Practically Classics Forum

Now you mention it, I remember the saga about the Perky engine! I suspect it still uses the old fashioned "TOU", but it would be best to check before trying it. From my memory, all Perkins engines leak oil (as, allegedly, do DBs). I seem to think you had to send the machine back if it didn't - so they could make it do so!

When I worked for the DB agency, the fitters didn't like the 885 - preferred the 780 (which preceded it). They reckoned the big cab (like the one on my 995) was far too heavy for it. I was called out by them one morning to see an 885 that they were loading on a wagon. The loading dock was about six inches higher than the wagon and, as they had a buckrake to deliver after the tractor, they put the buckrake on the tractor and reversed it on. When I saw it, the tractor was imitating a space rocket - nose almost straight in the air, with the buckrake stopping it going over backwards! It took four of us to weigh the front down enough to get the thing on the wagon - which, i soon realised, is why they called me out to see it!

They also loved the 880 - as do many on the David Brown Tractor Club forum. Personally, I thought the 780 was a handier tractor (with the same engine as the 880) - but the 880 was a better tractor for ploughing etc and punched well above its weight. Mind you, I don't remember any problems with the gear boxes: David Brown was (and still is) a respected gear company and, although old fashioned and noisy, the older boxes were tough - moreso than the syncro box on the 995s. Water was the enemy - got in through poor, or missing, gear lever gaiters.

An update!

As some will remember, mother died recently and I wrote the car off. So I now have a newer car (I borrowed from Ma) and am on the dole. £71 a week doesn't go far (especially now I'm paying for electric, water, TV license and phone!), so nothing has been done on the tractors!

On the positive side, our neighbours are happier - I have, at last, modified the trellis so that the tractor and digger can hide behind the house! I was lucky - the wheels haven't made too much of a mark (just by the dog's yellow "bone")



You can see how the hayfield behind the house is now being grazed - the sheep on the top LH of the picture!

The tractor is in a wet spot and I want to take the fuel tank off soon to do some repair work, so I may take the low wall down and park the tractor on the (broken) flags. However, the council are upgrading the road and pavement soon and I want to blag some hardcore, so the loader will be needed! I can't use the digger at the moment as the main mountings need welding (by someone much better than me) and I can't afford that!

c. swainboat

.... original choice, that being RED!

alfaSleep

Nice pics Alfa! That can't be Cumbria - far too sunny!!

I mentioned in someone else's topic a while ago that he seemed to lack heavy steel! I had intended to post some pictures here to show what I meant, but the small tractor was parked over the items and I kept forgetting to get the camera whenever I moved the tractor!

There are two box section rails that go under the (big) tractor, mounting where the hydraulic arms ("lower links") fit to the rear axle and then going to two brackets at the back of the engine's "chassis". They need to be heavy duty - the digger weights 1/2T and will lift about that when the bucket is close to the tractor - and it also has a lot of leverage at full extension!

The box section is 180x60x8mm, with a 60x6mm flat welded to the top (and 30x5 to the top of the sides). The mounting brackets are 18mm (or more). The two "droppers" are 180 x12mm flat, but I can't remember what size the angle iron I've tacked to them is - it was cut off the digger's bodged mountings! My MIG will cope with 6mm thickness - but MY Mig welding isn't really up to the stress and strain that the digger can produce! I hope the legacy comes through quickly (but doubt it!).



On a more positive note - I collected the trailer from my friend's barn yesterday (a 12 mile round trip) and have started filling it with "garden waste", which will be tipped on a local farmer's bonfire. My neighbour also has a load or two to go, so I hope to get that done today. So, although not used a lot, you have to admit, the tractors are "Practical" and classic!

It's good to see your supervisor there making sure you adhere to H&S!

Have you considered having a go at them welds yourself, but using stick instead of mig if you have access to one. Much more forgiving when going for penetration. I'd reckon a good root run with a 2.5 electrode up at around 100A then deslag, wire brush and then either multiple runs or a couple of nice weave runs over the root run to build up size would do the trick.

Dependent on welder size you could do a root at 2.5 then cover with 3.25 rods at circa 150A (whatever works for you) or if the welder doesn't seem hot enough lay down more runs and go for all 2.5 rods.

You could MIG it but I reckon stick is better for what you need, though you could crank the mig up and again go for a good root run and build up multiple passes or a weave, definately need a good Argon based gas though rather than straight CO2.

I reckon you should have a go, my suggested amps are just ballpark from memory, as I always just adjust to what feels and looks right when actually welding and have often welded at a good chunk higher than electrode manufacturers suggestions, especially on dirty old steel, if you get penetration and avoid undercut to the edges you should be good to go. Re dirty steel, cleanliness is of course next to godliness with welding, so a good grind up or wire brushing first is always nice.

Go on mate, you know you want to

Terry, I have to admit, the dog is the boss! We got her because Mother was totally lost after the last dog died (her Alzheimer's was just starting). She's an ex-RSPCA "neglected dog" and, although spayed, she's a tart! I don't know why next door's old black Lab thinks of her as "my bird" and has a go at other dogs if they go near her!

Having to look after the dog kept Mother mobile and motivated for a long time - she took her out several times a day (and some!!) and the villagers all know the dog - and would keep an eye out for Ma if they saw the dog pottering about. Because she had to look after Ma, and show her what to do, where to go etc, she is higher in the pecking order than most dogs. She's just come to tell me I have to have a bath - she's now in the bathroom glaring at me!

Arceye - you swine! I've just told a friend that I don't think his dad's stick welder would be up to the job! Part of the reason is that it is pretty old and uses a 13A plug (I would guess output would be about 100A max). I may be bad with a MIG, but I haven't touched a stick welder for over 20 years (and didn't do much then!) - I'm a gas fan!!

However, there is a neighbour that is quite confident his new welder will do the job. As he has never used a welder before he bought that one, I am cautious about letting him have a go. Annoyingly, the feller across the road is a sheetmetal worker (he made the bits for the little tractor's cab) and has little work at the moment. He has his own business and can weld pretty well anything (he trained in the mines in Australia) but I have this feeling that when I eventually get some spare money, he will be busy again!

OK folks, back on the road again - there's a little bit of money about (though HSBC are still holding on to some of the legacy) and, as I wrote elsewhere, the MIG has been upgraded and actually works!

I found a bloke with a stick welder and he welded bits onto the rails and didn't charge much. The worrying thing is that he may have cut corners. Actually, I'm more worried that he didn't and that the welds may not be as strong as I hoped!

A quick view of the modified welder, note the Euro Torch (in blue), the heavy earth lead (in black) and the use of a decent gas bottle (in yellow/green):



The first job was to fit the rails and front mounts to the tractor so that I could work out how long the stays need to be (they will go from the bracket in the middle of the rails to the bottom of the diagonal tube by the controls). That's the short story - the digger fell over twice when I touched it (the oil in the rams had seeped away)!



It's quite a long beast when it's all together!

The front mountings took a little more fitting than I expected - some idiot tack-welded the angle iron to the wrong side of one of them and, of course, the bolt holes wouldn't line up. Thank goodness for a 9" grinder! I need to make some "clamps" to stop the rails coming out sideways, but will do that after I've got the stays fitted.



So to today's job - weld the stays. These are each made up of two lengths of 10x60mm steel with 16mm or so spacers and have 1" holes at each end (I spent yesterday afternoon drilling the holes!). I didn't have any 16mm steel, though had bought (at great expense) some 12mm square section at B&Q yesterday (metre for metre, the 10x60 from the local steel stockholders was cheaper) and had some 4mm flat kicking around, so it is yet another bodge!

Note the face shield (handier than goggles for some jobs and I can use a mask, so don't cough as much after a day's grinding) and the decent Metabo grinder - almost as good as my old B&D Professional grinder and a heck of a lot better than the Bosch one I had!

Also note the blue Golf parked in the pouring rain while the dirty tractor is parked inside!



I just cut three lengths each of the square and flat and welded them across two of the stays - to keep spacing the same on each side. Then cut them apart and welded the second stay to the spacers. The picture shows the roughs - I didn't get them cleaned off and sprayed as I had hoped. I also made a pin to hold the digger to the rails - it was a rush job and is 32mm dia, about 150mm long and the handle is a 3/4" x 2" offcut (Not metric as it was bought for a specific job!). Apart from being a rough job, it looks much the same as the original one, so I will spray it brown and blame DB for the crooked handle!



The next job is to grind the spacers and give the stays a going over with a flap disc before spraying some primer on them. I won't be using posh etch primer or the right gloss paint as there isn't enough to spray to justify opening new tins. I think it may be VW Reflex silver as I have 2 1/2 cans of that and no longer have a silver Golf! However, there will be enough brown to spray later on - the whole digger!

The digger is now fitted and it works. No, that's not quite right: it lifted three buckets' worth of soil and then a pipe burst!

Here are the new stays and pins. I've run out of VW silver paint now!



The testing was done where I want to make a shed for the trailer, There's some decent top soil that I want to use to level some of the lawn and I will be digging some clay when I make a soakaway later on, so I will put the clay where the trailer will stand, so I'm not digging just for the fun of it!



A new pipe is on order (I've bought one of the other side of the ram too - the one that's on is pretty ropey). It's the hose in the middle of the photo and I wasn't actually using that ram at the time, so there wasn't a massive jet of oil on the moss that we call a lawn!

I will need to sort out the control valves - the levers are really stiff to move, but their linkages are really floppy - and the bucket, jib and boom need new bushes on the pivots - it waves around a heck of a lot. But hey, it works (or will with a new hose)!

Nice thread. Learnt to drive on a DB Cropmaster. The dual fuel version.