Geoff Ravenhall

When I need new linings on the Trusty clutch shoes I use our local Truckstop branch- they send them away and get them re-lined with new material, but beware! If your shoes have rubber buffers on the floating end or rubber bushes on the fixed end they need to be removed before sending them off, otherwise they will come back melted. I did it once…[Read more]

The only thing I could add to Angus’s suggestions are to make a more rigid bar so that you can get more pressure on the faceplate. PlusGas should get it moving but I’ve never had one that has been this stubborn, they normally pull off quite easily if you give it a straight pull.

What part of the country are you in?

A slightly different way of doing the same job but it should work. You are definitely on the right track; if it still doesn’t move you may want to give the central bolt a smack or two with a copper mallet to try to get it started, but it’s important that you draw the plate off evenly otherwise it will bind on the crankshaft.

If it’s still tight…[Read more]

Same here- a very good company to deal with and a good source of parts that otherwise would be unobtainable.

I think the debate about the best alloy for blades will go on for ever. The manufacturers who choose a hard material always harp on about the sharpest cutting edge which lasts for many seasons. My experience with Ransomes machinery is that their blades will take a certain amount of re-aligning after a foreign body has distorted them, but if it’s…[Read more]

It will definitely be something amiss inside the main drive clutch. The two large nuts that you’ve removed hold the shoe pivot posts to the backplate and did not need to come off- they stay attached at all times.

There used to be a special tool supplied by Ransomes for removing the drive clutch. You can make one quite easily- it was 1″ thick…[Read more]

That will be something to work on in the future. I know that you could buy spirals from Ransomes in the 80’s because one job I had was to re-spiral some of our hire Motor Triples to save the expense of replacing cylinders in them- a false economy as it turned out, the labour to remove the old ones and weld in new spirals just made it too much…[Read more]

On closer inspection the seat cushions were suffering from age and the foam filling was starting to go hard. I’ve got the same problem with the GT6 and every time I sit in the driver’s seat a trickle of powder comes out of the bottom of the seat; I’ve tried losing weight but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. Fearing that this seat is getting…[Read more]

I’ve been battling that primer again today and I’m sure you’ll see from the pictures how much of a problem it was. I think I’ll have to modify my diagnosis of the microblisters on the lid, though- I decided to tackle the chain guard which looked decidedly the worse for wear with great long rust streaks, deep brush marks and big runs and drips in…[Read more]

I’m pretty sure the gel coat is intact, Angus, but the thickness of the primer/filler they used on the repaint is the main culprit. With successive heat and cooling cycles from the engine this would be sufficient to make the primer lose adhesion if the preparation had been poor in the first place.

I seem to have used the wrong photo on the…[Read more]

It really has been some time since I updated this story but I haven’t been slacking. The main piece of news is that I’ve had a minor disaster with the fibreglass lid; it had many dents and scratches which I was filling with stopper (a very fine filler used for small imperfections) but when I went to flat them back to blend them in with the rest it…[Read more]

I never knew that, Philip. If I’d seen someone hitting a scythe with a hammer I would have guessed he’d just injured himself with it and was getting his own back!

Congratulations on an excellent find and matching background story. I wonder how many of these have been thrown away in ignorance.

Those people on Repair Shop make it look so easy, don’t they? Ever tried doing it yourself?

Trying to match paintwork has got to be one of the most awkward and difficult things to learn, but you can see from the pictures how far I’ve got. The biggest problem at the moment is putting the paint on and then waiting days (literally!) for the paint to…[Read more]

It just goes to show that the stuff is still out there, but it helps if you know what it is when you see it! Many people would have walked past things like that because they don’t know what they’re looking at- a display like this at a local show can really turn up some hidden gems afterwards with people clearing out sheds because they’ve seen…[Read more]

The difficult bit is finding the right balance between abrasiveness and carefulness! I’m going to try with more T-Cut today but may have to go to very fine wet’n’dry paper then re-polish.

Nobody said it was going to be easy!

Today’s work started with a double check of my wiring and then (holding breath) turn the key and it started! The oil pressure light went out but the charge light stayed on- curses! The best thing to do in this situation is to put the kettle on, sit down and think it out. When I was a mechanic I used to stand back and roll a fag to give me time to…[Read more]

The last company to own the brand was Joe Turner Equipment Ltd of King’s Coughton, Alcester. As far as I know they are still in business but they don’t sell the Nickerson machinery any more. It might be worth a call to see if they have any old stock.

In the words of Max Boyce, “I WAS THERE!”

Mind you, I think Alan’s sickening for something as he didn’t even haggle! (Sorry, Alan!).

It seems ages since I updated this post but the time goes so quickly when you’re having fun! Last week was a bit of a disaster with Mrs. Geoff’s car being the first casualty- the electric window regulator broke so I had to stop work to find another and replace it. It’s that or divorce and I know I’m not a brilliant cook!

The second disaster was…[Read more]

Spring and Autumn are the times that you use the scarifying reel, basically when the grass is growing at it’s strongest. When you scarify it does tend to slow the growth down and so vigorous growth spells are best so that it recovers quickly. Another reason is that if you scarify in a dry spell you will open up the ground and dry the roots out…[Read more]