OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers Vintage Scott Bonnar BSA Engine

Hi All,

As a new member this is my first post and hopefully my mower has been seen before. It is a vintage Scott Bonnar and so far i have figured out it was in fact made by victa and rebadged in the late 50's early 60's. It is equipped with an 83cc BSA Series 90 4 stroke engine.

My wife purchased it for me off an old war veteran who has fully restored it as a surprise birthday present.

So far i have had a couple of little problems such as it chewing through a drive belt, a couple of minor Amal carby setup problems and clutch cable (which i had to modify a victor imperial cable) but other than that its a great little mower.

Has anyone come across one of these mowers before??

Indeed it looks nice, Im no scott bonnar expert, but I do have a 16" victa imperial that is almost identical as you have noticed.

I belive morrison took over the designs from victa and then scott bonnar badged the morrisons as their own.

I also make a note in my books they are remarkably similar to a 40's-50's ransomes which may have been where the original design came from.

Hi guys, I will do some research and report back tomorrow morning.....However, you're right though Joe, it's a Morrison from New Zealand and re- badged as an SB..... 1970's vintage, not 50-60's and not that rare in NZ. Parts are very hard to come by.

a scott bonnar too , realy similar to victa imperial and looks almost the same , beltsetup ? dont remember the date on the brigs right now but 80's i think . great looking machine you have too


i think its 79 but buried under stuff ATM sorry

That's great information thanks guy. I would be really interested in a new clutch cable and air filter if they are available or you could tell me where to get one.??

Vccomm that's the exact same belt drive system.

Good to know that a Briggs will fit if the BSA ever shits itself.

I am also in need of a new cutch tension spring if you know where a can source one of these??

Hi Craig and Dave,
Craig, a warm welcome to OutdoorKing, its great to have another Scott Bonnar owner on board.
Dave, thanks for posting the pics... this really shows the similarities between the SB/Morrison and the Victa Imperial. Both the SB/Morrison have the 'Ransomes' cylinder reel unit fitted; however the Victa Imperial had a different design of cylinder reel.

Here's a pic of the Victa reel design:

As opposed to this SB Morrison here:


Joe Carroll mentioned that Morrison took over the Imperial design.
In 1973, the New Zealand company, Challenge Corporation Ltd, acquired Scott Bonnar (Australia)
Hence the connection with Morrison Mowers.
Through my research I have not been able to find a source of spare parts.

Once again Craig,

Hi again guys,

After a never ending amount of problems with the old BSA engine i had it swapped out to a 4hp chinese honda copy.

Its runs and cuts sweet.

Next I want to replace the front wooden rollers and i was thinking have one polyurethane or rubber roller on bearings made. Can anyone steer me in the direction of someone that makes custom rollers?

Thanks

Hello Craig

Well, the BSA was never fitted to these machines anyway.
Your machine presents as a 14" Victa Imperial that was
restored and rebadged using SB decals.
[I don't think Scott Bonnar Morrisons were ever offered in 14"]
[Your machine does look 14" ...?]

Any general engineering works could do that but
the expense would be prohibitive.

Perhaps the cheapest way would be turning a new set of rollers
and putting them on a stainless shaft.

Perhaps members might have some thoughts...

-------------------
Jack