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I brought this home today and after about 4hours got it to run, the build quality is extremely good and engineered to last. The engine was free but no compression so took the head off and remarkably no rust and valves were free. its got the Wipack with the impulse mag, cleaned the points and got a poor intermittent spark, points were set at 30-40 thou so no wonder. Carburettor was missing the nut that holds the slid down but it would stop it running. took a little time to bodge up the pipe from tank to carb and so had a good try to get some response with no luck so rigged up a claw like the starting handle had to enable to use and electric drill. it worked and not surprising it standing for years the sump was full of oil so smoked just a bit. Very quirt and had a go at engaging the cylinder dog clutch, froze solid so stripped and heated with a bearing puller got it shifted, this soon shifted heaps of rust and really the only bad corrosion as must have stood on a wet earth floor as a few blades are almost gone but still got some grass in its box. Its got a bit of piston slap and ether rings are stuck or someone been and broke them as still little or no compression. I guess its quite late with the type of mag used so arround late 30s early 40s?. So needs a engine investigation with a few bits making, Cylinder and bottom blade repair then would go for years. Anyone know the engine make. and year of build.
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Its sort of presentable it runs really well with little smoke as manage to find old rings that were a bit better, but it needs a piston and rebore. Quite a few nuts had to be replaced as rotted away that hold cutting cylinder bearing housings, the special seals were sort of useable but to hold them in place and to stop them turning on the shaft had to make spacers to make them captive. removed the rotten tinwork from the box and the grass deflector welded in some new, rollers and handles so it works. However there was one annoying problem the centrifugal clutch was a bit weak and to get it to drive to work its engine had to be run rather fast and to keep it from slipping it needed the revs up and I was nearly at a run, I just thought its had oil or grease get onto the linings or worn out. So today I thought it looked like a easy thing to slide engine across to gain access to the shoes. Yes it was easy apart from bolt heads had rotted away and to keep it still on old Whitworth fittings welded up the rotted heads and machined back, and the clutch was like new but there was a giveaway it had been off before as shoes had there trailing edges chamfered off, now you only do that to leading edges so the shoes had been fitted round the wrong way so shoes work leading to give a mechanical assist to grip. They now work so engine can be throttled right back and still drive at a walking pace. Going back together found the engine had been running out of line so the toe bearing was causing drag so the clutch drum was always revolving once the dog clutches were disengaged, it needed one shim and bit wiggling so now with the engine running its always stationary and the drive shaft can be spun by hand, So a worth-while easy fix. This isn’t first time I have come across this, so some of the early weird and wonderful clutches worked but not for long.
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Andrew,
Engine is the Sturmey-Archer and looks like a 150+-cc going by piston size I just forgot to measure it but needs a piston but doesn’t knock as bad now as found old and worn but better rings and is running weaker and no smoke, idles in low hundreds just like a sowing machine that was just a desperate try to weaken the mixture off and worked, all parts freed off and repaired so now easy to come apart if I find blades will replace just three, its really rough for its age and needs a bearing in chain case on clutch shaft dog clutch side, grass box and one RH cast roller half, small things can make and already have spent many hours at least its saved. Although idles very slow its still rather fast, did they pay gardeners by the hour I wonder.Andrew
Thanks for that, and you now say engine was probably made by Ransomes can see now looking at parts not quite finished as the old three speed jobs, I thought would have been like barrel sort of overhangs crankcase in parts, carb looks the part and very well machined but design is a bit more than just lacking especially they got things right over a century earlier with design especially where single cylinders are concerned taking large gasps of air so not a constant air flow. People took a pride in things, I have a 25hp Chinese 4 wheel drive mini tractor that was scrapped and left outside for years with failing parts after only 4 years with little use, design is really good but how its made and put together is atrocious, ideal for what I needed as it was heavy for its size and could pull my twice the sized IH 40hp 2 wheel drive backwards like a toy. I feel it takes no longer to make a good thing than a bad, after lots of work modifying its now worked for over 2,000 hrs and parts that I altered and made are still as new but you can’t correct all issues so a bit trying odd times.
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