ploughmyfield.com

What is Roy upto…..
Roy a friend of mine recently purchased a TE-D20 tractor and is in the process of making it mechanically sound.

Unwanted Hitch
A tow ball hitch was welded to the back of the tractor. Roy has spent many hours using an angle grinder to remove it.

Dashboard
The dashboard has been removed sanded, resprayed and re fitted. I think Roy used aerosol cans for this as it was a small item.

Seat
Next on the list was the seat. Roy wanted to buy a new seat but I convinced him that once cleaned up the old seat would be much better (the metal seems much thicker on the old seats to me). It has had a repair at some point in the past which all adds to the character. Besides you can add a seat cushion and you won’t know it’s been repaired. They all seem to go in the same place.

Before.

After.

Roy was complimented on the thickness of braze used to repair the seat. He didn’t repair it by the way.

Mudguards (not Fenders, I”m not American)
Finally Roy has been working on the mudguards this one seems to have turned into a bit of an epic. I think all he originally wanted to do was give them  a coat of paint and it’s turned into far more. First off he bought a compressor and paint gun to apply paint as I think the aerosol’s where costing a fortune.

With the mudguards off the tractor trumpet housings and brake drums looked untidy so he got to work on those at the same time.

Bonnet
Roy has now moved onto the bonnet. here you see it in it’s primer greay coat.

Recently the +50 year old Ferguson has been joined by a stable mate. I wonder if it will be still going in 50 years time?

……more from Roy soon I’m sure

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It’s been ages since I’ve posted anything. In fact I’ve got out of the habit and I am finding it quite tough to get back into it. I don’t think it helps that during the summer there are so many distractions, you find that time just slips through your fingers.

Wheel Centres
My dad came to visit a couple of weeks ago and it was great to show him how to drive the tractor, then let him have a drive around the block. Yes I know we look alike. Oh well at least I know what I’ll look like when I’m older.

From the photo above one thing was clear, the back wheels where shocking. At least all the other parts of the tractor have some grey paint on them.

So I decided to paint the back wheels. Currently I cannot afford new tyres, (£150 each + inner tubes) So I thought I’d make a start on the centres swapping the current set for another two I have. I spent a couple of days applying WD40 to the nuts to free them off.  They eventually all came off with a socket and  600mm long bar. There is a lot of rust.

I took the centres to Darren the shot blasters in Derby. Where as usual I had a fantastic survice. Anyone in the Derby area who needs shot blasting, I’d say take it there.

and this is the result…..

The funny colour on the inside is car body filler.  I hope to fill the wheels, sand and apply paint in order to get the wheels to a mirror finish you can see your face in. 2 o’clock final coats, 4 o’clock polished.

This is the template I’m working to.

At the 6 o’clock position is the painted only shot blasted face, 7 o’clock just shot blasted, 8 o’clock filled and sanded, 9 o’clock 2 pack primer (I’m not going to do this) 10 o’clock smoothed 2 pack,  12 o’clock primer coats and sanding, 2 o’clock final coats, 4 o’clock polished.

I saw this being demonstrated at the Newark tractor show in 2007.

http://www.ploughmyfield.com/Newark.htm

I will let you know how the progress is going.

Lucas PPG1 Side and Main Light Switch.

An eBay purchase I have picked up A Lucas P.P.G 1 light switch as included in the lucas (Cyclops)lighting Kit. It is a two stage switch for side and main lights. It isn’t exact a bit later year wise but as close as.

Trailer plug.

Small quantity of Parts.

I’ve found a company on the internet that will supply just one and two’s of the nuts and bolts. I also got some copper washers and electrical parts. I originally looked for the site as I was looking for a 1/2″ BSF bolt  (20TPI) to go in the Hydraulic  corner plugs. I want to make sure it is a 1/2″ BSF thread. As you’d expect they are expensive because it’s one and two off’s, but you can get small quanitities at short notice.

http://www.namrick.co.uk

Sheffield Tractors Number Plate Bracket.

If you’ve taken a look at the Local History page you’ll know I have an interest in tracing the history of my local Sheffield ferguson dealership from the 1950’s. As well as fitting a name plate to the tractors,  all the tractors that where road registered had a bracket made by Mr Charlesworth of Holland St. The bracket was of strip steel welded into a cross with the long end bent over and two holes drilled in to mount to the mudguard bracket, on the right hand mudguard in a similar fashion to the Lucas lighting kit numberplate holder   here are some photo’s

I went to a Farm sale a couple of weeks ago and an old pair of mudguard had one of the brackets fitted. The mudguards went for more than I was willing to pay but approaching the buyer he was willing to sell me the bracket.  The bracket is a present for a friend who has a Sheffield registered tractor but no number plate bracket.

Colins Visit.

I had a visit from Colin last week. http://www.myfergie.co.uk/ He has an impressive collection of tractors and implements. He was over in England collecting items he had bought on eBay. My heart goes out to his wife who came with him and has spent a lot of time driving around the country collecting things. It was great to meet him and next time we may get longer. Next time I’m over I’m definitly going to visit him. A lot more interesting than my small garage.

Steering Seal Post

Jeff at Holland Brand Tractors has posted a fabulous article on replacing the steering box seals. I thought you had to remove the dashboard and all the steering before you could replace them. I do know as an alternative you can grind off the top part of the steering arms and the seals will them slide over. I’ve seen a couple of tractors that have been done like this and for me this isn’t an option. I’ve spent so much time restoring the engine properly I have to continue with the rest of the tractor. I don’t like the look of this ground method either.

http://workshop.tractorbit.co.uk/blog/_trackback/4255058

I see now looking at the Holland Brand Workshop site that this was to be Jeff’s last post. Jeff has now left Holland Brand Workshops. They don’t seem to have much luck at that place. May be a name change would be a good Idea?

As an outsider I have no idea what went on within the company, I don’t really want to. I do know Ferguson tractor restoration has lost a good “engineer1260″ I hope Jeff isn’t lost to tractor  restoration as he is too good. Jeff if you do read this I’d love you to write some posts for this site. All the best in what you do in the future.

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Hi Geoff,
First of all are you a member of FoFH? www.fofh.co.uk. If you are then this is exactly the question you could have asked in the forum. but if you’re not I’ll ask the good people who look at this website if they can help.

Have you tried Patrick at Fergiland.com he may have the parts?

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