[trusty220]

Those Kubota charging systems seem to go on forever so the first thing I would check is that every wire has continuity from end to end. With the amount of vibration and in view of it’s age it wouldn’t be too far from the truth to find that the copper inside the plastic outer may have parted in more than one instance.

[trusty220]

In the past I have used Slosh, a tank sealant that forms a hard coating on the inside of the tank. So far no problems despite leaving fuel in the tank for prolonged periods. If you have pinholes in the tank they are best taped over with masking tape beforehand, then once the two-part mixture has hardened inside the tank you can flat it off and it looks like you were never there.

So far I’ve used it with success on diesel as well as petrol tanks. I hope that helps.

[trusty220]

Blackburne engines were used in some early machinery- my own Trusty 220 (the 45th production machine) has a Blackburne engine. This manufacturer had no connection at all with Blackburn Aircraft Ltd as you can probably guess from the spelling.

Blackburne engines were produced by a company called Burney and Blackburne who were based originally near Farnham in Surrey to make motorcycles during and after the First World War; motorcycles were discontinued in 1922 and they concentrated on small engine production up to the end in 1937, selling their engines to light car and motorcycle manufacturers.

The aircraft confusion obviously comes about through the similar name but note that Blackburn Aircraft Ltd is spelt without an “E” on the end. Further confusion was introduced in the “Seventy Years of Garden Machinery” book which describes the Bean toolbar tractor as being made by an aircraft manufacturer in Blackburn, Lancashire. As we all know, the Bean was made by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd under contract, but Blackburn Aircraft was based in Brough, East Yorkshire, local to where the designer lived; there has never been an aircraft manufacturer in Blackburn, Lancashire.

The important part of this is that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in print and you should always cross reference any facts to determine their accuracy; never rely on one source for your information.

[trusty220]

I agree, that engine is definitely a JLO which was made in Germany in various sizes. Some of the larger JLO’s had steel cable as recoil rope and they were always associated with high power, low weight and long life, being fitted to many commercial mowers from the continent such as Dori. Unfortunately the company closed down on the mid-Nineties so parts supply may be awkward.

The importer of the engines into the British Isles used to be Industrial Power Units (IPU) who are still in existence in West Bromwich. They also imported Dori mowers at the time and their Sales Manager told me that JLO (pronounced ILO) was Esperanto for “A Good Tool”. Not too sure how much fiction was involved with that story but it does sound feasible.

Something else that I remember from the Eighties with the GT2 Flymo was that the wheel kit was an option and came in a separate box. After a while I think they were left with large stocks of wheel kits and they came through as standard when you ordered a GT2.

[trusty220]

From memory, we first saw the polymer decks in the late eighties and appeared first on the 16″ model. I forget if it was a rear roller or four wheeled machine but it may have appeared in both guises.

[trusty220]

Those were good days at Windsor Racecourse and the show was far better with plenty of demonstration plots for the hard landscaping contractors and manufacturers. Blec was one that I always used to go to see as they were always out in front with something new like a levelling box on the back of the tractor that was laser controlled.

At one of the last shows I was working for Ransomes and they had a challenge set up for customers to try their hand at. Ransomes had recently acquired the exclusive rights to import and market the Spider remote controlled bank mower and there was a track laid out for customers to pilot the Spider around against the clock; there was a leader board as well, something like on Top Gear, so the fastest times could be displayed. I forget what the prize was each day but it would have been something like a Ransomes branded coat I imagine.

Unfortunately the show petered out as the expense of moving vast amounts of machinery into Windsor and back again was just too crippling. Ransomes used to fill six articulated lorries with their stand so you can guess how much the bill would come to.

Andrew- do you have any more archive pictures from the Windsor days? I may be able to put some names to faces if you have some more. I remember in the late Nineties Brian Carter’s Trusty Steed made an appearance on the Lamberhurst Equipment stand; how it got to be there I’ll never know as the Lamberhurst boys came from Kent and Brian was from Cheshire.

Oh well, happy days, alas all gone now.

[trusty220]

I have seen the clip version before and forgot to mention it (sorry!).

Is it possible that you have tried to tap the shaft from the end whilst the clip/peg was still in place? In which case it may have jammed the peg in the hole; try tapping the shaft from the other end to realease the tension on the peg. I doubt it will be rusted in as there is normally a surplus of grease around the area.

[trusty220]

Hello, Graham, thank you for taking the time to find us and ask the question.

The Trusty countershaft is reasonably easy to remove but be aware that it has probably been in position for many years, so getting it started may be a challenge! For those of you who may be reading this at a later time I will go through the sequence of screws and bolts from the beginning.

To start with, remove the circular casting on the right hand side of the transmission case; it has four bolts equi-spaced around it’s perimeter and the bolt heads are not captive so you will need a spanner or socket inserted through the chain sprocket inside the transmission case to stop the bolts spinning as you undo the nuts on the outside. This casting holds the countershaft bearing in position, so a lever behind it will normally start it moving but it shouldn’t fall off easily. Once off, this will expose a castellated nut which holds the bearing onto the shaft; remove the split pin and undo the nut, then use a bearing puller to remove the bearing.

This is the bit that most people miss- look inside the transmission case at the countershaft chainwheel that drives the left hand wheel. Wipe off all the gunge and underneath you should find a piece of locking wire wrapped around the parallel part of the sprocket; snip the wire off and rotate the sprocket and you should find a countersunk screw with a slotted head that the wire was holding in place- undo the screw and you will find it has a spigot on the end that locates in a hole in the phosphor bronze bush in the centre of the sprocket.

Once all of these are undone it should just be a matter of striking it with a hammer from the right hand side, but find something that will fit over the thread so that your hammer blows will be acting on the shoulder at the base of the thread. Alternatively you could try wedging it underneath the pulley flange on the left hand side- either way will work.

Some time last year somebody was advertising new old stock Trusty countershafts on that well known auction site; does anybody know who it was? I think they were located in Nottinghamshire.

[trusty220]

Mine’s just arrived. Another good read, Alan, well done.

[trusty220]

There’s no mention of registration numbers on the factory records. The registration process was most likely done at dealer level and the information was not passed back to the factory.

As Charlie says, if the number has not been used for a considerable time then DVLA will consider it as no longer in use and re-issue it to somebody who wants an age-related number to put on an imported machine that never had a British registration.

[trusty220]

The fact that he had a link to Norway would suggest that it may be a possibility; he may have bought it from the Norwegian owner and had it shipped back. Is there any chance of some photo’s? If you could take some around the back end there may be some bracketry that is only for the half track and that would narrow it down considerably.

[trusty220]

This does tally with an accurate serial number, but does it sound like your machine?

NTSB287 was sold from the factory on 16th February, 1953 to the Norwegian importer Maskin A/S Expedit. It was supplied with pneumatic wheels as well as a half track conversion and should have ended up in Norway. The serial number would suggest that it had the air vane governor fitted rather than the later mechanical one and it may even have had a steel engine cover (bonnet) if it was being exported to such a cold country.

So far nobody has managed to find a Steed with a half track conversion, so it would be great news if yours was fitted with one.

[trusty220]

Don’t rule that one out- the previous owner may have contacted me to put it on the Trusty Register, so if you could let me know his name I may be able to trace it back like that.

[trusty220]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I’m not in the best of health at present. I blame the weather!

I’ve looked through the company records but whilst they kept an accurate listing (in most cases) for the serial numbers, the engine numbers seem to be a bit hit-and-miss; some tractors have the engine numbers listed whilst others don’t. You’ve guessed it, I can’t find your engine number I’m afraid.

Do you have any other information about the tractor, such as date of purchase, dealer it came from, area it was working in, etc.? You never know, something may just fit into place however insignificant you may think it is.

[trusty220]

I may be able to trace it from the engine number and let you know what the correct serial should be. It does sound like you have the correct engine for it at least.

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