OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers Scott Bonnar 45 - Series 1 advice

Hello,

Firstly, amazing forum that I have stumbled upon. The Lawn Geek Facebook page got me here after some Google searches :)Sim Rice I believe..

I first used a SB45 when I was younger and my uncle went on holidays, Dad had me mow his lawn and I remember trying pretty hard to push it around before I worked out what the clutch did!! Anyways. I have always had an interest in lawn, thanks to my father who always had the best patch on our street. I work for the government and move house every couple of years. Usually I am met with yards that haven't had any lawn or attention for years. But it's all part of the challenge and very rewarding to see them develop. Despite what my 2 Kelpies try to do!!

I bought this mower while I was in Adelaide over the xmas break and have been trying to learn as much as possible. I had to lift the thing into the back of my ute and fold the handles down for the trip home. It appears as though the clutch handle was depressed as the mower shifted around slightly. the cable separated at the top end and I've had to buy another which is in the post.

While waiting for that I decided to give it a once over before I start to use it. Chain case came off and I noticed a difference straight away from some other photos on here. It appears as though one of my chains doesn't have a guide which I have seen fitted in other photos on here. The chain is very close to touching the mount for the forward most chain case bolt.

Is this an issue to fix prior to using it? There is some wear on the roller bolt (sorry for the terminology) where it looks as though the roller/guide was once fitted in a different position.


A photo I found on the forum. Different chain set up to mine?


My mower



I plan to develop some skills around maintaining it and getting to know more about them before I rebuilt it with fresh paint and new parts where required.

Thanks and all the best

Hi Nicko,

Great to have another SB owner aboard.

As far as that chain is concerned it's got the wrong length one on it and also the tensioner section that is part of the front chain case mount is missing. Effectively you have no cutter chain adjustment which is bad and will prematurely wear out your cutter sprocket.

Now as far as your location is concerned you are going to find it rather hard to find any parts for any Scotty out there so someone here in Adelaide will have to source these bits on your behalf. Again also finding these sort of parts which will be found only as second hand parts on an existing machine is going to be tough as no one wants to part out these machines as it will render them useless when they can be rebuilt.

Your machine is an early solid deck series 1 and only series 1 parts will fit around that area as the series 2 machines use totally different mounting points due to them being vertical and not horizontal as yours are.

I shall hunt around and see what I might be able to find but can't promise anything.

Cheers,
BB.

Thanks for the quick reply BB.

Is this the cutter chain adjuster? Looks like it has been fitted upside down compared to the other members photo I pinched. **Note the wear on the bolt**



Top sprocket starting to look a little sharp?

Hi Nicko,

Wow how silly of me to miss that. I need to up my medication.

What's actually happened is that someone has changed the chain and it wasn't long enough so they undid the nut on the engine side of the side plate and removed the assembly and then as it's got a square hole they've rotated the adjuster 90 degrees left so that it points down instead of forward.

I strongly suggest you get the correct chain and that way you will be able to use the tensioner again and have the correct adjustment on the cutter chain as that sprocket is moved further away from the top PTO sprocket as you grind the reel and bed knife as the reel then has to be adjusted downwards due to lack of metal on the reel blades thus the tensioner has to be slightly rotated down wards to accommodate the extra chain length required.

Cheers,
BB.

Thanks BB.

Given that I will be purchasing online do you have any recommendations for where to buy a new chain? Can you also clarify what the name of the chain is. Don't want to buy the wrong one.

Just went through the forum and saw your "Playground for my Scotty's" very nice mate. Gives me something to aspire to :-)

Thanks

Hi Nicko,

Thank you very much for the compliments, I try and share the info so that others can follow without asking I guess.

As far as that chain is concerned try Cam at OPE Parts on eBay as we don't have them in our online store atm.

It's basically known as the reel cutter chain.

Cheers,
BB.

Perfect. Thanks mate. In the post as we speak

Out of interest, can you advise how the clutch cable is fixed to the handle bars or if it is at all. Mine has been taped to the handle bars with electrical tape and looks cheap.

Is it appropriate to ask all my general questions in this thread (provided I can't locate answers by searching) and then create a thread in the rebuild section once I begin that process?

Hi Nicko,

Both cables, throttle and clutch were attached to the handlebar behind the shield using special clips which are no longer available and haven't been for years. The best alternative is using cable ties behind the shield where they aren't seen.

BTW nice avatar, from an eBay "Supercut" Decal listing I'd say ?

Cheers,
BB.

Certainly is mate. Had a few beers the other night, got on eBay and bought one. Very dangerous move that drink shopping.

Do you know where I could source an all metal throttle handle? All seem to be plastic but I did see someone on here with a nice original looking metal one on a rover. Will look for the picture now....

**Edit: Found it. Belongs to admin Deejay

I may have answered my own question here. The chrome throttle lever appears to be from a Scott Bonnar Model 33??

Hi Nicko,

These were actually a Villiers unit but were universally available thus many mower manufacturers used them.

These were used on Scott Bonnar Reel Mower models such as the "Supercut", Model 33, Model 40, Model 45 up until around 1976ish.

Cheers,
BB.