OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Ogden Australia Reel mower

I recently picked up this Ogden reel mower and i started to pull it apart this morning. Sadly it is missing the gears and 1 wheel so i will have to look out for them! i was wondering if anyone knew the correct color for this type of mower as i have no clue. i will post more pics as i go! I will also be using the original wooden roller

If you search back thru the forum you'll find some information on this mower. Light green,blue and creams were its main colours. They are fairly common more so than the heavier Qualcast which i collect and are harder to come by, price is the usual problem as people see them as old or collectable and puthigh prices on them.

I got it for nothing haha!Thanks for the colors!

Hello Kye and bellarinelawns

As was said by bellarinelawns, the Model Bs were either blue
or green. The main colour I have seen are blue, but green ones
appeared in the early 1950s, and are less common.

I have just updated the history record here:-
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=51798

a very interesting read cyber an thanks for the info! I saw that that Ians Model A didn't have the wooden roller on the back like mine, was this just due to his rotting away or did the Model not have one?

Hi Kye

No, the Ogden, like the Pope, were the new breed of post-war pushies.
Both were fitted with metal rollers.

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

mine has a wooden roller on the front and a metal one on the back

Hi Kye,

The Ogden only has one roller mate. At the back.
The wooden one has been a backyard modification.

Although, if this one's at the front, let's make it a
front yard modification

Any photos of the machine as found?

-------------------------
Jack.

not one that you can see the roller, but the wooden roller goes on that little bar that goes across the front of the mower (below the big bar), it seems very professional backyard modification, so even if it is i will keep the wooden roller i will also go and dumy it up to show you where it sits.

I have taken a photo of the pieces all in the original places to show you the way it was. As you can see in some of the pics the wooden roller has little metal pieces on the end that to me also seems to well made to be a back yard modification. The metal roller sits on the other side like Ians one.

Hi Kye

That first photo - though low res. - is really good!
I like it anyway. Very artistic ... with the calming dusk of day.

I understand your desire to keep it on this machine.
It is an example of 'Aussie ingenuity' - I guess it was a 'bump strip'.
I have never seen anyone do this to a pushie before!

Good luck with the resto!
-------------------------------
Jack

thanks mate, the camera doesn't take very good pics in artificial light. It still seams very professional to me with those metal dividers.

I do see an issue here Kye.

The beauty of the post-war Australian pushies was the addition of a second
stay bar at the front. This gave a triangular rigidity to the chassis.

The Ogden had two cross bars at the front, and the bottom block (sole plate
and bottom blade) to join the two side frames. If you look at earlier designs
- Qualcast for example - there is only one cross bar at the front.

Your photo of the front roller shows a shaft with no threads.
Exactly how is the front roller attached to each side frame?

For me, a previous tenant has compromised the design.

An interesting mod.
------------------------
Jack

there are holes on each side of the chassis, when the other bar is bolted in it squeezes both sides towards each other, when it is together the roller cannot some out. I am just thinking now that i may have messed the dumy up and ther roller could have been in a different position. Sorry about that

Yep, that's what he has done then.

A previous tenant has removed one of the tie rods.
I believe both were identical, and both played a part
in keeping alignment and chassis rigidity.