saving a barford atom

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hello to all that may be able to help.
I have recently acquired a Barford Atom 15 (serial No A4243) and am need of some help and advice. I am happy sorting the Villiers engine, it is the Atom bits I know nothing about.
I need pointing in the right direction to get new belts both for the drive and for the cutter bar (the later one with the internal drive).
The ratchet hubs are a bit floppy, is there anything I need to watch for when I strip them down and are there any replaceable bushes etc.
Finally for now, the plough cutter wheel is very floppy on its shaft, again when I strip it down what are the pitfalls and can anything be replaced to stiffen it up?
Many thanks for taking the time to help me out.

[charlie]

Welcome to the forum. Looking in the parts book the following belt and pulley options are listed for the cutter bar.
Model 15 9″ OD pulley and an A 40 vee belt.
Councillor tractor 5 3/4″ pulley with B 46 vee belt
Mark 22 tractor 10″ od pulley with A 42 vee belt.
For the tractor an A 43 vee belt
The ratchet hubs may well be full of dust and dirt but are fairly straight forward to take apart.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Many thanks Charlie for your reply, mine is the 15 (I think), I will check by measuring the pulley today.
The hubs and hopefully the plough cutter wheel will be started this weekend. I will let you know how it goes.
Does anyone know if there are any replicable bushes in the hubs or cutter wheel?

[charlie]

If the engine is a Villiers Mk 12 it should be a 15, the 30 has a Mk15 which is the OHV engine. Looking at the parts list it does not show any bushes.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Many thanks Charlie.
Yes it is the Mk12 and as far as I can tell it is a 15 and the belts have been ordered.

Apologies for doing things a bit backwards but I was keen to get going on sorting things out…

I am a Norfolk based allotment holder that is fed up with digging!
The Monrotiller series 3 that I got running a few years ago is very good at chopping up the weeds but that is about all, so I thought I would invest in something that I could plough with, hence the Atom.
I acquired a non runner (not much compression) a couple of weeks ago and it came with a plough and a cutter bar along with a few assorted bits and pieces.

First look at the engine showed a good spark and a possible little end knock so out with the spanners. The only thing found amiss was a badly sooted and corroded exhaust valve.
An hour or so with the grinding paste along with some new rings and big end shells (might as well as it is all in bits) should see the Mk 12 going again.

Looking more closely I found that the movement of the hubs was the hubs on the axle rather than the hubs themselves. A strip down found very little in the way of both wear and muck in the ratchets. I think the first was down to luck and the second was down to the lack of grease.
The axle is also worn where it passes through the gear box, giving what appears to be a worrying amount of movement, but by inserting the un worn axle ends and wiggling I can see that the bearings have no movement.

I don’t intend to do anything to the gear box except to drain and refill with oil.

The wobbly plough wheel appears to be down to wear between the shaft and the wheel, I will have to see what I can do in the way of bushes or re machining to reduce the wobble.

Next on the list will be to have a closer look at the cutter drive and bar.

The advice now required is…

Is it worth flushing the gear box out with anything to clean it before refilling it with the correct oil?

Is it worth stripping down the cutter drive before I try to use it, or just give it a good dose of grease and see what happens?

Is there a recognised way of setting up the reciprocating cutters or is it just a case of fiddling to get a compromise between performance and friction?

Once again, many thanks for the advice.
Simon (Poxihen – don’t ask!)

[charlie]

If what comes out of gearbox looks like good but used old oil I would just refill with new oil, SAE 90. Cutter bar gearbox oil recommended in manual is Shell X100 SAE40. Knife clips should be set to touch knife but allow it to move freely.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Thanks again Charlie.

The project continues…

Rebuilt engine fitted.
All oil drained and refilled.
Grease nipples filled and tyres pumped up.
Cutter bar fitted and blades adjusted as well as possible.

It started first pull and cut tall grass well without quite shaking itself apart!

Sadly a quickly deflaing tyre stopped play.

So to the next phase…

2 tyres and tubes on order.

Anyone any idea where to obtain a set of the curved brackets that press down onto and retain the blade. Mine are worn to the point of almost being useless?

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