[trusty220]

If you come and see us this year we will make sure that you don’t get ignored. Come and see me for a chat if you feel that you were hard done by, or you can give me a ring at any time.
Above all, these shows should be a good experience for the exhibitor so let’s see if we can put this right for you.
We want the 2014 show to be better than all the previous ones but it can only be so if you, the members, support it in numbers. If you have never been to it before it really is worth attending, especially for the auction on the Saturday. Besides, there’s nothing else going on that weekend so why not come down?

[trusty220]

Yes, but won’t he want to camp in the middle as well????

[trusty220]

Mark Woodward has confirmed today that we will be in a different place for the 2014 show. He is planning on keeping all of the club stands together in one place in the Wye Hall, which is the building at the top of the showground (nearest the Malvern Hills).
If you went to the show this year you will remember that the top hall is laid out in four tiers- the top one had the Ford tractors laid out in it, the second one down was club displays and the third and fourth was trade stands. We will have the centre area of the second tier, from the central aisle to the one end. This is a huge area and we need as many people entering as possible to put on a good display. Our club stand will be in this central area so I’ll have to have a think about how to change it around to make it suitable- normally I put it up against a wall, but it would be better in amongst the horticultural display.
It should be a good show, so put it in your diaries for next year and, above all, bring something to exhibit if at all possible.
See you all there.
Geoff

[trusty220]

That looks like Tony and Pam Skingley’s mower pusher- I may be wrong about this picture, but they certainly took their mower and pusher around the shows for quite a few years. Very rare and unusual, and even better to see it in action.

[trusty220]

I think that you mean that his membership runs to the end of 2014, Charlie.

[trusty220]

Found it! You are right, it is an ATCO Groundsman and definitely not a Ransomes 36″ (Mastiff). My memory is a little hazey on the Groundsman- I have a feeling that there were two models, a 28″ and a 32″ cut. Both suffered from failure of the cone clutch next to the engine and were a little lightweight compared to the Ransomes Mastiff.

[trusty220]

A very sought after specification, and probably the best; a single speed with Safety Reverse and the optional Transmission Brake. It has the later sliding axles with the correct two-piece wheel hubs for this age of machine (later hubs were single piece with two clamping bolts, these ones have a loose clamping piece and a U-bolt to clamp them together).
The lever for the Transmission Brake seems to be a little home-made, though; I will try to find a picture of the genuine article.
The plough is the standard Greyhound Plough which was classed by the factory as a General Purpose Plough. It is ideal for ploughing matches if that’s what you are aiming at.
Colours that it should be are as follows:-
Green (either Mid- or Dark- Brunswick Green)- Everything apart from the engine and wheels
Red (closest that I have found is MF Super Red)- Wheels
JAP Engine- Normally left in manufacturers’ colour which was pale blue metallic, but some engines were painted the same colour as the tractor (either would be correct)

[trusty220]

The timing is set with the points opening at 3/8″ before TDC. The points gap is 15 thou.

[trusty220]

The serial number that you quoted would refer to a Trusty made in August 1949. This would have been very early for the Apple Green colour, but just around the time that it changed from Brunswick Green to Apple Green. The closest match that I have found so far for my tractors is Amazone Green from farm machinery dealers- it is slightly lighter than John Deere green which some people seem to prefer.
The number on the plough is not recorded in any records, so sadly I can’t tell you anything about the serial number on that plate. If you put a photo on this posting I can possibly tell you which plough it is and anything else to do with the tractor.

[trusty220]

I’ve sold one or two of these in my time. They were still made up to the start of the 1990’s but were superseded by machines that could put a closer hole spacing down. You used to be able to buy all sorts of hollow tines for them as well as solid tines and flat blades called Root Pruning Knives which used to make a long slot under the turf to improve aeration.
Another victim of the Health and Safety brigade, I’m afraid; it finally went off the market because it couldn’t be fitted with an Operator Presence system successfully. Once you put it into the working position and started it off it would just keep going if you let it go- the only thing that would stop it would be a large, immovable object (like a tank)! It would easily roll over a person that got in it’s way, or anything else that is soft for that matter.

[trusty220]

The book on the industrial version states that the plug should be a KLG M80. However, did you also realise that there were two heads fitted to Trusty products? The Steed Mk2 had an aluminium head with the fins running from back to front (this is possibly a motorcycle head) and the 2-wheeled Trusty had a cast iron head with the fins running from side-to-side?
There are other differences between the two versions as well;
Type 1: If you have fins running from side-to-side on the head, cast iron head, valve chest cast into the cylinder barrel, Wico A magneto, parallel sided crankshaft with keyway. This is the type used on Trusty 2-wheel tractors from 1947 onwards, generally known from the “ZT” prefix to the engine number. This is the Industrial version.
Type 2: This has fins running from front to back on the head, aluminium head, aluminium valve chest casting separate to the cylinder barrel, BTH magneto, short tapered crankshaft with a thread on the end. This is the type fitted to the Steed Mk2 (not MK1) and has a specification closer to the motorcycle engine.
Obviously some of the settings will be the same for both, but not necessarily, so it may be best policy to decide which spec. is closer to the engine that you have.
I have a copy of the Industrial manual if you need info.

[trusty220]

Yes, you missed a great day out Charlie. It reminded me of the “old” days at Bingham and Wadborough.
Sam- please put me down for next year’s do, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
I think that everyone who went could see that Sam had put a great deal of effort into organising the event and I really must echo Ivan’s speech at the presentation; we all know how much work it takes to put something like this on and we are all very grateful to you, Sam, for driving it forward and for the other people who gave up their spare time to judge, run the raffle, etc., which made the event not just good, but something special.
A very WELL DONE!

[trusty220]

Hi, Kevin,
At present we don’t have one but I’m told that it wouldn’t take much to do. First things first, though, and let’s get people settled with this new format.
Both Charlie and myself have to go to work to earn a crust, so we only have a limited amount of time to help people out. Please be patient.

[trusty220]

One thing that I found was that my home set-up kept bringing up the old website; if you get the same trouble just do a refresh when you’re in the home screen and it should sort it out.

[trusty220]

Must find out how to turn them sideways- every time I turn the monitor on it’s side the power lead falls out!

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