[alan]

I remember the magazine adverts for the Dynamow when they were first introduced in 1989 (I think) – I also had an original brochure at one point but not sure what happened to it.

May need further research but I do recall reading that the Dynamo was developed by Denis Selby of G.D.Mountfield after he sold the company in 1985. They may have been made in Europe as Mountfield had investment in many manufacturing facilities including in Italy such as Granja.

Production numbers may have been low, and I’m not sure if they were available anywhere else across Europe or just in the UK.

[alan]

UK Jacobsen Chief brochure:

https://vhgmc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jacobsen_Chief_Brochure.pdf

[alan]

Well done on getting a Jacobsen Chief, they are well made machines and certainly (in my view) better than several other manufacturers of the time. Although not as popular as Wheelhorse the Chiefs did sell in some reasonable numbers in the UK.

Jacobsen Chief tractors were sold in the UK by Horwool, their main office and works was in Romford, Essex and the midland sales and service was at Acocks Green, Birmingham.

I have the UK brochure for these tractors detailing the specifications and all the available attachments. I’ll attach it as a PDF.

Price is always a tricky question to answer as it’s always down to what someone is willing to pay, but in this case I’d say it’s worth exactly what you paid else someone else would have bid more.

[alan]

Some vintage images in the VHGMC gallery:

https://vhgmc.co.uk/photo-galleries/skimmer-itc-ransomes/

[alan]

That’s good news with finding the Westwood orange paint.

Regarding the engine, I would recommend finding an engine that is as near a fit as the original was. This means getting a suitably powerful enough engine that also has the correct shaft length and diameter that the original drive pulley size will fit onto.

I’d certainly make sure that pulley ratios are correct and that the drive belts are still able to follow their proper routes once the engine is in place.

It is more than possible to fit a different engine than the original specification, but over the years we have had fun getting some alternative stuff to fit!

As a funny story of what can happen, several years ago I had an Atco ride-on mower (minus deck) with 8hp Briggs engine which died. This necessitated a replacement of which I handily had a 6hp Robin engine from a Gravely push mower, and after many hours of tinkering and finding the only drive pulley that’d fit the drive shaft, but was much larger overall than the original, all seemed good. I cannot recall the exact specs of the Robin engine apart from the fact it’s performance was greater then the outgoing Briggs, it’s performance was such that we fitted my bike speedometer and it achieved well over 20mph at full speed which is a terrifying speed on a ride-on over a grassy field especially when one hits some lumpy ground. Engine power, RPM, and pulley size are really important to safety!

[alan]

It is a rare machine and one may have appeared in the past if I recall.

If I may, I might write about these Bolens being on The Prisoner in the homepage news/articles bit. It may just spur someone on who knows where one is.

Alan

[alan]

It’s an unusual machine but the mower being driven is actually a Bolens Suburban 26.

It’s in the correct white and red colours with proper red seat too! That is a pretty early and rare machine especially for the UK.

In the background of the video there is also a Bolens Lawn keeper.

Imagine going down to the mower dealership asking for the loan of a couple of Bolens machines for an episode of The Prisoner!

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[alan]

Hello, Tom

On Westwood Gazelles the chassis were either black or orange. The Laser model was grey but also had grey bodywork. I may, however, be wrong!

Unsure of what the orange/red colour was and no mention of it in my brochures.

[alan]

Here’s a link to info regarding uploading images to the forum:

Photos

[alan]

There are some Hayter colours available online, but completely unaware of any paint codes. It’s usually listed as ‘Hayter Green’ although there is a ‘new’ version of the colour to confuse matters.

I don’t know the colour for the Murray mower but there is a link between Murray and Mountfield mowers through manufacture, so on some older machines they have the same colour – may be worth investigating although there is more than one shade of Mountfield red!

[alan]

I’ve had a look at my Allen scythe and there’s a large washer-like spacer on each axle. Even so the right wheel (from the operators position) is still really close to the handles. Photo attached.

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[alan]

Looking through the archives it might be the remains of a Stothert & Pitt powered barrow. The one in the image has a Robin engine although S&P used Villiers MK12 and MK15 engines on many machines.

https://vhgmc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Stothert-Pitt-Powered-Barrow-1.jpg

[alan]

Looks interesting! To potentially narrow it down a bit, do you have any idea of the original colour or any id on the equipment?

[alan]

Log into your account, then click your name at the top right corner of the screen next to your picture, this will open your account. Next, click ‘settings’ where you can change your email address, password etc under the ‘general’ heading.

[alan]

Welcome to the club. Hope to see some of your projects.

[Author]

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