Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

Well done on this months The Cultivator newsletter, my first thought was ,it seemed a bit thin, my second thought was what is that machine on the front, and my third thought was that the articles were particularly good and interesting , obviously quality has won over quantity.
By the way I fully understand that it up to us members to send in…[Read more]

We would use grinding paste and diesel or parrafin or light oil . If they are really bad they ought to be re ground.but lapping should improve it.
Is your location a remote one or could you aquire some paste on the internet or a local supplier or mower repair place?

I would suggest that you reset the cylinders to the bottom blade, they should cut paper(not newspaper) you should get a clean cut along the whole of the blade . You might need to lap the cylinders if you cannot achieve this.
Reduce your forward speed and increase your cylinder speed if you can.

Chris

My memory is suffering on this, but the ones we had in the eighties had Kohler 8 hp engines on them. The cutting decks had two styles of connection between the blade gearboxes, the later one was if I remember correctly was much simpler, I think it used a double chain each side to transmit the drive. I cannot remember much more, except they were…[Read more]

I think this depends on your kit available and required end result!
Bear in mind that when I worked with mowers etc we were NOT allowed to weld or braze or solder a petrol tank.(risk of explosion causing injury)
However it looks like this has not seen petrol in a while so thoroughly wash out with detergent in an effort to remove any fuel…[Read more]

Is Kohler on the lists?

Chris

You could try Gates belts website if you have the dimensions. They list belts by dimensions and types. Hopefully you can find one there,
I am sure other belt manufacturers have a similar service. A good industrial belt supplier should be able to match your existing belts dimensions if you take the belt to them.

Good luck!

Very little difference except the Steel is a slower conductor of the heat, main problem might be the heat running away through the rest of the cowling,
As usual cleanliness of the surfaces is very important, use plenty of flux. Will you use flame, electric iron or like me old fashioned fire irons?

Like gas welding soldering is a lost art.

Could you perhaps braze weld or solder some fresh tags on the side of the cowling using some soft steel, or if soldering perhaps some slaters copper strip.

Do like the colourful front cover, very nice ! Great improvement, not that the old style was a problem.

Hi all
With regard to insurance , just what is required for shows, working days and ploughing match’s for my MG 40, not registered , does not comply with road traffic rules ( no parking brake no lights, never likely to be driven on the road more than a few yards
Who provide this insurance and what level of cover is needed? I am sure our m…[Read more]

Thanks Neil and urbanalfa,
That’s around the weight I thought, but nice to have it confirmed , the good lady wife is now happy and comfortable with that, she was worried it would break the car!
Strange the weight. is not in the instruction books! It is not in my 40 or my 6 operators books.

Chris

The blades look to be ok, perhaps a little worn but serviceable
I have a 401. Which I use on the veg plot, During operation it suggests that the machine or blades should weave their way through the ground, it aids progress through the soil, maybe a 4 inch weave is what I do on deep work, this would remove the problem of the uncultivated portion…[Read more]

I used to have ,maybe still do have spanners with this dual marking on, I was taught that AF meant across flats, but my father referred to them as American fine. I never questioned it, it didn’t pay to!

There should be no air at all when dismantling a split rim wheel, even a little pressure can cause the rims to come apart viciously if rims are rusted together or the bolts break when undoing!

On reassembly, I would say enough air to form the inner tube to its correct shape and hopefully tucking itself into the tyre nicely keeping the tube away…[Read more]