Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

Guaranteed after shot blasting you will find more holes, its time to fabricate a new tank, as cost over time filling holes it will be a lot cheaper!

Hi Andy, the term original is what it says, there is no term about it, its like scoring a goal, if it goes in the net then its a goal, if you miss it is not a goal.
When we restore machines, its back to how they were in a new state, as for parts if they are missing then we make them, we are always in the foundry picking up new castings. This is…[Read more]

It is your machine, it up to you, but normally it is to restore to the quality and looks when it was new, which is original condition,unfortunetly the saying original condition has been corrupted by a faction of vintage collectors to mean red rust covered in oil! To be left to the next generation to do the correct thing. When in fact all they are…[Read more]

Flymo’s were sold under various names, the one you have in the picture is a Flymo Contractor 52, 52 coming from the cutting width of the blade.
The engine should be an Aspera 122cc long life heavy duty, air cooled, third-port induction, loop scavenged two-stroke.
The one you are showing dates from the earliest 1975 – 1981
The engine speed is fixed…[Read more]

The original question was about the machine in the back ground, which I answered, I admit I did go on to try and identify the characters in the photo and earlier this year I did speak to Tony the originator of this question, my question to you Simonp are you a family member or the author of the book about the odd daughter of the Berners?
As for…[Read more]

By the time you have added travelling time to the post office, and packing materials S T Bishop is a very good price for you, and also they have a very good track record, S T Bishops Son now runs the buisness but they still have a lot of dead stock hanging around, so probalby will be able to supply your bottom blade

Yes the roller requires stripping from the housing, so that you can get to the axle, there will be 2 main reasons for the roller not to spin, the first may well be to do with corrosion for not being used for years. Put the rollers vertical in a vice, then get diesel in a spray can and soak all around the axle and leave, if it still does not move…[Read more]

Yes the Stoic, I can remember from my apprentice days, made a good job on normal lengths of grass, but never try using one on thick grass in whip areas, or it will spend more time in the workshop than on the grass! To stop the engine having serious damage, there was a small aluminium slide pin that would shear on the flywheel, which would have to…[Read more]

Yes the roofs of the marquees are hung up to dry for a few days before we can pack them away for the next show, good job we have very large barns where we store our show equipment

A nice example, I would say late 1930’s, these were sold by The Army and Navy Stores from their catalogues via their Victoria branch London

A very interesting photo. Yes the mower in the back ground is a Leyland Steam Mower of 30 inch cut.
I know this photo well. The date of the photo is 1894 and it was taken at the first season at Woolerstone Cricket Club at their match against Colchester Garrison. In 1894 Woolerstone Hall was the seat of Charles Hugh Berners, High Steward of…[Read more]

Hi, Yes there was talk at Ransomes pre war over the Minor but as a lot of things did not leave the drawing board to much later, Your mark V1 overlaps the period. The true Minor which is styled differently started production in January 1951 and ended production in November 1955, This was classified as a mark 6.
You have to remember the war was 1939…[Read more]

Hi, just got back from a hunting trip in the West Country!

The ident on your plate is not straight forward. The Mark 4, 14 inch Ransomes mower started manufacture in March 1938 and ended in August 1951, but production stopped during world war 2.Your machine T9714 dates to August 1949. Spare parts for your machine became obsolete on 31st of May…[Read more]

Hi Angus, the best way is to get hold of some Agricultural creosote, brush it onto some timber, then lay the timber on the floors close to your concrete walls. The smell will deter most vermin to include Badgers, without hurting them.

The Royal Warrant, is not what it seems, just by selling a product or working within the Royal family will not cut it.
For a start you have to pay for it! So you could say a money spinner, but the fore’s out way the losses.
Obviously there are rules, the office which deal with it, is called the Board of the Green Cloth and has offices in Palace…[Read more]

Hi Angus, just found your reg number, your machine was made in July 1957 and according to Ransomes records that we hold the engine should be a Villiers 98 cc code BCH 363 Mk 2 spec