Monro Tiller Mk1

[cb77]

Thought I would say Hi

Any help or advice appreciated !

Ever since I was young I have always had a fascination with vintage agricultural machinery and have always wanted to own/restore/tinker with such an item.

That being said a friend recently gave me a Monro Tiller of which from looking at pictures on the internet is a MK1 Machine No.955A Engine No.12.5346 according to the ID Plate.

There is no spark and I am wondering which route I should go down to identify and rectify this. Replace coil, points, lead, plug and condenser or one at a time. I do not know enough about the Villiers (what I believe to be ) MK 10 engine to know if it has been tinkered with to the point where it doesn’t work and pieces are missing or not where they should be.

Also, tyres are flat and does anyone know what colour the machine and engine are supposed to be ? Base colours for the engine appear to be Creme/white on the sump red on the block and fly wheel black exhaust with 4 different shades of green on top the Machine itself has four different shades of green.

Apart from that everything that should move, moves and everything that should stay still does.

As I said at the beginning if anyone here can give me some help or advise on tried and tested methods to get this back to its former glory I would be very grateful.

Cheers

[charlie]

You have come to the right place. I am custodian of the factory records and machine 955A was delivered on 18-11-52 to W Tysonell (if I have read the hand writing correctly), Holmewood, Kirkby Muxloe, Leics.
The series one machines were produced from March 1951 to Dec 1952, when they were replaced by the series 2 machine. One sales leaflet I have says they were available in a choice of 6 colours, but it does not say what the colours were, most I have seen are green.
Whenever I have problems with Villiers engine and no spark first job is to give the points a thorough clean to remove all trace of oxidation and corrosion. Then check for spark at end of lead to rule out a faulty plug. If I need to replace the coil I also replace points and condenser, that way I know everything is good and only have to reset timing once. I use Villiersparts.co.uk for coils etc, other suppliers are about.
I can supply scanned copies of manual for MK10 engine and series one Monrotiller, send me a pm with your email address if you want them.

[cb77]

Hi Charlie,
Thank you very much for the information and advice you have provided. Thats great that you were able to provide a delivery date, Name and Address. Makes you wonder how some of these machine travel so far !

Thought I would give you an update

I have been having a tinker today. The HT-Lead was cracked near the magneto body so I have replaced the Lead, Cap and connector that meets the coil. Also cleaned the points and checked and set the gap. No spark through the spark plug but without the cap I get a spark on the body but only once it has been in contact with the body.

Kind Regards
Mel

[charlie]

Mel,
When you hold the bare lead to the engine block do you get a good bright spark that should jump a gap equivalent to plug gap or is it a weal spark that barely jumps any gap?

[cb77]

Charlie,

I used a drill to crank it over, There was no spark, then when I make contact with the HT Lead for a few seconds then hold it just under 1mm away I get a good spark but if I stop and then start again the spark is not so strong. If that makes sense ?

I did try and PM you with my E-Mail for the Manuals that you offered to send. But I still have the message saying I need to be a paid member. I did pay yesterday and when It allows me to I will send my E-Mail.

[charlie]

Membership application received and processed, pm received.

[cb77]

After a day of tinkering:-
Magneto stripped cleaned re-built
Timing of engine – think so
Good Spark – Yes
Good Compression – Yup
New fuel line – Uh huh
Fuel in tank – done
wind cord on starter – check
Pull hard – Indeed.
Running engine – Well a couple of bangs and silence.

well its a start !! 🙂

[charlie]

Sounds like a step in the right direction. Have you cleaned out the carb? Make sure new fuel line is suitable for the E10 petrol coming in later this year.

[Author]

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