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Mine came yesterday and my immediate thought was “Well done”. A very impressive start, Robert.
A new editor always stamps their own ideas on a magazine and you have done that without going over the top. Long may you carry on.
Don’t forget, everybody, the editor can only print what you send him so please don’t sit back and watch other people do the work. Besides, there’s a certain sense of achievement when you see your work in print so get writing all you machinery experts out there.

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It’s difficult to tell from the picture but that does look like a Bean single row hand drill which cost £9 17s 6d in 1952. Bean was the trade name and the company that made it was called Humberside Agricultural Products located near Brough in East Yorkshire. It could be purchased without the handlebars to enable units to be mounted in multiple on a toolframe to be towed behind a tractor.

Don’t worry, I’m not that anal! I read it from Brian Bell’s book, “Fifty Years of Garden Machinery” where there is a good picture of one on page 97.

It’s well worth investing in Brian’s book; many of us have used it as a point of reference for years. Now out of print but you can sometimes buy them from well-known auction sites.

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Well done, Pike! The two column format gets my vote as well.

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That sounds about right- once you start moving the middle unit is not tracking in line. Try pushing and pulling it side to side when it’s on the ground (and not when the engine is running!).

Possible causes of sideways movement is wear in the oilite bushes on the front pivot of the S-frames, otherwise there may be a fracture in the brackets holding the middle unit to the S-frames. I’ve come across both in my time, but the result is the same- the pulleys run out of line and the belt comes off.

Good luck.

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Looking forward to it already!

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When I was doing the Allett Regal 36″ for Allett Mowers I used a local bicycle shop to supply the outer cables, inner cables, ferrules and nipples that I needed. You can always unsolder the old nipples off your existing cable and re-use them if they are not obtainable any longer.

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I will echo that sentiment as well, Chris. He was always ready to help when we used to show at The American Museum in Bath and was always on the other end of the ‘phone if a member needed help or information about Mayfield. He will be sadly missed.

RIP Ray

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I thought it felt thinner as well but there are the same number of pages so I think the paper must be thinner.

The cover photo was taken at the Gloucestershire Steam and Vintage Extravaganza last year- we all know it as the South Cerney steam rally. It is a Garner tractor converted by the factory into a canal or riverside tug; a number of manufacturers made tugs for this purpose but very few have survived, probably because they had such a hard life.

Well done to Charlie (AKA Private Pike) for producing a quality magazine.

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I have no idea of the model of Villiers engine fitted, Andy, as the company records don’t record it. All that appears is either “Blackburne” or “Villiers” in the respective column. The only survivor from the early days (so far) is my number 220 which has a Blackburne fitted, so it’s still a mystery to be solved.

If I was to hazard a guess I would say that it was probably of motorcycle origin.

Will- it’s good to hear Brian’s Trusty is still around and being shown. I still remember the only time I ever beat him at a ploughing match; he finished the opening and had it judged then couldn’t restart the Norton to carry on. He was in a hell of a sweat by the time I finished so, feeling sorry for him, I offered him the use of my JAP 6 powered 3-speed. He finished just in time and I ended up winning by one point- I think the judging was generous and probably reflected the unconventional way that Brian finished as I still think his plot looked better than mine! Happy days, RIP Brian.

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Hello, Will.

Thanks for your interest in Trusty equipment. The first 2-wheeled tractors were made in Broad Lane, Tottenham in 1933 starting with serial number 100 but they weren’t a great success with many of the first production of 25 being returned to works for modification. After a short break production was resumed and the serial numbers started at 200 with a more successful design.

The last one was sold in February 1968 and was serial number 14586, so there were quite a few made over the years. I’m afraid that I don’t know how they all split up into engine type, transmission type, etc. as there were so many different combinations and so many made it would be a thankless task. Engine types varied from the early tractors which could have either Villiers or Blackburne engines, through the war years with JAP5, JAP6 and Douglas SV54 as well as US built engines such as Briggs and Stratton ZZ and Wisconsin AEH, to post war tractors that still used JAP and Douglas engines as well as Norton Big Four engines.

Various one-offs were tried from time to time but the only make that seemed to be acceptable towards the end was Villiers in various sizes.

I hope that gives you some idea of your tractor’s history. If you let me know the serial I can put it on the register……..and don’t forget, there are two books about Trusty stuff available through the club!

Have a good show, Will!

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If there are two seals fitted the standard practice is to fit the inner one facing inwards to stop the oil coming out and the outer one faces outwards to try to prevent the muck getting into the bearing surface.

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Looks like a standard single speed (with no reverse) fitted with a JAP 5 engine; probably dates from around 1946-49 looking at one or two other features but without the tractor serial number it’s difficult to pin down.

The serial number can be found on the rear of the transmission case where the handlebars are bolted to the machine.

It would be a good machine to learn on as it’s the simplest and most common Trusty sold with a very common engine that you can still get parts for. Trusty parts are generally not available but you can always buy a donor machine quite cheaply with the parts on that you want.

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That’s normally the case but when the original is so rare there has to be a certain amount of discretion used. So long as it looks and works in a similar way to the original nobody will pick you up on it.

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It sounds like you have a crack in the distributor cap. Somebody tried to play a trick on me once and took the rotor arm out of the distributor- the engine still worked fine! That was down to a crack that the spark was tracking down in the cap.

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They aren’t available I’m afraid. Most people adapt another make of skimmer to suit the Trusty disc to get over the problem, but don’t stop looking for a genuine one, they do come up occasionally but you will normally have to buy a whole plough to get the skimmer.

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