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Hi all.

I see another 15b rottinoff tractor with GPW on ebay yesterday.

I looking at it but i think the axels ends dont look right on this model what do you all think????

feel free to post pics of your own if you have one would be nice to see (real or custom)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Les ... EBIDX%3AIT

For the umpteenth time, posts like the above become useless once the link is dead. Could Members please make the effort to include at least one photograph when posting queries like the above?

this one... I thought it looked ok - from this angle the front axle looks good, and it's a good sign that the axles haven't been cleaned. It's from a reliable source too. But I'd really want it in my hand to be sure.

The obvious question must be, is the orientation of the axles (the front one one way, the other two the other) correct for this variation?
Looking online and with an admittedly very small sample size, I'm tempted to say that it's not.

I agree with Hugh about the axle-ends. With a production period of 1959 to 1963, it takes this model into the period when oposing axle-ends are common across the range of models but as it is apparantly fitted with grey wheels it should be from the earlier period of its production when axle-ends are seen as matched pairs.

Ghosthunter.

Idris wrote:The obvious question must be, is the orientation of the axles (the front one one way, the other two the other) correct for this variation?
Looking online and with an admittedly very small sample size, I'm tempted to say that it's not.

It certainly looks much more common for all the axles to have the same orientation, but this one from the price guide gallery has the front axle the other way round. As the front axle is attached to the base but the rear axles are on the main body casting, could this be one of those models where the wheels are attached at different times? Models in the price guide gallery have the large axle end on either side, so if the wheels were added before riveting it would be possible for some to end up with mixed axles.

I did look at this one while the auction was live, but not very carefully as I knew I wouldn't be bidding, and it's from a good source (and member here). I think my main concern would be whether the axle webs have been drilled: it looks from the picture like there's space around the second axle that isn't there on my black-wheeled version. But you'd really need it in hand to be able to tell, I think.