OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers Scott Bonnar 17", getting to know my mower!

Hi Gentlemen

I am new to the forum and a first time poster so if what I'm posting has been asked I'm happy to be pointed in the right direction.

I have just purchased a Scott Bonnar 17" reel mower with a 2.5hp black motor for $580 after getting a quote of $600 to service an old mower that a mate gave me with a 3.5hp motor that was found to need a crack welded.

The reason I went with the $580 spend ahead of the servicing (which would have come with a 6 month warrenty) was that my mower looks rough, real rough, whilst the "new" mower has been refurbished at some point and looks like it has been looked after.

So my two part question. Should I swap over the motors for the bigger motor and what is a reasonable price to pay for the work and should I on-sell the old mower (declaring the needed repairs of course for say $100 - $150) or strip it for parts to put in storage.

Everyones feedback and different opinions are valued and respected. Thanks

Hi ironmandreamer, welcome to Outdoorking.

We need to know a lot more about both mowers before we can comment very constructively. Please post pictures of them - if possible, several pictures of each. I'm sure our reel mower guru, Deejay, will be in a position to begin a commentary then.

We will also need to identify the engines. Most Scott Bonnars have Briggs and Stratton engines, which have a long series of numbers stamped on the cooling air cowls. The numbers are divided into three groups: the Model, Type, and Code. Please post those numbers.

In the case of the "old" mower with the "cracked engine", we need to understand what is wrong. Unless the old engine is a collector's item, and you plan to restore the mower as a show-piece, it would seem cheaper to fit a a second-hand engine, or a new modern engine. Just as an illustration, see this ebay advertisment:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-...nmowers&var=&hash=item3cdcf35965

Hi ironmandreamer, and a warm welcome to the forum. It's always great to welcome another Scott Bonnar owner aboard as we all like to learn new things and tinker here.
Grumpy is quite correct here, we need plenty of pics showing both machines from different angles and particularly the cylinder reels and bottom (bedknife) blades and a couple with the side chain-case covers removed, showing the chains and sprockets particularly the sprockets where they are not covered by the chains.

Instructions for using our forum 'Inline Uploader' for uploading pics can be found HERE
You can upload around 8 pics per post...you may have to make a couple of posts to complete your upload.

When you say "an old mower that a mate gave me with a 3.5hp motor that was found to need a crack welded" do you mean that the motor had a crack somewhere...or the crack was somewhere else on the machine....

Once again ironmandreamer, to OutdoorKing.