Even though this is my first post, firstly a big thanks to this community. The wealth of knowledge and commitment to thoughtful responses on threads I've viewed (as a lurker) is to be commended. What a great community.
I'm starting the journey on creating a lawn worthy of neighbour envy and with that getting into the cylinder mower game and I'm sure i'm not alone in loving the look of the SB 45. I also appreciate aspects of older engineering that have seemingly stood the test of time and don't break 2 months after warranty expires!
I've got dibs on a 17 inch twin rail that has had a basic maintenance restore but while waiting, came across a "shell" that i thought could be both used for some parts and give me some practice in a more intensive restore. It's had a fair chunk of the best parts removed from what I can tell but for a small initial investment I thought it was worth a go.
Questions: What's with the ID badge? Seems to have had a backyard rail reinforcement attempt? Am I wasting time and more money than it's worth to restore? 2 options - Purchase all missing parts and turn it into a groomer or keep/sell parts as needed?
Thanks in advance and keen to continue on the SB journey.
It's a model 45 and 058 may refer to a horizontal Briggs and Stratton motor and possibly if it was 450546 the 0546 is Kirby Tecumseh horizontal shaft.
The 2 millionth 951 thousandth and 406 th may refer to it's number made at the time but as Rover took over Scott Bonnar a long time ago and no remaining records can be found telling people what year their mower is ,from the numbers on the alloy plate it would be my best guess..
The rail reinforcement attempt ,old mowers crack and can get damaged so yes someone has strengthened the rail with a lump of metal.
This mower is missing a lot of parts ,it's up to you if you want to repair it ,for me if it was mine it would cost too much to buy the individual parts to restore ,I would have to buy another SB 45 ,I've seen complete ones in my area sell for $150. that need a little work,
There are still a few good parts on this mower so if you decide to get another you could use the best parts from the 2 and keep some spares or sell what's left over.
I’m tending to agree with the cost of restoring this being prohibitive given how many parts are missing so at this stage am using it as a test case in stripping and repainting the roller handlebar plate and cleaning up the handlebars.
I’m also in NSW so might be looking in the wrong areas as the price of something unrestored but complete is currently quite a bit more than $150 unfortunately and don’t come up frequently. Maybe some tips for finding one? 😉
Yes cheap ones don't come up too frequently Angry ,I guess if you keep looking and are prepared to pay shipping or drive for hours to pick one up they can be found cheap ,I see one on eBay at the moment that is $495. and has been advertised for 55 days so not a lot of interest in some places to pay much for these mowers, also see a few other Scott Bonnar reel mowers cheap . ,I see a few cheap 45 mowers but probably only 2 a year.
