utt61

Do you use the tractor commercially? If so, then I don't think you can have it in the Historic Vehicle tax class, it has to be Agricultural Machine, even though they're both zero charge. I don't really understand why DVLA would autonomously change your tax class on a vehicle like this, but I don't suppose DVLA understands either! Agricultural Machines have been £0 for tax for a long time, ostensibly because they spend little time on roads. It is nothing to do with age in their case.

Very interesting indeed, and very evocative! Thank you for posting these.

Ear protection is definitely required, especially if working in enclosed spaces! Eye protection and dust protection is also essential. Some years ago I needlegunned all seven wheels from my Bedford "O"-type and the biggest problem I had was that they "rang" like church bells when gunned! It really is worth taking extra care with ear, eye, and lung protection, as well as HAVS. You only get one chance. There is no point restoring the vehicle of your dreams if doing so cripples you.

Grinding disc = abrasive. You really want that anywhere near your grease?

A "needle gun" is really a needle scaler, and the clue is in the name - it removes scale, rust and loose paint. On sound paint is it is generally wasted effort, although it will tend to remove brittle paint that is not adhering well. If you have a large area that you are going to needle scale, then don't bother with the cheap small scalers. Trelawny make probably the best readily available ones, I use one of these - http://www.trelawnyspt.com/products/25-pistiol-grip-scaler.aspx - and is is excellent. Trelawny supplies needles with different shaped tips for different applications too (one of the problems with el-cheapo scalers is that the tips are all blunt and stay that way - needles are consumables). The use of low-vibration tools (such as the one linked to above) is also highly recommended, eight hours with a cheap tool can leave lasting nerve damage in your hands. If you can get them, use vibration-reducing (gel filled) gloves. A wire brush, especially a twisted cup brush in an angle-grinder, is generally good for removing most surface coverings but will melt some paints and bituminous coatings and smear them all over the place, rather than shift them. Such coatings are generally better removed by scraping (very tedious indeed). Also, a wire brush will often leave a burnished bare metal surface which is not good at all for paint adhesion - a roughened surface - needle scaled or blasted - is much better for long term durability. Best of all is blast cleaning, and the best blast cleaning is a wet blast (which might be better named damp blasting as it is really air blasting with wet media, not water blasting). This is much less messy and allows very good control of surface finish. Unfortunately wet blast equipment tends to be pricey and not DIY and not many contract blasters offer it. See http://www.quillfalcon.com/ for about the most portable and affordable equipment. I am told but have no personal experience of this, that wet blasting is less likely to destroy thinner material than dry blasting. My preferred refinishing system for heavy equipment is wet blast (where practicable) or needle scale (where blast cleaning is not practicable) to get to bare metal wherever there is loose paint, heavy scale, or rust. If there is sound paint that cannot be left (eg too many layers), blast or chemical strip to bare metal. Any bare metal is them given a a phosphoric acid wash, then prime, undercoat and paint in the usual way. The result of this will exceed North Sea oil industry adhesion standards. If there is sound paint, then there is generally no point removing it, in which case a rub down and overpaint is generally sufficient. Also, without wishing to sound like an H&S prodnose, do bear in mind that much of the old equipment we love to restore may have lead-based paint on it, so take steps to avoid inhaling the dust.

Remember also that there may be Gift Tax (and possibly Inheritence Tax) implications arising from doing this.

If you have to assemble these yourself, the technique I use is to bolt two wheels securley together face-to-face prior to inflating them. That way, in theory at least, the parts cannot go very far if a spring ring lets go. A heavy blanket or tarpaulin over the top can do no harm in addition. Make absolutely sure that the parts are clean, rust-free, correctly assembled and located properly before inflating, and stand as far away as practicable when inflating. Do not allow bystanders, pets, animals etc anywhere nearby. Approach and check very carefully after inflating. Consider inflating to pressure to seat everything, then deflating before approaching to make sure everything is seated, then reinflate. It is one of those activities when the likelihood of an incident is actually relatively small but the likely consequences of an incident are very significant - severe injury or death. Don't take chances.

That's good news! Fancy hydraulics and improvisation not needed then?

I haven't seen this mentioned on this forum yet, but I am sure that it will be of interest to some! The BL 18" gun and proof carriage which has for some time been on display at Larkhill has as some will be aware been loaded to the Dutch until September. Some quite spectacular pictures of the loading and transport of the tube have now been published, although as yet I haven't seen any photos of the carriage loaded on road transport. The gun is due to return to the UK in September 2013, but as yet it hasn't been decided where it will be going. Word is that a new permanent home, i.e., not Larkhill, where there will be better public access, will be found. Links and photos here:- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britains-biggest-gun-aims-for-holland http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299032/Rare-200-tonne-railway-gun-make-historic-journey-Utrecht-mark-300th-anniversary-treaty-ended-Spanish-War.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-21923289

Don't buy petrol (or diesel) in the Blandford area, whatever you do! It is more expensive here than anywhere else in the county, possibly even the western world! The ESSO station at Lake Gates (west end of the Wimborne bypass) is the nearest affordable fuel to Blandford. Poole area is much the same as Lake Gates, not too bad. The ESSO station at Nunney Catch in Somerset surprised me the other day by being the same as Poole/Lake Gates when I was expecting the rural price hike.

An essential process for boiler tubes, as those of us who work with steam will tell you. One end of a boiler tube is swaged up so that the rest of the tube is an easy fit through the hole in the tubeplate.

I've seen that photo somewhere else, very recently, but I can't remember where! I'll have to think about it. As far as I am aware it is entirely genuine, caused by an internal detonation or deflagration bursting the hull.

Blimey, how big was the chocolate bar if the wrapper had enough mass to do that?

What's the extraordinary thing on the left in the lower photo? I know it's a Mat, but what has happened to it?

Oops! Bet that's the quickest exit the driver's made for a long while! On the subject of overturned cranes, I see that the crane which rolled over into the Leeds & Liverpool Canal has at last been been recovered: http://www.towpathtalk.co.uk/news/crane-removed-from-leeds-liverpool-canal- Pictures here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3345644 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3363009 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3363190

Interesting thread, and particularly interesting to read the strength of feeling against blasting. I'm going to buck the trend and recommend wet blasting. Dry blasting is messy, blast medium gets everywhere, and is relatively vicious. Wet blasting is cleaner, quieter, and it is possible to control the abrasion better. Since the blast medium is expelled damp, it doesn't blow around and get everywhere. Blast medium is not especially expensive. It is not practical to recycle it in a diy environment but that really isn't much of an issue, especially since you don't really want to be blasting the crud, rust and especially paint (especially if there is the slightest chance that the paint is lead-based) you've already blasted off. What blasting gives you is a vastly superior surface for painting, and a cleaning rate that should be at least ten times faster than needle-gunning (tests at a heritage railway I am involved with have shown that an area which takes at least 1/2 hour to needlegun can be wet-blasted in about 2 to 3 minutes). The main downside is that availability and cost of equipment. Wet blasting plants are expensive (I paid £1500 for mine second-hand) but can be hired (google Quill Falcon Kwikblast, for example), and you will need a pressure-fed ful helmet and visor. You will need a water supply (ordinary tap/hose is adequate) but a large compressor, such as a three- or four-tool road tow diesel compressor. If you can organise to do several jobs at the same place and time, it could be very cost-effective. For a durable and long lasting paint finish on steel (which will exceed North Sea oil industry durability standards) wet blast, followed by a phosphoric acid wash, then prime, undercoat and paint in the usual way. Do it right, do it once!

Looking at the problem you're trying to solve (and unfortunately not having a Pioneer to try it on!), I wonder if it mightn't be relatively simple to make a hydraulic puller for this job. If you obtained an Enerpac RC series cylinder of a suitable size (which can often be obtained for reasonable money off eBay) you could machine an adaptor which bolts onto the hub (like the puller illustrated above) and which has an internal thread which matches the external thread on the outside of the cylinder. Extending the ram would then either remove the hub or break something. The rams are available in a huge range of sizes and capacities, see http://www.enerpac.com/en/industrial-tools/hydraulic-cylinders-jacks-lifting-products-and-systems/general-purpose-hydraulic-cylinders/rc-series-single-acting-hydraulic-cylinders It seems to me that the relative simplicity of the adaptor and the much greater mechanical efficiency of a co-axial hydraulic pull might make this an attractive and simple solution.

I wonder how much fuel, hydraulic oil and lubricants leaked into the watercourse from during that incident.

Wow, what a stunning thread! Thanks for the link! It also leads on to many other similar threads and sites, but how sad that the first thread itself seems to have resulted in the illegal scrapping and theft of some of the vehicles. I think a Hayes HDX logging truck has just appeared on my "wants" list! Not sure how to get one from a roadless Alaskan wilderness back to blighty, though, and I suspect they are too wide for use on the UK roads. I hadn't realised just how total had been the destruction of the Alaskan logging industry. Great for the bears though!

Sorry not to have got back to you, I am still trying to locate my copy. I guess by now you have the info you needed anyway, and I must congratulate you on your new purchase. I was looking at the listing for that one and thinking if only I had the space... money... etc!

I recently watched the offical DVD of this event (see http://www.lintonfilmproductions.com/product_details.php?selDISC=LFP0116&selFORMAT=) and found it very interesting, and can recommend it (the proceeds are also going to worthwhile charities). Despite having seen the various YouTube clips, I hadn't realised just how unstable the ground was (it really was a thick liquid rather than a solid) and it was educational to see tracked excavators beiong operated properly under those conditions. More about the event here:- http://www.charityexcavatorchallenge.com/

I am fairly sure that I have a copy somewhere (I think I bought it despite being profoundly disappointed by all the errors in his earlier "Quarter Ton" - way too many for any serious work). I will have a look this evening (and probably lock it in the safe in view of its unexpected value). At this rate the book will soon be worth more than an unrestored Pioneer!

I recently replaced most of the air brake piping on my '61 Iron Fairy (originally steel pipe with olives) with modern nylon pipe. The local truck parts factor was able to supply the pipe and olives without problems. It now holds full air pressure for a month or more without the engine running!

As stated above, that is the standard 2.6 litre straight six inlet-over-exhaust engine that was optional up to and including SIII. It was developed from the old (Series 1) four cylinder IOE engines of firstly 1600cc, later 1997cc (which of course evolved from Rover car engines of the 1940s). In good nick it is a very nice engine to drive, underpowered by modern standards of course, but in its day a great option. Spares are very hard to come by for it now, and it is by no stretch of the imagination economical. IIRC it was the imminent arrival of the Stage 3 V8 which ulitmately led to the deletion of this engine (or more likely the age of this engine and the need to delete it as an option which lead to the introduction of the Stage 3 V8).

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to renew the rubber bellows or gaiter on a non-rotating NATO lunette (as used on Sankey-type trailers)? If so, does anyone know where I can get a new one and how to go about fitting it? Many thanks!