Fowler Steam Cultivator rebuild

[Hawkes]

Right then, a winter project that is still meandering along that might be of interest. This is a Fowler 9/11 tine cultivator that was built to haul back and forth between two steam engines by wire rope. It had been chopped about to use behind a crawler and lost the front end wheel, turntable and steering gear.
I found it with the remains of a 15ft folding wing steam cultivator(, same application) on top of a pile of scrap in a yard near Corby., thanks to a tip off from a steam friend in the area.

Got it home and turned the right way up, you can see what it is now.

You can see the draw bar bolted onto the outer ring of the original turntable. An angle ring runs inside the outer one with 63 x 2" ball bearings , supported by the cast iron front wheel and bearing housings etc, all missing.

Couldn't find a company that could roll that big angle that tight so had an annulus laser cut, then rolled a piece of 5" x .5 " flat and welded together. Just adjusting the outer diameter here to fit the outer with clearance.

Next fabricating the bearing supports that bolt to that ring.

I had a broken original one to copy off another steam pal. Made one just have to do another now. Next job was front wheel, there is a pattern in existence but not that great and casting was too expensive, so back to fabrication. I measured one on another cultivator and had some profiles laser cnc cut. Got a 215mm length of 32mm thick walled weldable gas main to machine the rim from.




quite a lot of welding later ...

Which is about the stage now. Have a lot more to go yet but here is a pic of one I didn't make earlier to compare. The wheel has tin spoke covers fitted in this one to stop soil filling it up.

If anyone has a scrap one in the nettles please let me know! could save some hours. I am also keen to find the folding cultivator part of the second one I have.

 

[bumkin]

Right then, a winter project that is still meandering along that might be of interest. This is a Fowler 9/11 tine cultivator that was built to haul back and forth between two steam engines by wire rope. It had been chopped about to use behind a crawler and lost the front end wheel, turntable and steering gear.
I found it with the remains of a 15ft folding wing steam cultivator(, same application) on top of a pile of scrap in a yard near Corby., thanks to a tip off from a steam friend in the area.
View attachment 881819




Got it home and turned the right way up, you can see what it is now.

View attachment 881822




You can see the draw bar bolted onto the outer ring of the original turntable. An angle ring runs inside the outer one with 63 x 2" ball bearings , supported by the cast iron front wheel and bearing housings etc, all missing.


View attachment 881826


Couldn't find a company that could roll that big angle that tight so had an annulus laser cut, then rolled a piece of 5" x .5 " flat and welded together. Just adjusting the outer diameter here to fit the outer with clearance.

Next fabricating the bearing supports that bolt to that ring.

View attachment 881828



I had a broken original one to copy off another steam pal. Made one just have to do another now. Next job was front wheel, there is a pattern in existence but not that great and casting was too expensive, so back to fabrication. I measured one on another cultivator and had some profiles laser cnc cut. Got a 215mm length of 32mm thick walled weldable gas main to machine the rim from.

View attachment 881832View attachment 881833


quite a lot of welding later ...

View attachment 881834


Which is about the stage now. Have a lot more to go yet but here is a pic of one I didn't make earlier to compare. The wheel has tin spoke covers fitted in this one to stop soil filling it up.



View attachment 881835


If anyone has a scrap one in the nettles please let me know! could save some hours. I am also keen to find the folding cultivator part of the second one I have.

fantastic work top marks what we need is more men with your talent well done post some more

 

[uztrac]

Its a great credit to you,keep us posted on developments !!

 

[Zebbedee]

I wonder how they made the turntable ring originally? Nice project do you have the steam engines to work it all as well

 

[Fivedoors]

Have you got the steam power for it when completed so we can see it in action, good work so far have seen many converted to be pulled by crawlers!

 

[betternextyear]

Well done Sir , keep up the good work. I am envious of your skill and dedication.

 

[Hawkes]

thanks for kind words gents. Steam has been a lifetime obsession...... showing no signs of going yet.
@Zebbedee I think Fowler rolled the angle rings hot in their day but no-one does it anymore. Barnshaws and Angle Ring are the two big commercial rolling businesses now and neither could offer it.
@Fivedoors yes I do have a ploughing engine, just finished a 4 year rebuild. Have friends with similar so this autumn we plan some steam ploughing and cultivating. We would have had a go this spring but Covid put paid to that. It has meant all the non farming hours are workshop hours though, so some good!

 

[Fivedoors]

Thanks for the reply my father had an interest in steam all though he collected Fordsons you could always find him watching a ploughing set or a rack saw he would have been 87 this year so he was a youngster when they were in use

 

[tomlad]

Hi great project
I was fortunate enough to be allowed to be second man aboard a steam ploughing setup .
I call it a tractor because its on pneumatics ??
Pulling trailed ransomes , think 4 frw. Possibly 5 forgot tbh .
Boss man still mainly in charge, i was his lad for an hour .
Absolutely amazing.
Instantly developed alot more respect and humble ness afterwards.
Id Spent previous few hours bitching about how hes doing it wrong, wen my turn i did well to keep in same field, shut up tom
Fowler i think , couple of years ago now.

 

[Hawkes]

sitting on a steam cultivator or plough is odd if you are used to tractor power, no noise! Just the crackle of stubble and noise of soil moving.
@tomlad was that the Foden in your avatar pic? A late experiment by Foden in dying days of steam, it was sold to South Africa when new and repatriated and restored in Cornwall about 25 years ago I think. They were trying to make more use of a boiler and engine design from a steam wagon that was just too late to compete and sell against diesels, so had a go at a tractor. It was on steel wheels but put on pneumatics in Africa.

 

[tomlad]

I think its the very same mate
Driver was john if i recall correctly, but hes not the owner .
3 or 4 in existence? Is one in somones yard , Crawford's ??
Definitely made a lad of me

 

[Hawkes]

Yes Crawfords at frithville have a foden sun tractor, as it was called. They have a superb steam collection alongside all their rare vintage tractors . They were a fairly radical new boiler design with some welded seams reinforced with cross straps and in the wagons they had a few issues and weren’t a commercial success.

 

[DanniAgro]

I wonder how they made the turntable ring originally? Nice project do you have the steam engines to work it all as well

Surely it would have been cast?

 

[tomlad]

Interesting stuff

 

[Zebbedee]

Surely it would have been cast?

See Hawkes reply above he reckons they were hot rolled! Amazing engineering I say ?

 

[case44]

Great engineering,post pictures of your steam engines .

 

[Hawkes]

I think the ring if not rolled hot was possibly hot pressed between two formers the same way as boiler tubeplates etc, not cast as it was made of steel not cast iron. I think if it had been made of cast iron the shock loading would destroy it pretty quick as cast iron is strong but brittle and the ring is only half an inch thick. It is interesting that seemingly the simplest bit on the cultivator is not the simplest to replicate. To build all the tooling to press it you would want a good run of finished items to pay for it. And a big press. There is little written or photographic information on workshop processes and tooling used in the old works, plenty of research on the engines but not how they were built.

 

[Swarfmonkey]

Gotta love the versatility of a HBM. Kearns?

 

[Hawkes]

Gotta love the versatility of a HBM. Kearns?

Yea a horizontal borer is a wonderful bit of kit., so versatile. I had a smaller 70's era

Kearns Richards then went for this bigger old Richards machine when it came up for sale in Derby. About 15 tons and pretty old but great for my sort of stuff. Here it is with a pal boring out the axle bushes in a Burrell showmman's rear wheel on it.

 

[tomlad]

Bet the wheel balancing machine is big for that wheel