Valley Axe Man

Great update John, more fantastic builds there, those Triffits look a nice job and your 118s are just 👌

Had a leisurely tour of the valley again this morning which I like to call "road testing" and dropped in at John JMD briefly, seems ok so far she's not developed any new leaks since the surgery so fingers crossed all that's left to do now is a fresh bit of cladding for the right hand side inner wing, and then hopefully repaint the wheels olde English white..... Though Hamish didn't seem impressed to be in the 804....

Well success.... Not a drop of oil from the recent works around the hydraulic unit and halfshaft seals, a slight weep from sealing washer and power steering pump but that be summat and nowt to sort..... So with a good bit of inspiration work this week got the pick up hitch and linkage refitted finishing off the back end to usable state again and work turned to cleaning the floor off and giving it a coat of satin black to allow time to dry before next weekend and wrestling the moulded floor mat back in 🙂

Had a bit of a shuffle round yesterday morning to allow landlord a bit more room for some lambing space so took the Nuffield to a temporary storage facility up at my uncles for a couple of weeks but seeing as there was a shortage of drivers for a lift back home thought I'd take the Leyland and give her a run in the process.... Once back gave the 804 a run home for a brew to see if shes still oil tight once hot...... So far so good 😊

Wonder how long it would take for some one to spot that hahaha... Started life as an Earthing point badge off a bitumen tanker, and I couldn't help myself being a bit of a big kid 😉.... Cheers though Barry appreciate your comment 👍

Another couple of hours yesterday whilst Gemma was putting in a Sunday shift at the hospital, got hydraulic unit back on and bolted up with a good smear of 510 between the mating surfaces, pressure and return pipes reconnected and a couple of new split pins in the clevis for the PTO and main lift selectors, bracket for the hydraulic couplings refit and the oil filtered and back end refilled.... Couple of Tunnocks before a Short road test but everything seems ok so far......once back at the yard couldn't help but get them In a line for a group photo. Next job be to clean up and refit the pick up hitch and arms and then can start putting inside the cab back together and tidying that up

Day at the workshop yesterday, PTO pulled to do the seals to find the castle retaining nut only just hand tight.... Anyhow a full strip down and investigate further but couldn't see or find any excessive wear anywhere in the bearings or shafts due to the loose nut... So cleaned down and re sealed with new felt seal, double lipped seal and O ring before setting aside and thinking about how to torque the nut back up to 150ftlbs..... I decided to nip back to work and see if I could fabricate a socket to fit the nut.... A couple of brews and a couple of hours later lump of thick walled 65mm tube and a couple if bits if 8mm plate were duly welded together with a 1/2" square hole filed in the cap plate to take the torque wrench. Back at the yard, and after a couple of Tunnocks I loctited the nut and pulled it up to 150ft... Shafts back in and selector checked for the 1000 shaft speed.... Hopefully get it slid back in the tractor over weekend and refilled with oil ready for a road test to see if she's now oil tight.

Another couple of hours up at the yard today..... Got her back on 4 wheels, halfshafts stripped, new felts and oil seals, wear ring checked on the shaft and looked to be almost perfect with no wear marks so left well alone..... Looks like the old seals must have age hardened and gone brittle causing the weeping.... anyhow that cured with new seals, I slid the shafts back in with new gaskets, halfshaft nuts done back up to where they were before stripping with my homemade 8 sided spanner.... Whilst running the shafts round with a prybar across the wheelstuds to settle the wheel bearings... Wheels back on and back on the ground, found time for a flask of coffee and a couple of Tunnocks 😉 next job in the list will be reseal the PTO at weekend and get the hydraulic unit back on....

Cheers Mike, it's not as bad as it looks in all honesty, at this age of tractor there's nothing much that can't be sorted with a set of spanners and a socket set.... No need for laptop or fancy software. I guess the heritage and lineage from the first Nuffields stands good steading for a simple design towards service and repair.. think the biggest bonus though is the fact that even though my spare time is spent in a workshop it's actually relaxing working on my own stuff rather than the trucks and trailers at Crosslands for my day to day job...... If it's one thing that you've fancied doing then I say give it a go you'll only regret it at a later time if life when you can't .. and if you had mecanno when you were growing up as a child then your halfway there 👍👍

Managed to get back to the workshop today for a couple of hours in the bowels of the 804 and had her wheels off and halfshafts out..... Hopefully next weekend get the shafts re sealed and back in.... Stripping the shafts down will be the biggest task, pulling the outer bearing race off to get the end cap and seals out..... Unfortunately no Tunnocks T cakes today though.....

Early dart from work yesterday afternoon, a Six-Two shift is sometimes handy 😉 so nipped up to the yard and got the hydraulic unit off to gain access for the PTO seals and halfshafts seals... Hopefully sometime over weekend will have the shafts out ready to re seal

Managed a couple of hours yesterday at the shed, though getting behind a bit to where I'd like to be... Anyhow had the 804 out for a 25 mile run of the valley, dropping in at the gateway to our local rally for a photo and passing our wedding venue in a little under 6 months time.. back to the workshop and brakes re adjusted before giving her another quick run up the lane to check... She braking alot better than she did now so must have got summat right..... Then once back under cover dropped the pickup hitch off her and pulled the drain plugs out of the trumpets to let the oil away in readiness for pulling the hydraulic unit off to cure leaking PTO seals and to do the halfshaft seals... Time was against me but would have liked to have had her in bits this weekend ready to go shopping for seals and bits next week.... Though still found time for a couple of Tunnocks T cakes 🤣

A few hours and a flask of coffee up at the yard to get the brakes back in the 804. New intermediate discs, springs and balls for the actuators and new pull rod seals fitted. Housing end plates glued on with the recommendation of loctite 510, good stuff to be honest despite it's price... Then gave her a new pair of slave cylinders only to struggle to get the left hand one to bleed up... Had good fluid at the balance valve, and good fluid at the copper pipe end into the slave so the better of the two original slave cylinders was swapped and bled up first try.... Must be a fault in it but will get it exchanged and then swap it. Cab nailed back down and wheels refitted before adjusting the brakes and giving her a run up the road as a test.. think it's just a bit out of balance but stops better than previously......next job on the list is to tackle an oil leak or three around the pto and halfshafts.....

No progress with the 804 due to a couple of looming bills that take precedent over tractor parts but gave the 472 her first decent run out of the year yesterday and took her on a circular route up to the local rally field where hopefully she'll be back at the late May bank holiday weekend..... Anyhow she running ok after a bit of a sticky brake with lack of use but seems fine now... Bit investigation needed as just warming a bit more than I'd like on a longer climb..... VID_20240217_103721.mp4

After giving the 804 some direction in her life with the steering work, yesterday I thought it was time to set about investigating the niggling faults with the anchors, so a bit of hard graft had the back wheels off, cab jacked up and brakes stripped down for investigation.... Expanders seem fine but some wear on the fixed discs and a couple of the rotating discs have blued abit in the right hand side housing which even though they run in oil was always the hotter of the two housings like they have been binding a little..... Slave cylinder on left hand side needs a bit of attention too as hadn't noticed it been leaking.... So once stripped thoughts turned to the impending parts bill so to take my mind off it a threw the battery lead back on the 465 and had her a run up the road, considering she not been started since mid October first turn and she was away... Just a simple Sims inline pump. No cold start no heat just a turn of the key and away she goes.....👍 VID_20240203_142818.mp4

Reckon it'll be good Smithy, the modern MIGS have too many printed circuits in them, some of ours here are work are forever blowing boards but the older welders that still have the transformer coils in them rarely give any issues.. I've a 450Amp Kempii here at work that i got given in 1995.... It still puts a good bead down....it wasn't new in 95.... I'm pretty sure the manufacturer plate is stamped 1984.....

Be a good thing that Smithy... She should hum well being a 300 Amper ... Do most things with that 👍👍

Keep an eye out Smithy and make sure the little fella buys the coffee 😉

Unfortunately I can't make this year Smithy, Gemma has booked a weekend away with Christmas being as eventful as it was so ill not get chance for the usual trip down... Though think the dodgy one might be with John...hope you all.have a good day though

That's some amount of stuff John... Bet Matt was made up with that lot 👍

After a few hours today spent up at the yard and she now has direction in her life again 🤣 next job is to investigate the spasmodic braking performance...... Though the steering is now more positive and leak free so a job done good 👍 VID_20240120_142027.mp4 VID_20240120_141847.mp4

Fittings found for the orbital yesterday...... Good job we have a good selection of hydraulic fittings at work.... 😉 Now to find a couple of hours to get her back together

Bit more done on the 804 steering system, but thwarted by needing 4 different hydraulic fittings for the new orbital unit otherwise would have had her back together yesterday, set of hydraulic pipes made to copy the originals, and refitted from ram to bulkhead through chassis, the two up to the orbital and the return pipe back to pump, the badly bodged pressure pipe was swapped for a new replacement from Charnleys... Once I get some fittings then can refit the orbital and then should be on her way to having some direction in her life again 🤣 even bent a 9/16" spanner to get better access to the lower inner pump bolt.

Happy New Year to all on FTF.... Hope 2024 brings good health and happiness to you all All the best from Lancashire

It has been talked about a few times Sean...😉