'Trusty Tractor' - Church Lane - Thorpe Langton, Leicestershire
Posted by: SMacB
N 52° 31.474 W 000° 54.581
30U E 641809 N 5821437
A 'Trusty Tractor' JAP 5 (serial No 11351) at the end of Church Lane, Thorpe Langton.
Waymark Code: WM123AR
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/16/2020
Views: 2
A 'Trusty Tractor' JAP 5 (serial No 11351) at the end of Church Lane, nr. St Leonard's church, Thorpe Langton. It appears to have been abandoned some time ago.
"The 2-wheeled tractor is what Tractors (London) Ltd is best known for. Indeed, the name “Trusty” was widely used for all two-wheeled tractors, very much like “Hoover” is for vacuum cleaners.
The production run started in 1935 as far as we can tell; engine types were Villiers and Blackburne on the early tractors, progressing to the JAP5 in 1938, through various American engines supplied under Lend/Lease during the war. After WW2 the manufacturer went over again to using British engines with the JAP6 and Douglas SV54 making an appearance alongside the JAP5. Later a Norton Big Four was added to the range, and this line-up was carried on to the end of production in 1969."
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From the selling register (
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"The Trusty 2-wheeled tractor was built from 1933 to the late 1950s. The basic design was the same but numerous upgrades changes occurred. The basic design had a front mounted engine driving a pair of wheels (all steel on early models and pneumatic tyred option on latter models). All machines had a centrifugal clutch drive from the engine, with individual dog clutches on each wheel to disengage drive for turning. The early Trustys were single-speed machines, powered by a 5hp JAP engine. Some later versions had 3-speed gearbox which could be used as well as the optional reverse gearbox. These were powered by either JAP 5hp, Douglas 8hp or Norton 14hp engines. During the war years, it seems a few were fitted with imported Briggs & Stratton engines.
A range of attachments (Tools) were offered for most tasks. You could buy attachments for, including disc harrows, ploughing, rollers, sawbench, self-lift toolframes, and even a ride-on seat (mounted on a 2-wheeled bogey) and a trailer."
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