igor Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 I suspect you may be rather younger than me J5. Our neighbours in Northland had an old Fordson which I have long believed was an E27N (but may in retrospect have been an earlier model given that the oldest E27N would have been only twenty years old then) with steel wheels all around on their runoff in, and before, my early childhood. I don't remember it but I have been told it was never garaged and would be left for months between haymaking season and feeding out season and it always started when required. 1 Quote
igor Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 Tyres and rims obtained. They even have water in them which, while not ideal for manual handling, will be a good thing once they are fitted to the tractor. The seller has very limited use of his legs (pretty sure none at all on the left) and uses a wheelchair to get around but does not allow this to prevent him from driving a full range of normal vehicles when required, including the tractor he used to load our trailer. As he says many seemingly impossible things become possible if one thinks about how for a while first. Any 'clutha boys reading this will probably guess the identity of this man quite quickly. 4 Quote
igor Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 Also ordered a new petrol tap to replace the leaky original. Petrol is a very expensive grass killer. Quote
igor Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Changed the wheels over Thursday evening. Went max wide for increased stability. 6 Quote
igor Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Next thing was the petrol tap. Went to unscrew the connection for the pipe that goes from the tap to the fuel pump and found that prior to my ownership some person had managed to round off the hex. Called it quits for the night. Went back to it just now armed with a pair of vice grips and managed to unscrew the petrol pipe connection with relative ease. Took it off at the other end too. A visit to a real mechanic/engineer shop is required to obtain a hex nut that isn't fucked and get it fitted to the pipe. Unscrewed the dodgy old petrol tap from the tank with surprising ease (remember this thing is seventy years old). Then I thought while I'm at it I'll take the tank off and tip out the crap in the bottom. Off comes the steering wheel (the steering column passes through a sleeve in the tank) and I undo the four bolts holding the tank on. Three of them fit a 5/8 socket, the fourth one is 11/16. Genius. Can't get a socket on one of the 5/8 bolts due to it being obstructed by something I do not wish to remove and my 5/8 spanner has gone awol so I use a crescent. Turned the tank upside down and shook it with some vigour expecting a small amount of lead based sediment and perhaps the odd leaf. Large amounts of flaky rust fell out. This is definitely not a good thing. A look inside has revealed severe corrosion including several pinholes. Will attempt to obtain another tank. 2 Quote
igor Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 The most amazing thing about this tractor so far is that every bolt and/or nut we have attempted to unscrew has come off reasonably easily. This in direct contrast to my other tractor which has spent its entire sixty-seven year history within five miles of the coast. 5 Quote
igor Posted January 25 Author Posted January 25 Replacement tank obtained from the local man who sold me the replacement rims and tyres. Fitted it yesterday. The tap that came with it is good so now I have a spare new one in stock just in case. A petrol pipe with good hex fittings both ends was supplied with the tank but it's way too long so due to impatience and needing to move the tractor I've reused the dodgy one with the rounded hex nut. Vice grips required again but it works. Put a gallon or so of petrol in and it started first pull of the switch. Should check and record the operating hours so I can calculate fuel consumption (assuming that the hour meter works, no obvious reason why it shouldn't). 4 Quote
igor Posted February 23 Author Posted February 23 The hour meter works. It has just clicked over 8422. Put in four gallons of petrol after it ran out last Saturday. Will see how long it lasts. Bought a grader blade yesterday from an old sheila on a lifestyle block. Resisted the temptation to buy her cute wee Jinma 4wd tractor which is also for sale. Used the loader on it to lift the grader blade onto my trailer. It could lift just high enough. Had a play with the blade this evening. Wife shot some video but the file size is too large to upload here. 2 Quote
smokin'joe Posted February 23 Posted February 23 On 26/01/2025 at 10:08, igor said: Replacement tank obtained from the local man who sold me the replacement rims and tyres. is there a Storer to be told of this Sterling supplier ? Quote
igor Posted March 12 Author Posted March 12 Link to video. I need to make further adjustments to the top link and/or the grader blade to improve usability. 480202524_9524866574264751_5205971772959086249_n.mp4 - Google Drive 1 Quote
igor Posted March 12 Author Posted March 12 I am very impressed how well everything works given its age. Quote
igor Posted March 16 Author Posted March 16 I've been playing with the tractor again this arvo. Did some more grading. Wound the top link out a bit and it worked much better. Then I took the blade off and rescued the three point linkage tandem discs that have been sitting in the paddock for over a decade. They're a bit rustier than they were when I bought them but nowhere near as bad as I feared they might be. Quote
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