Valley Axe Man

A close up of the under body and axle... the only trailer in the weeks collection so far to have the hydraulic brakes and sprung axle. this one specced to the full ...... plus one on duty with the loader equipped Leyland 384 ......... makes me wonder about a yellow 4000 to create a tractor/trailer combo that would be in local council use

Now back to another of the collections Weeks trailers.... An industrial version this time by Andy at Classic, single line hydraulic brakes, hand brake, springs , lights and mudflaps........ as you may have seen i've a bit of a soft spot for Weeks trailers ....... the collection stands at 10 at the momment, and no 2 are identical.....

Thanks David, the Exhaust a bit long as the manifold a bit taller than on the standard 5000.... but i've just shortened it down now and looks abit better though the more i look at it, the more i'm tempted by a straight pipe and the bigger boots

Onward to another tractor..... a UH Ford Force 5000 with a bit of something different about it....... ..... so it looks like a Force 5000...... or so it says on the tin ....... but there's a turbo off a 7000 lurking beneath that bonnet Built as something abit different, with the super deluxe seat, and turbo, still might add big boots and put it to work on a buckrake

Cheers Justin, i'll keep posting them up , The 4600 not much further on though, but I'm almost there with 2 of my other "Blue" projects...... get those finished off and then there be a bit more room on the old workbench

Maybe one day Sean, more of a grassland man really but wouldn't say no if was offered the opportunity

Pair look well together Erik ..... have you plans for expanding your collection again from your custom builder??

Cheers Justin .... there still a handful sorry armful of projects to get finished then i'll post them up too ...... mmmm that reminds me i've still those missing in storage tractors to try and find yet as well!!!

I'm guessing that your impressed Ben?? it's taken a few years to get this far.... but now there is no turning back... i've been bitten by the bug and been taken to the dark side..........

You hit the nail on the head there Lee, yep Andy sure knows his stuff, County is a DBP. Glad you like the collection, there is still a little bit more to come though

..... a couple more pics and one hitched up to a UH based deluxe cabbed 5000 convo, ready to go and spread a bit of muck Lee (Muirhillybilly) i bet you'd love to get your hands on one of these to put your skills into like your County/Krone combo Complete with a full set of chains and flail weights

Now to another classic by Andy @ Classic...... the Howard Rotospreader, built in Andy's standard format... although i did up the tyre size to the next biggest as fitted on the options list......

..... now on to the 2nd use of the Doe mole plough, Andy made the frame to accept a third leg, and also the outer two removeable, and created a "Special 3rd leg" with an attachment for the mole ploughing in of water pipe, cable etc, and adapted the leg to carry a 3 foot diameter drum of whatever you wanted to plough in

Now on to a "dual purpose" Doe 2 leg mole plough, again one of Andy's creations and shown hitched up to a DBP County 1004, Doe offered their 2 leg subsoiler with mole points and expanders, so one was deemed fit to join the Subsoiler and 7 tine cultivator that already call the Valley "home" it features adjustable depth wheels and individual bolted on expanders...

The Autodrops weren't really on my to buy list until....... ..... after a chat with Andy about part time Classic Tractor columist and full time farmer Jim Fisher, who had unearthed a rusting relic of a Hayter Silorator, and after a rummage through my brochure collection found some info on the said machine, which was sent on to help with the restoration, but also listed in the brochure was the matching trailer, hence the trailers appeared and the Silorator harvester should follow when Andy's time allows. The full size machine (now fully restored) was in action at the single chop world record attempt last year in the history of silage making display, and at Newton Rigg Ag college open day last summer. A bit of a rare beast but alive and kicking thanks to Jim's hard work The trailers are totally mechanical, a simple lift bar unlatches the tailgate and gravity does the rest, early ones built with war surplus axles and wheels and tyres, later ones built up with more common trailer wheels. Funny how a bit of scrap found in an outbarn can lead to me buying two models!

A couple more of Andy @ Classic's trailers, Autodrop silage trailers, from days gone by before hydraulic tippers and again a couple of you will have seen one of these being trailed behind Andy's Rotoflail at Gretna

A couple of FTF members will have seen this set on my display at the Gretna show.... although power then being provided by a different shade of Blue Ready for the 2013 single chop season.... hitched up to Andy's Tarrup and a UH air conned 7000

....... a couple of close ups of the hydraulic brakes

Back to a few more of my Classic Combines models, a pair of Weeks/MF 22 trailers, both feature the Weeks tite-on door, single line hydraulic brakes, and slightly taller than standard tyres, the early version with lighting board and a bolted on hitch, the later with Weeks style front and rear light brackets........

........ No joy from the search party yesterday...........i think i'll leave them til the end and hopefully they might turn up by then! Recharge the battery for the camera and then i'll take some more pics...... a couple more implements then back to a tractor or 2

......... Think i might have to organise a search party for the 3 missing tractors........ i've got a feeling they will turn up in the very last place that i look

Thanks Joe, much apreciated. some 1/16th R/C would be fantastic to add to the collection.... some of the stuff that the German guys build is unbeleivable. I had toyed with the idea of a couple of those Bruder's and the guts of a R/C truck or two ( a distraction in my early teens took me into R/C for a while) but it would be getting the engineering right so that it would stay robust enough to abuse the tractor abit I know Britains have the R/C Big Farm range but think i could do better and have something that works.......... ........ it be no fun to build one one then just leave it at in the cupboard...... Regards Paul

Cheers Lee, there still a few more to come yet too,

Glad you approve john, Andy does use quite a lot of the small nuts and bolts..... though he was talking about going metric as the taps and dies are much cheaper than the BA equivilents. There are a pile of bolts in Andy's Howard spreader (yet to post up) and some of his ploughs can eat up quite a few as well. Bolting up must be one fiddly job!

Cheers Erik, Thats just what i was thinking..... seems a waste to have those 1455's in the collection and nothing to really put them to work on..... but the couple of big trailers would do the job nicely