One for DB fans

[Netherfield]

This made me smile though.

 

[Selectamatic]

Yeah you had to be a 'man' to steer one if it was fitted with a front loader and no power steering which l think is one of the reasons my family sent a brand new one back to the dealers having been on the farm for less than a week.

We used our 880 with loader to muck out year in year out, steering was never an issue.

Perhaps you did not eat Weetabix for breakfast...?!

 

[Selectamatic]

View attachment 458792
This made me smile though.

What was "Purchase Tax"? VAT?

 

[Netherfield]

What was "Purchase Tax"? VAT?

Purchase Tax was a tax on 'luxury' goods sold in the UK from 1940 until 1973. On 21 October 1940, during World War II, Purchase Tax was introduced at a rate of 33 1⁄3% as a tax on sales of "luxury" goods in order to reduce the deemed wastage of raw materials.

 

[Drillman]

View attachment 458792
This made me smile though.

Seeing cabs like that just makes me realise how much better things have got...........



But I suppose back in the day it was better than nowt

 

[J 1177]

With a bit of practice changing from 3rd reverse to high second can be quite slick

Thats what i used to do. You could feel it in rather than crashing it.

 

[Netherfield]

As @John 1594 pointed out DB was in to alsorts of things.

 

[Roy_H]

We used our 880 with loader to muck out year in year out, steering was never an issue.

Perhaps you did not eat Weetabix for breakfast...?!

I had nothing to do with it as l was only about 8 at the time, in fact l hardly remember it . Maybe it was faulty?

 

[John 1594]

I had nothing to do with it as l was only about 8 at the time, in fact l hardly remember it . Maybe it was faulty?

Could it be the difference between the 4 cyl 880 and the 3 cyl 880

the 3 cyl would have been slightly shorter and lighter, would this have made a difference to the steering

The 3cy LF8 loader would have been shorter in the beam than the previous AL8 loader designed for the 4cyl 880?

 

[Netherfield]

That would have been AL2 loader which fitted 880, 950 and 990, and there was also a version which fitted the Fordson Major, AL2(M).

 

[John 1594]

That would have been AL2 loader which fitted 880, 950 and 990, and there was also a version which fitted the Fordson Major, AL2(M).

Knew it was AL something, they were vastly different to the LF loaders, much longer and the arms went on the outsides of the bucket.

770 here had an LF7, it was a rarity apparently, as it was one of the first few hundred made where the crowd ram was overshot and fitted above the cross beam, they got changed to undershot rams soon after production started

 

[John 1594]

Seems there was an AL3 as well, with a shorter beam designed for 3 cylinder 880s

As with all things DB, nothing was ever simple!!!

 

[Roy_H]

I have no idea what model loader it was. The tractor was a red 990 not an 880. All l can remember is that dad loaded a trailer load or two of muck with it and when my uncle came to see how he was getting on with the new tractor dad said words to the effect ' Oh this bloody steering! You put the next load on and see for yourself". After he had put the next load on he got off the tractor and said to dad "Wash it down its going back". The previous tractor was a MF 65 (again no PS ) with a Horndraulic loader and was apparently nicer to drive. The DB went back and we bought a new Nuffield 1060 with a loader. The Nuff was nice to drive and had lots of power but it was a whole heap of trouble in the gearbox dept. ( Apparently it was one of the first to be built at Bathgate Enough said! ) Anyway it didn't stay long and they went back to MF and bought a 165which they kept for years . l drove it quite a lot and although it didn't have power steering eithet it was easy enough to drive even with a loader.

 

[Roy_H]

That would have been AL2 loader which fitted 880, 950 and 990, and there was also a version which fitted the Fordson Major, AL2(M).

Funny thing, at a vintage tractor show l saw a Major with a DB loader fitted on it.

 

[Netherfield]

I'd quite forgotten the AL3.

We bought from a farm sale, what must have been one of the first 996s GUA946N the PTO clutch lever was at the left of the seat and looked the same as the non Q cab handbrake lever, this you had to lift and moved sideways to latch it. I don't know how many were made like this, I never saw another and it never made it into the parts book.

 

[Selectamatic]

We bought from a farm sale, what must have been one of the first 996s GUA946N the PTO clutch lever was at the left of the seat and looked the same as the non Q cab handbrake lever, this you had to lift and moved sideways to latch it. I don't know how many were made like this, I never saw another and it never made it into the parts book.

Far better than the 1200 style PTO clutch IMO.

 

[John 1594]

I'd quite forgotten the AL3.

We bought from a farm sale, what must have been one of the first 996s GUA946N the PTO clutch lever was at the left of the seat and looked the same as the non Q cab handbrake lever, this you had to lift and moved sideways to latch it. I don't know how many were made like this, I never saw another and it never made it into the parts book.

Could have been related to that "1100" tractor that was featured in CT a few years ago?

4/55 engine in a 990 chassis, ipto clutch and a prototype hydrashift back end

DB tended to sell prototypes on to local farmers, providing they were not of such a radical design that people would notice they were different

Apparently the cash generated from selling on prototypes and field test machines was what kept the experimental department of DB in profit all the time

 

[Roy_H]

Could have been related to that "1100" tractor that was featured in CT a few years ago?

4/55 engine in a 990 chassis, ipto clutch and a prototype hydrashift back end

DB tended to sell prototypes on to local farmers, providing they were not of such a radical design that people would notice they were different

Apparently the cash generated from selling on prototypes and field test machines was what kept the experimental department of DB in profit all the time

I have a friend who worked for DB and according to him some of the experimental machines they had were really 'Off the wall". e.g. They experimented with a plough that had a powerful fan mounted on each mouldboard. The theory was that the fan blast would blow the soil away from the mouldboard as it the soil turned over thus reducing friction therefore making it easier to pull. Oh well! ​

 

[John 1594]

Another one i heard of was when someone suggested fitting fan blades to the edges of the engine flywheel. The clutch housing would be sealed, and the air cleaner piped into the clutch housing, with another pipe leading from the other side into the inlet manifold. Effectively meaning the engine would have been supercharged.

they also experimented with a petrol/tvo engine fitted with injectors as opposed to a carborettor, it worked, and allowed a change to tvo within a few minutes of starting, but used so much fuel it was uneconomical to sell

 

[Roy_H]

Another one i heard of was when someone suggested fitting fan blades to the edges of the engine flywheel. The clutch housing would be sealed, and the air cleaner piped into the clutch housing, with another pipe leading from the other side into the inlet manifold. Effectively meaning the engine would have been supercharged.

they also experimented with a petrol/tvo engine fitted with injectors as opposed to a carborettor, it worked, and allowed a change to tvo within a few minutes of starting, but used so much fuel it was uneconomical to sell

Sealed clutch housing? That would be great fun if the crankshaft oil seal went and you didn't know about it until the housing was full of oil and the clutch started slipping .
Edit: Well before then the leaking oil would get blown into the intake manifold l guess causing blue smoke?