[trusty220]

What a great find, Charlie!

Just some titbits from the “Farming” section that I picked up:- a Trusty Transplanter, several pictures of the prototype Mk1 Trusty Steed, John Deere L2, Staub…..and I only got to page 3! Definitely one for those long nights when there’s nothing on the telly.

[trusty220]

You are correct, that looks like an Eaton hydrostat. The casing looks identical to the one fitted to the Jacobsen TriKing- have a word with your local Ransomes Jacobsen dealer.

You may be in luck as the TriKing was still in production until quite recently.

[trusty220]

I wonder what these Mokes looked like? Does anyone have a picture of one?

[trusty220]

In my experience they usually have bigger hammers!

[trusty220]

Don’t forget that the disc is made as part of the wheel hub and the whole lot is made from cast iron, so be very careful if you use a puller on it as it will not stand much abuse.

All we used to do was to give them a rub up with a flat file to take any high spots off. They aren’t high speed brakes and a light pressure on the brake pedal whilst you’re driving the triple around the yard would be sufficient to give them a braking surface.

[trusty220]

It looks like the hub and disc are only held on the shaft with the large centre nut. It looks like a parallel sided shaft with a single key but it will be stubborn to remove. I’d only persevere with it if it was absolutely necessary.

Good luck, you know we’re here if you want help.

[trusty220]

Why are you wanting to remove the brake discs, Will? The brakes on these machines were never brilliant so if you’re worried they aren’t working very well that’s probably as good as you’ll get.

The truth is that I’ve never taken the discs off a triple as I’ve never felt the need to change them. I’ll have a look in the parts listing to see if there’s anything you need to know.

[trusty220]

The belt tension is taken up evenly on both belts by adjusting the variator pulley. This is a double pulley with a sliding centre sheave, the same as you’d have on an old combine from the Fifties- adjusting one belt tension will upset the tension of the other belt which goes from the variator to the gearbox. When I was working on them we found the only really practical way to sort out the problem was to replace both belts, then set them up by putting the variator lever into the mid-way position and seeing which belt sat lowest in the sheaves. The engine was then moved back and forth on the chassis so that the belts sat level with each other in both sides of the variator, then the tension could be adjusted in use by moving the variator pulley in it’s slots to take up any stretch.

Sounds complicated but really very simple. Mind you, learning a few new swear words normally helped the process!

[trusty220]

All of the JAP engines that I have rebuilt over the years have had very hybrid bolts- threads are British Cycle Thread (CEI) but the heads have been A/F sizes instead of Whitworth or BSF, hence the hybrid description.

Cycle Thread is a constant 26 threads per inch irrespective of the diameter and was used as an industry standard by many small engine manufacturers whose existence began in the bicycle industry. J.A.Prestwich had originally began by building bicycles, then motorbikes and then stationery engines; having one set of threads for the whole production would be a sensible way to go and would save buying different taps and dies for different applications- and prevent mistakes with the wrong threads being put on the wrong parts.

I hope that makes sense!
Happy Christmas, everybody!

[trusty220]

Keep going, Will, you’ll get there in the end! Those main drive belts were always very expensive back in the day so keep using them if they still work.

Have a great Christmas.

[trusty220]

Nor mine! Charlie doesn’t load the on-line version until he’s reasonably sure that everyone has received their hard copy; that way club members don’t moan about people snapping up the machines in the classified ad section before they’ve had their copies through the post.

On another note, I’ve just had to wait four weeks for some books bought on-line. They were posted second class and the parcel was decidedly damp when I got it, so you can draw your own conclusions about that one!

I hope you get your Cultivator soon; I know Alan has completed it early this issue to ensure everyone gets their copy before the Christmas rush.

[trusty220]

It will be a great loss if the site closes. I’ve been to airshows and vintage days there and it always used to throw up things that I had never seen before.

The last time I went was with Charlie to the opening of the Science Museum’s reading room and to see some of the exhibits there was outstanding- illuminated Medieval manuscripts sit alongside Barnes Wallis’ sketches for the bouncing bomb and Donald Campbell’s autographed photo’s of his water speed records. I do hope they don’t get rid of that collection, it is probably without comparison anywhere in the world!

[trusty220]

Most British built machinery will be Imperial sizes; measure across the flats of the nut (in inches, of course) and that will give you the size socket you need.

[trusty220]

Very much along the lines of the early ATCO style of servicing, where they set up service centres around the country to recondition customers’ mowers over winter. I doubt Allett sold enough to warrant this kind of set up though and their winter servicing would have been done in the workshops at Stamford.

Something that I came across in my early days in the mower world was that ATCO used to completely strip all of the machinery that came in. It would be put on a production line, everything paint stripped and re-painted and re-assembled with new decals so everything looked brand new when finished. The only trouble was that you couldn’t guarantee that you’d get your original parts back- things like engines and a side frame (that had serial numbers on) would get returned, but the rest would be made up from serviceable reconditioned parts from the production line. This was told to me in the early 1990’s by somebody that had worked at the service centre at Wooton Wawen in Warwickshire so I’m pretty sure it’s got an element of truth about it!

Anyway, back to the main theme, and here are some more photo’s of that lovely glass memento that I was given. Thanks very much, Austin!

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[trusty220]

Ha- you thought the story was over!

Yesterday, November 4th to be precise, Allett Mowers held an open day for selected dealers and suppliers; part of the day involved the official unveiling of the Regal that I restored on these pages, so I was asked to say a few words by way of telling the story about how I came to be involved.

It was a very interesting talk, starting with Reg Allett’s two sons, Roy and David who spoke about the early days and how it came about that the first one was sold. Then representatives of the cricket club that had used it for so many years told their story about how it was used for years until it became unreliable so it was put into storage on a club members’ farm; then the farmer’s son who tried to sell it on Ebay without success, how it nearly got weighed in for scrap, how Roy Allett came to hear about it and,….well, the rest you know about! My piece was at the end and I spoke about how I came to be involved after SALTEX last year and why it was decided to restore it but to keep it looking old and original.

At the end it was driven around to the Reception and mounted on a plinth. Any of the guests present were invited to have their photo’s taken with the mower and the Allett brothers (myself included!).

For myself the biggest surprise of the day was that Austin Jarrett had commissioned four glass blocks, laser cut inside with a three-dimensional picture of an Allett Regal mower. I felt immensely pleased to have been presented with one of these mementos and will treasure it for many years to come- my thanks go out to everyone at Allett who had a hand in this and I simply can’t say how grateful I am that you thought to present me with it!

Here are a few photo’s of the day, courtesy of Charlie Moore who came with me. I told him there was a hog roast and he said that wild horses wouldn’t keep him away!

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