Hi Fred says thanks for the glasses and vests everyone is wearing them cheers

an update off fred

i folks, its been a week now since the start of the tractor run so heres how its going so far.
Friday and saturday was spent travelling to John o Groats with the tractors on trailers. A fairly standard trip. I was glad to see the hotel as its a tiring drive up there.
Sunday was spent making sure the tractors were ok. I noticed that the "54 ( guest tractor ) had a small leak from the radiator so i decided to swap it with the new one we had in the van. A test drive out to Dunnet Head would be a good test and a good photo opp' Luckily all went well.
Monday appeared and at 8.30 we headed down to the start point when we heard the sound of the bagpipes. It was Pipe Major Leslie Campbell from Wick pipe band who turned up to send us off. It was quite emotional leaving as i was thinking of Aaron and the enormity of the task ahead. Mike Halliwell the guest driver for that day did very well, and with no hiccups, the day started well and ended well.
Tuesday started bright but there always seem to be a cloud just hanging there. Sandy Reid was the guest on the tractor. He seemed to have had a whale of a time although it did rain on and off for the whole stage. There was no one to do the guest tractor come dinner so it went on the trailer and i did the pm stage alone. Got to Kingussie cold wet an hungry.
Wednesday was wet to start but the sun came out just before we left. My niece Katherine, Euan her finance and Clare her friend all turned up for a try on the tractor. Euan was first up and he soon got the hang of it Then it was Clares turn. All was fine till the rain came and by the time she had to change over it was sunny again. Katherine took over to The House of Bruar where we met the pm guests. My big sister and my nephew were the next up. Jackie did fine apart from the quick start but she soon settled in to the drive. James did the same and we got to Perth in good time.
Thursday and its the turn of my brother Philip to be the guest driver. All went well and we got to Nth Queensferry in good time. Laurie my brother had sorted out a light lunch at a pub near the forth rail bridge and everyone tucked in. Doing the next stage was going to be a bit tricky. Lorraine from the pub was first to have a go. She took it over the bridge and Laurie took it on to Lauder. The guest tractor was making a lot of noise so we stopped to have a look. It didnt sound to good so we took it to a repair man see what could be done. The most likely cause is worn big end shells so a thicker oil might help.
Friday was busy. 3 tractor owners from a local club decided that they would like to join our run and we had Bill Miller as our guest. Going down to Jedburgh was fine and it was only when we got to the border around Carters Bar that things got iffy. We got stuck by 3 hours delay. We ended up driving in the dark with no working lights. not again. Got to Hexham by 9pm.
Saturday and the sun was aplenty. Ian Cole was our guest driver for the day. All was going well till the alternators started to play up. When we got to Barnard Castle i phoned up Cumbria Classic Coaches to see if they could help. They put me in touch with a man in brough. I called him and he said that he would help, bearing in mind that this is 2 pm on a saturday and we wouldnt get to brough till 5 i was really pleased with the result. The alternators were tested and found to have a dead one on the guest tractor and an intermittent one on my tractor. We called John and he managed to get 2 alternators from Acorn Tractor parts and went to pick them up that teatime. We carried on to Kirby Stephen for a well earned rest.
Sunday saw us wake up to sun turning to rain. A lot of rain. Donna Childs was to drive the guest tractor in the morning and she got soaked. Carlos Munez drove after lunch and he got soaked. I just got doubly soaked.
Monday is a big PR day for the run so ill sign off now and get some well earned rest.
More to follow later.
Fred. www.justgiving.com/toptobottomtractorrun
www.top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk
All for The Christie Hospital Young Oncology Unit.
A penny a mile will make Fred smile
Text Fred55 to 70070

more can be found here www.top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk

dig deep and get a free raffle ticket for every £10 you donate. You could win £1000 or one of the 2 tractors!

brilliant well done to everyone www.justgiving.com/toptobottomtractorrun
www.top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk
All for The Christie Hospital Young Oncology Unit.
A penny a mile will make Fred smile
Text Fred55 to 70070

Well done Fred - you are one in a million

Glad you managed to complete your run - IMHO you deserve a knighthood more than any of the so called celebrities that get them

I hope the money you raised helps so others do not have to go through your loss  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

well done Fred  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

the winners

http://top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk/win...-winners/v www.justgiving.com/toptobottomtractorrun
www.top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk
All for The Christie Hospital Young Oncology Unit.
A penny a mile will make Fred smile
Text Fred55 to 70070

Clicked on the link but says the page you want no longer exists ?  ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

Looks like the /v is a typo - it should just be:
http://top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk/win...d-winners/

And while I'm here, congratulations to all involved.

Aha, works now, thanks for that  ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

massive thank you to all. please see how well we did and it was with your help we managed to raise this much

http://top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk/the-grand-total/

on another note the new event for 2013 www.pendocycle200.com

 www.justgiving.com/toptobottomtractorrun
www.top-to-bottom-tractor-run.co.uk
All for The Christie Hospital Young Oncology Unit.
A penny a mile will make Fred smile
Text Fred55 to 70070