Trusty Earthquake Tines

[vhgmcbuddy]

Now I have my new (to me) Trusty Earthquake up and running (3 new drive chains fitted, oil and gearbox oils changed) I want to turn to the tines that do the digging. I’ve searched high and low on various website and auction sites but can’t find anyone selling anything nearby to what I need. The existing tines/blades are well worn and a couple of them are almost non-existent. Does anyone have any idea as to where I can get new tines from or what tines I can modify from another machine in order to make them work? I have access to Mills and Lathes for serious re-working but I believe the tines are hardened so I can’t use handheld tools to reshape or modify them at a guess.

[trusty220]

The Earthquake that I picked up the other day had some new tines with it that weren’t fitted. They were a sickly green colour so I suspect they were from Dowdeswell (that is the firm that bought out the Howard company).

I will have a look later today when I go to the farm and take a photo. My best guess is that they are off an older Howard product like the Bantam. Of course, they may not have been fitted because they might not fit directly, but we will see.

Watch this space!

[trusty220]

Here are some photo’s of the tines supplied with the Earthquake. They are definitely Dowdeswell as you can see the “D” stamped on the side of one of them, which means they were probably made for an original Howard machine. They are a direct replacement for the Trusty tines- the holes line up, they are the correct distance apart and the tine is at the correct angle.

Here are the photo’s.

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[charlie]

Useful information about tines, may be one of the Howard experts will be able to identify which Howard from the part numbers.

[hortiman]

Hello there
The green painted tines are obviously from the Dowdeswell factory, meaning that they were made for one of the Howard range of cultivators. The ones with the longer blade are for a Howard 300/350/352, and the ones with the shorter blade are the centre row of blades for the same range of models. The Bantam if i remember correctly are a bit ‘taller’ but have the same mounting bolt spacings. I seem to remember being told in the dim and distant past that this range of blades fit an ‘Earthquake’ but I could be mistaken, give them a try.
Chris

[vhgmcbuddy]

Sorry all, I’ve only just seen the updates! I could have sworn I ticked the ‘notification’ box but clearly I didn’t!

Trusty220 – what hole pitch are yours? Mine are 38mm between centres. The longest side (vertical when fitted) is approx 108mm and the shortest edge (cutting blade – or horizontal when fitted) is approx 90mm. Mine are also sided, that is there are left handed and right handed ones.

2 photos attached showing not too bad ones and some well past their best!

Oh, and I’ve now ticked the notify box so I should see any other replies hopefully.

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[trusty220]

The hole spacing is 1.5″ which is very roughly 38mm. The other measurements are a little vague because I don’t know where you are measuring from, but the offset (length of the foot from the upright) is 4″ and the vertical is 4 3/4″ from the base of the foot to the centre of the uppermost hole.

These are handed as well- the one that I photographed is a left hand one- and the part number is 9896LH.

It looks almost identical to the Trusty ones apart from the slight radius at the top to fit around the rotor shaft and the foot has a more gradual curve to it rather than the straight lines of the original. Otherwise it should fit with little or no modification.

Does anyone know where to find these today? I have one or two Earthquakes that I need to restore and so I shall need some new ones as well.

[vhgmcbuddy]

You could try Standen Engineering (http://www.standen.co.uk/parts/) at Ely, as they acquired the manufacturing rights for Dowdeswell equipment.

[Author]

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