Geoff Ravenhall

I’ve done no work on it for a few days; the rally at South Cerney took up most of my time but I managed to fit in a trip to Wales to look at a smallholding as well, so I’m knackered!

Whilst I was away the trimmer called to say that the seat cushions were ready so I made a trip over to pick them up this morning. He’s done a good job of replacing…[Read more]

I don’t know, but he kept running in front of the camera!

Now back from the show, all in one piece and very tired!

A great show with lots of variety which means there is something for everyone. A very big “Thank you” to all who attended, both as exhibitors and and spectators, and an even bigger “Thank You” to Andrew Hall for organising the section and persuading me to go in the first place!

We’ve been at South Cerney today and plenty of club members have been making themselves known. From my point of view, Trevor Luckhurst brought his Trusty Roller along together with a lorry full of engines and rollers to swell the numbers considerably; as promised, I took my Trusty Roller along and we’ve got two of the surviving three rollers…[Read more]

Off to South Cerney tomorrow for the weekend so I’ve been trying to get all of those loose ends tied up.

The glue had dried overnight in the holes and so I trimmed the excess wood off flush with the surface, re-drilled small pilot holes and screwed the side brackets onto the grassbox. This allowed me to then mount the carrying brackets onto the…[Read more]

It’s a pity I can’t do something along those lines with this job as there’s so much work that just won’t be seen under the covers. It’s the same thing with the classic car restoration people- most of the important work is underneath and you don’t get to see it beyond looking at the paintwork and lifting the bonnet!

The difference is that we all…[Read more]

This restoration is really using all of my skills! I’m now into woodwork which does make a refreshing change from oily stuff and paint.

As I said before, the sides of the grassbox are made from 3/4″ plywood and the metal brackets that hold it in place on the mower are secured with steel screws that have been shortened down from 1 1/2″ to about…[Read more]

Oh, I forgot, your best contact for finding parts will be Ernest Doe Ltd., your local Ransomes agent.

We used to change them as a pair when the need arose, but just in case the part numbers you may need are:-

Engine to Variator Belt = MBA4471
Variator to Gearbox Belt= MBA4472

Before you go to the trouble and expense to replace the belt have you tried to adjust it? The recommended way to adjust the belts is to start the engine up, then with…[Read more]

I’ve got some brass ones from the local ironmonger this morning. Thankfully the national superstores haven’t put him out of business or I’d really be in trouble.

It was the turn of the grassbox today. According to my sources there were only six of these grassboxes made as the “proper” ones were still being designed. This one consists of two 3/4″ thick plywood sides with an aluminium wrapper plate screwed to them. They also have an aluminium angle profile strip around the edges to afford a little extra…[Read more]

They do come apart very simply but you will have to remove them from the machine first. There are two calipers for each wheel- one does the foot brake whilst the other does the handbrake- both need to work for safety reasons.

Removal is simply done after you remove the road wheel then the cast iron cover over the top of the calipers. Disconnect…[Read more]

I wouldn’t waste my money on the stuff, Angus! Give me a pint of Marston’s Pedigree any day!

Not too much action today as I’ve been at the farm loading up ready for South Cerney next weekend. One thing that I’ve managed to do is to clear my bench of all of the odd jobs, such as bolting the trailing seat back together and giving it another coat of…[Read more]

I’m not having any of you accusing me of slacking so I’ve been in the garage again today. Not too much more to report apart from the fact that the axles on the trailing seat seem to be in remarkably good condition with original paint still showing through where it hadn’t been worn off by the rollers. All of the bolts have been cleaned up and…[Read more]

Being the modest person that I am, Angus, that is not for me to decide!

The gold paint ended up a mixture of gold leaf and brass colour- brass being quite a bit darker but not as dark as bronze; I used Humbrol enamel, mixing gold and brass in equal amounts to get the shade right.

I do intend to present the owners with a file of photographs of…[Read more]

Before getting stuck into the polishing and fettling I had one last dusty job to do, so I thought it best to get that out of the way first. I’m talking about dismantling the trailing seat and it fought me all the way.

The seat pan has already been cleaned and rubbed down; the cushions are away at the trimmers to get repaired, so the drawbar and…[Read more]

Chains are always difficult things to clean properly and if you leave dirt in them they have hundreds of places that it can grind away at. Putting grease on the outside just makes up a grinding paste and accelerates the wear, so cleanliness is very important.

When I took these chains off a few months ago I put them straight into a bath of petrol…[Read more]

I managed to avoid a soaking this morning, but only just! No sooner had I turned the mower around and dragged it back into the workshop than the heavens opened. Phew!

Starting on the cutting cylinder, I thought it would be the work of a couple of minutes to re-attach the drive sprocket. No such luck! I think it must have had some mishap when it…[Read more]

Back to the workshop today. The cylinder fitted in very nicely with the new bearings and screws kindly supplied by Allett Mowers; the old cylinder bearing that I couldn’t get off the shaft had obviously posed a problem for somebody as the red paint had turned brown with the heat applied to get it moving, so a quick dose of grey primer and then…[Read more]