[trusty220]

On some of the ones that I’ve come across the previous owners have taken the screws out of the toolbox so that they can access the clutches underneath. When the idler mast is fitted you can’t lift the toolbox more than two or three inches and it’s easier to remove it completely to service the chains and clutches.
I notice that the screws are missing from your toolbox as well- do you think that it was fitted with the mast at one time? An easy way to tell is if the 1/2″ diameter rod that braces the side plates is far too long with too much thread sticking out on both sides- this is where the base of the mast is fixed.

[trusty220]

Are the curved parts of the bumper bolted on in that position or have you just placed them like that for the photo? The reason that I ask is that they are normally horizontal and not upturned. You also have a flat belt pulley fitted- with the Briggs and Stratton Z the belt wouldn’t go past the side of the engine and it was normally fitted with a mast and two idler pulleys to take it up and over the top (see picture).

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[trusty220]

Just a few more pictures that I took on the day.

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[trusty220]

Injectors can become blocked yet still emit diesel which will give a false impression that they are working. When an injector is working properly it should emit a vapour which is easily ignited, but when they have been used for a while they can become coked up by deposits from the cylinder- in extreme cases I have seen them only squirt a jet of diesel which will ignite if everything is hot, but will not ignite if the engine is cold.
To illustrate my point I once towed a Nuffield Mini Tractor around a cricket outfield for three whole circuits before the engine fired and ran. It was leaving a trail of white diesel out of the exhaust for the whole time, but because a jet of diesel has much less surface area than a vapour it simply wouldn’t burn. A recon set of injectors transformed the cold starting performance immediately.
Don’t try to do the reconditioning yourself because it needs specialist equipment to set up the injector once the parts have been renewed and/or cleaned. There are many diesel specialists about and it’s best to use one of these.

[trusty220]

The AGM was an memorable event- see the news article on the home page- but the details of the meeting cannot be discussed on the open forum. All minutes will be published in the April edition of The Cultivator which Alan is now compiling.
Just to whet your appetite here are a few photo’s taken on the day.

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[trusty220]

Thanks for taking the time to come over and have a chat. As you can tell, we love to natter, and I think your flyers for the Strawberry and Steam event went down well- there were none left when I cleared up the stand on Sunday night.
I only have one confession for this year- I forgot the pork pie- but nobody seemed to notice. If I don’t say anything maybe I’ll get away with it!

[trusty220]

The Iseki brand is still going strong in this country despite having a huge loss in the tsunami a couple of years ago.
Iseki never had a presence in the country but relied on importers to sell their wares over here; the current importer of Iseki is Ransomes Jacobsen in Ipswich. They confine themselves to the tractor range and diesel ride-on lawnmowers to sell alongside their own professional grasscare machinery and if you were to ask them about rotavators I pretty sure they wouldn’t have any knowledge whatsoever (sorry).
Like most of these worldwide manufacturers, Iseki make a vast range and the importers just cherry-pick what they want out of the range. In the past they have made walk-behind rotary mowers and strimmers as well as rotavators, and some of these have even been brought in by previous importers. My spies tell me that the rotavators were originally imported by Lely when they were based at Huntingdon, and also that there were a lot of “grey imports” floating around at the time as well. Apparently some unscrupulous (unofficial) importers would sell rotavators with rice blades on which are absolutely useless in this country.
The blades that you have on your machine look a little like Landmaster ones- could it be possible that someone has adapted some of these to fit?

[trusty220]

That’s the one, Angus. Great fun when you first start to drive it, but after a couple of hours into an 8hr day you can get very bored. Still…. what else could you drive on a steep motorway embankment in the pouring rain whilst sitting in a nice warm Transit cab with a mug of tea to hand? Much better than standing up to your knees in wet grass getting covered in all sorts of unmentionable things that you find in long grass.

[trusty220]

I’ve been selling a remote-control mower for some years now. Under the Ransomes Jacobsen label it’s called the Spider and is used for steep embankments where trip hazards are common. It will do the work of three men with brushcutters with the added advantage that the operator can sit in the Transit and keep mowing if conditions permit (a brilliant selling point!).
We are now on the Mk3 version, and each mark is a different size to cater for different customers’ needs. I’ll try to find a picture to add to the post.

[trusty220]

What you need to do is to take the sprocket off the magneto. You will find that the nut is a left hand thread (I think) and the shaft is tapered with no keyway. Do not try to lever the sprocket from behind because you will b******r the bearings in the mag, the only way to do it is to pull it off with a puller, pushing on the end of the shaft.
Once the sprocket is loose on the shaft you will find that you can turn the engine without the rotor in the mag moving- set the engine at 3/8″ BTDC, then turn the mag in the direction it normally runs in and stop when the points are just opening. Replace the sprocket and timing chain on the magneto shaft and with a small socket give the sprocket a sharp tap to seat the sprocket on the shaft taper. The engine is now timed accurately.

[trusty220]

When I set up my engine after cleaning the carb I set both jets to 1 1/2 turns out. That should be sufficient to start it, then once it’s running you can adjust firstly the main jet (engine speed needs to be 1500>2000 revs approx.), then drop the revs down slowly so that it drops to tick over. The best way of doing this is to turn the slow running adjustment screw in a few turns to open up the butterfly, then you can slow the engine down in a controlled way with gradual adjustments to this screw and if it looks like it’s about to stop you can adjust the slow mixture screw accordingly. This gives you plenty of time to make the adjustments without having to rush or continually revving it up and down. As a final check, with the engine on tick over just increase the throttle as if you were going to drive away- if it splutters, hesitates and then picks up you need more fuel, so richen up the slow running mixture screw.
The slow running mixture screw not only keeps the engine running when on tick over, it also assists the engine to increase speed ( a little like an accelerator pump ); it is often overlooked when adjusting the carb, but it is the most important. If you look in the venturi you will see that there are three holes spaced along the inside, roughly where the butterfly comes to rest. It is these holes that control the tick over and acceleration of the engine, and they are adjusted with the slow running mixture jet.
One other thing to check is the timing, which is crucial. Somewhere near, in my experience, is not good enough. It needs to be set at 3/8″ BTDC with the points just opening, anything else and it just doesn’t run correctly.
I hope that helps!

[trusty220]

I feel that I ought to back Charlie up with this one. Yes, I agree with the idea that there should be an online calendar to publicise events so that we can co-ordinate our efforts, but what Charlie hasn’t pointed out is that somebody has to do the work (and it has normally been Charlie up to now).
Surely there is somebody out there that is willing to take this on in their spare time, especially as the dark cold nights are here and you don’t want to go out to the shed. And don’t forget that we also need an editor for The Cultivator- we still have had nobody come forward to offer their services.
This does remind me of the story of the Little Red Hen, when nobody would help her make a cake but everybody wanted to help her eat it. When a problem like this crops up we should all be asking ourselves what we could do to help, not trying to think of reasons why we can’t do something. It is, after all, OUR club.

[trusty220]

I’m glad that we are spreading our influence down country; I think that the Black Country people may get a little upset if you call them “West Midlanders”, though!
For anybody wishing to enter the show, Mark’s contact details are laid out as follows:-
Mark Woodward
Mark Woodward Classic Events Ltd.,
PO Box 211,
Wigton.
CA7 7AH
Tel: 016974 51882
email: woodyauto@hotmail.co.uk
Website: http://www.markwoodwardclassicevents.com
If you contact him you will find him exceedingly helpful and keen to please, so if you are undecided about this event please drop him a line and book in- you definitely won’t regret it.

[trusty220]

Alan- If you are going to bring a few more sprayers it may be best to get them booked in with Mark Woodward so that you have an exhibit number. The more the merrier, I say, so keep them coming.

Steve- I wondered where the rest of my pork pie had gone to. Alan’s dogs are always welcome on the stand, but it looks like I’m going to have to put my pork pie on a higher table in future so that you can’t reach it!

[trusty220]

Don’t be fooled, he’s only seeing if there’s any meat on them. Luckily for you he judged them a little on the skinny side!

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