Anglo Traction

Would be tempting to just watch   -
 

 
................A friend of mine sent me this. Thought I'd share it, presume it's genuine?. 

This year has been a very difficult year for reasons that are far too boring to go into, however one of the outcomes was that I agreed with the other half not to buy any more tractors this year and to focus on other priorities. It has been very painful agreement to keep to and I hope you will agree that I did well to last until October before buying two more.
 
The most interesting one is a 1962 Ride-a-matic which has been fitted with a Honda engine and what looks like a Land Rover hitch. I do have the original Kohler engine, which has a broken flywheel and missing the coil. These are a couple of pictures the seller sent to me.
 

 

 
This is my second Ride-a-matic, with the other being a 1961 machine.
 
The tractor has a few challenging issues and missing parts, but I think I know what needs to be done. It works really well with the Honda engine and I may leave it like that while I work through some of the other issues. A full refurbishment and repaint is the long term aim but for now I just want to use it, enjoy it and work on continued improvements.
 
Iain
 
 
 
 

Surprised you made such progress yesterday if you had the same amount of rain as was up here  !.
 
Will be interesting to see if the ground under the raised floor look's like a Swiss Cheese or not, what with all the Bunny Wabbit activity you've had in the past  .
Trust you will not be short of fuel for a Guy Fawkes Night Bonfire

Would be tempting to just watch   -
 

 
................A friend of mine sent me this. Thought I'd share it, presume it's genuine?. 

Would be tempting to just watch   -
 

 
................A friend of mine sent me this. Thought I'd share it, presume it's genuine?. 

When I use a holesaw I change the pilot drill to a length of 1/4" silver steel,especially for thinner material, it keeps the holesaw running true otherwise the flutes in the drill cause the saw to run out of true. the correct drill for a holesaw has a flute length that ends before the saw starts cutting,but they have usually been replaced at some time or other
doug.

So your starting a 'Crash Test Driver School' as well Ian?   .
 
...Just caught up with this project Nigel. Most impressive.  Like the 'Jules Verne' style Dash Fabrication.
  

Found this and wandered if you've seen it

Lister d finished now. Paul

Hi All This is the last engine in the mentioned barn, a Lister CS 6/1.
I thought the engine was seized but when drained about 3 litres of water out it turned over as you can see the bore dosent look to bad. Just got to free most the moving parts up now.
Paul

started making a dash today so i found an old wooden water but and cut one of the metal rings of it and welded it in then coverd it with a bit of alley plate this should look ok when the rest is painted a dark colour behind it
 

Thanks Ray, and I'll check out what's local when I get around to sorting the Treads, just in case my plans and application fails .
 
Bit slow with just a brief update so far, mainly due to a few assembly problems I found. Main one being the L/H Threaded Freewheel/drive Pinion retaining screw (red arrowed in first pic) will no longer fully screw in comfortably. Suspected the internal thread was damaged when the Cylinder/Blades were held 'Between Centres' on various machines when rebuilt, so I have had to obtain a 1/4" L/H BSF Tap to recut the threads (in the post).  
The right hand side, I was able to deal with as it is standard R/H Thread and I had a Tap for that. 
 
The main Drive Chain (yellow arrow) needs replacing really, as it is slightly stretched and won't allow proper tension adjustment, having probs locating the exact spec chain (type 415 med duty). It is what is holding up the whole L/H Wheel assembly
 
One of the mods I had to make was the addition of a Bronze Bushing (blue arrow) to carry the newly made Clutch Guide Rod, as the hole was 'Egged Out' (more on this in next update) -
 

 
Another observation I had made was when I fitted the Cylinder, there was a noticeable lack of clearance between the end of some of the Blades and the 1/2" Whitworth Stub Axle retaining nuts, too close for my liking, so I machined off the surplus ends of the nuts that did not engage with any thread to increase the clearance- 
 

 
I've managed to finish most of the prep and painting of the remaining parts and are currently 'hardening up' at the moment (upper Handlebars had a lot of prep work due pitting).
Several other bits awaiting delivery, had a job finding suitable Bar Grips, but the ones I eventually found will look ok  and hopefully will start to look more complete by the end of the coming week and will post more pics then. 

Very nice looking  Next Generation 'Shack Pad' there Ian. I take it it's provided courtesy of Nigel?, if so , your a lucky Lad having a new kindly neighbour of that calibre . Look's like it's big enough to rattle around it like a 'Pea in a Drum'.       

Thanks Ray, and I'll check out what's local when I get around to sorting the Treads, just in case my plans and application fails .
 
Bit slow with just a brief update so far, mainly due to a few assembly problems I found. Main one being the L/H Threaded Freewheel/drive Pinion retaining screw (red arrowed in first pic) will no longer fully screw in comfortably. Suspected the internal thread was damaged when the Cylinder/Blades were held 'Between Centres' on various machines when rebuilt, so I have had to obtain a 1/4" L/H BSF Tap to recut the threads (in the post).  
The right hand side, I was able to deal with as it is standard R/H Thread and I had a Tap for that. 
 
The main Drive Chain (yellow arrow) needs replacing really, as it is slightly stretched and won't allow proper tension adjustment, having probs locating the exact spec chain (type 415 med duty). It is what is holding up the whole L/H Wheel assembly
 
One of the mods I had to make was the addition of a Bronze Bushing (blue arrow) to carry the newly made Clutch Guide Rod, as the hole was 'Egged Out' (more on this in next update) -
 

 
Another observation I had made was when I fitted the Cylinder, there was a noticeable lack of clearance between the end of some of the Blades and the 1/2" Whitworth Stub Axle retaining nuts, too close for my liking, so I machined off the surplus ends of the nuts that did not engage with any thread to increase the clearance- 
 

 
I've managed to finish most of the prep and painting of the remaining parts and are currently 'hardening up' at the moment (upper Handlebars had a lot of prep work due pitting).
Several other bits awaiting delivery, had a job finding suitable Bar Grips, but the ones I eventually found will look ok  and hopefully will start to look more complete by the end of the coming week and will post more pics then. 

Look forward to seeing what you make of this derelict  (look's about the same condition as my C-120 when I got it) . 
If you need a Service Manual for your 'Uni Drive' Transmission, there is one available.
As said, your Tranny should be the 3fwd, 1 rev (4spd) - 5084 version that was last used on/fitted to the 74/75 B80 series in the US.
Raider 10s were normally 8 speed Trannys (6 fwd,  2 rev incl Hi/Lo) from 1974 on.
Belgium Built units used up the old surplus 4 spd Trannys in mid 70s.   

Bit more progress on the Marquis, not been the best of weather for paint spraying!

You got a nice hand full of tractor there.   

Try putting the assembly in the freezer if it is an aluminium piston it may shrink enough to break the bond.

Making progress.
The cutting cylinder and bottom blade are de-rusted, painted, sharpened and reassembled with new reaction springs and felt seals. The old springs appear to have been attacked with an angle grinder; can't see why as the new ones are far from coil bound with the reground cylinder and refaced bottom blade.

 
The rear roller had spent the weekend in the diesel tank which had done its job and the roller didn't put up too much of a fight. The grooves on these roller sections are good so no tedious re-cutting required!
 

 

 
Chassis and grass box etc off to "blasters" for stripping and epoxy coating. Unfortunately they are busy with all sorts of interesting things so wont see them back till mid next week but there is the engine to strip and re-paint.
Might even tidy the workshop!
 
 

Thanks Gents and for looking in on this thread.
Yeah!, bit of a jigsaw Ian  .
Started the partial reassembly and then decided that several bits of the Clutch Linkage are too sloppy, worn and pitted.
  Don't want to 'Spoil the Ship for a Ha'p'orth of Tar', so I'll make new bits during the forecast rainy days ahead - 
 

 
Hit the Wheels the other day, full of the usual dirt n detritus mixed with Grease n Oil- 
 

 
Slow job cleaning out all the 'Cast In'  gear teeth while trying to avoid getting any solvent in the gap between tyre and rim. 
Bushings showed a bit of wear, Stub axles are good, so extracted them and ordered replacements the other day.
Gave the wheels a few coats of paint and left them to dry.
Bushings arrived today so fitted those and now feels a smooth 'running fit' -
 

 
Gave the tyre walls a clean and a coat of Holts Tyre Wall Black (old stock of some 40yrs) to seal the surfaces.
I'm leaving the 'Tread' pattern and the Hub Cover issues until it is up and running.
Next is more Blasting, Etch Priming and 'E' Bucketing parts before painting and assembly.
Would be nice to get a Test Cut in before the winter if I can.      

Thanks Gents and for looking in on this thread.
Yeah!, bit of a jigsaw Ian  .
Started the partial reassembly and then decided that several bits of the Clutch Linkage are too sloppy, worn and pitted.
  Don't want to 'Spoil the Ship for a Ha'p'orth of Tar', so I'll make new bits during the forecast rainy days ahead - 
 

 
Hit the Wheels the other day, full of the usual dirt n detritus mixed with Grease n Oil- 
 

 
Slow job cleaning out all the 'Cast In'  gear teeth while trying to avoid getting any solvent in the gap between tyre and rim. 
Bushings showed a bit of wear, Stub axles are good, so extracted them and ordered replacements the other day.
Gave the wheels a few coats of paint and left them to dry.
Bushings arrived today so fitted those and now feels a smooth 'running fit' -
 

 
Gave the tyre walls a clean and a coat of Holts Tyre Wall Black (old stock of some 40yrs) to seal the surfaces.
I'm leaving the 'Tread' pattern and the Hub Cover issues until it is up and running.
Next is more Blasting, Etch Priming and 'E' Bucketing parts before painting and assembly.
Would be nice to get a Test Cut in before the winter if I can.      

you must keep that origanal ben, buy the way angus will proberly know this but the lawnbug was made with 2 differant chassis a low side and a high sided one my question is which came first and what year was the change?

I agree on the tecumsehs working well, never had any bother until a few months ago when the rod went on our little V70 ranger. But at 40 years old it had a good innings!

Very nice little machine, keep it original. If it was mine I wouldn't even paint it! And Im in full agreement here about the tecumseh engines,
I know many of people that wouldn't give tecumseh engines a lookin' I assume this is only through past experience, however I have three machines that have tecumsehs as there power unit, A tecumseh H60 a HH-100 and a V80 they have all needed work when I purchased them, but once you get them sorted, the run just like the others, (this is just my opinions)

Nice to see an original unmolested Lawnbug, can't be many left. Plenty of new Tecumseh carbs out there . It's strange the way that so many people rubbish the Tec engines when in many ways they were of a higher spec than the equivalent Briggs . They just needed a bit more understanding and TLC.
That Lawnbug looks to have the later blade engagement mechanism - top mounted engagement and locking lever, sliding spindle and single B section belt. I had one of the Mk 1 machines from new, - fixed blade spindle and twin A section belts, 7hp Tecumseh. Strange thing is I can't remember selling it; may have let it go with a house move.
Westwood's quality control of that era was decidedly iffy , the parts lists were littered with " use as necessary" when it came to washers and spacers etc! I once bought a pack of three Lawnbug cutter spindles and there was five sixteenths of an inch difference between the lengths of the longest and shortest!
You'll do what you like with it but it will be a shame to spoil its originality, once gone, it's gone and Hondas aren't the be all and end all of mower engines !