[wristpin]

The only time that I’ve seen a Western was at a trade show, maybe Windsor IOG or even back at Motspur Park in the 70s. Your two images show a 1975 Briggs and Stratton engine but, of course , may not be original. Wonder whether there was any connection with the Webb / Merrytiller Wizard ?

[wristpin]

The first ATCOs were American imports from the late 1970s to 1986 and included several model numbers including 11/36 and 11/36E.

They were, I believe, Dynamarks, as were the first Westwoods. Two UK brands that used those US manufactured machines to kick start their ride-on offering. We serviced both the US and UK built Atcos and both left a fair bit to be desired – particularly Atco’s effort to build a power driven sweeper/ collector.
At one point Atco were owned by Blur Circle (yes, the cement company) and one of their directors was a customer running their latest offering on his country estate and I had to be uncharacteristically diplomatic about his “ heap of ****” . However, we did manage to replace it with a Cub Cadet and they still run a Cub to this day.

[wristpin]

You are correct in your assumption that it is a single blade grinder and the blades are moved or indexed under the grinding wheel one at a time. It can also be set up to reface the bottom blade or bedknife and it looks as it is set for that operation at present.
For cylinder grinding it’s mounted between centres and each blade in turn rotated against an adjustable stop so as to present the cutting edge to the wheel at the correct angle while the wheel is traversed along its length.
I’ve got another version of your machine that I use solely for bottom blades up to 24” and another model BRL that has 36” spin grinding capability as well as bottom blades.
The original manufacturer of your machine was Blakesley and Reid who also made sharpening equipment for sheep shears. In the late 60s / 70s they became BRL and went through a couple of changes in ownership, finally disappearing in the 80s.
My 36″ machine in action.

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[wristpin]

Fuel starvation/ Governor issue/ bunged up air cleaner/ dodgy points or condenser – old age- start with a thorough service!!!

[wristpin]

I saw this strange device being demonstrated by its enthusiastic inventor at the Windsor IOG / Saltex show in 1981. I think probably best summed up as “a good idea at the time – maybe”?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mt4u61k440vnxo/Thiel%20Autoshear0001.pdf?dl=0

EDIT
Would seem that the company / product didn’t last long.

In the Exeter County Court No. 19 of 1984 In the Matter of THIEL AUTOSHEARS LIMITED and in the Matter of the Companies Act 1948 A Petition to wind up the above-named Company presented on 28th November 1984 by the Company whose registered office is situate at Mouse Hall, Newton Poppleford, near Sidmouth, Devon, will be heard by Exeter County Court at The Castle, Exeter, on Friday, llth January 1985, at 10.30 a.m. Any Creditor or Contributory wishing to oppose or support must ensure that written notice reaches the undersigned by 1600 hours on Thursday, 10th January 1985. A copy of the Petition will be supplied by the undersigned on payment of the prescribed charge. Sargent and Probert, 6 Barnfield Crescent, Exeter, Devon EX1 1RG, Solicitors for the Petitionii Company. (29

[wristpin]

The British Construction Equipment Forum has a specific Bristol thread which looked very promising, but when I tried to register, I was informed that “registration has been disabled by the administrator”.

Only just seen this. I think that you will find that Forum is to all intents defunct. Most of the active members have moved to Plant Talk. planttalk.co.uk

[wristpin]

tyres on the outside gave a large footprint and extra grip over the roller models.

Quite often the machines being used on bank work were fitted with dual wheels.

[wristpin]

If you can access the top of the carb, try moving the throttle spindle directly by hand. If the engine then works as it should it suggests that someone has messed with the governor spring.
One of the weirder things that I’ve come across was a Generac generator that wouldn’t respond to the throttle. After a bit of head scratching we found that the screw holding the throttle butterfly to the spindle has worked loose and disappeared through the engine leaving the butterfly propped up in the Venturi, doing nothing. That screw had passed through the engine doing no damage and without a trace. No so lucky was another similar generator belonging to the same customer where the screw had jammed between the exhaust valve and it’s seat. That customer’s business was re-pointing brick work and he had six generators powering angle grinders, removing the old mortar and those gennys took a pasting. After the above incidents we found a way of peening the end of the screws over so that they couldn’t fall out.

[wristpin]

Kohler is a bad example to choose as they used two different governor setting procedures, one of which contradicted the “ usual”system found on most other engines.
On most engines one slackens the the clamp screw between the governor spindle and arm, manually moves the throttle spindle to full speed, turns the governor spindle in the direction that would fully open the throttle, and then does up the clamp.
That is the exact opposite to what you have described but is, I believe, correct for your Honda.

[wristpin]

Not knowing anything about the setup on the MG but having a couple of Wico type As on other engines I would just say that the click is generated entirely internally by the tripping of the impulse unit and should not be affected by any external adjustment; assuming, of course, that the mag is being turned past the tripping point – are you sure that the adjustable sprocket isn’t slipping?

[wristpin]

Thanks for the info! Any idea of year of manufacture?

I’m going to say that your combination of chassis design and Villiers Lightweight engine suggests 1950s/60s but I can’t find any literature to back that hunch.

[wristpin]

Hopefully someone who knows what they are talking about will give you chapter and verse but when checking for a spark only do it via a spark plug firmly clamped to the mag base. Holding the bare lead away from the base can over stress the internal insulation and cause internal tracking . If you are sending the mag out for rebuilding, make sure you get a quote, those that know what they are doing can be more expensive that you may imagine.

[wristpin]

You’r correct in your identification. The Villiers is a 150cc Lightweight with points ignition so a clean up of the points and carburettor should have it up and running. Not exactly rare but worth saving if you have the space IMO. Enough original paint to just have the oily rag treatment to preserve it.

[wristpin]

I will be appointing a solicitor to act as executor

Not always necessary and won’t be cheap!

[wristpin]

One thing for certain, it’s not a Rotavator!

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