Ransomes MG5 Crawler

[Dieselman 63]

I decided if I could jack it up, get it off the sled and sit it on the concrete, I could get the engine crane on it and lift it in. But then a fantastic thing happened.

The drive wheels do not contact level ground, only the idler wheels. These were spinning freely so I rolled it down and shuffled all the cars around.

That was a great result, and finally the crawler is in the workshop.

Then I tried to use the running crawler to move the discs. Then I stopped. Hmm. A little too noticeable! I’ll move them on the sled some other time.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I’ve started stripping the track gear on the right side to inspect the drives. They’re dirty and had water ingress. I pinched the lift bar from the new one and put it on the other one which actually does run.

Then I popped the gearbox. To my delight it has been refurbished quite recently and it looked really good in there, also the brake bands look near new. Note the crown wheel, 6/49. This is an early MG5 with it’s pressed steel drive covers, later models had cast iron.

 

[Seadog]

The diff looks to be in amazing condition for the age of it.

 

[Dieselman 63]

The diff looks to be in amazing condition for the age of it.

It’s been rebuilt, sealed, then sat for seven years after the man who did it sadly died. The last two years have been spent outside, which haven’t done it any favours. The central pin that the track gear sits on was all seized up. Fortunately this one has a nipple (the other one just has an oiling hole) so I forced heavy gear oil into it, which broke it free.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Found a couple of stowaways who must be very confused after travelling for seven hours on the back of a trailer, these east coast snails are now west coasters

 

[Dieselman 63]

The discs should be adjustable such that they tow without much cutting in (let alone trying to disc with them, as you seemed to be doing.

I think you’re right, but the problem is everything is quite badly seized. I’ve only just managed to get all the bearing boxes turning properly.

 

[Dieselman 63]

By comparison this is the diff from the other tractor

 

[Dieselman 63]

Popped this cover off and a combination of oil and water came out. Not good.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Over at the PTO shaft there was yes, more water.

This piece is keyed on and the key has to be removed in order to slide the shaft through.

You can then remove the front drive by knocking the shaft through. Oil everywhere. I drained the main gearbox and got a quick shower of filthy water over my hand, pulled free before the deluge of oil. It’s got far too much oil in it, like 8l, the manual says 8p so perhaps there was confusion with the pourers. If you use this much oil it can splash through the bearings either side and go into the brake bands, which would make them less than effective.

 

[Dieselman 63]

It wasn’t immediately obvious how to open this gearbox however the diagram shows no interference and the manual says to pound on the threaded ends to release the box. Ok!

Open it did, and it’s surprisingly clean in there. I’ll clean it more when I rebuild it though.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Then onto general cleaning, @Robotstar5 gave me the advice that boot polish works wonders on mag lids, it’s not looking too awful in there and the windings look in good shape. The gearbox had gasket paper and rtv silicone which had delaminated in the rain. I dislike rtv apart from around sump pans so I’ll use (probably a whole tube) of Hylomar on the new one. Plus, cleaning with petrol and soapy water in the engine bay, it’s now sparkling and clean!

 

[Dieselman 63]

I don’t want to turn this into some sort of massive restoration project however this just looked scrappy and I thought I’d reinstate the red oxide, and I have a bit of blue I can run around the edge once it’s all back together.

 

[Dieselman 63]

New gasket all cut, I managed to salvage the old one to use as a template as the former owner used RTV and it didn’t bond, so the sheet peeled away without too much hassle.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Another gasket being copied. Seals the front drive lid.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Another cooked bearing courtesy of rainwater and poor storage. Real nuisance as these imperial bearings are super expensive over here.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Re the gaskets - I always use the original cover/housing to make gaskets, if at all possible. I don’t like copies of copies of copies….

Harps back to the game of ‘chinese whispers’ of long ago (before PC came along).

While here, ‘pounding’ is off my radar these days. Always press if possible. If not, only the use of a soft mallet head or a yellow metal drift gets used. Seen too many ruined shafts from hammering.

Yellow metal can still damage threads I’ve found, I prefer aluminium for drifts.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Not to judge a book by its cover, but this engine was supposedly rebuilt. My concerns were allayed as I opened it up to find this!

 

[Robotstar5]

I've seen that view of a barrel a few times

 

[Robotstar5]

Not sure your concerns were allayed - more like confirmed, especially if two head bolts were missing.

Looking at the witness marks it looks like he's removed bolts 6&7 before the pic?

 

[Dieselman 63]

Looking at the witness marks it looks like he's removed bolts 6&7 before the pic?

Quite correct.