Darren Portsmouth (Darmic1)

Painted the rotor cover and fitted it……

Collected the re-made rotor cover this afternoon. I am really pleased with the exact copy of my cardboard template…… It fits perfectly!

Added some oil to the sump and a squirt of fuel……

Have now rebuilt the engine using governor parts from the donor engine. stripped, primed and painted it. Repaired the exhaust, rebuilt the carburettor and fitted the new air filter.

Thanks!
I did my best to keep this under my hat…… It all came about after the Tractor World Autumn event, I contacted T&M as I was under the impression there would be photo’s of the prize winners in the following magazine. However my enquiries revealed they were cut from the final edit…… I asked if it were possible to have copies sent to…[Read more]

Made a start inspecting the MK12 engine from this machine yesterday. I wasn’t too concerned about the internals as I had previously had the head off to check the piston and valves etc. I had also had the engine running with just a squirt of fuel, enough to make it run. However, I wasn’t prepared for what I found when I pulled the sump off……. 2…[Read more]

I have made a start on the rotovator attachment today. Have fitted new modern nitrile seals to the rotor shaft replacing the original rotten felt ones, also fitted a new end seal to protect the shaft end and bronze bushes. Next job was to re-make the missing rotor cover. I made a cardboard template using photo’s from a ‘youtube’ video as…[Read more]

Yes! I do have an axle and wheels……. the plan was to maybe recreate a trailer for it??? Cant be sure the red is an exact match as this had been painted before, but then green is an acurate match from some original paint. My Farmer’s Boy Minor is a lighter metallic shade pf green, closest match is a Datsun/Nissan colour from the 70/80s…….

Yes! I do have an axle and wheels……. the plan was to maybe recreate a trailer for it???

Once painted and dry I reassembled the rest of the mower……

The mower was missing one of the safety guards. I made a cardboard template, marked out the steel and cut it out. Rolled the steel by hand to get the conical shape, welded it together and made the mounting bracket……

Once all the bits were painted and dry I made a start putting it all back together……

I’m using brush enamels mixed to match the original colours. The green is BS282 Forest Green and the red is BS593 Rail Red. The paint itself covers really well, goes on quite thick and flattens out leaving virtually no brush marks……

The Mold board returned with quite a lot of pitting. After using a flap disc to ‘polish’ the surface up as best as possible, it looks much better. Have been told it will ‘shine’ up with use!

Another issue to be addressed was the cast wheels on the mower attachment. The cast axles had worn from 19mm or 3/4′ to about 14mm or just over 1/2′ meaning they wobbled quite badly! I asked my local welder if he could do anything with them, he suggested cutting them off, drilling out a hole of 3/4′, obtaining some 3/4 bar and make ‘new’ axles?…[Read more]

The ratchet pawls are missing from the ploughing wheels and I was fortunate to be contacted by Alan, who told me about broken and very rusty machine near Guilford, Surrey. A trip was arranged and on a very damp chilly day I took myself down to remove them from the bones of the donor machine. Unfortunately the springs were rusted away, so once I…[Read more]

I’ve decided to make use of this machine as a working exhibit. I will however give it a makeover, so I made a start on the attachments due to space and storage restrictions. I’ve broken everything down to component parts, and took it all to the shot blasters. It’s been etch primed and I’ve decided to brush paint this one, as it will be easier to…[Read more]

Hi Shaun, There is some information about The Raven Engineering Company on the post about my Farmers Boy Minor……. I have 2 of these machines, one fully restored and one in its working clothes. Both mine are fitted with Villiers MK12HS engines. There should be a production number stamped into the large plate at the base of the handlebars, where…[Read more]

Well done to Gareth aka S1G…… His freshly restored very early Series 1 Gem won 1st place in its class with my later series 1 as ‘runner-up’