Found this yesterday, Its all there, not rusted out (although rusted up), and the engine turns over! In the ad it was missing th recoil starter, but when i pick it up he says he's got it in the shed, winning! It was running up until about 10 years ago when the rope broke, and it has sat out in a paddock since then. I think with a fair bit of lube and a bit of work i can get her up and running again! Need some info greenfield guys, what wheels should be on the front? I have a pair of the later rims that were on all the yellow machines, but some pics i find have a rover style rim, can anyone confirm? thanks!
I don’t have my yellow hd8 here so I can’t compare the wheel halves with the ones with the solid tyre. Of course one difference would be the valve hole in the pneumatic wheels.
I’ve got 4 red machines and only two have the original wheels. The solid tyres on one of the machines with original wheels are just about stuffed too. I’ve long since resigned myself to having non-original wheels on the little g50 machine when I finally get it going. Sigh!
Cheers,
P.S. I guess I should clarify, then I say ‘solid’ tyres, I think they are in fact hollow and I think I recall early sales material referring to them as ‘semi-pneumatic’.
You wouldn't read about it, but after 10 years out in a paddock, all it took was fresh fuel and it fired up first pull! sounded good too!
Well I spent the better part of the day fighting the rust and I've pretty well won the battle, it has steering again, the pedal moves and it rolls!
Tomorrow i might start on the deck and the seized pulley assembly. unfortunately ill have to rebuild the drive as the corks have come adrift.
Prd,ok that's interesting, the rims look the same as the ones on the yellow machines, do you know what the overall diameter of the tyres is? I've been looking for solid tyres for my rover trailer but they don't seem to be very common anymore. Luckily enough I have a spare set of those rims. I had some rancher fronts that will do the job for now.
Have a bit or welding to do on the frame, the steering column has all but come adrift, and the front end has been repaired at some point, but I think it will turn out just fine! No paint for this one for now, just want to get it operational, and really should finish the yellow restoration!
I didn't get much more done on her last weekend, hoping to do a bit this weekend, I've got a couple original unrestored machines now, I think they offset the shiny restored ones nicely, plus paint is quite expensive..
So far ive been very lucky in that everything is there, no missing bits as yet.
That lever is going shortly, although it was a great help when un seizing the pedal, i would never leave it there. Once i rebuild the drive and set it up properly it won't be necessary, there is damn near 90° of pedal movement currently!
The only part that is currently a challenge is the blade clutch/idler pulley assembly, it is rusted solid! I am hoping a bit of heat and persuasion will separate it without breakage..
Also anyone got some close up pics of the front end of the red fame? Mine has bits of angle iron and little screws on the inside where i suspect welds would have been?
Had a generally successful weekend! It is a goer again!
Got the seized up pulley assembly apart on Friday, but of heat and persuasion it came apart without any real damage. since the book is a bit vague I thought i would take some detail shots of how it goes together, took a bit to work out how the inside bearing comes out, until i noticed the bush at the bottom comes out.
Also, I thought upon first inspection that the corks had come off the sheaves, however once I got it apart I found they had been glued to the pulley side?? Once I removed them it looked as though they had always been that way.. Since every single greenfield I've ever seen has them around the other way I put the new ones on as normal. very interesting though!
Its all back together now, gave it a bit of a run around the yard, New problem though, the clutch on the engine is slipping badly. and because it drives everything its kind of a weird feeling, as the deck slows the drive slows without the engine labouring. I have ordered some cork sheet to make a new lining, and will see how it goes. Most other hd's I've seen and got use a more clutch type lining but this one has cork on it?
The corks on my very early Red are glued to the pulley too. I've not checked which way 'round my other red machines are (I've not had that area apart on any of them).
FYI the original engine pulley material is asbestos. I did replace one with cork once but never put it into service as I decided that this machine would be the donor. This was discussed on another thread just after I'd done it (a few years ago now) and Gadge suggested the cork wouldn't be up the task because of the higher operating speed of the engine clutch. I reckon he might be right .......but it costs nothing to try
I found 1/8" thick cork at the flower arranging section of spotlight. That's what I used on the engine clutch. No joke! .........just happened to discover it in a bored stupor while following the wife around.
I've attached photos of the wheels that might answer your question about dimensions. Apologies for not posting them sooner. My new iPad doesn't play nicely with this site when it comes to photos so I have so get the old one out to post images.
I'd forgotten that you'd asked for front end photos. I'll get those in the morning.
Not sure what your trying to show in the photos of the dog clutch.......
Thanks for that prd, I'll look into some thing more original for the front, but I do like the way it is currently..
I've ordered some cork gasket material from ebay for $20, so I figure why not, it is what the clutch currently has, judging by the mess they made with the glue someone has had a go before. I'm not too concerned about longevity as this machine is never going to be doing much in the way of work, I'd just like it to be 100% functional as it was.
The parts manual didn't show the clutch in much detail, nor show the alloy bush at the bottom that holds the bearing internally that i could see, so i thought i would take some pics while i had it apart for future reference. might help someone someday trying to get one apart.
I should have taken some pics of my front end, its a bit of a mess with angle iron and little screws holding it all together...
I just took a few photos of the front of the donor. Not sure what your trying to see but this shows the area that typically busts out. This one has also had some bush repairs. The small screws/bolts are not original. The front is supposed to be a big piece of flat plate with the guide slots cut in it to allow limited movement of the axle bar. Note these ones are busted out. It should be one piece. It's not surprising that old Theo went to the folded "U" channel that the front axle bar nested into on the yellow HD8's and the Tractors.
Let me know if you need more photos.
Thanks for the 'heads-up' on the dog clutch spacer. I've not had one apart to that extent but I've got one that I'm about to put back into service that will need those bearings changed.
Cheers,
Sorry, I've just noticed how crummy those photos are. I tried to take them just now with torch light......I'll try again tomorrow.
Thought i might chuck some updated pics up of this one, just gave it a freshen up, new rings, bearings throughout, belts and blades. Also found a deck hood that wasn't cracked. Also my grandfather turned up some hardwood rollers for the front, just haven't put them back on yet. Finished it off with a coat of semi gloss clear to protect the 'patina' its gathered over the last 50+ years.
