Valley Axe Man

Found 10 minutes this morning to get a couple of group shots, of the cabbed RJNs together, 2wds Left to right, 384 rattle cab, 272 synchro rattle cab ( certain export cabless tractors that were built for stock that couldn't sell were re cabbed with the earlier rattle cab to sell them off) 272 Synchro with QM cab and 802 Leyland with QM cab For those not familiar, the real-life Rattle cab has no rear window or soundproofing material..... Also fixed direct to tractor and not rubber mounted unlike the later QM cabs that were independent and soundproof then the 4wds, left to right 384/4 (not an accurate tractor but a few 270 were converted to 4wd by four wheel traction... And quite possible but not known if that the Italian company Cantatore converted one Leyland 384 after it's conversions of the 460 1060 and 465 Nuffields.).... Leyland Synchro 472, Leyland 704 and Marshall 704......... Have had a chat with Brian and Will about a couple of additions for this year but will have to see what happens...........

Cheers Justin, certainly is, I've had a word with Gemma's brother to see if he can do me a number plate for it to make it match 😉

Bit late in the update but the fat fella in the red suit must have thought I deserved this via my better half Gemma, one of Brian and Will's Leyland 472s, the nearest 16th scale model to our own full sized one..... Exceptions are the cast rear wheels and the 24s on the front opposed to the 28s and exhaust but as near as we going to get at present.......shown with a browns drag in tow out of the collection... But undecided what roll in the silage outfit the 472 will take....have to find time to see what manifests itself 😉

Can get one from Charnleys for £275 Smithy, aftermarket not original Danfoss though, but thinking along the lines that the two safety critical systems on a tractor are steering and brakes..... That it might be better to bite the bullet and fit new and forget about it rather than get this one resealed at present....given that Gemma spends more time in the 804 than I do........ Bloke that resealed the one for Matt's 802 when I had it was a time served Leyland mechanic and had a set of the special mandrels to keep everything in place whilst fitting the seals.... But thinking forward if I fit a new one and then happen at a later date see if this one can be resealed then ive a spare on the shelf if i need one as same orbital used across the range of Leylands and Marshall..... But can't get my head round the dodgy soldering job, a new pipe is £25..... Not worth the hassle of trying to solder it up.... Cheers Smithy, I'll pass your compliments on to Gemma as I'm sure she would have done a better job

Aye it's a mess..... But it didn't leak....don't think he wants letting loose on any other brazing jobs 🤣

Another few hours and the orbital is on the bench along with the power steering pump as the input shaft seal has been wanting changed for the past couple of years so thought ideal time whilst the steering system is in bits... Looks like at some point in its earlier life the pump to orbital pressure pipe has burst, and looks like Stevie wonder has had a go at brazing up the pipe... A flock of seagulls wouldn't have made as much of a mess as that..... So a replacement will be sourced when shopping list made of seals and parts... Seeing as I missed yesterday thought I'd include a clip of the 472... Sounding reet 👍 VID_20231228_104234.mp4

Couple of hours and a turkey butty up at the yard today, had the tractors out before marrooning the 804 at back of workshop to allow stripping down to remove orbital unit for further inspection. Once floor mat and steering column was out the way it was easy enough to trace the source of the oil from the splined shaft where the column slides in. Will hopefully remove the hoses tomorrow and get it o the bench for further investigation.... Funny enough though both tractors not been started since end of October and both went first turn 👍

Cheers Joe hope you have a good un

Hell it's that time of year again..... I must be getting old now as the years seem to be flying by, but anyways Merry Christmas to all forum members on here, some of yous know us, most don't but wishing you all the best of health for a Merry Christmas from here in Lancashire. Best wishes Paul and Gemma

Now then Smithy, no bother at all I'm pretty sure the extractor set will get you out of trouble should you need. Like you say good drills are the key but as daft as it sounds when extracting broken studs and bolts, a left hand drill bit is a bonus as it helps loosen as you drill... But only if you have a reverse on your drill to begin with ..... But getting in to the torque multiplier that Joe mentioned, yes they great at applying pressure for loosening tight fastenings.... And also for achieving greater torque accurately for instance if you needed 500ftlbs but your torque wrench will only do 250... Then a multiplier at a normal 5.1 ratio would get you to 500 off a 100ftlb setting and remain accurate as they just a gear system with little or no torque loss through the initial pre load. AsJoe says they would apply a more steady pressure rather than a length is scaff pipe and a breaker bar but the tendancy to snap bolts off is a higher risk due to the lack of feel through the gearing of the multiplier that you can feel through a bar or a spanner....... A good soak in a diesel and parrafin mix and a bit of heat with steady pressure normally does the job without too many issues.......

Glad all went well John 👍 hope the breakfast is ok at your new short stay hotel (doubt there be any black pudding ) and fingers crossed you don't get a nurse the size of Dave Steele trying to give you a bed bath 😂

Speedy recovery John, hope all goes well with the op 👍

Sounds like a long term project with your roofs.... Fingers crossed then sounds as though it's a fairly comprehensive kit for the bushes you bought, normally you just get the bottom thrust bearing and the upper and lower phosphor bronze bushes.... 👍

Sounds like you've had a lot on your plate of late, hope you got the roof sorted..... All the ones I've done I've used a lump of normal M20 threaded bar and a couple of big plate washers to pull the king pin bushes in place rather than the specific special bushing tool... If they have knocked in ok just be careful that you haven't mushroom the top surfaces where the hammer has been as it'll tighten up on the king pin... On the Nuffield and Leylands they do recommend running the appropriate hand reamer through them to true them up before sliding the king pin back in but I've never reamed them just given them a lead edge with a half round file and a dose of grease and never had a problem....

Barnard castle Smithy, aye I remember now.. 👍 a lot of folk think the bar axles stopped with the universal but you could order a tractor on slidey hubs right up to the Marshall era as they listed in the parts books until then.... Then you get folk thinking a later tractor on slidey hubs is a bitsa but actually there are a couple of 272 synchro from the late 70s knocking about as factory builds that way

Can't believe it's 12 months yesterday since me and Gemma got engaged, so as a bit of an anniversary weekend we came back down to Llandudno where the question was asked upon bended knee .... Anyhows we decided as a bit of summat different to mark the occasion whilst we were here we chose to go Axe throwing.... Gemma soon got the hang of it 🙂..... Dropped in via Chatsworth house Christmas market on way down, that was a nice spot, with what looked a tidy 2850 Deere parked in a compound with a merlo at the bottom end of the carpark...... VID_20231118_141327.mp4

Smithy is that the same 465 that you did a bit of work on a couple of years ago??

Thanks John, the 802 really suits the double chop and weeks, aye the fleet grows a few more.... Have mentioned to Brian and Will about maybe another build so possibly in new year we might add another one 👍

Cheers Justin, it certainly is .. but what would really make it would be a Claas Jag 40 with the folding pick up reel make it just like Andrew Graham's rig then shown at Newby hall this year .... 🙂

Didn't realise John (JMD) had so much Road series Britain's.......

Great to see a few familiar faces, here's a Couple of photos Gemma took, didn't really get chance to get photos myself but some impressive displays out and about, great show run by some great people, roll on next year 🙂

The 4wd 7000 made its way into David Steele's collection of blues and a couple of bale trailers left the valley to head to join mr Kirkups collection, but despite a couple of leavers , A slack armful of new additions followed us home from Sunday's Borderway model show, firstly a Wide tyred 272 Synchro, then an Harvest Gold Leyland 802, and finally a demo 704 Marshall, there is a forth tractor but Gemma has kept that one back to give me as my Christmas present...... The 802 now taking on roll of chopping tractor and main powerhouse

Just fuelled up and getting ready to load up for the morning

I find they have good road manners Pete, don't seem noisy or skittish on wet tarmac, this wil be my third set of BF Goodrich mud Terrains over a couple of defenders and I had a set of all terrain on a Freelander which wore well, but saying that I used to be a staunch supporter or Pirelli scorpion mud terrain tyres, ran then for years on my first couple of 90s and wore every bit as well as a BF, but then couldn't get any so switched and don't think I'd buy any other brand of tyre now

Bit the bullet and invested in some new boots...although a slight oversight by the tyre depot meant I ended up on a return trip today to get the 4 fitted.... But that's another story.... Anyhow back to the boots for my Defender, some say they are pricey but BF Goodrich do wear well, the set I had replaced today have done just over 60,000 miles, not bad for a 2 and a quarter ton 4wd, that does a bit of towing as well as normal road work.... Not bad at all for a "mud terrain" tyre.... Even though the existing set hadn't quite reached their wear markers they were getting a bit useless in soft stuff so an hour and a couple of free coffees at the tyre fitters and hopefully we good for another 60,000 miles 😉