Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

Only one with mine, Charlie. Yet again a good read, well done to you and Alan!

Thanks for the advice. When you’ve got to spend £100 you need to be certain it will do the job. How is your Norton engine these days?

That would work but I’ve already bought a birthday present for Mrs. Geoff. Oh well, I could always buy her one for Christmas!

That’s the problem, Charlie. Looking at the old pictures it looks like they used 1/2″ round bar turned through 180 degrees to form a “J” and threaded (probably 1/2″ BSF) on the other end. A small curved washer was used to hold it to the outside so that the two rings were held between two hooks that could be bolted up tight.

I can get hold of the…[Read more]

The wheel has been progressing well so far and I have fitted the second segment to complete the inner ring of strakes; no drama whatsoever and you will see the finished item in the pictures.

One thing that normally gets missed off most Trusty restorations is the locking strips that prevent the wheel bolts from coming undone in use. With iron…[Read more]

Try having a look at the story here from my Norton engine rebuild.

Trusty Steed engine rebuild

If you click on the link above you will find it takes you to my posting; to save looking through it all the carburettor jet is on page 4.

Try having a look at the story here from my Norton engine rebuild.

Trusty Steed engine rebuild

Have a look at my thread from five years ago when I completely rebuilt a Norton Big 4 engine for a friend. It uses the same carburettor although it works the opposite way on the Howard but the jets will be the same.

Page 4 of “Trusty Steed Engine Rebuild” in the Projects section should be of some use; I’m assuming that the jet that you are having…[Read more]

“She Who Must Be Obeyed” helped me unload it after I bought it from the late Brian Carter, so I can’t hide it. At least she knows I’m not lying when I tell her,” Yes, I’ve had that for some time but it’s been at the back of the pile. You remember it, don’t you?”

Come on, admit it, how many of you have used that one before???

On to business-…[Read more]

Farm work is starting to drop off a bit now so I can pick this thread up again. I went around to the shot blaster’s last week to pick up my wheels; he’d had them for nearly eighteen months but because I wasn’t pushing him for them he’d put them to one side. Not a problem, I was really looking for somewhere to put them when I emptied out my…[Read more]

They were standard items “off the shelf” at the time so you should be able to find some at an autojumble. I’m not sure if Newbury sort-out is on this year but that would be the kind of place to go to where you are most likely to find something.

Before you put it back check the carrier arms for cracking at their base. If the pivot bolts for the shoes are overtightened it stresses the cast iron and they can break off at the base of the arm. The bolts should have locking nuts on so that you can just nip them up without having to tighten too much- I’ve had both Nylocs and Binx nuts on mine…[Read more]

The backfires will be caused by an excess of unburnt fuel so my guess is that it’s running slightly too rich. It may be worth trying a lower float height- there are three grooves on the float needle but I forget which one mine runs on- so what ever groove it is in try dropping it down to the next one, but you will need to re-set the carburettor…[Read more]

From your picture I would say that the chain is definitely too slack; to adjust it slacken off the two large bolts underneath the magneto base and slide the magneto forwards (i.e. towards the front of the tractor). Don’t put too much tension on the chain as it will accelerate wear in the magneto bearings if it’s too tight. Just slide the mag…[Read more]

The most certain method is to take the head off but I know how difficult it is on one of these, so no explanation necessary as to why you don’t want to do that!

What I have found in the past is to take out the spark plug so that you don’t fight against the compression, then take off the valve chest cover so that you can see what the valves are…[Read more]

Hi, Chris,

Your tractor is now on the register and appears to have been manufactured in February/March 1948. In addition to the information that you have given, it is unusual in having the “Old Type” reduction gears which are more reliable than the “New Type” gears.

Old Type rely on ball bearings which are pretty indestructible, whereas the New…[Read more]

That looks like a good find and it’s complete with road bands as well. If you let me know the serial number I’ll put it on the Trusty Register for you.

Good luck with it and if you need help just ask.

Hi, Robert,

How does the pump drive? I can see that it has two horizontally opposed cylinders with some sort of arm to make them move from side to side, but how does this arm move? A few more pictures may be helpful if you’ve got the time.

Thanks again.

Do you have any idea what caused it to fail, Jonathon?

You are quite right. I sold Dori machines in the early 90’s and they were imported at that time by Industrial Power Units (IPU) which was based in Wolverhampton at that time. They are still in existence and are based in West Bromwich but they wouldn’t be any help in sourcing parts.

After they gave up the franchise it was taken up by J.H.Hancox…[Read more]