Valley Axe Man

Cheers Iain, thanks, it's abit tedious with all the sleepers but i'll get there, give or take your about size wise and should handle all the double chop and a couple of trailers will throw at it, hopefully over christmas i'll get abit more done whilst digesting the turkey and the sprouts once i got the sleepers looking right i'll sort the floor and then around the outside with a bit of scenery

I don't know exactly whom the cake was based on Martin but has to said who ever it was was ready for milking

The rack of weights is my end Smithy, plenty to get a good bite of.... think Martin got a chunk from the mid riff area

At least he keeps going Smithy thats the main thing, he hasn't let his ill health stop him in his tracks and i admire anyone like that, top man in my book The story behind the white and black steering wheels denotes the difference between a standard tractor and one that was ordered as deluxe... i not too sure as to what the differences actually are but that came from a man called Gordon whom i met who was a die hard Nuffield fan with half a dozen in his collection including a 4/65 Bray and like your mate Eric, Gordon refuses to give up even though the jobs take him longer, as long as he's a brew and some biscuits about he'll slowly get on with the job, back in his younger days Gordon would chop 300 acre of grass with his 482 Leyland, some man that i could spend hours just listening to his memories of working the land.

Here you go Iain, a bit of where we are up to shot or two....

No bother Smithy, it takes one hand to wash the other as they say and you were very good to both me and Martin (MB86) with the stack of information you sent us for the little project that's looming, and i know you have the tractors in the back of your shed so Thank you to you too

That looks like a MK1 Smithy if the tinwork is original and not been messed about with, the Mk2 had a silver stripe around the bonnet and different decals that came about when the early tractor had a few issues with over heating due to the radiator being so far back in the tractor and the fan and drive not being able to move enough air across the radiator to cool it sufficently.... I always thought that the bar axle was only fitted to the Universals but looking through various parts books the slidey hubs were available right up to the end of Leylands days, I've seen a few now with them and my mate up at the Scottish Borders had a 272 Synchro fitted with them in his collection until a few years ago when he moved it on to be able to re invest in another tractor. Glad to see your mate Eric keeps them in work, too many old Nuffields and Leylands have ended their days in fishing crews or cockle picking or shrimping teams around the country, their higher clearance and better low down torque and faster top gear making them ideal for getting about on the sands without having to give them too big of a crack of the whip, but in the end the salty enviroment finishes then off, sad really. look forwards to seeing a few photo's of your work in progress

Welcome aboard Smithy and welcome to the club , glad you enjoyed the cake, i'll post up the full cake (well my 4th cake) as it's only a cake after all and i'll only ever be 40 once hahah

Time slips by Iain... at this rate it won't be long until Gretna or Ingliston. That reminds me... transport box! thing with the sleepers is that some don't want to be as darkly creosoted as others so it's a case do a batch and then offer them into a bay in the clamp to see how they look, the steelwork is finished for the clamp it's only small at 3 sleepers wide and 5 deep. will try and get it out and get photo of it so far with a few un creosoted sleepers dropped in

Cheers Justin, thanks, aye it's funny how bigger boots can instantly give a tractor a more powerful look

Thanks Jack, whilst i was at Brian's he showed me a couple more of your favourite kind of blue, a full track E27n crawler, an early E1A Diesel Major based crawler, and the same Early diesel major fitted with roadless 4wd axle to complement both the 61 and 63 super major versions, along with a Roadless 6/2 and a trike version

Cheers Iain that's the on going project in the background..... christmas will be the time for creosote for the sleepers

Thanks John, Admittedly the Nuffy and Leyland brands weren't everyones cup of tea but it would be a boring dull world if we all followed the same brand of tractors, My mate Martin up in the Scottish borders has a cracker of a 4/65, it's sat on 16.9x34's off an 802 and got the back end gears out of a scrapped "H" in it, scary flat out though but a true flyer

Thanks Martin, think i've 4 needed to complete the set so far....it's a pity there isn't a few more 32nd versions about really, but it would be a good link to your past in the collection prior to you going Basildon Blue

Cheers Smithy, be a nice job, waterpump on a 4/65, good job for a wet windy day when you can work in the shed instead of outside.... look forward to seeing your photo's

A few photo's of Thursdays addition to the Leyland and Nuffield collection, a pair of RJN Leyland 384's one in 4wd and the other standard plus a Nuffield 465 fitted with bigger tyres and front weights, still a couple more missing to finish the set to date that Brian has in his current portfolio of the brand although Brian was saying that into the new year he might have a couple more to add to my order list as he still working on a couple more Nuffield projects.....

if you go down to the woods today......there's no bears having a picnic ......Busy times for you and Julie there Smithy, at least your firewood shed now be full ready for the winter but now you've taken on Woodland management to your busy day to day working life, does that mean we might see another addition to the Smith fleet???, maybe a small County with a winch be handy for you

What annoyed you today?? mmmm Well isn't today a bit tongue in cheek for political correctness...... The fact that kids in nursery aren't allowed to sing BaaBaa Black sheep it's got to be rainbow sheep or just plain old no colour sheep despite the fact you can actually go on many a farm in the world and see such a thing as a black sheep...... but yet today they let you have Black friday...... it's double standards like that really annoy me, that nursery rhyme been around for decades.... black friday is relativley new but realistically have you ever seen a friday that's black???

Cheers Jack and Justin Hopefully another Nuffield and Leyland to come shortly, but we'll see what happens when Brian gets back from Zwolle, it's my own builds i really need to get back to.....

Cheers Smithy thought don't be jealous, there's something on going at present that's in it's final stages that i think you might like but i can't say any more for now.....

Cheers Martin, aye Andy done a great job on the latches and as for the cake part well.... the proof of the pudding is in the eating, there's a few that joined the cake fan club over the years, although really Brian Stewart, Damian Hampson and John Dewhurst must be the longest serving

Had these delivered at the Lakeland show yesterday, a pair of Armour silage trailers built by Andy at classic, measured and built off a real Armour trailer owned by good friend to both me and Andy, Mr Ivan Bruce of Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, both feature the working auto un-latching for the tailgate, cracking work again by Andy And as Ivan was over at the show he also brought a little surprise temparary addition to the collection that was made by his daughter for me, (although it won't be about long) as an early start to next months milestone hahaha Many thanks Ivan and Athena very much appreciated

Cheers Erik, a photo from the Lakeland show Yesterday

Nice update John

Cheers Smithy, glad the Moore drill brings back a few memories for you, although sadly over the past few years quite a few dairy farms have sold up. Milk used to go to local dairies which most too have long since gone only the big players or hard grafters now make money at milk.....