Baldbloke

My tenant was unhappy at my request for £60/acre this year, along with needing to see his insurance for his stock, and has now taken a huff and removed his sheep. My ground isn’t the best, but I’m hearing of folk charging double that for not much better. Usual period is the growing season from May until October, but I’ve always let this chap overwinter some of his stock. I really just let it out to keep the growth down, but it would be good to hear what others consider grass lets are worth on better than marginal with good shelter from hedges. This since what I was getting wasn’t actually covering my annual 3rd party insurance premium, which seems a little daft.

My tenant has had a dozen on our two small fields totalling 5 acres, and that was right through the winter, with some supplementary feed. Now there’s an additional 7 tups/rams in the top paddock, and the grass is struggling to beat them with this cold spring/summer. So I’d suggest your ground might hold more but you’ll have to count on buying in or keeping hay back for the winter months.I only allow sheep as they’re not hard on fences and keep the weeds down[emoji1303]

Very good. I have a land rover bumper and heavy duty winch which I was going to sell but am now considering retrofitting to my Ifor Williams as the bed is high and everything I buy seems to be wanked out and needs dragging up with a Come Along. I’m sure I can weld up a frame to replace the bumper and use that.[emoji1303]

12 years ago a pot holed farm track on the estate I worked on was quoted 40 k for much the same length of track so given inflation I reckon you’re about spot on with your limited paperwork.

Briggs and Stratton 15 HP Vanguard engine, presently without spark. The cylinder lies horizontally on this one. Actually posted on ‘What’s on your bench’ about the lack of spark to see if my assumption that the coil must be knackered in spite of an electrical test suggesting it’s ok. New coil arriving on Saturday so will update these posts if there’s life after new coil.

That somewhat limits your gross laden weight [emoji28]

Thanks for that. I did order one yesterday as I can’t see what else it could have been. Hopefully it’s the right one as I couldn’t find a definite one for 15 HP Vanguard engines. Engine code impossible to decipher.

Old Countax K15 ride on mower with spark issues. Am I right in thinking that the magnetised and fast spinning fly wheel on a Briggs and Stratton engine and a working (tested) coil/magneto with the correct air gap and a disconnected stop wire should be all that’s required to produce a spark? I’ve also cleaned off the coil mountings as well as the aluminium posts that the coil mounts on. The small indent section is showing strong magnetism. I’ve tested the coil which supposedly has the correct readings, set the air gap with feeler gauges, disconnected the kill wire (to ensure faulty wiring/stop switches elsewhere aren’t interfering with it) and attached a new spark plug and am still getting zero sparks. Am I being stupid and missed something? All suggestions gratefully tried[emoji1303]

Got rid of my chassis rotten 90 a month ago as I couldn’t face a chassis replacement along with the full renovation required. This against 4K in my hand selling her as against the 2K I paid for her 10 years ago from my work place where it was previously my works vehicle. Her longest trip in my care was a trip from the NE of Scotland to Poole with a large twin axle Ifor Williams to collect an E class estate from Jersey. Reckon I was on the towing limit and way over on the nose weight. Got a bit of excitement on the M6 where the trailer got in a big weave because of the lack of weight over the drawbar. Couldn’t believe that the tyres remained on the trailer wheels as the Defenders rear wheels were being lifted off the ground and chirping at each landing. The Missus beside me was adding to the drama too, and all the following traffic that eventually passed showed their appreciation of how lucky we’d been🤣. Put the car right to the front of the trailer after that and ignored the measly drawbar weight limit. Shortly afterwards the Traffic Police gave me a follow for about 15 miles before being tempted away by something more pressing, which at the time felt a bit like a driving test. Great vehicles but amazed that they have such a large towing allowance, and the thought of putting large amounts weight high up over the rear of the chassis seems a little crazy when a trailer seems more appropriate.

Just bought an old Countax K15 ride on mower for buttons as the owner couldn’t get a spark at the plug. Absolutely no rot and every belt renewed along with the battery. Since the only wire to the coil is to kill the spark rather than to power it up, I’m assuming the coil is dead as after detaching the wire and spinning the motor up it is still not offering a spark? I did clean up all the mounting surfaces as well as resetting the air gap to ensure it was properly earthed.

Rather like Commando, we have a 100 X 3M tar-macadam driveway needing sorted, but ours has actually now degraded worse than his. Ours is also under trees but over an ancient roadway so a good solid base but on a gradient, between higher sides. This has historically suffered from surface water coming off a neighbours field, and because of the lay of the land will be an ongoing issue. My plan was to initially shutter and pour concrete sides ( in sections with expansion joints) with an open U indent to both contain the new driveway peaked surface as well as to ensure the water remains at the sides rather than eating away at where vehicles need to move. The question is whether to renew the surface in more tarmac or to do it in concrete in sections, and whether to pre-prepare it for a ready mix or get our own mixer revved up. One thing that I will be doing is ensuring the centre has a pronounced dome and that the open drainage at the sides is adequate to take the deluges we can experience. The consensus seem to be that concrete is both harder wearing and sitting at around 2/3rds of the tarmac option. Is this about right? Also, would the existing tarmac be better somehow removed were we to choose to resurface in concrete, or could concrete be laid over the existing pressure washed stone and tarred surface, and, what would be the preferred joint material to use as expansion joints, as well as the ideal distance between joints?

...and I should have mentioned that if I pull the priming lever sideways it seems to disconnect from (presumably) the plunger and is totally free in up and down movement. But pushed back in, it definitely has some resistance, but it doesn’t build up with pumping to create anything worthwhile at the injector.

Had half an hour and loosened engine mounts and levered the engine sideways enough to temporarily get more movement from the lever. The lever now moves up until hitting the fuel pipe. Not a lot of difference to be honest so think I’ll need to de-grease and clean the whole thing before doing your recommended stripping out of the pump, and the plate below it, to check out that plunger. At the moment I’m not convinced that the priming lever is providing enough fuel pressure to help it start. I’ve ordered filters, degreaser and a couple of gallons of sae 30 mineral oil so once that arrives will clean her up so I don’t put too much shit into the engine or pump.

Great information Khriss thank you! Been doing night shifts until today so not had time till now. One thing that’s puzzling me is that the priming lever can’t move over 180 degrees as the tip hits the chassis by the time its traveled 90 degrees (or a quarter of one full turn), - so can’t get pressure up to make injector ‘squeak’ by getting the pressure up in the fuel line from pump to injector. Shouldn’t that lever need to travel over a full 180 degrees? As it is, with the mere 90 degrees of travel, it appears impossible to get any more resistance other than what it’s return spring is giving. Picture of issue with screwdriver holding it at max movement. Also that engine/ gearbox positioning seems 100% so no apparent settling on mounts. Funnily enough, the seller wasn’t even aware of the machine having a priming lever until I pointed it out to him on his visit to try to help out[emoji23]. This was born out by the fact it was coated with a mixture of oil/diesel and grime showing that no apparent usage of it had occurred for years. [emoji848]

Absolutely

Pissing wet and cold with some hail in morning but decent this evening. Typical NE of Scotland weather[emoji849]

For some reason with us in the NE of Scotland we only see the occasional one, and that’s some weeks after seeing the initial swallows/house martins.

Definitely does, which is why I limit the storing and burning to our biomass situated in an out of the way steading.

The seller did turn up to show me how to start her, but he wasn’t any more successful than me. He said he’d never had starting issues, never had to bleed her or use the enrichening slide that is built within the fuel pump, even on frosty mornings. A brief spin up with the throttle pedal trapped with a piece of wood was all that was needed supposedly. Maybe I’m too trusting but I do believe him and think some shit must have been dislodged on the 50 mile trip home on my hard sprung trailer. I’ll follow the ideas over fuel delivery gratefully received from you guys and try to see if I can discover the problem.

Saw one last year. Initially thought it was a sparrow hawk until it flew over.

The best explanation over pipe wall thickness and corresponding ID/OD I’ve seen.

Is that Cairnie/ Ruthven or Cairnie /Fife? If it’s the Ruthven one that would make sense as we face the Balloch which is where we always hear the first Cuckoo calls.