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Doubt if you need worry about the engine as it’s doubtful that they would have any details about the engine in a “lawnmower” and wouldn’t either recognise or be concerned about the engine swap.

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Don’t know anything about them or have any in depth knowledge about “traction electrics”. Is the power source one 36 volt battery or 3 x 12? The outputs of most small gen sets are are usually 110v and/or 230v and on those with a battery charging option it is usually 12v so where this would leave you I will leave to others!

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looks like there’s a hole for a grub screw?

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Start off with a kettle full of boiling water, may just expand it enough to release it and no danger of melting it! While still warm get someone to take the weight of the assembly by holding the pulley while you tap the end of the shaft using a brass or soft iron drift. Holding it in this way will prevent shock loads to the rim. If that doesn’t work, careful application of diffused heat from a blow torch – nothing too concentrated, around the centre boss and repeat the tapping – gloves for the holder!. If that doesn’t work fill the dish of the pulley with diesel and leave it for a week in the hope that it will seep down between the shaft and pulley and again repeat the tapping procedure.

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Get the message “Video does not exist”!

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Interesting project. Can’t help wondering if modern battery technology and all the work done developing the current generation of electric vehicles would make such a machine more viable to day. I know that Ransomes Jacobsen have developed an electric greens mower but there doesn’t seem to be much feed back as to how well it is working. Shortly after an early production machine was being taken on a demonstration tour of some golf courses a Ransomes dealer’s service tech described it to me as a B****y Nightmare! Does anyone know how it is doing?

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I can only find the engine number on one machine but they are both the original b&s engines so it has got to be there somewhere,

In theory yes, but I have a Ransomes Marquis with a Briggs sitting here right now with no sign of a number anywhere! Can only assume that it’s had a new blower housing at some point and that whoever fitted it didn’t make use of the sticky tag that used to come with new housings and short blocks – or,it’s fallen victim to pressure washing!

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Well, that website is interesting reading – if you have all day and nothing better to do!
You may well have explored this avenue but….
The DVLA has a list of vehicle clubs that are recognised as dating authorities

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/new-registrations-fee

If you fight your way through this notice you will find a section entitled
“get form V765 endorsed by a vehicle owners’ club”

Looking through it there are a couple of tractor clubs and a farm machinery preservation one so I suppose that there is a possibility that the VHGMC could get itself added to the list and be accepted as a dating authority – don’t all rush!

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So far one reply from the US

I would think he will have to contact Simplicity themselves to get any kind of “certificate” of the year it was manufactured. Since they don’t have titles in the U.S. for farm equipment so that may still be a difficult task. I looked up the model number and came up with 1979/1980 for the 7116. I come up with 1972/1973 for the 3410. We don’t issue license plates in the U.S. for these small lawn tractors so this sounds like a strange request to us. Good luck!

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Understood, have taken the liberty of posting your request on a USA forum to see what those guys can come up with.

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Haven’t we seen this request on this forum a while back?

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Villiers S10 Carb

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That tag indicates 14″ 1959/60 so that’s two queries settled! Just leaves the engine id to sort out. I know that Hillsider (Ray) is working on it and I will have another look this evening but I’m sure that there is someone on the forum who has identified Villiers engines from similar id plates in the past.

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Not sure about your front roller set up. Normally a wooden roller “high cut” set up would be one small roller at each end – nothing in the middle. The parts book shows a full set of wooden rollers or a metal swivel roller (like a shopping trolley castor) at each end.
On your image of the carb I can see the Villiers logo, is there not an id such as B10 or similar stamped into the mounting flange or cast into it somewhere? I don’t recognise the red air filter housing at all and it bears no resemblance to the one in the Atco parts book – does it look original?
It needs a Villiers historian to interpret the engine id plate. As far as the mower id goes I would expect to see a tag bolted under one of the chassis bolts on the right hand chassis plates just below the starter pulley – keep imagining that I can see the outline of one there just forward of the pulley or is it just scrape marks in the paintwork?

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Think that they made a 12″ – possibly a 2-stroke.

Edit
Yes they did and it was! – found a parts book for it. Just referred to as the “12 Inch Two Stroke” with no model number. Interestingly it has a recoil starter. No date on the parts book but the Royal Warrant is to Her Majesty the Queen so must be later than 1953. Parts book price Two shillings and sixpence.

Yours – I believe to be a Model B13, the parts book that I have is dated 9/59, price 3 shillings and sixpence! The engine is included in the parts book as though it was their own – no letting on that it was a Villiers so no reference to it by model number, just wondering if it may be a Mk 7 rather than a 10?

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