I’ve had a number of concerned phonecalls about the blog being unavailable because of bandwidth and because the blog has not been updated since 7th September. ‘You ARE still in business, aren’t you?’ is the anxious question. Answer is yes, very much so but there will be further interruptions to the web site and the blog because our computer is still giving problems and we are going to have to transfer everything onto a new one as well as trying to keep the old system going until this is done.
A further complication is trying to transfer the blog. This may end up being impossible and may result in no blog for some time.
Please, make a note of our phone numbers so that you can at least phone us if you want parts or want to book your tractor in.
As well as the landline 01692 500821 there is also a mobile 07733 58 44 58
Before I update the workshop activities I will explain how Steve (after falling backwards down a flight of stairs a month or so ago) managed to fall over the cliff at Happisburgh shortly afterwards!
Well. I live on the clifftop with 22ft between me and the cliff edge and Steve was kindly watering my plants while I was away fetching Laddie (the ‘stop after 30 minutes’ tractor –more on this later). His daughter and grandson were on the beach, luckily out of sight. Steve decided to join them by the shortcut which is a long scaffolding pole stretching from my garden down onto a ledge on the cliff. It wasn’t actually a weight problem it was just that Steve is heavier than the previous user and when Steve swung himself over the cliff the pole started to sink into the ground. Steve let go of the pole (he’s not sure why when I asked him) and grabbed the edge of the cliff which crumbled in his hand and he tumbled down the cliff through brambles and sharp branches and landed on the beach! I reckon he was really lucky that he merely sprained his shoulder and got badly scratched because it could have been much worse.
And the workshop has to continue to manage without him at at a time when we are busier than we’ve been for a long time.
You might remember that Gary reckoned he knew why Laddie was stopping after thirty minutes but hadn’t said what he thought so I didn’t know what to expect. He took the sump off and examined the bearings. They were worn and scratched but nothing out of the ordinary. Then he took the head off and made a satisfied but not surprised noise. He had found what he expected- pistons with way beyond acceptable play. This meant that oil was seeping up round the pistons and filling the firing chamber to the point where the mixture would not burn any more and probably also there was, with that amount of oil, some hydraulic locking effect as well.
The other thing of interest which Gary pointed out to me was that the pistons were marked 30 thou. oversize. Which meant that the liners were also 30 thou. undersize. This practice of honing out liners was discontinued a long time ago and we’d not had one like it through the workshop.
While Bob and Laddie’s blocks are off being line-bored Gary and Ivan have been working on Harald.
Harald came up from near Hastings to have the steerings seals renewed, the wheel bearings sorted and to have the carburetion sorted out amongst other things. I’ll put some pictures up soon. He’s a very carefully restored tractor who copes happily with a five foot topper (which is not always the case).
When I take Harald back I will be picking up the blocks on the way back and then it will be all hands on deck.
Daisy May’s starter motor has returned in a fully functional state but when it was fitted the starter mechanism controlled by the gear stock turned out to have its own problems. Gary and Ivan finally took the top cover off and observed that the hole which should be round is very definitely oval which is why starting is a hit and miss affair. Once more we had to phone the owner and tell him that there was yet another problem.
Steve did come in last week just for a day to help me get the tools organised so that we can all find everything when we need it and Gary and Ivan were most approving when they came in on Tuesday.
More next week and hopefully time to put some picures up…
PS One picture I do have ready to go on is this meticulously restored Allis -Chalmers B.
It is for sale in the region of £1400 ono. Email us if you are interested as we are selling it on commission. We'll deliver it under our 'fuel cost only' arrangement which we offer to any tractor coming to the workshop for work to be carried out wherever the tractor is in the uk.