Sparts conglomerated tractor thread, now with added Massey Ferguson 50b loader!

[spartacus]

Cool, I'll give it a try, thanks.

[cobblers]

A mate of mine has a field near Blyth which by the sounds of things is quite close by, if you get a grass cutting attachment he'll probably rent it off you cos he was on about buying something like this himself

[spartacus]

I don't reckon we'll need a topper cobblers, Mrs Spart did sell an actual topping machine...

 In order to fund the tractor. The previous owner of the property convinced us we'd need it but her horses are doing a good job of keeping the grass down.

And yes, I am deliberately pulling an odd face.

If we end up with one, I'll let you know!

[jon.k]

The first thing I drove (well, steered) was my friend's 35x, with plenty of riding around in the box in the back.  Lucky you, that looks like great fun.

[hairnet]

6 hours ago, Saabnut said:

 and is a bit of a grey area.

arf!

[mrdelmonti]

I'd love a tractor, live in the wrong place for it now. One day though.

[taxi paul]

Can you go through a Maccies drive threw. That would be good. 

[hairnet]

34 minutes ago, taxi paul said:

Can you go through a Maccies drive threw. That would be good. 

no lol

 

[LightBulbFun]

has anyone ever put a high speed diff into an old tractor, so you can just cruise down the motorway at 70Mph and utterly confuse the hell out of everyone else?

[Mrs6C]

21 hours ago, anonymous user said:

I learned to drive on one of those (some say it shows) Once I had the hang of the little grey Fergie I was upgraded to the red 35 with its high/low ratio. I wish we had kept one.

So did I!

My parents offered it to me after a decade of it sitting in the hedge following a FTP but I didn't have anywhere to keep it at the time. It went to their coalman's brother in the end instead. It is probably restored beautifully by now and on the Welsh village show circuit every year.

I have a red and grey FE35 with a front loader, the one in my avatar. It's a 1958 four cylinder diesel of the 'intermediate year' when it wasn't a Ferguson FE35 any more nor fully a Massey Ferguson MF35, but somewhere in between! It does 19mph in 3rd + High Ratio.

[hairnet]

25 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

has anyone ever put a high speed diff into an old tractor, so you can just cruise down the motorway at 70Mph and utterly confuse the hell out of everyone else?

google v6 tractor

[DodgeRover]

FFS DO NOT CARRY A PASSENGER ON THE FOOTBOARDS!!!!!

if you need to carry someone and you have no implement mounted then the safest place is stood on the check chains on the lift arms, the footboards are there simply to aid getting on and off, they are not for anything else.

DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT ON THE ROAD!!!!!!

The use of rebated kerosene in TVO converted tractors on the road whether in agricultural use or not IS permissible by HMRC as no duty paid equivalent exists, to mix your own start with 4 parts burning paraffin 1 part petrol and half a part diesel or a little 2 stroke oil. Vary the recipe depending on the work you are doing, in good order with the heat shields in place you should be able to switch to TVO and run on it within a couple of minutes from a cold start.

Doing ploughing the difference between running on petrol and TVO is very noticeable as is the fuel consumption- you use a LOT more TVO than you would do given the same job on petrol.

It should do more than 12mph though, the govenor is either set wrong or the spring needs replacement, ours will nearly hit 20

[spartacus]

Cheers DR. What's the power delivery like on TVO, better or worse, for the amount it'll get used it wouldn't cost much to run it on petrol but if it'll run better on TVO then I'll crack on and mix some up.

[DodgeRover]

Running on TVO there is a little bit less power with everything set to run at its best on TVO, however if you play with the timing and up the compression then they go a lot better on petrol and don't dilute the engine oil or foul plugs if they aren't working hard.

It will depend on what you are planning on using it for and how much use it will be getting. If you already have a home heating tank full of kero then it makes sense to use TVO....

My father can do nearly a full ploughing match on the small starting tank of petrol, if he switches over then he would go though a good couple of gallons of TVO.

Obviously if you are doing stop start or lots of little runs unless you remember to turn over to petrol before you want to stop for a while you'll get good at draining the carb, there should be a bent bit of wire through the hole in the drain plug on the carb bowl for easy undoing. On a normal day once the engine is hot our 2 will usually restart within about half an hour on TVO but you might need to play with the choke, throttle etc.

Start should be on the gear lever as standard for safety, they're a very robust arrangement and will just need the connections cleaning. If you are feeling brave they fire up easily on the handle.

A standard TE20 will not run a modern topper satisfactorily no matter what people may tell you, they were never designed to they were for a finger mower...

Your hydraulics will want servicing and the oil changing, nobody ever bothers until they start to creep down.....Keep checking the engine oil doesn't start to get thin or smell of kero, they can and do gum piston rings.

 

[spartacus]

Thanks for all that!

We don't have oil fired heating, it's a solid fuel Aga, one of the tractors jobs is to pull trailer loads of logs from the far side of the paddock. From what you've said I think we'll be running it on petrol, certainly Mrs Spart will just want to be able to jump on and go without worrying about draining the fuel bowl etc.

I've got no plans to use the hydraulics, they don't work at the moment but it would be good if they did so I'll be taking a look at that.

As previously mentioned something in the starter circuit failed when we got home, I'm hoping it's just the solenoid needing a clean.

[Yoss]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:34 PM, LightBulbFun said:

 

I do like me an old tractor, also loving the AEC number plate

 

That was the first thing I thought but thought best not to mention. I don't know how big the bus/tractor crossover audience is, though being AS probably bigger than I'd imagined. 

 

This is lovely. There's something about old tractors. The proportions just seem perfect.

 

I'd love one but I think this will be the closest I get. 

Mine has rack and pinion steering though. Handles beautifully. 

[JimH]

12 hours ago, DodgeRover said:

FFS DO NOT CARRY A PASSENGER ON THE FOOTBOARDS!!!!!

if you need to carry someone and you have no implement mounted then the safest place is stood on the check chains on the lift arms, the footboards are there simply to aid getting on and off, they are not for anything else.

DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT ON THE ROAD!!!!!!

Good enough point to have a bit of one of my favourite things - terrifying films made by or for the CoI. Farm safety was always one where they felt that they really could scare the tits off you. Take as an example this part of a 50s farm safety film "Game of Chance" (should start at 7.14)

 

Young whippersnappers or townies may not have seen the film "Apaches". It is probably the most shit your pants terrifying farm safety film and close to one of the most terrifying films you'll see. It's on Youtube but you can go looking for it because I'm not being responsible for you not sleeping tonight. The BFI have a few collections of these films should you want to watch them in glorious Technicolour.

It's "nice" to see that while things aren't as well funded these days they are still doing not a bad job of trying to shake people up a bit. 

 

[spartacus]

Phew! Keep it light lads!

I remember the first film there I'm sure, would it have been on TV in the seventies?

Yoss, that tractor looks ace, is it an actual kit, or something you've come up with, I don't recognise it.

[Mally]

If they can both dangle off a cliff on a piece of string, I can't see holding onto a tractor posing any problem.

[spartacus]

I'm guessing you mean my two girls Mally?! 

Yep, they're pretty good at that, have I posted on here or have you found a picture somewhere?

In all seriousness they're obviously my world, so I'll be making sure any rides given will be in the safest manner possible.

[Mally]

Was meaning you and your good lady.

'Post a photo of yourself'

Not catch me doing that! I prefer seat belts and a roll cage.

[spartacus]

Ah, of course! ?

[Yoss]

Yep, original Lego Technic set 851.

I got this for Christmas 1978. I still have a big box of Lego upstairs but this is one only three sets I still have in one piece. Comes with several detachable machines to hang on the back. They can be raised and lowered by a lever to the right of the driver seat. 

This is from a time when Lego was Lego. The new stuff has to use lots of special shaped bits to make them look like things. These old sets made really good models from the basic blocks. 

Edit: just noticed I've downloaded a picture of a French/German box. Ah well. 

[DodgeRover]

Not meaning to teach anybody to suck eggs but do you know how the PTO and hydraulics system work on a fergy? You need the engage the drive lever (so the PTO turns) and have the clutch up for the hydraulic system to operate on the raise/ lower lever. Once set at height it should stay put if it is in good order.

[spartacus]

I had a rough idea but it was bought in the knowledge that the PTO didn't work. I'm hoping that a fluid change will do it, although I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

@Yoss, I was just getting in to technical Lego in 1978, I don't remember that tractor though, I was more a cars and motorbikes type. Good on you for having the foresight to keep it, I sold all mine on. Sad times.

[Mrs6C]

1 hour ago, DodgeRover said:

Not meaning to teach anybody to suck eggs but do you know how the PTO and hydraulics system work on a fergy? You need the engage the drive lever (so the PTO turns) and have the clutch up for the hydraulic system to operate on the raise/ lower lever. Once set at height it should stay put if it is in good order.

The FE35 has separate levers and operations for these. There is a PTO lever on the side of the gearbox to engage the same and the clutch is dual position, one for the PTO engage/disengage and one for the driving gears. The hydraulic lift quadrant and lever are at the rear RHS and the back lift arms operate first, then when these are as high as their setting allows, the front loader raises.

The front loader hydraulic rams need new seals - raise them too quickly and jets of fluid fly out! I need to get these done and also change the hydraulic/gearbox oil again. I last did it a few years ago, since which time rainwater ingress past the gear lever and ram seals (the tractor lives outside all year round) means the oil is back to the colour of cafe au lait... it should look more like weak tea without milk!

[Mrs6C]

19 minutes ago, spartacus said:

I had a rough idea but it was bought in the knowledge that the PTO didn't work. I'm hoping that a fluid change will do it, although I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

@Yoss, I was just getting in to technical Lego in 1978, I don't remember that tractor though, I was more a cars and motorbikes type. Good on you for having the foresight to keep it, I sold all mine on. Sad times.

Google somet8ihng like "ferguson te20 pto doesn't work" and you will get lots of resources to assist investigation. Youtube will be handy also.

The Friends of Ferguson Heritage website is a good online resource: http://www.fofh.co.uk/

Re. TVO, it seems you need a licence to make/use it... here: http://www.fofh.co.uk/tech/tvolic.htm

I get my spares and consumables from these companies:

Vintage Tractor Company: https://www.thevintagetractorcompany.co.uk/

Old20 Tractor Parts: https://old20tractorparts.com/books-manuals/2884-ferguson-te20-workshop-manual-1920001.html

Hope these help!

[spartacus]

That's great, thanks. I'd found a couple of those while researching but the parts suppliers definitely come in useful.

I'm not sure I'm going to bother making TVO, the only benefit seems to be that it's cheaper than petrol, we're not going to be working it hard or going far, so I reckon we'll just use petrol.

I've ordered a HBOL, so when that arrives I'll tackle the PTO!

[DodgeRover]

If you look around on the internet there's the official ferguson manual available as a PDF. It is excellent, if you get stuck I have a copy on CD I can find out eventually.

Will you be using the fergy to log up? If so the ferguson rear mounted saw bench is good but as with all PTO driven devices it will take no prisoners and ideally needs 2 people to operate, 1 person needs to stand by with a broom handle clearing the cuts out of the way. Old blades can be dangerous time damage and metal fatigue can lead to them shattering, I work with someone who found his neighbors body a couple of days after one shattered.

 

[bramz7]

That is fantastic. I think there is one still parked up in a slightly wonky shed on my uncles farm, and it is most probably the same one my grandfather owned and used 'back in the day'. I might see if I can sweet talk someone to let me see it next week....