[trusty220]

When you think that this was printed in 1936 on plain paper how many more could have survived?

The swath board looks like it’s made from sheet steel and doesn’t look too difficult to replicate. Have you thought of having a go now you know what it looks like?

[trusty220]

I’ve only just looked at it again and noticed the address on the bottom; Broad Lane, Tottenham is where they first started making tractors and large trailers. They moved out of Tottenham in 1938, so that will date the brochure to five years between 1933-38.

[trusty220]

Thanks, Charlie! It’s too much to expect all of my projects to finish with a nett cost of £35, but then all hobbies involve spending money!

[trusty220]

I finally got around to finishing the pump off and to say I’m pleased with the result would be understating it. I haven’t filled the case with oil yet as I don’t want the perspex window to be discoloured, I’d rather it was transparent so you can see all of the brass con-rods and polished steel crankshaft inside; it really is a work of art, so why would you want to cover it up?

Anyway, enjoy the photo’s!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by trusty220.

Attachments:

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

[trusty220]

I have just looked through all of my Trusty Steed records and can’t find any mention of that engine number. Don’t be surprised, though, because after March 1953 they only recorded the engine type, in your case Norton, and engine numbers only appear very few times.

Similarly, the registration number will only be recorded in the factory records if it was sold directly to an end-user. Normally they were sold to dealers who would then sell them to their customers and so the registration was carried out by the dealer, not the factory.

Sorry that I couldn’t be more help, but sometimes it works out that way. Now that you’ve finished it, how about some pictures of it?

[trusty220]

That’s because it is new!

[trusty220]

I blame Covid, but it’s taken some time for the engraver to get around to doing it. Now that it’s done I’m over the moon with the results- you can see from the comparison photo’s how well it’s come out.

I’ll give you a clue- the pin-sharp one with white lettering is the new one!

Attachments:

1. 
2. 

[trusty220]

I have looked out an old Steed parts list which shows the governor parts in exploded view. I had the same problem with my Steed in that the aluminium air vane on the governor arm was broken off. My pet theory is that it is held in the airstream by a spring and when this weakens the vane touches the fans and it snaps off. You can see from the photo that it is virtually square with an upturned end.

The rubber grips that you are looking for are not made any more and so far I have been unsuccessful in locating a decent looking replacement. They are used on just about every Trusty product from the Earthquake to the Road Roller so there’s an opening for somebody to start re-manufacturing them (hint, hint!). I the meantime I have been making some in wood for my machines and they do look quite realistic when painted black; don’t just use one coat of black paint, use blackboard matt black then three or four coats of semi-matt clear varnish. The resulting finish looks more like the original rubber and looks older.

The parts list that I have is a repro from B.J.Sims and is very useful for identifying parts that are missing on a project like this.

Attachments:

1. 
2. 
3. 

[trusty220]

The 2-stroke ready-mix fuel that Stihl sell also has a preservative in and I’ve found that it keeps for well over two years. If you have a 2-stroke that will run on 50:1 mix I would thoroughly recommend it and have been running a chainsaw and brushcutter on it for some time.

As an experiment I will try the Stihl 2-stroke oil in a gallon of E10 fuel to see if there is any difference. Lots of dead branches and a few whole trees to cut down in the next few days so I should know if the fuel mix is up to the job.

Watch this space!

[trusty220]

I’m sure Will Haggle will be pleased that you enjoyed the read, Andy, and thanks for your comments.

Please keep the articles coming as it is only as good as the content that you members send in; without you we wouldn’t have a club magazine.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

[trusty220]

I’m going to echo Charlie’s thoughts- great to see it in safe hands and being put to good use to help restore another early Simar as well.

At least you’ll have something to copy now, John. Don’t make too good a job of it or Big Ears won’t be happy!

[trusty220]

That will be quite something to see- I have never seen an early Simar and I should think they are that rare that many of our members won’t have seen one either. Well done for keeping it from the car fraternity, Andrew. No doubt a few of you will remember the Howard Gems at Tractor World a few years back which had been restored; the rumour was that a vintage car collector had bought them for the JAP V-Twin engines.

How about a few pictures of it once it lands, John?

[trusty220]

The simple answer is that the majority of ploughing matches run an open class for single furrow horticultural machinery. This means that you can use anything- many people these days are using 1970’s and 80’s compact tractors with modern ploughs- and so long as you turn up and pay your entry fee nobody will mind. Most of these ploughing matches are primarily run by village committees and are fund raisers for charities; basically, as long as they have your money they don’t mind whether you make a mess or not.

Where you will encounter problems is if you wish to compete at the National Ploughing Championships. The Society of Ploughmen who run the competition insist on the machinery being used to be in production before 31st December, 1959 and that the machinery being used must be as manufactured. These rules also apply if you wish to qualify for the competition- you can’t qualify with a modern machine and then plough with a pre-1959 one. You have to qualify with a n eligible machine.

For qualifying matches please look under the Ploughing tab at the top of the page.

[trusty220]

The VHGMC will also be looking for a new Ploughing Co-Ordinator at the 2022 AGM in March, so here is an ideal opportunity for the right person to come along and perhaps instigate a few changes.

As you say, there are plenty of ideas out there but is there somebody that can see them through to a conclusion? If nobody comes forward then things will stay as they are.

[trusty220]

I scanned Steve Woollas’s perspex cover, opened it in Photoshop and increased the size. I then drew around all of the relevant lines in white using the pencil tool (it took hours!), then filled in the background in black using the bucket tool.

I just hope the engraver can use it now!

[Author]

Posts