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alan wrote a new post 1 day, 10 hours ago
The Hare And The Tortoise There are many horticultural items that we now take for granted. These include secateurs with their introduction in the early 1800s (read more about […]
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alan replied to the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 1 week, 5 days ago
I hadn’t heard of ABC engines so looked them up. Sources say that a company called A.B.C. Motors Ltd, London, were started in 1912 and was known for aircraft engines including vee, vertical and radial types.
This reminded me about Wankel rotary engines used on a few mower brands including Wolf.
Indeed, Drayton engines. And also Blackburne.
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alan replied to the topic Quiz time, what is this and what was it used for? in the forum General talk and discussion 2 weeks ago
That is an intriguing item!
There’s a TV show called ‘Would I lie to you?’, and on that theme there could be some interesting ideas as to what this mushroom shaped copper item is… so could it be for catching earwigs much like putting an upside down plant pot full of straw at the top of a cane. Here though, a small pot of straw would be put in…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 3 weeks ago
Andy, Yes the list would be a very long one. The more I look then the more I find!
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alan replied to the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Angus, it does look like Beta did marine engines and a lot of other applications – the internet turns up all sorts of things!
I have some 1980s adverts for Italian mowers by Concord-Mechanica with Beta engines, although they also had B&S and Tecumseh. John Harston and also Central Spares Ltd imported them. In 1985 the Saturn 21″ had a 4.4hp Beta…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Chris, well spotted! Yes Kohler, how I missed that I don’t know as there’s one sat about 3′ away from me at present!
I also see some mowers sold in the UK in the 1980s were fitted with Italian-made 2-stroke Beta engines – I haven’t looked to see if there were any 4-stroke.
Thanks to everyone’s input, here’s an updated list with the additions…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 3 weeks, 3 days ago
Excellent, Angus, (but how did I miss them!) – Ohlsson & Rice, Lauson, Subaru (something to do with Robin, I recall), Sturmey Archer, and the relatively new Loncin.
I’ve just ordered a new mower from my local dealer with a Loncin engine, it’s a leap of faith on my part and time will tell how it does, but it was recommended over some established…[Read more]
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alan started the topic Engines, Brands & Manufacturers in the forum General talk and discussion 3 weeks, 3 days ago
While doing some machinery research and the engines recently mentioned on the forum, I wondered how many engines and their manufacturers there were or currently still are.
Some engines are probably just rebranded, based on other engine models, or made on license. And some are specific to their use such as chainsaws, brush cutters and hedge…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Hayter -JLO in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 3 weeks, 4 days ago
I’ve had a look through some Hayter brochures and info over Easter, they did make quite a lot of different machines!
I did find the Hayterette from the 1990s, in dark green paintwork, with a 2-stroke Suzuki M120X engine.
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alan replied to the topic Ransomes Marquis roller rescue. in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
That looks like a great solution! And the mower lives to see another day and many more lawns.
I always think that many mowers and machines could be saved and, as with the Marquis, be working again. I wonder how many folk have scrapped a machine when it could have been saved.
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alan started the topic Hayter -JLO in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
There was a mention of JLO engines and Hayter on a previous Flymo thread. I’ve looked through my stuff to see what I could find and found some info that’s just nice to share. Please note that I know absolutely nowt about Hayter and quote here what I found in a Hayter report from 1970.
The Hayter report says a new range of Hayterette ‘S’ series…[Read more]
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alan wrote a new post 1 month ago
Lawn Fertiliser Spreaders You may be wondering why there’s a picture of a stuffed green frog in this article, but more about that later… I’ve concluded that nearly every […]
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alan replied to the topic Al-Ko ride-on with grass collection – 1970/80 in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
I have scanned the 1984 four-page brochure and the relevant bit of the price list which I’ve put at the top of the last page.
AL-KO had relocated from their Barnsley site to Consett in County Durham in 1984 – the new address is on the back page of the brochure. I found a trade report where they stated that the new premises were nearer to a port…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Al-Ko ride-on with grass collection – 1970/80 in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
It was called the ALKOTRAC. There were two engine sizes, the 8hp just for mowing and the 10hp with the grass collection.
I’ve never seen one in the tinwork but I thought that it’d be a fun machine just for the novelty of the collector!
Yes, they were 1970s/80s but it looks like they were 1970s in mainland Europe before filtering through to the…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Flymo Professional in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
Brochure picture, also has the Cushaire sticker on the cowl.
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alan replied to the topic Flymo Professional in the forum Grass Cutting Machinery 1 month ago
It is a Contractor model, but I’d say it’s the GT2 model with a 98cc JLO engine. The GT2s were available from the late 1970s.
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alan replied to the topic Petrol pump on 1978 Wheelhorse tractor Model C 121 8 speed in the forum Ride-on machines 1 month, 1 week ago
I would assume it means to place the pump horizontally onto the engine rather than in at an angle and then trying to straighten it up. I’ve rebuilt many Kohler engines for our tractors and made sure the pump is square-on when replacing.
I’ve taken two photos of a pump that I replaced. The first photo is a side view showing the lever angle, the…[Read more]
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alan replied to the topic Petrol pump on 1978 Wheelhorse tractor Model C 121 8 speed in the forum Ride-on machines 1 month, 1 week ago
The info says to make sure that the fuel pump lever is positioned above the camshaft, and that the correct gasket is used if changing from a metal-bodied to a plastic-bodied pump.
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alan replied to the topic Petrol pump on 1978 Wheelhorse tractor Model C 121 8 speed in the forum Ride-on machines 1 month, 1 week ago
Images and details of the K-series engine fuel pump, also as a PDF:
Usually, to make the images bigger, left-click on the thumbnail as normal then right-click on the opened image and choose ‘Open image in New Tab’ or similar and it’ll open it in a new tab for larger viewing.
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alan replied to the topic Honda mowers in the forum Turf Maintenance Machinery 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Indeed, in the second half of the 1980s the Honda polymer decks hit the market in the UK.
I’ve done more research this evening and found some March 1986 adverts and an editorial report about the new decks – but nothing advertised earlier in 1985. You are correct that it was a smaller model first, it was the 17″ HR173 and available in both…[Read more]
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