I have no idea what the copyright laws are regarding this. The manuals are online and available from someone elses site so I don’t see any harm in telling you they are there. It is up to you and your concionce as to whether you download them or print them out.

http://www.ntractorclub.com/forums/manuals/manuals_index.htm

A whole host of ferguson manuals available from a 1 sided Link Box sheet to full mouldboard plough parts list. 

Some excellent Youtube links to video’s one of the FoFH members spotted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p52LN_E0luM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p7UlFD5URs

I’m not only rapidly becoming obsessed by all thing Ferguson but I should also add to the obsession a fascination for The Britool tools which where recommended for use on the tractors and implements by the Ferguson Service Department.

I’ve got hold of a 164 page Britool Catalogue No. 102 (1st Edition) listing all there tools. Several of the pages make quite interesting reading.

I’ve added the details of relevant catalogue pages to the Ferguson Tools page of the website.

Cyril Mc Guinness was At Mullahead and a very enthusiastic fella he was. I had A great Chat with him.

He’s been in touch after I forgot his name and he has sent some pictures of his fantastically restored tractors. I see he prefers the Red and Grey to the grey alone. You Have some fantastically tractors Cyril I hope you don’t ming me sharing them with the readers. I can’s wait to see a nice restored grey amongst them.

Pictures of Cyrils’s Tractors

First of all before getting to the plough match I took a detour to meet Harry at his birthplace.

Then onto the plough match where I had a good chance to wonder round chatting to everyone before the generous 11am start time. This man (sorry I forgot your name please email me and tell me) was so friendly. The tractor he is standing in front of he bought for £200 I think or of it wasn’t this one it was one of his others. I kept bumping into him throughout the day and he was having a whale of a time.

Also at the event Was Colin Taylor. If you are a FoFH Forum member you will probably know him better as Cyclops. Colin ploughed half his plot, went to a wedding, came back and finished it off then went to the reception! Thanks for the parts Colin I can’t wait to fit them. Thanks also to his dad who chauffeured me around on a TE-F20.

I would also like to say a big thank you to Fred Dunn. I followed Fred and his plot for most of the day. I missed his open unfortunately.  Fred was great in passing on all his secrets about the plough and the setup and ploughing in general. I hope to share most (but not all) of these nuggets of wisdom with you over the next week or so. Fred does about 20 matches a year so most of his success (he came First or second) is down to practice.  Thanks again Fred.

I did manage to have a little go on the end of Colin’s plot. I just didn’t want to make a fool of myself. I hope to be ploughing again soon so I can put into practice all of the things learned at this plough match.

And finally Well done to Jim Elliott who although being quite useful with a tractor and plough is better with horses.

Jim came first in the High Cut Class, and Best decorated horses and best overall looking horses as well I think. Well done Joyce (his wife) for all the polishing.

More most definitely to follow….

It arrived and ever since I’ve been working out how to print with it and get a good image. I had a go at the wax crayon rubbing. This didn’t work as the image came out backwards. I thought about getting one of those ink blocks you use with a stamp but couldn’t find one big enough.

I eventually found out that at Beamish there is a man on the town street one of the exhibits called Phil the print I don’t think that is his real name but can you guess why he is called Phil the print? Well he operates a shop or office where visitors can look at life before computers and laser printers. Phil kindly inked up the block and had a go at printing with it. Incidentally Phil said the block had never been used as once it has ink on it you will never get it off, even after 50 years. The press he used was an Eagle press for those that are interested.

Now all I have to do is work out what I’m going to do with it and/or how I’m going to put it to work for me? The detail is amazing and just having the block on the coffee table at home is a real talking point.

What would the legality of using this I don’t know. Would I be breaking any copyright laws? It does look amazing though.

The Second Sight Production Massey Ferguson series of DVD’s has reached the 100 (135, 165 etc) range of tractors. These don’t really interest me so I didn’t ask for one of those. I did see released at Christmas time though a Special Edition TE20 in colour DVD so I asked for that one.

I wasn’t disappointed. The DVD features 4 films in colour one about dairies which was interesting but didn’t show much about tractors! Take not Second Sight. But the forth film was a gem. It showed extensively the work of the Ferguson tractor school at Stoneleigh. The one where all the Ferguson dealers used to be trained. I think If I could go back in history to any time it would be to about 1954 to the Ferguson tractor hay day. The I could attend the schools courses on Tractor Driving and  Tractor & Implement maintenance.   Then I’d be in the company of all those training experts. Wow the questions I’d have.

Anyway enough dreaming for now, well worth parting with some cash for film 4 alone. Even better if it’s your birthday and you can get someone else to buy it for you. Now all I have to do is get them to buy me a couple of back types for christmas!

Link to the item here: TE20 Colour Special

As my previous post reported I’ve got involved with Loxley Valley Community Farm. You might of heard of them before as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall visited before Christmas and made a program about their efforts. See Video Here

So I made my list all the things I needed to take with me, Remember to fill up with Diesel, check the oil, water, hydraulics etc. I forgot the tape measure but remembered a couple of ferguson spanners with inches and cm on them not the most accurate  measure but better than nothing .

A couple of days before the weekend I’d collected my Ferguson two furrow plough from Durham where it had last been used. I’m getting very good at taking it apart into small enough pieces to put in the back of the car. I don’t have a trailer or towbar or van or pickup truck. The only disadvantage to this process is the plough needs setting up each time you put it back together.

I met Matt at the gate who I’d emailed a few times previously . Matt is responsible for getting the veg side of the project up and running. We had a chat about where to start and what needed doing.  Once we’d decided where to plough it was on with the job of getting the plough setup correctly as it’s a 10″ plough setting it up so both furrows where 10″ wide and at the same depth.

As this point I was joined by two fellow ferguson enthusiasts Fred and Roy. I was mighty glad fred turned up as he’s done a bit of this Ferguson ploughing before and was amazing to watch and listen to as he helped with the plough setup. All in all we must have been an hour tinkering and fiddling with the plough and tractor to get them setup. Remember we were not after a competition finish as that takes to long. we wanted a decent finish that wouldn’t take to long on the setting up and control whilst ploughing, hopefully we should get a bit more turned over compared to a match.

This was the first time the tractor was put to some hard work after the engine rebuild a year ago. The Diesel engine performed wonderfully and I’m so happy to think I rebuilt it myself with no prior knowledge of engines.

I didn’t plough as much as I wanted as there is still a lot of land left to turn from grassland to cultivated land. Matt has left it open for me to return whenever I can and next time I hope I might get some other tractor owners to help.

I finished off by ploughing 4 rows for Raspberry canes. Matt said it had taken them 2 hours to dig a tenth of the amount the tractor did in 10 mins.

Watch a Movie of the tractor at work

Tim.

A month or so ago I had an email from Mark Whitehouse who is involved int the Loxley Valley Community Farm. www.loxley.co.uk. He got in touch asking if I knew of anyone in Sheffield who would be interested in ploughing some land to start growing crops on. It took all of a second to think of someone who would like to plough 1-2 acres of land with a Ferguson tractor and  two furrow Ferguson plough(you must supply your own tractor and plough). A chance to use my tractor and know I’m getting involved with a local cause, who wouldn’t jump at the chance.

So with a couple of emails back and forward the date of Saturday 20th February was decided upon to have a go. I’ve already been across to have a look at the site.

What took longer than agreeing on a date was agreeing on what should be done to the land. The site at the moment is general grass/weeds. I’m not very up to speed on land cultivation so I asked the FoFH Forum as to what members thought was a good way of preparing the ground to plant crops? “What crops are you planting?” was the most popular reply as the type of crop dictates to some extent what you should do to the ground. For a general preparation  ploughing was the first step. Maybe with a pre topping depending on weed height, them the use of a disc harrow some weeks later followed by a rotovator whenever the weeds appeared.

Grahams article was recommended , http://www.fofh.co.uk/articles/rotavate.htm and duly digested.

As I have a plough but no topper, discs or rotavator and as most of the advice seemed so suggest ploughing as the first option that is what has been decided. I’ll let you know how I get/got on in a later article. But before I start I have to fetch the plough from Durham, Check the tractor for worthiness and find my instruction book on ploughing.

My only worry is that I think there may be one or two spectators on the day. OK as long as they don’t turn into hecklers I’ll let you know how I do.

The advert in Tractor and Machinery says it all really. Don’t expect much from the website though it’s panty.

I have friends who have been for the the last couple of years and they all say it was fab. So I got a flight for £26, it’s bonkers I couldn’t get a ferry for that price. I also know someone competing in the high cut horse class.

I’m really looking forward to the Ferguson class as the Irish go in for their Fergusons in a big way. I was going to meet Colin a friend there he was also set to compete But he’s double booked himself and has to go to a wedding instead.  It’s a shame as I was going to pickup some parts from him for the tractor. 2 new (old, original) ferguson lower link arms. The clip that holds the power cable from battery to starter motor, there was also a fuel filter top casting as I knackered the thread on mine when i was reassembling it.

I hope there is a way I can still get hold of the parts. I can operate the jack with the new link arms, stop the leaking fuel with the filter top and position the battery cable correctly.

I’m going to be twittering or tweeting on the day, 27th Feb so you can keep up with my day.

I actually prefer them like this. The manul has seen some life, the part numbers have been penned in to update them with MF numbers instead of the original Ferguson part numbers, and the loose page was actually an suplementary page for some of the parts.

Other Links.

I thought you might all be sick of reading my ramblings so I’ve got some links to other Ferguson restoration sites and a forum.

Late last year I was lucky enough to purchase a very good copy of a Ferguson tractor cover. The pattern had been taken from an original cover. There was however one thing missing. It had the Ferguson logo printed on both sides, It had cord to hold the cover down around the tractor, It ever had panels of soft cotton inside so the side lights would not get scratched. Missing was a slot at the end of the bonnet with a pocket to take the single headlight. I of course on my tractor have such a headlight. So the cover has been draped half heartedly over the tractor until now.

Yesterday I visited the person who sold me the cover and I took a pattern from his original cover which DOES have the pocket in.

Tonight I’ve been eagerly turning that paper template into a trial version of the light cover. I hope to make or have made a canvas version once I’m happy with the dimensions.

The start:

I found an old shirt with a whole in the arm that I wear whilst in the garage. Ideal for the job of being cut up and used as trial fabric.

The Pattern:

I cut out the panels to match the measurement I tool last night. The front is one panel, the back is in 3 pieces to match the curved shape of the back of the 7″ diameter FT57 lamp.

Stitching:

The three back panels have been stitched together first from the middle out to make them symetrical.

Finished Stitching:

Now the back is stitced on as well. The cover is inside out as the moment.

Trial:

With the cover turned inside out so all the stiching is on the inside I tried the cover, it fits. The only change, I think I will allow more material all the way round the templates to allow for stitching but on the whole I’m please with this first attempt. now I have to find som canvers similar to the cover, unpick the stiching in the cover and sow the finished lamp pocket in.

15/01/2009 Update

I’ve updated the template and made all panels 1/2″ bigger to allow room for a seams to be added. The cover made from thin cotton is a snug fit so with stiff canvas the light might not have fitted over.

I’ve taken the cover and template to:
M & N Canvas Service LTD

They say it will take about a week to carry out the modifications. I was also told visually the new canvas will look brighter.

29/01/2010 Update

I’ve got the cover back and it looks fab. It’s not 100% as I wanted it but it’s close. The colour difference is the most noticeable  think at the moment. I also had my pocket larger than the normal/original one as the normal size tends to be to tight.

Here  is an original cover and pocket.

link to more reading on the Britool / Ferguson Tools

http://www.ploughmyfield.com/ferguson-tools/

A question from a reader, This one is way beyond me. Anyone out there have any suggestions for Ben.

Hi there, 
I found your site online and would like to know if you can recommend a time for plowing an olive field and do you have any recommendations on techniques. i.e. is it right to comb the top soil after?
Many thanks 
Ben

Yes I am still alive,  just.
I don’t know about you but I could have done with one of these over the past week where I live!

Have you made any new years resolutions?
I have, my resolution is to concentrate on one task at a time and put all your effort into it. 2010 will be the year for making lists and finishing off all the outstanding jobs before moving onto anything new. But if I find that 3 ton trailer for a bargain or a tractormeter going for a song then I will probably be tempted.

If your waiting for a numberplate order I’m sorry for the wait, I have sent out a load yeasterday and more to send tomorrow.

Martin is not quite ready to fit his numberplate bracket just yet, see photo above. Martin has sent in a picture of his current restoration, it looks like a nut and bolt stripdown. The engine looks rebuilt with the hydraulics still needing some work as the side access covers aren’t on yet. It’s looking very good and yet again I’m amazed at the fantastic workshop Martin has. Oh what I’d give for that much room. On the bench on the right of the picture you can see the numberplate bracket waiting to be fitted. Martin has just ordered a ploughlamp bracket now they are available again. Keep up the enthusiasm Martin, once the engine is working it’s an amazing boost and really spurs you on. I hope you get some time over Christmas to do a bit more.

Unless you’ve been ploughing on the moon for the past couple of months you can’t helped but notice the website www.reborntractor.net. The website which has had over 14,000 visits in October was setup primarily to promote the DVD of an MF 135 restoration. Well the DVD has been released and www.ploughmyfield.com has got hold of a copy to report on the contents and what we thought.

I first thing I’d like to say is thank goodness for DVD’s if this release had been on Video I think I would have warn it out by now as I’ve watched it so many times! The process of restoring tractors isn’t a new concept so it was nice to see a new and very professional approach to telling the story, I say story it’s more of a journey. last Tuesday night when my son was finally in bed and all the days jobs completed I thought I’d have a quick look at the DVD to see what all the fuss was about. After 30 mins watching I thought I’d just watch to the end of the first of the 2 DVD’s in the box. The end of the first DVD arrived all to soon so I though I’d just see what the second contained, at 1:30am I was still in the living room glued to the telly. There isn’t a lot that can normally keep me from my bed but in this case I didn’t even feel tired. I have to say at this point that I don’t own a 135 and I don’t think I ever will but that didn’t stop me wanting to watch the DVD again. So who do I think the DVD is aimed at well obviously if your about to restore your 135 then you, but as the owner of a TE-F20 I thought the items covered in The DVD where still relevant and useful to me. One section in particular on replacing the half shaft seals in the back axle I must have watched 10 times. I have to replace the seals on my tractor and the process is exactly the same. It was so nice to see someone go through how to do it. The sections on body work shaping and painting are also relevant to a much wider audience. the DVD also delves into the people who restore tractors, why they do it and what drives them. I’ve never seen this covered before but it left me wanting to play the footage to all those people who ask me, “So why have you got a tractor in the garage?” They would then understand why I do it. on 2 DVD’s with over 200 minutes. The presenter Emma Louise Johnston Looks as though she know nothing about tractors in the opening sequence. As the restoration progresses you can see her knowledge grow as well as her confidence. She was totally convincing. I just wish the experts on hand in this DVD where there when I started restoring my tractor. Although they make a joke at the start of the DVD about not telling your spouse about how much it cost to me this is the only thing that is missing. some kind of accounts as to the cost of all this restoring I can see why they didn’t put it in as the memory of the money you spent fades you still have a cracking tractor to look at and drive.

If you own a 135 then this DVD gets a 6/5 for the rest of us I’d still say 4/5 lots for old and new restorers alike. One you’ll come back to and watch again. The most interesting thing was said at the end of the DVD that they are looking to restore something else and it could be a TE-20. I wait in anticipation.

The website is also developing quite nicely, lots of competitions and a newsletter to subscribe to.

Available from:  www.reborntractor.net
Price: £24.95
Running Time: 210mins

René’s TE-F20 restoration
I started tinkering with engines with my cousin when I was around 14. We started with Briggs and Straton lawnmower engines of different types and also had a go at a wolsely 5Hp twin flywheel air cooled engine (these appear to be rare as hens teeth !) However we where getting quite bored with the B&S engines so we bought an 1950/51 TE-D20.

After finishing the restoration of a TE-D20 with my cousin I wanted to get a diesel version of the same tractor as I felt the TED representing the spark ignition engines and the diesel being the opposite with it’s compression ignition engine.

The search was on through friends it lead me to a farmer nearby who had one. He bought it to power a water canon without paying to much attention. So when he got home he found it had a small PTO shaft and that it only got up to 800 RPM flat out !. As it din’t work to well he was willing to sell it to me. Unfortunately by then it had done hours and hours of running flat out…. I also told him that buying a 35 or a dexta would only eliminate the PTO size problem
so he should be looking for something from 1970 and onwards if it where to have any chance of having a 1000Rpm PTO.

I drove it to a farmer friend of mine where it was to stay until I found room for it. A few years passed before I did. I bought a 20 foot shipping container to restore it in. My uncle had the space to put it to the rear of his business buildings in the grass field. I specifically bought this container because it was higher than most and significantly higher inside which allowed to fit an over head crane without hitting my head every now and again.
This has been build from I beams and an electric 125Kg winch with added pulley’s to reduce the lift speed and increase the load capacity a bit. It will lift 500Kg now as long as I don’t stop mid-lift.

First thing was to blast it clean with the high pressure washer so I took of the hood and tank to get good access to the engine. The engine was then detached and put on top of my workbench. This was the first time I had a good look at it at eye level. Unfortunately that revealed a crack in the block of around 5 inches at the bottom of the water gallery. I then went about sourcing a pre ‘54 block (without the lift pump) to match the tractor. I did find one quite easily with only two months difference in casting date.

Stripping the engine was shocking. It still ran regularly as diesels should with a bit low oil pressure but that was to be expected. However the hours on the water pump running flat out had taken the last bit from the bearing shells. Apart from two tiny patches on the joins there was only copper left !. The crank I got with the replacement engine was
not reground ever so I had that reground to avoid taking the original crank to it’s third undersize. The replacement engine was fitted with the original camshaft as it was a tighter fit than the one that was in it.

I fitted new piston, rings and liners and a set of 1st undersize bearings. Also new where the timing chain, oil pump rotors, valves & guides, valve springs (outers only, I could source correct inners), injector nozzles, fuel pump seal and governor diaphragm. I had the cylinder head overhauled professionally as it needed new guides and re-cutting the
valve seats. The oil pump body I machined down on my lathe to reset the axial play to it’s normal tolerance. I fully re-timed the engine while it was on the bench. That allowed me to set the pump at an especially pleasing angle by working out the setting angles on the flywheel to eliminate the rotation of the pump after timing it to the datum point.

It was then put back in it’s place for a test run. That proved that I had provided a TEA/D top tank for the radiator when I had one made from two with a re-core. The problem was solved by looping a long hose for the test run and later corrected by having a TEF tank fitted. The engine was fired up without to much difficulty and ran like a swiss
sewing machine !

I then set about taking the rest of the tractor apart. In the middle of that we managed to hire a unit of a small business building next door so all the stuff was moved there. That included another shipping container, all the tractors and all the part we had stored all over the place. We means me, my dad and my uncle with my cousin. We had by that time a TED20, MF35 4 cylinder, FE35 TVO basic, Deutz 6206 and a Hanomag Robust901AS. All was moved and the restoration was halted while we set up our new place. Both containers where put in a corner of the unit and a seccond floor put on them. There we stored the implements and stationary engines we also have.

Resuming the rebuild. The gearbox was found to be in good condition but bearings where worn. They where however still perfect so I would try and re-use them. Unfortunatly I had to source a replacement housing as this one was corroded badly. In Holland most finger bar cutters on TE’s are made by Schukken and these bolt to the engine to gearbox bolts. That causes these bolts to destroy the alloy because of the shaking and the fact that in most cases no galvanic corrosion agent was used when the bolts where replaced. As I had a high lift loader to go on it again I needed it to
be strong. I found that of the 12 threaded holes 8 where destroyed. So the plan was to re-tap these with oversize UNC and then loctite in UNC bolts. I went in with 3 sizes larger than would have been there without using a drill !. Next the bolts where loctited in place and hack-sawed almost flush. Grinding them flush would not do as the surface needs to be perfect. So I took the gearbox case to the engine engineers to have it skimmed. They had just installed a new larger machine that could cope with the height of it stood upright and made a fine job of it.

I then set about fitting the shafts without shims to see if I could solve the bearing wear by re-shimming alone. I found I could get it ok but only with no shims on the main shaft. So I stuck the bearing retainer in the lathe and skimmed off the same amount as was taken of the gearbox housing. That allowed to fit shims to accurately set
the pre-load again. The same was done to the lay-shaft. The reverse shaft had seen the gear wearing down the protrusion in the casing for lack of a thrust washer on one side of it. I made one to fit the gap (several mm !) from bronze stock.

The rear end had the driving pinion bearings re-set to the correct pre-load and the crown wheel bolt where replaced. I found a PTO shaft with very little wear to replace the badly worn one and the rear axle seals where all replaced. To facilitate that I build the puller as described in the workshop manual and also made a set of drills longer than the half shafts to drill through the collars. One of the bearing housings was also skimmed in the lathe as it was distorted and would probably not have sealed. Brake shoes where fitted with new old-stock asbestos linings. These are perfect!.

The hydraulic pump was fitted with new O-rings and all the pivot pins in the internal linkage replaced by oversized ones I made to take up the play. The cross shaft was badly worn. I welded on material and then lathed it down to it’s correct size again. It was re-fitted with new bushes. It’s now hard to turn by hand where as before you could see the play in it !. New triangular plate was fitted and I made up a new sleeve to go with the new old stock plunger I got hold of. That sorted out the top link.

The front end was overhauled. New king pins and bushes, new pivot pin and new ball joints on the drag links.All bit’s where cleaned and primed as they where worked on. All the bit’s needed to drive it where put together and it does drive like a new tractor !.

At this time work’s halted again as we extended the second floor in the building and I had to work on my car for a bit. Also I managed to buy a MF1200 which I wanted for years now. It’s in bad shape but very early at No. 900008 which
is the 8th 1200 of the line. Engine was rusted solid and the main drive shaft splines are AWOL. I can’t have a big lump sitting there as it won’t steer without a running engine so that needs sorting before I can resume work on the TEF again. I did get the dash sorted, welded up some holes and got the tension of the welding out whilst waiting on some details and bits for the 1200.

Regards,

René.

Pictures of René’s restoratin
René’s TE-F20 restoration

Thank you for taking the time to write your story down.I’m sure everyone wishes you the best of luck with the MF1200.

I’ve been producing the numberplate bracket for some time now and I get some excellent feedback from customers. I had an enquiry from Belgium some time ago, maybe a year, asking for a numberplate bracket for the left wing of the tractor. I’m not sure if a left handed version of the bracket was ever made by Lucas for the tractor. If you have a picture or any information to support this then please get in touch.

As a trial I have had a small batch produced to see if there is any demand.  So if you drive on the right and you’d like a sort of original Lucas wing mounted numberplate bracket take a look at the shop.

http://ploughmyfield.com/SMNPH.htm

Plough Lamp Brackets

I have also finally managed to find a company that can produce plough lamp brackets. I think I am the only person selling plough lamp brackets to the original Lucas Design of one piece of metal folded and welded. most other plough lamp brackets  consist of two shapes welded together. I presume they do this for cost of manufacture.

http://ploughmyfield.com/SMNPH.htm

No I’m not about to restore a Ferguson armchair or any other armchair for that matter. It’s just that I feel like I’m an armchair restorer at the moment.

My wife’s grandmother is moving house and I couldn’t let the 7 Raaco storage units that she no longer has space for go to waste, especially as they are all full of imperial nuts, bolts tools, drills etc. Oh and by the way I don’t have space for them either. So the garage has been in a state for a couple of weeks. I’m keen to get in and finish off the wiring loom for the front portion of the Lucas lighting kit. (see lighting loom post below) but it’s all just a bit of a mess. Somewhere under this lot there is a Ferguson tractor!

So I used a computer program to try some examples of changing the garage layout around. Using the computer is the fastest easiest way I know how to do this. I can also guarantee it’s all going to fit, as long as I measured it right in the first place.

New Garage layout - Will it ever look that tidy?

Once I was happy with the new layout I started work on Saturday night (wife out me baby sitting) moving thinks around. I came to using the drill to start fixing things to the wall, I pressed the button but nothing from the drill after years of faithful service. After taking it apart, (all those years of taking things apart finally paid off as this one came apart no problem) deducing it was the motor at fault, searching the internet for a replacement drill or motor, I thought I had nothing to loose by trying to fix it myself. Three hours later and two small wooden wedges to stop the magnets in the motor rotating the drill was working again and I’d saved £150 for a new drill.

With a fixed drill I had another go on Sunday and it went a lot better. I’m now half way through the move and I’ve finally found the tractor underneath everything! The drill hasn’t played up since. I must actually be OK at restoring things then.

On the armchair front It’s all to east to sit and watch tractor DVD’s at the moment with some great titles about. Currently in my player is the Tractor Restoration:Paintwork DVD by Alan Davies, Published by Old Pond Publishing.  (see review in another post) I’m waiting for the weather to get a little warmer before attempting any of the  items covered by the DVD.

My copy of Restoring a Massey Ferguson 135 DVD is on its way from www.reborntractor.net so more armchair work to put in soon. I see they have released some more snippets from the DVD on their YouTube site. I’m particularly interested in this one about brakes as it’s something I have to do on mine, hopefully this winter.

I made one small addition to mine, a connector at the bottom of the bonnet so I could disconnect the wires when removing the bonnet without having to remover the whole loom. It seems as though the bonnet has to be removed before working on anything to do with the engine!

To keep to the authentic Lucas colour scheme I looked around and rather than buy 10m drums or spools of all the colours needed (very expensive) I bought 10m of 7 core trailer wire. The only extra I needed was a reel of purple. I went for 10m as even though I worked out I only needed 3m of the longest wire when ordering the cost of shipping was the main factor and I was bound to mess it up and have to start again.

Raw Materials

I checked to see the current rating for the wire before ordering.

Power = Current x Voltage,

Power/Voltage = Current,

or  116watts (all light on at once front and Back) /12 volts = 10Amps.

The wire I bought was rated at 16amps.

So I set to work following the pattern I had made already out of string.

Bare Loom

Once made before adding connectors or heat shrink to seal the wires I tested the loom out on the tractor.

Wires Behind Dashboard

Wires To the Bonnet

There was only one modification to make, that being to the length of the earth to the fuel tank mounting bolt.

Once I was happy with the wires I covered then in an outer sleeve to protect them. and add the connectors. At this point I cut the loom into two sections Bonnet and Tractor with a connector between them.

Loom Cut Into Two

Wire End Connectors

Next stage complete

Finally for the wires I reenforced the section that passes from tractor to bonnet and tidied everything up. I still haven’t found a steel armoured length so I have used plastic for the time being.

Finished Loom

There was a pipe the cables ran in along the side of the engine I presume to spot them overheating or getting oily? I’m making mine out of copper tube. It is painted it just needs fixing to the side of the engine.

On this picture the cable conduit can be seen running along about where the cylinder head gasket is. It has wires coming out of the front. This is from Mike’s tractor where I got one of the swing out side light arms from

I have also stripped the side lights and am in the process of giving them a new coat of paint, new bolts, new cork gaskets and new side lights.

Side Arms Being Painted

Thank you Jerry who emailed in with this link to a vintage car spares company who I think sellsgalvenised flexible steel sleeving suitable for carrying the cables to the bonnet. I thin one of the larger sizes 12mm could also be useful for replacing the lead to the strater from the battery

http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/en/list+electrical~sleeving/

Five days and counting (well from when I posted this) Until the Reborn tractor MF135 restoration DVD is available. After over 14,000 hits on their website in October alone I anticipate demand for the DVD to be high. I’ll be ordering my DVD and I can’t wait to see how they have got on. All I’ve seen so far has been the tantalising snippets on the website and pictures on Flickr.com. The team seem keen to promote the ups and downs of the restoration process a touch which I’m sure will lend great honesty to the whole thing. Sometimes it’s better passing on what you get wrong and would do differently next time that means more than the things you got right.

Stephen the producer did also mention in his email about the release that if all goes well they may look at restoring another tractor and they would let the readers decide on the tractor. If this happens I’ll be voting for A TE-20 and getting you lot to do the same.

Order your copy from friday at www.reborntractor.net