mixture of Cellulose/Acetone Thinner and Diesel (or old Redex etc) for as long as you can (remove all the plastic bits and Viton ring seals etc first). Full, Genuine Service repair Kits are available for about £17-18.00.

Did a search for those Bearings a while back and they appear to be only available in the U.S. and lots of dosh to get 'em over to here. Only nearest size I could find in UK was narrower and so presume weaker?. Thought the same as you about modifying to take larger diameter and double row when necessary.

I'm liking the Wallis and Steevens. Pretty early version with the straight backed Tender. Un-lagged Boiler as well . Thanks for the pics Nigel.

I see it's made by Albion, so it could be from a number of different machines. Gearbox/Clutch Unit is similar to the Motor Hoe unit by Colwood, Sure an expert will spot this and give you the proper answer.

Hope it stays dry for Cinders and Ball

Yep! , spot on with your assumption Wristpin. had to do this 3 times to get the worst out. Here's a link to a pictorial example of my set up/effort- http://myoldmachine.com/topic/536-1972-genset/ You have to clean the Anodes regularly and ensure the by-products are able to float to the surface around the insulation on the Anodes.

Er .....it's the 5th of August today! , or should it be April Fools Day?. I won't be drawn any further on this one, wouldn't want to get political here

I don't know if Myhermes is the same unit as Hermes, drop off system sounds handy, but I've had major problems with deliveries via the latter. Claims of delivery/Forged signatures etc. I will avoid them like the plague. I resorted to doing my own at the moment and the next one is Thursday on 290miles round trip and I should save a fair bit on the costs overall. Most of all, the goods will be well cared for.

I reckon American would be the choice for me too as to where the term Strangler came from. So to deviate from my (many) Engine issues which I'll get sorted in the end, I hit the Output Shaft and Clutch Unit to check for condition - Looking ok-ish, but the Cork Friction Segments have seen better days...and this is the good side ! - Preliminary clean up showed some pitting in the painted surfaces, but all the Bearing, running Journals and friction Plates are very good and no wear . Size comparisons for you are shaft main diameter is 3/4" (19.05mm) and the Pressure Plates are 3 1/2" (89mm) dia - Only the Split Pin and the Cork Friction Segments to replace. The latter, I can make my own or modify a set of Villiers/James Bike Clutch replacements, so no issues there. Reassembled to store ready for final clean, paint and refit- Dirty Jobs time now cleaning parts, as all other parts I need to find can be dealt with, and the rest of the moving parts are/will be in very good/unworn condition. Only real issues I'll have is re-cutting the correct tread pattern in the old Connelly Solid Tyres and deciding whether to get the Hub Caps/wheel retainers re chromed?. Now I know this Mower is salvageable, I suppose I should link it by a move to the 'Step-by Step Restore' section, unless it's ok here?.

You may well consider a Briggs Engine Charlie. Similar in size to the original Techy H60 -75118H light Aluminium Engine. There are usually several on auction regularly in the 4 - 8hp region- Reasonably priced, loads of replacement parts available, easy to modify and fit a Carb for a remote Fuel Tank, design remained the same over a long period. Crankshaft Pto side is imperial dimension to fit existing WH Drive Pulley and probably wont have to do much Frame drilling for Mounting. Lastly it will be in keeping with the original look. If you can avoid shoving a newer looking engine into an Old looking machine, then you've done what you can. Depends if it is just to play around on, work it etc. It would be difficult now to find good spare parts and rebuild an original H60 Engine. I did one 3 years ago and struggled to find all I need then. Best of luck in your challenge.

I think it depends if he is not too busy and can find someone to look after the Horses (hooved versions). Have a few pints for me Guys

A little bit of an update on evaluation progress for this project for those interested. Made up a small Stillage Pallet for the Cylinder and Blade/Carrier and took it to a local Carrier last Friday to be shipped to Garfitts in Sheffield - Got a call this morning from Garfitts to say they have received it and had a good chat about the possibilities. They have never seen or heard of this old Model either !. Outcome is that they will fabricate a New 5 Blade Cylinder on the Original Spindle and provide a new Bottom Blade. Good news and so it is go ahead and will be a full restore as all the other bits I'll need, I'm sure I will find, mainly engine/ignition parts. This is the main part I'll need to replace due to Carbon Deposit damage- Engine appears it was never dismantled, so the old 'Dig' marks in the Skirt may be from assembly in 1957 !. Rest of the engine is well 'In Spec' including those stuck Rings !!, Carbon build up likely due to continual use of the initial 'Running In' Oil to Petrol ratio, instead of reducing it to the unspecified Oil portion outlined in red in this instruction (by the way, I love the use of the word 'Strangler' instead of 'Choke' in the 'Starting' section)- ..... so will be looking for a Good Used Ali Piston (part # C 6752), amongst other bits.

Many thanks for the Birthday wishes Gents, much appreciated. Had a good day. Will try and get over to the Lingfield Show on Saturday Chris. Regards

Well Ian , thanks, I feel I need to try and do this one some justice. I keep getting little signals or 'familiar links' that says I'm destined to sort this one against all the odds that beset it. Got an Email last night from Roly that his Father had located all the paperwork for this Mower, Receipts, Warranty (which also quotes the Engine number) and User Manual and what's really spooky is that it was originally purchased on my 6th Birthday!. You don't often get something this age with this much provenance..... I 'Doctored' the Address on the receipt image - Just for curiosity, I'll keep the Plug, clean it up and see if it will still work, but will be replaced. Should ship the Cylinder & Blade off this week.