OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Scott Bonnar 45 restoration

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments. More progress today. Very happy so far with how it is going. When I had the reel sharpened they said the bedknife needed replacing. All good now and should have many years use in it now.

That's got a great Bed knife, so that's a huge cost saving.


Hi RD,

I can't for the life of me understand why a new bed knife was required unless there was something majorly wrong with the side that's not in the photo you posted. From where I sit all it needed was a machining to match up with the machining done on the reel. Personally I feel someone wanted to make a bit of extra cash out of you.

What was the excuse was given for changing the Bed Knife ?

BTW you are making wonderful progress there and it looks to be a mower that's going to give years of terrific service.
Looking forward to the end result as I'm sure you are to.

Cheers,
BB

Hi all,

Got the mower up and running yesterday afternoon and gave a quick test mow. Very happy. The mower is very smooth and quiet. Only needed a small amount of throttle and it cut perfectly. When I adjusted the reel and bed knife I set it up so a sheet of paper could just slide between.

As for changing the bed knife, I was quite surprised but they said it didn't have enough material left on it. I got it done as I had already dropped them both of on the other side of town.

Everything is all done now and couldn't be happier with the result. Its no show stopper and I still have the throttle cable to mount today, and a catcher to sort out. Thanks everybody for the tips and advice.

Just one more question. Is it possible to buy the plastic plug that covers the hole in the chain cover were the edger was?

Hi Elton,


WOW !!

Now we totally understand that you haven't done a factory look restoration, but that's up to the individual and I feel the result is really superb and we here at the ODK are grateful that you have documented this rebuild from start to finish on our forum.

Re-plating things like handle bars, nuts and bolts etc. is quite expensive and I can appreciate that this just blows the cost of the mower out unbelievably. You'll find that the newer style sloper Briggs motor (similar to Honda) is a vast improvement (vibration wise) over the upright older versions and thus this will be much kinder on the chassis rails.

One thing I will have to strongly comment on though is the reel and bed knife set up which in your case is incorrect. You have chosen the non contact method which is not as per Scott Bonnar's recommendation.

You should set up the reel so that you have the slightest contact between the the two surfaces just like a pair of scissors and thus it would cut paper. This method is a self sharpening process while the non contact method will within a short time gum up the edges of the reel blades and reduce the cutting efficiency rapidly. You'll end up having the blades tear the grass rather than cut it.

Look at the section titled "Cutter Setting" under the following document.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=58198#Post58198

Apart from this minor issue which you can solve in minutes you've come up with a marvelous result which will last you a lifetime and I'm sure will have many of your neighbours asking you endless amounts of positive questions.

Cheers,
BB.



PS. The Red plastic plug is no longer available from our online store but is still available from the following seller on eBay that seems to have cornered the market with this item, but it will most definitely put a nice finishing touch on your machine.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Scott-bonnar-model-45-side-cover-plug-/131809122797?hash=item1eb06f99ed:g:JOQAAOSwubRXDeRj

Hi BB,

Thanks for the comments and the link to the plastic plug. I have ordered one already. Also thanks for the advice on setting up the reel and bed knife. I will re adjust that so it only just touches.

Thanks again for your advice and comments,

Cheers,

Elton