Hi all you "U"frame enthusiasts, I just brought this home today from an auction.  Original one owner tractor.  Good compression, good impulse, good clean original oil, books and near new front tyres.  Only missing a fuel line otherwise i would have driven it off the trailer.  its just a shame they didnt shed it all these years to protect more paint work.  Ill put a pic of the serial number with some additonal stamped markings.  i know I have see some comments on these previously, but i dont think it was on 25's. Hopefully you will be able to shed some light on it for me.  Regards  Buck

Buck, 
That looks a nice 25 you have there. I see the serial number tag is missing, if the engine is original that would make it number 72806 the highest serial numbered green 25 I have seen so far. The number is stamped in the frame just below where the tag is suppose to be. The 25 pictured below is one I picked up in an auction earlier this year and is now the earliest 25 I have.

Hi Graham,

i just went went and checked. It is definitely 72806, as you suggest. Now you're have a picture of the oldest and the newest. It seems that Quite a few of the later models were sent down under with us convicts.  Regards. Buck 

Buck,

Nice looking tractor you picked up!! Looks like you are going to have to start building more sheds... Although Graham's tractor is pretty early it is not the oldest I have seen, here is a picture of Jacks in England that is the earliest one I can remember seeing In all my travels it is # 69069.

Joe

Hi Joe, thanks for the update.  That's an unusual looking green.  I have just pressure cleaned my new one and unfortunately there is very little paint left.  I have a lot of paint numbers that the paint companies don't recognise down here.  I have seen several different colours.  Does anyone have a photos of an original colour, or what they think is close to originals?  Regards. Buck 

Joe,

Since you posted in November 2016 about Jack's tractor (69069) being the oldest you have seen made me think hard and eventually having to look in my book, it has taken me from December until now to find the photo's I knew I had somewhere. It was a good job I started the "family photo's" thread otherwise I may never of found these.

It was 1984 at the World Ploughing Championships here in Horncastle, a man was walking around my styled red 25 /40 and we got talking, it turned out he had a very original unstyled 25, we corresponded by letter a few times and I found out it was serial number 69019, and the oldest 25 I knew of at that time. In September 1987 he decided to sell his collection and dad and I took the trailer with the intention of buying this tractor, unfortunately we did not get the wining bid, as dad thought it was getting expensive!! and the buyer did not get the previous tractor he wanted in the sale so put all his eggs into the 25 basket, but it did cost him dearly on the day. This tractor has never seen the light of day since then, I know where it is and hope its still as well cared for as it was then.

Also back in the 1980's I heard of another unstyled 25/40 for sale in Yorkshire, it was advertised and also out at a rally I visited with a for sale sign on, it was serial number 69026 and another interesting aspect of this tractor for me, it was supplied new by Ward and Co of Horncastle, the dealer where dad's 12-20 came from, this 25 worked new on a farm just out of town and carried a similar registration number to the 12-20, from that farm it had been sold to the Spilsby area where it ended its working life in an abused state, it entered preservation from there and got up into Yorkshire, you can see from the photo's the yellow front wheels are non genuine, together with the home made exhaust elbow, hood and many other parts. I was tempted to buy it but at the time was uncertain where to get the correct wheel etc, I lost track of it from there and so far not seen it since.

So in conclusion it looks to me a batch of early production tractors was shipped to the UK and three of them survive to this day with Jack's family tractor seen out in public the most.

Below are photo's of 69019 and 69026 together with a shot of the old dealer premises of Ward and Co in Horncastle Lincolnshire, a building which is still standing today.

I know I have discussed these early serial numbers with Graham on the phone, this is the first time these late 1980 photo's have been shown.

Malcolm.

Malcolm 

Thanks for posting pictures of these two 25s as they are the earliest numbers I have on my list. It's nice to have pictures and a little bit of history of the tractors as well as the serial numbers.

Graham.

Well 6 years 2 boys through high school later I am full on into my MH 25 resurrection.   The previous owner attempted to free the stuck pistons by force resulting in every one of them being broken.  I also noticed that in the process of hammering, one of the piston pin caps has been chipped near the bolt hole. Anyone have a line on one of these caps?

Thanks!

Jeff

Can anyone tell me how this oil line it attached at the top? It runs from the oil pump up through the block and must feed the valve train in the cylinder head.  I can't tell if it's  pressed into the top of the block or if the slotted shape recessed in the block is some type of fitting?