paulbrook

...................................Ford Jeep 145 quid........................:shocked:

Ha ha ........... Its a heck of a long time since I drove a K9 - and then it would have been grinding up and down fells in low range and grossly overloaded with limestone rock so I can't help with what to expect MPG wise. As an outside guess (and others will tell you better) I would consider anything in double figures an exceptionally good result! As for cruising speed again I cannot be specific but with the petrol in a K9 should trundle along happy as larry at about 40. As long as you have not got about 3 ton of rock on the back.................... K9 owners - lets hear from you!!

Cost per mile - about the same. A truck I work on is a bedford (28hp) with gas and it runs a treat, and according to the owner cost per mile is the same or better than a bedford diesel of the same era. Cost of conversion - about the same I think give or take. After that you takes your choice. I would prefer a petrol six to a diesel any day, but that's just me. I am amazed that not more folks put gas conversions on these old petrol engines though; reduce running costs whilst maintaining originality. Then again the miles maybe don't justify the capital outlay.

http://www.sumpmagazine.com/classicbikespecialists/ is worth a look

I still have the U that my grandfather bought and imported in 1938 - he put every penny he had into it (and I think he paid 427 quid for it) and the reason he bough it rather than anything else was its power and speed - plus the fact that it was on pneumatic tyres. He took up contract work in N Lancs and the Lythe Valley in S Westmorland with it and did really well with it - not only could it pull a 3 furrow plough but it could belt from farm to farm at a breakneck 12 MPH (believe me that feels blinking fast when you are driving it!!) thus beating the fordson boys hands down in both the speed that work could be done and minimising the time taken to get from job to job. During WW2 it started with the War Ag but was soon co-opted for timberwork in Grizedale forest, again because of its road-going prowess. After the war dad ran a handful of Allis tractors up until the early 1970s but the original remains in my posession. I think there was a whole race series with Us which went from state fair to state fair in order to champion pneumatic tyres - and I also think that the 68MPH was acheived by John Cobb. Brave. Very brave...............

I am not sure if the electric starter was available for the Ms of this era (it certainly was for the U's) but Jamie's parts book will list it if it were. All the Us right from the early days had the boss on the bellhousing to mount the starter motor and there is a spare pulley on the magneto drive that ran the dynamo and, being the same engine my guess is that the Ms were the same. There was no regulator/cutout box as the engine ran at a pretty constant 1200 rpm (and in my experience was about the best governed engine ever!) Someone told me recently that a series 1 landy starter motor will fit. As for the winch my U has one run from the PTO but I am not sure how the PTO set up worked on the crawlers. But they are great starters if everything is set right - at least when starting from cold.

I am sure this one was fitted with a blade - it has cutouts for the controls at the rear plus the chap I got it from told me that the chap he got it from told him it was an ex. dozer version. That of course is not 100% definitive but reasonable enough evidence (at least for me!!). It would certainly be nice to see it with a blade.

Great for castings, brackets etc - hopeless for sheet unless you are really lucky (I wasnt dispite a lot of trying) For the task you have in mind I think it would be excellent. I am going to try and build up the top tank of my Mack rad with it - fingers crossed!!

Fine looking tractor you have there........................:-D

According to the quoted RAC stats the second commonest cause of breakdowns both pre and immediately post war was halfshafts (followed by cylinders/pistons then clutch and only after that lot fuel issues) The order was the same immediately post war, although the incidence of cylinder/piston issues had risen by a couple of percentage points. The story in 1950 was pretty similar, which surprised me a bit! Now I would be wary of transposing these findings to a modern context, but I suppose the lesson is that checking the ignition first is a good plan. My own experience with a number of vehicles now is that is even more so as pattern components of indifferent quality are readily available on t'internet. I have seen new but duff spark plugs, coils dying after only a few hundred miles and rotor arms by the bucketload (well thats a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean..). I can never remember having to change a rotor arm in the 1970s, but have changed rather a lot in the last 12 months. So there we go.... I will get that troubleshoting guide scanned.

I think I am wading out into deep water here but am I not right in thinking that most coils are already 6v? Just some nagging voice in my head telling me that...... Although I may have been having too many late nights. I will check and get back to you.... Still no guesses at the next most common pre and post war breakdown issue then???

I picked up a fantastic set of books at the weekend - The Modern Motor Engineer - dated about 1950. In the first volume is a lengthy chapter drawing on pre and post war breakdown data from the RAC and it includes what I consider to be an excellent troubleshooting chart which would be perfect for owners of older vehicles. If anyone is interested I will scan and paste the chart for folks to download as they see fit. As for the data, both pre and post war data list ignition as being the commonest cause of breakdown by a long chalk. But who can guess what the next commonest cause was? Anyway with regard to a dead CMP I would check the points for gap and cleanliness, then the plugs for a spark.

Good man Wally!! And does anyone remember seeing the advertisements for the items? Didnt think so................

Rather than that perhaps anyone interested might like to do their own research. The transfer policies and the like are on the NAM website.

Washing soda, plenty of it and left in for a week.

I think by 1917 the ignition was simply magneto, and by then the chain drive had been replaced with a worm drive. Generally speaking Spitzdorf were the mag of choice in the earlier period, later being supeceded by American Bosch. The last packard I saw in the flesh was a 1916, it had a spitz mag and no trembler coil (it was a 5 tonner). I have the Packard spec sheets for the immediate post war models if anyone is interested in any details.

Many items have been "transferred" which is not a loan it is in effect a disposal. Of course the transfer should have been (at least according to the NAMs own criteria) to a bona fide museum but that has not always been the case. Thus the collection is not what it used to be. Actually I think that it is high time the politics of museums, and this one in particular, were discussed - these items were purchased with taxpayers money, transferred to a collection by the MOD in good faith for future generations then, on the sad demise of Beverley, taken on by another publicly funded institution. I see no reason why when times are tight that some less important items should not be exchanged for funds (although that is actually disallowed I believe in the case of the NAM) but if they are then it should be on the open market as per other ex MOD items I think. Instead there has been a piecemeal whittling down and dissipation of items which does not seem to fit any declared policy or strategic intent. I am an ex senior member of the RCT/RLC and as such I feel sad that the collection is not on display. As a taxpayer I remain concerned when things mysteriously end up in private hands. Perhaps we should petition the NAM to work up a proper retention policy and let us all know what it is.

A number have (strangely) ended up in private hands. Not sure how that fits with the NAMs remit to hold the (world renown) collection for the good of the nation but there you go. It is a sad affair for sure but syptomatic of the times. I will keep further opinions to myself in order to avoid getting myself into hot water!

The humbers have an amazing chassis. But they also have a body that unbraced is like playing cards propped against one another! Or is it dominos? I think that if you undid the right (or wrong) plough bolts the thing would fold up..........

I seem to remember a similar saga in the 1980s.............No names no pack drill regarding the vehicle manufacturer

I think it grew to 4 choices Petrol Diesel Nothing Whatever the buyer wants in....... Thats the joy of this forum - there is never any shortage of ideas! Now where's that gas turbine I had lying around...........................................? Anyway notwithstanding my previous answer I think that you need to trust your instinct here, and do just whatever you fancy.

Count the rings.. Actually if it happens to be under a WW1 cable hoist dump then there is a strong chance it is - especially if it is tapered

Herc petrol. Next question please....

Theres nothing wrong with putting vehicles on them provided that the axle weights are not exceeded and you can get sufficient restraint in place to ensure that you dont do any impromptu unloading. Your 2ft extra should not be too much of a problem for loading/unloading as long as the load stays clear of the deck when it goes to the max angle. At 12.5t I think you would need to do your sums on axle loadings and also you would need to give careful thought about Cof G. So - I think it might be possible but as you have to test and plate the thing plus drive it on a cat C I would have thought that there were much better (and cheaper) options, even if they might be non-military. A decent 6x2 plant truck with a beavertail can have a gross vehicle weight of 26t and in most cases that means a 13t payload (maybe a bit more). Plus it will cost a bit less than a DROPS to buy and run. A years private LGV road tax is 165 quid, although your insurance could be a bit tasty (but then so would a DROPS if you were honest injun and declared that you were using it laden). I would even sell you a suitable vehicle but the Iveco I have is only plated at 11t gross (damm!!) ..........

The outside dims are 20ft x 8ft (its ISO sized). The loadbed area is a bit shorter because of the bale bar.