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  • #42087
    alan
    Participant

    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 to add to the list.

    I have seen on adverts (but don’t know the manufacturer):
    Acme & Intermotor (Danarm/Bertolini cultivators)
    Oleo-Mac (on their chainsaws)
    Komatsu Zenoah

    • This reply was modified 1 week, 5 days ago by alan.
    #42074
    alan
    Participant

    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 the device attracting the crawling insects – although with a small candle it could attract moths instead.

    Or could it be attached to a paraffin heater to distribute heat downwards to warm a greenhouse bench for seedlings etc – preceding the later use of electrically heated cables.

    Or could it be for fumigation as Charlie suggests?

    What convincing ideas have other members got?

    • This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by alan.
    #42039
    alan
    Participant

    Andy, Yes the list would be a very long one. The more I look then the more I find!

    #42034
    alan
    Participant

    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 2-stroke at £580+vat BUT a HTJ report says it is a Lombardini 4.4hp instead of Beta….was Beta based on Lambardini or vice-versa? Or did the HTJ report accidentally put Lombardini! Interesting anyway.

    Thanks for mentioning Poulan, I looked in newspaper archives for Poulan and adverts for their chainsaws stretch back to the 1960s and advertise them as being ‘The quality saw from Sweden’. In 1980 Chain Saw Products of Manchester were selling the Poulan saws from 32-85cc.

    #42030
    alan
    Participant

    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 in bold. There are 49 on the list. Any more?

    Aspera
    Bernard
    Beta
    Briggs & Stratton
    BSA
    Clinton
    Douglas
    Ducati
    Homelite
    Honda
    Husqvarna
    Iseki
    JAP
    JLO
    Kawasaki
    Kirby
    Kohler
    Kubota
    Lauson
    Lawnboy
    Lister
    Lombardini
    Loncin
    MAG
    McCulloch
    Mitsubishi
    Norman
    Ohlsson & Rice
    Petter
    Ransomes
    Robin
    Ruggerini
    Ryobi
    Sachs
    Solo
    Stihl
    Sturmey Archer
    Subaru
    Suffolk
    Suzuki
    Technamotor/Fiat
    Tecumseh
    Toro
    Victa
    Villiers
    Vincent
    Wisconsin
    Yamaha
    Yanmar

    #42014
    alan
    Participant

    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 engine brands – in the future it may become a vintage collectable machine!

    And I’ve just remembered the Wisconsin engines to add to the list.

    #42007
    alan
    Participant

    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.

    Attachments:
    #42002
    alan
    Participant

    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.

    #41962
    alan
    Participant

    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 and thus reduced transport costs when importing their lawn mowers, trimmers, cement mixers, bench equipment etc from Germany and Austria. They seem to have imported a large and varied range of equipment.

    Attachments:
    #41958
    alan
    Participant

    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 UK going into the 1980s.

    I have a brochure and price list and will get those scanned and uploaded for you.

    Attachments:
    #41951
    alan
    Participant

    Brochure picture, also has the Cushaire sticker on the cowl.

    Attachments:
    #41950
    alan
    Participant

    I would say it is a Contractor GT2 model with a 2-stroke 98cc JLO engine. The GT2s had 19″ (47cm) cutting decks, and were available from the late 1970s.

    #41938
    alan
    Participant

    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 second photo shows a shiny spot where the lever has been in contact with the cam.

    Attachments:
    #41935
    alan
    Participant

    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.

    Attachments:
    #41930
    alan
    Participant

    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.

    Attachments:
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 367 total)