Tks Deejay - you inputs are much appreciated and will be arranging for a new bedknife and regrind of both bedknife and reel very shortly - also agree bearings "and grease" are the cheapest things that can go into a SB - so will be getting newies as well

I figured the bedknife was beyond its use by date and has suffered from both a very recent & very vigorous backlap courtesy of my clumsy builders and years of negotiating my concrete kerbing.

You are almost right on the origin of the bed knife!. It is an original SB but when it wore out some years back and I was having trouble locating a replacement - I marked out the hole pattern on the reverse side - redrilled and C/Sed the screw holes and had it surface-ground - so what you see is a reversed / recycled bedknife.

Yes - the engine has been moved to accomodate the 5HP Honda as the orginal Kirby Tecumseh just wasn't up to my grades and buffalo grass. My "old Dad" & I tolerated the "little Kirby" for years and even gave it a rebore, new piston & rings - but by 1980 enough was enough - so on went the Honda - Maybe overkill @ 5HP - but whilst there are all kinds of "powers" - eg willpower, thought-power, people-power etc - for a Mining Engineer there is only one kind of power - that's HORSEPOWER!

Here's a happy snap of my other "toy" that I have been known to, very occassionaly, cut grass with - though not by choice - it's just that some more remote coutry strips are grass and they aren't mown that regularly

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