OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers ROVER 45: Looking To Buy Advice

Hi

First post so I hope I'm in the right place.

I'm looking to purchase a Rover 45 that I have found on Gumtree which appears to be in great condition. I'm just wondering what the common things to check for are when I go to have a look at the machine.

I'm also curious about the maximum cut height as I am planning to use this on Sir Walter Buffalo which I understand should be kept between 35 - 60mm.

I have asked the seller for the numbers on the air cowling but the respsonse was "current model" which I don't know how to interpret...I thought production of these mowers ceased years ago.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Brett

Hi brettsnz,

Firstly a warm welcome to the ODK Forum.

There are numerous things to look for, I'll put them in point order,

1 Reel condition and amount of material left for future sharpening
2 Condition of Bed Knife
3 PTO Clutch condition (see if it rotates absolutely true)
4 Condition of the chassis rails and check closely around the inner engine mounting points for fractures and visible cracks.
Wipe away any grease or oil to check thoroughly.
5 Check for flaking and blistering of the Red Powder Coating as it will have rust underneath the red layer which isn't good. The earlier Scott Bonnar versions were painted and not Powder Coated which is far better.

Production of the last Red Rover 45 finished in the 90's and all had black Briggs and Stratton engines.

Hope this gives you a good insight and feel free to write again to clarify any points of interest.

Cheers,
BB

Thanks for the info bonnar_bloke that's a huge help.

One thing I would like to know and can't seem to find anywhere is the maximum cutting height of an unmodified Rover 45.

I'll get some photos uploaded shortly to see what you think of the machine.

Hello brettsnz and Mod BB

I'm not sure what you mean by maximum cutting height.
This could relate to the height adjuster, or the height of grass
this mower can reasonably cut.

I guess the adjuster would go up to 25-30 mm.
As a general rule, reel mowers will cut grass up to about three-quarters
the diameter of the reel. That's about it.

Hope this helps.
-----------------------------
JACK

Hi brettsnz and Mod CyberJack,

As far as using it on Sir Walter is concerned you shouldn't have a problem. We have a few locals around here that use SB 45's on SWB. In actual fact many buffalo owners bought Model 45's back in thy late 1960's when buffalo was all the rage. I understand that the SWB variant is a bit more of a decorative buffalo that is cut a tad higher for aesthetics more than anything else, but you should be fine.

Cheers,
BB