OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers Adjusting screws on reel

Hi gents, see the pic of one of Deviosi's restos. Pulled mine apart & reassembled the lot only to find I have not included the small washers on the adjustment screws (circled in white)
on the reel as they were not there prior to pulling apart. Are the washers absolutely necessary & will they assist in realigning the reel at all? The nuts/ screws are a "reel" pain in the back-side to remove & I wont if I dont need to.

Let me know your thoughts.

cheers Ross

Interesting to know what brand/colour of hammertone Devisoi used

Any ideas on the washers fellas??

thanks

I would suggest that you put them on as they will give you better adjustment.

Hi Ross, sorry for the delay in replying on this issue, mate...I have been really busy after the holiday.

I agree with Bruce, the washers should be there, in fact the last time I sharpened the reel, I replaced both adjusting screw assemblies with new units as the castleations on both the locknuts had rounded off and the screw threads were slightly worn.....Anything to make the adjustment of reel to bedknife easier, is a good thing.

Hi GregR, we have gone off topic here a little, but I think that Steve might have used Galmet "Jade Green" hammertone on this resto....I do tend to feel its too light in shade compared with the original which is a sort of olive green hammertone; the formula for which is elusive to say the least.

However Greg, you could PM Steve (deviosi) and ask him what hammertone he used.

Deejay It might be better that we fork that subject off onto a thread of its own. :-) Or add this post into the other thread on paint colours that is taking place in the general reel section.

thanks Deejay will take your & Bruces advice here. Although now I have another related issue/ problem. With the chains tensioned correctly approx 5mm play either side/ up/down (I believe that is the correct tension??) I rotate the reel & the engine shaft chain and the clutch chain both slacken off then re tighted during the revolution of the of the reel. Obviously something is a miss here?? I am thinking possibly the shaft of the reel itself, which passes through the frame side then the sprocket locks onto it may be slightly bent?? If this is the case I think this may be a major problem?? I dont think it sounds to good. Any thoughts/suggestions on that one?? or even a possible solution??

cheers - Ross

P.S hope you enjoyed sunny QLD !!

If the reel won't rotate smoothly the most likely explanation is that the bedknife (fixed blade) is touching the reel in some places and not in others. This is very common. To check whether this is the problem you need to isolate the reel's drive from the engine and the drum (roller) drive. You can do this by removing the reel chain, or perhaps by declutching both the engine and the drum. If one or more, but not all, of the reel's blades are touching the bedknife you will almost certainly have to have the reel professionally sharpened, but don't do this until you check the reel's bearings. If it has slack bearings you will not be getting a proper assessment of whether it is running slightly eccentric.

The cause of reel eccentricity is not all that likely to be a bent reel axle, though that is possible. It is more likely to be slack bearings, or eccentric blade wear caused by running the reel with slack bearings in the past.

Your mower cannot work properly until it has good reel bearings, a sharp, concentric reel, and a flat, sharp bedknife. However you need to sort these things out in the right order or you may pay for a sharpening job then ruin it immediately when you first run the mower.

it could be the clutch plate/sprocket is slightly bent, or even the shaft running from the clutch housing to the sprocket.

it should be a simple matter to see which item is bent, simply turn the reel by hand, and see which sprocket doesnt stay dead centre.

for the actual bearing, just try to move the reel up and down, looking at the blades touching the bedknife, if the blades move up and down, then new bearings it is.

Gents, new bearings, recently sharpened reel/ bed-knife & sprocket/ chains on good order. Found what the problem is. The twin sprocket on the reel shaft has some play in it. Even though it slides over the woodruff key ok it twists/ turns slightly, hence going off center a little when I tighten the locking nut. Doesnt appear to affect the operation so I will leave it for now & keep an eye on the chains. Reel just touches the bed-knife & cuts news-paper on all blades, along the length of all blades so I'm happy. After much patience & many attempts, finally nailed the reel adjusting technique.

Ross

And thanks for your advice / suggestions fellas.

Cheers Ross

Ross,
Who ended up sharpening the reel for you? Did they machine the bedknife aswell? Was the mower assembled or did you give them the reel and bedknife (mounted on holder) separately?
And if you don't mind me asking what'd he set you back for that..

Cheers, Craig.

Hi Craig, I called the fellow who looks after Bris golf course's mowers but he said his lathe was being repaired & out of action. So I checked the inet & came across www.samthemowerman.com.au He is located at Wynnum Rd Morningside. I dropped in the reel and bedknife only (separately) as I puilled my mower apart to partially restore & I like to tinker. Believe he did a good job as I mentioned above cuts paper along all blades etc (and I cut my bloody finger putting them into the car). I did have very slight play between one of the bearings and the reel shaft however(from wear), which he fixed with bearing loctite. Cost $75.00 all up from memory & I am happy with it.

Cheers- Ross

No worries, Thanks Ross. I may check him out..

Hi Ross, glad to see you got it all sorted...believe me once you've done it once, it does get easier next time.
Best wishes,

As this thread is over 12 months old I will now close it for the archival value....If any member has anything to add, please send me a PM.