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Am I right in thinking that the Wolsley was a badged MTD? If so, that could be a starting point.

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I believe that Chester Hudson is still trading in Howard spares so it may be worth contacting him. May also be worth trying Jon Cruse at the mower Centre in Hailsham,
themowercentrehailsham.com

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This one is complete but a bit small!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3kau9dn7cmcimrg/Ransomes%20Mastiff%20MK1%20IPL0001.pdf?dl=0

Suggest that you print off either or both as I will only leave the links up for a week or so as they take up a chunk of my free Dropbox allocation.

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I hope that the attached may be of some use but I only realised while scanning it that there are pages missing. I may have a more complete one – will look tomorrow.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/68oiklxlzqa5x6a/Ransomes%20Mastiff%20Mk1%20JAP0001.pdf?dl=0

[wristpin]

The Mastiff has been around for many years and while the chassis has remained mainly unchanged there have been changes of engine. If you will post the engine make and type I could possibly have what you need.

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Fibre glass, maybe with some mesh reinforcement, should be ok around the skirt but if there is rot on the top where the blade bearings are mounted I suggest that metal and welding are the order of the day.
Your Mountfield is basically an American Murray so that spreads the net a bit when sourcing parts.
As has been suggested, Garfitts are a possible source of chassis parts – they list a blade G22-031, original Murray part 20083 but you need to be sure about the centre hole. From memory, some were round and were rectangular with rounded ends – known as “double D”.
I’m guessing that it has a Briggs and Stratton engine ? No problem with BS parts. belts should not be an issue but some machines only functioned correctly with Original Equipment belts and were difficult with cheaper ones of nominally the same size from local belt and bearing merchants.
Talking of bearings, I seem to remember that the cutting spindle bearings were OEM specials and difficult or impossible to match with cheaper off the shelf items.

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Any company that works on vintage motorcycles will be used to doing such work.

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https://www.villiersparts.co.uk/ignition.htm

Or

http://www.meetens.co.uk

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/kjgmkgwm3qbqjjy/JAP%20Model%202A%20Industrial%20Engine0001.pdf?dl=0

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This may give a clue
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3df1rz3f93trerf/Howard%20300%20350%20clutch0001.pdf?dl=0

Attachments:

1. Howard-300-350-clutch0001.pdf

[wristpin]

Valves.
Tucked away somewhere I’ve got one of those reciprocating valve-lapping tools – discarded very soon after purchase! For my money, the best aid to valve lapping is the “pneumatic twizzle stick” most easily obtained in the UK as a Briggs and Stratton part 19258.
Woods Power Grip. https://www.wpg.com/catalog/v12753
Various tips picked up over the years.
If the valve and or the seat is bad enough to warrant the coarse paste end of the tin – don’t bother, get the valve refaced and the seat skimmed. For a small extra cost it will be a better job and save time.
If the sucker on the twizzle stick wont stick, turn the valve over and rub the head over a sheet of medium emery cloth to thoroughly clean it and rough it slightly.
Slotted valve heads. Great for twizzling but not easy to lift up for the approved “lift and quarter turn” between twizzles! Search the odds box for a light spring, place it over the valve stem and trim to length so that it holds the valve head just clear of the seat, Press down with your screwdriver in the slot, do the twizzle, release pressure turn the valve and resume twizzling.
Valve size. Certainly, exhaust valves are often larger to aid heat transfer and resist the hostile environment in which they work, and a heavier duty spring will exert more pressure on the valve face to aid “self-cleaning” and heat transfer. However, don’t forget the configuration of the spring; often the coils at one end will be closer together. They are known as “anti surge coils” and the spring should be positioned with them furthest away from the collet or keeper.

Good valves are fundamental to a good running engine. No amount of fiddling with ignition or carburetion will compensate for bad valve sealing or clearance.

Quote from my favourite small engine repair book.
“Technicians who are valve critical will always have a better record of repair success than those who take a near enough approach”

To which can be added; “may add a little time in the short term but save lots later”!

British Junior Engine – anyone know why it was called that?
This may be useful https://www.dropbox.com/s/1uk2qwhdtojm5e9/British%20Junior%20engine0001.pdf?dl=0
However, it shows the same part number for both the inlet and exhaust valves; so may be your engine has been “modded” or it is a later variation. No date on the booklet but look at the phone number on the front cover – 1950s, I would think!

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Yes, MAG was a Swiss company. Interesting observation about the valves; of the many Mag engined machines that I worked on, Multimowers, Mastiffs and Matadors, many having led a hard life with local authorities, I never saw a snapped valve. Possibly governors were being interfered with and the engines were over revving – we will never know.
Just done a service and sharpen on the later version of the Multimower

Attachments:

1. 
2. 
3. 

[wristpin]

I’ve worked on many ranging from early JAP engined to later MAG ones. Originally known as the Multimower as the reel head could be swapped for a rotary deck

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Don’t know whether he still does, but Chester Hudson of Horam in Sussex used to be good for old Howard stuff.
https://www.mdr.co.uk/tillerparts/tillerparts4.html

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I know little about Gems but the simple answer would be that the engine is running in reverse. Not unheard of with some two-strokes but somewhat unlikely with a four-stroke.

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