OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Cylinder qualcast super 14"

hope i have the right place this time ?!! does anyone have any info or pic's of the qualcast super 14" ? seems i have 2 the same almost . different starters and different colour handles . but both the same as far as i can tell a few homemade parts and repaires . just need to confirm correct colours for some parts . thanks for any help .. Dave

were they all green exept for engine in orange ? if anyone has a complete one original please could i see it ? thanks Dave

You might try this thread, and perhaps contact the other mower's owner:
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=31369&Searchpage=1&Main=6474&Words=%22super+14%22&Search=true#Post31369

thanks grumpy , i looked all over here though and cant find much at all . thin on the ground are they ? both seem the same but one has orange handles and a few other parts , the other is all green . any idea how to date them ? both only have a number stamped into the base of the engine case . cheers Dave

I think the Qualcast reel mower that looked like a tiny Villiers parked on top of a manual push-mower was reasonably common, but the Super 14 does not seem to have been - it probably cost a fair bit, and had to compete not only with ATCO, but in Australia with Scott Bonnar and Victa as well. Nevertheless I don't think the mower is rare, or especially old, from the design and the number of threads about them on Outdoorking.

So far as dating the Suffolk engine is concerned, you might try one of the British sites, such as this one:
www.stationary-engine.net/forum/
or this one:
www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/

If nobody there can help you, it is going to be quite a challenge - but I'd be surprised if they don't have at least the best information available.

thanks for the tips grumpy , not much there either seem hard to find any info anywhere ! good little machine though . two here now i bought another for parts and seems nothing wrong except water in the carb , so 2 good runners now . if i do find out much i'll let you know . cheers

Thanks Dave - I'll leave this thread open at present in case someone can help. Deejay may have some information for us.

cheers grumpy , deejay tried to help too but he's an S,B type of guy . dont think i should tell you this but gave the 'ol spares one a touch up of the blades gently with a sharp file . the difference it made was amazing !! cant wiat to get the good one sharpened properly now . And finaly found a new drive belt fot the one you see here but hadto make a new spacer for the small pulley ( like a volkswagen) spacer between to make the belt ride high or lower in the groove . wow they are touchy too adjustment ! ever seen one or would a few pic's help ? cheers Dave

I don't understand what you are saying about the spacer, Dave. Can you show pictures of that, and any other features that are causing issues? Maybe we can help, and even if we can't, it will get the matter into our archives.

no worries i'll take a few tomorrow but rmember the old vw's ? had a spacer between the gen' pulley or washers , remove or add to lower raise the belt in the pulley ? or pack up the generater for belt tension . trial n error way of doing it though but seems to work .. done tonight sorry if its a tad dark and yes the brass nut is going to be round too the front pulley is 2 part as you see, the washers fit in between to raise or lower the belt in pulley / loose or tighten . as i couldnt get the exact size after @ 5 i think places this is the closest i could find and its sooooooo close !!



drum is driven from the cutter reel , on a realy slow idle it does stop spinning clutch is next thing to look at as it needs to idle so slow its hard to keep going at all . cheers Dave

I think I see the pulley issue now Dave: a split V-belt pulley (split at right angles to the axle), and you change its effective diameter by adding or subtracting shims between the two halves. Traditional industrial sewing machines for shoe-making used the same system, with a pedal to vary the pulley width - that was the way the operator adjusted the sewing speed. Those sewing machine pulleys can be a cheap way to get an odd-sized pulley for projects. I have one of them on my disk sander, since I replaced a burned out 1500 rpm motor with a 750 rpm one (I got a good price on the motor) and needed to get the spindle speed back to the required 2,300 rpm, accurately.

I don't think your Imperial would have a split pulley to adjust belt tension, since it has a movable idler to do that. I think its purpose would be to adjust the forward self-propelled speed of the mower over the ground: the split pulley is on the output side of the reel, which drives the rear roller. So, you would change the shim stack in the split pulley until you found the mowing speed to be comfortable and effective. Adjusting the split pulley does not change the reel speed, only the roller speed. Thank you for showing us that - I previously had no idea the Imperial had a way of adjusting the roller speed.

So far as the take-up speed of the centrifugal clutch is concerned, it is rather a difficult point. The Briggs engine is supposed to idle at 1,750 rpm, so the centrifugal clutch should engage at a speed between 1,750 and 2,000 rpm. You would need to use a tachometer to check what it actually does. Unfortunately the mechanism in the clutch always has some friction so engagement speed tends to vary just slightly even if the clutch is in good order. It would be useful for you to do some tests and tell us the measured engagement speeds - we can then discuss whether it is suitable or perhaps the clutch needs servicing.

thanks grumpy , i didnt realise it adjusted the speed i have been using throttle control for that , as the belt was a little smaller i added the spacer for more adjustment on the clutch ? lever now at least it sits still when i need it too !! hahaha 1st time i used it after insalling the new belt it was allgood , then changed . when i emptied the catcher it wasnt where i left it lucky it just stopped against some long grass . a little more checking i feel . oh and its a qualcast with a suffolk . cheers Dave

Thanks Dave, I was thinking about another thread, it appears (or I was completely confused). The Suffolk will probably idle considerably slower than a Briggs. I think you have now got the idea of stopping and starting the forward movement of the mower with the hand-clutch. The centrifugal clutch stops everything (reel and roller) but is not a safe way to park the mower: you need the hand clutch on the roller drive to fully disengage when you release it. Then the worst thing that can happen when it's sitting there idling is that the reel spins up from time to time, but the mower doesn't move.

I seem to have seen video of an English mower with a centrifugal clutch like yours. The reel sometimes stopped when the engine was idling, and sometimes didn't. It might be a feature of only marginal effectiveness.

My super 14 doesn't ever stop the reel. The only thing that stops is the actual barrel and when you pull the "clutch" lever it pulls tension on the belt so it's not slipping the reels pulley it's a simple set up. These are really hard to get parts for! I got a new coil from England it was the same as a villiers coil. The thread on my crank is stripped and it's lh thread can't get a nut or a die for it. Was thinking about dieing it with rh thread and a nyloc nut but not sure

Depending on how much damage there is to the thread on the crankshaft, you can probably repair it with a thread-chasing file. These are standard items: double-ended square files so each file can cope with eight different thread pitches, for both internal and external threads. There are separate ones for inch and metric sizes. If you use them carefully you can tidy up most mangled threads, though they can't help you if it is really stripped.

Ok Michael, I understand now....from your other thread, with the engine swap.....is this the reason you were thinking of a Honda for it; the stripped output shaft?
It is a shame that here in Oz parts for Suffolk engines are hard to come by...If you were to remove the engine, take it to an engineering workshop and ask their advice. They may be able to help you, if all else fails.

I am rather surprised to hear that your crankshaft may have ended in a left hand thread. That would be a first for me, I've never heard of such a thing. Clutch shafts sometimes, though rarely, end in left hand threads to carry the chain sprocket, but in my experience never a crankshaft. It is commonplace for crankshafts to have a thread on the flywheel end to retain the flywheel, but it has always been right hand in my experience. I can't currently recall an external thread on the drive end of a crankshaft - the part that Briggs call the Power Take-Off, and everyone else calls the output shaft. They conventionally have either a parallel shaft with a key, or a tapered shaft with a key. Often they have an internal thread for a securing screw to hold a drive flange.

Can you post a picture or two of the damaged crankshaft? We may be able to devise a way to repair it.

Yeah I thought about seeing if an engineer would be able to fix it. I've got thread files but only imperial and metric I think it may be a unc or ba thread. I could tap it rh thread and put a split pin through the crank so the nut stays on.

Ok found lh dies and lh thread nuts sold at different stores! I'll get my old girl going again soon. If these aren't very rare mowers why can't you get any parts for them? Is it the result of atco buying them out?

Looking at your pics I can't see the other half of the vee that is supposed to be there maybe that's why you had to pack it with washers unless you didn't have it in the photos