MJB1

nothing nothing this early in the morning makes me laugh

some good pics there phill, you got much longer to go at lackam mate ?

right nice combination you have built yerself there Ol

driving around to hand out cards to people

wonderfull memories ? well for me yes ok compared to the ford bubble cab it was cramped & spartan but at least the 500 series was offered with power assisted steering , where as for a long while i think power steering was an option on the ford

yep not forgetting trying to get the quick release couplings to attatch , then finding they're still under pressure & having to walk all the way back around the tractor to dump any pressure from the spools then walk all the way back roundto do it all again ! & thats along with the fact the loader supports won't slide back up into the holders as they've been bent from being scrapped along the floor ahh good days

got to look at the big picture here murray, just because you see two big tractors with regular size ploughs in a flat field with good soil doesn't mean that the other side of the estate or contract area hasn't got some steep ground with some evil soil & ground conditions, of which one of these tractors with a big 10 furrow semi mounted plough would go absolutely nowhere. eg: i used to operate a JD7810 approx 175 HP but we only had 10tonne grain trailers , not as you'd expect the bigger 12-15 tonne ones why ? because a lot of the farm was on steep chalk. when the chalk got wet or damp, it was enough to get a grip with 10 tonnes behind us , any more than that we'd have struggled especially going down hill. i had an overum 5F rev plough to pull with it, of course it could have pulled more , but not on that ground

i don't know what you drink colm , but it ain't half as strong as what he obviously drank :D

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try to sort my new phone out , got it all here , but they sent another sim card as well

any one remember the new fandangled trip for the loader on the 500series tractors ? was a big button linked to an electronic spool just ahead of the cab , press the button,which would hit a sprung coil of thin wire rope to automaticly trip the bucket very little used as the new 80 powerloader was also released with hudraulic crowd rams , but if not you kept hitting the button with yer foot till in would break , then a bit of rope was threaded through the side window to pull

i think the memoirs are my favorite, with pics to illustrate the story it's always going to be an interesting read. wether it's from the magazine or from talking to old hands themselves you get a fascinating insight into how small niggles we get now were major obstacles back in the day & just like some of the tools we have today were because of these old timers making good bad designs. That's the interest with the tractors , we drive old tractors that are years old , these guys drove them from new. we now have somethings new quite regularly & we take little notice of newer technology as it's around us all the time , back then just having a cab could be the major moment of your career & then in later years a wireless could be fitted ! bet that was as much as a leap forwards as the notion a belt to keep yer trousers up was just as good as baler twine these are the people & pages that matter the most, & soon enough , these story's & the men that tell them will disappear, & as farm labour gets harder to come by so will the stories . keep them coming Rory may have to put pen to paper :D

nice drive Ol, fancy sending over the tin work mate ?

didn't the 8270 xtra have a fully glazed cab ?

a trashanal ? how very dare you young man

really mart? wow so you'd have a little 20 , the 698 AND the 3095 well if yer going red yer doing it it mighty fine style

yes mark they are TIM's fronts & rears the diameter of the rear tyres is approx 45mm the width of the rear tyre is approx 17mm i have front & rears on a 590 4wd & got to admit they do look good just click on the pic you'll get a better view , especialy the difference between the two 590 4wd's

ok think thats enough now dont you , big bo..err ...peter :D

not quite the same mark but i have these fited to my 590 & two of the 362's they dont look bad on the 590 at all

hit that nail dead center mate ! thanks for the reply bill , you time is much appreciated . Maybe we're all expecting too much i know what we gain in durability we'll lose in detail & vice versa , but c'mon RC2, siku have struck that happy medium for a fair few years now , & i think it's a shame that with ertl as the parent they cant do the same for the britains brand . i think siku made a bad call in stopping the tim's range as per usual german engineering comes top of the list again

if you got patience you can strip the UH chassis of rear linkage , & buy the siku rear linkage seperately , if i remember rightly the siku part has a lug which if you drill & file right can be fitted as well as glued to the UH chassis

A reg eh ? no adjustable steering for you then mart ! first thing first mate get rid of those awfull mickey mouse lights on the roof chap , as for the electricals ? always suffered in & around the fuse box , the 698 i used to drive was the same , come the end i had a crocadile clip to clip straight onto the alternator with an in line fuse , worked a treat , but they dont take much to sort out by all accounts , really think she'd be a good investment for you as a first working tractor , get a reasonably decent hedge trimmer & you got the start as yer own bussiness, do yer trimming & work on other peoples farms other than that it's just nice to get something to play with , & after all you dont want to upset regan by bringing home one of those blue things would you

698 :P :P :P ahem err............ martin ,martin,martin me lado me boy , ! a . err forgotten what i was going to say now

gosh yes peter you're outragously handsome hmmm does david DPH still post here ? not seen any of his displays lately . still at colledge is he ?

all looks well simon , glad to see pics of the build bit by bit , unfortunately my conversions look thrown together , because they are thrown together , good to see some thought & patience going into this , will finish up as a cracker mate , as for the next build ? how about a bubble cabbed TW30, thats not like mark's at all ,different colour,different cab, would be great to one of those old girls about