[vhgmcbuddy]

just google for vintage pedestrian tractors.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Yes this is only ever going to get light use on an allotment, maybe 40 hours a year. So hopefully that won’t be an issue for me.

[vhgmcbuddy]

First I got the air filter apart and cleaned the water/oil out of it, I’d checked the engine wasn’t seized before I rolled it home. There was fuel in there, and so I thought I’d turn it over with the starting rope to see if anything miraculously happened. Nothing. Checked the plug and it was bone dry. Checked for a spark while the plug was out. Nothing.

No fuel no spark so it wasn’t going to be a 5 minute fix. I thought I’d start with fuel system as it had clearly been rained on and might have had some water in. somewhere. Very rusty looking water and fuel came slooowly dribbling out of the fuel pipe when I disconnected it from the carb.

Off came the air filter and carb.

Pic 1 – Carb

It is a “pilot jet type” Villiers carbuettor according to the Villiers Mark 40 engine operating instructions and parts list I have.

Inside was not a pretty sight

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[vhgmcbuddy]

I don’t know if those are enough to make parts for it but I can take more if they don’t make sense.
There are 2 parts to it as far as I can see. One lever shown in the 5th picture is activated when the gear selector lever is pulled back to engage reverse. It is attached to a rod which pulls the clutch in too (its called the reverse lock rod on the diagram in the owners manual). Then the mechanism reengages the clutch when you pull the reverse interlock lever.

Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with. My old mate just dropped off his owners manual into my letterbox. I think its an earlier one than the ones I’ve seen online. From my description over the phone this morning, he doesn’t have a dead mans clutch on his, it’s just same as usual, and his reverse interlock is missing too.
I think I’d be better to start a new thread on this as we are drifting away from the original one about sale price 🙂

[vhgmcbuddy]

Here are some photos of the Reverse interlock mechanism. Also the ID plates for model etc. I don’t know if its possible to date it from that?

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Thanks for that. I had a look a bit further into it this evening. The dipstick didn’t show any oil at all in the gearbox so it must have escaped over the last 10 years at some point. The engine in a Villiers Mark 40 and runs pretty well. I filled it up with some new oil and cleaned all the moss and crap away from the clutch fulcrum. The clutch freed up after I worked it back and forward a few mm at a time and seems to be working fine.
I walked it up to my allotment about 3/4 mile away this evening with a plan to collect the rotor box, which is too heavy for me to manually get home.
Good news is the rotor box was free running and fitted on a charm. It has some almost new looking tines which would have been expensive to find. However I found out that I’m only driving one wheel and when the rotors engage its not easy to keep up with it even in low range and low drive. The rotors dig in to the surface and propel it along at almost running speed. And I don’t run so fast these days. As the clutch activates when depressed that means if it did get away, it would eat its way through the allotment until it hit a ditch. I don’t think there would be any way to stop it .So I decided to shut it down and go have a think

Now my old mate in his 80’s also has a Howard Yoeman that I’ve used and I’m sure his clutch worked like a dead-mans switch, like the reverse interlock seems it should. Now here’s a thought. If I move the clutch fulcrum around a bit, (guessing it is splined) so its always free running. Will the reverse interlock work to push it into gear like it does when you reverse, or is there some other way to make it operate like a dead-mans clutch, engaged when depressed, if that makes sense.

Normally I’d just take it round to my mate and have a look at how he has his set up. But at the moment its not really an option. How is it supposed to work, and do people usually have it set up the way mine seems to be right now?

[vhgmcbuddy]

Got to say that I’m amazed/shocked/disgusted at the number of people still listing large items like mowers, garden tractors, etc, on auction sites. I’m always on the look out for some classic garden machinery, but I think the boys in blue would not consider collecting a Howard Gem from the other side of the country as an essential journey!!
I would have thought the auction sites would remove the option of listing items as collection only.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Thankyou so much. It wasn’t exactly a cheap machine when new then.

I’ve been working on one that had been left outside for about 10 years. No spark, no fuel, carb had about 1/2″ of rust in the float bowl. Cleaned up carb fuel tank tap and set points and new condenser new condenser. I have a spark, it started first pull! It runs and will move under its own steam, but the clutch isn’t working (I’ve had the cables off and greased them) Looks like clutch is seized on. Any ideas short of getting oily?

[vhgmcbuddy]

Its dropped out or I’d measure the bugger…

[vhgmcbuddy]

Some more.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

After a bit of work.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

My 1966 4 stroke machine, retrieved from a ditch under a hedge, been there for about 30 years.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

My 1956 machine, as I found it, needed new coil and a tyre. Run like a dream now.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Sorted now with resizing.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I have here a picture of hopefully the right condenser, it did come out of a 4 stroke engine though, maybe someone will confirm.

Graham.

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