So would the best way to align the roller be to place the metal bar on the transmission side against the underside of the front roller and back roller then adjust the screw height to the height of the bed knife blade and then check the bar on the opposite side of the mower adjusting the rear roller so the bolt is level to the bed knife on that side then tighten the rear roller. That's how I have always envisioned it to work. I just drilled a hole in a piece of square tube steel then welded a nut to it and screwed a bolt in as the height adjustment.
If not please spend some time and peruse through it, especially the post about half way through that I've written as a procedure about Roller Alignment of both front and rear.
As I've previously mentioned the front roller is not alignable as a normal procedure but can be as a advanced procedure.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Thanks BB, just read through your post and it makes sense. I dropped the reel off this morning and it will be ready on Thursday so I will give it a go over the weekend and see how I go once the reel and bed knife are installed, no doubt if I have trouble you will be the first to know.
I picked the reel and bed knife up today The good news is it looks like a good job, he ground the reel replaced the bed knife with a new one all for $80.00. The bad news is he forgot the 4 mounting bolts for the sole plate so I can't put it together and now have to wait for them to be posted out to me. Very frustrating as I can't put the reel on, sprokets or chains or even allign the rear roller untill these 4 bolts arrive So as Con the fruiterer would say "waiting waiting waiting couple of days"
That's a great price to have that done as many out there are charging double that. In actual fact that's pretty much trade pricing.
I must say though I'm surprised that you gave him the bolts in the first instance as that's something I've never had to do, these guys have all their own set up tooling.
The bed knife looks to be rather straight as the grinding is very constant over the length of the knife blade. Some are just no where near that good and have to be shimmed in places etc. to compensate for a crook sole plate. Many sole plates were never perfect from the start or have been distorted while in service.
Regardless of the small set back another week isn't going to make it any worse as the cutting season is just about over, so your machine will be ready to go for the next season.
Remember, good things come to those that wait.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I to was quite surprised with the price. He told me $130.00 over the phone if I brought the whole machine in and that included a grind, new bed knife, chains installed greased and the reel aligned, he also does a pick up and delivery service if you can't get the whole machine there.
When I got there he hummed about my bed knife and said he could do it, but it was a bit thin and recommended replacing it. When I asked how much including the new bed knife he said $80.00, so I said do it.
I didn't know if he needed the bolts or not so I took them down, he even commented on the bolts but never said I don't need them. Anyway I'm glad you can confirm that it all looks good as when I researched somewhere in Sydney everyone recommended this guy. I was also impressed when I got there as it's no small back yard job, it's actually one of Sydney's largest golf courses and the guy is either contracted to the golf club or employed, but we're talking modern facilities with a maintenance shed the size of an aeroplane hanger with modern machines and tools.
Anyways while I'm waiting around I thought I would put some decals on. Not being biased but I think the white and red pops way better on the black chaincawe than all the others I have seen on the green also the head badge stands out against the black on the handle bars. What do you think CyberJack does it take you back to memory lane, the flash really highlights that wrinkle finish. I also got some more paint while in was in Sydney and did a coat inside the catcher as well as a second on the outside, once it all dries I will put the decal on it and that's it.
This might sound like a silly question, but is there a particular way the throttle cable should run along the handle bars to the engine? I just notice today when trying to install the original cable that it has been bent in half 90° where the handles fold down and has caused the wire not to run in the tube. I'm going to go to my local bicycle shop on Monday to get a new cable but wondering if it was passed the wrong way along the handlebars to the engine and if there is a correct way to avoid any restriction in the movement of the cable.
Quick update for those following, the reel is adjusted to the bed knife as is the leveling of the rear roller to the bed knife. Chains are greased and adjusted as is the drive cork sprokets and drive leaver. Engine installed with a new throttle cable and adjusted for full to low throtle as well as clutch being installed and adjusted. It looks all good for now will know once I get it on the green and give it its first test run to make sure everything is adjusted perfect. I ended up scraping the paint off the engine mount bolts back to zinc. Will post more photos of the finished restoration once I get it out side in the sun light and can take photos from different angles, for now it's living in the house as I'm making a trolley crate for it to live on for when I store it in the garage so it doesn't get dusty bumped and knocked around as well as not to wear the rollers on the concrete or scrape the bed knife or reel on uneven concrete.
And you actually want to use this piece of .....................artwork ?
Honestly I feel that we should get a "go fund me" page and pay you to send this one to Jack so that he can relive his youth again. God knows he deserves it.
Cheers, BB.
PS. Without a doubt this is the best Black chain cased SB-45 I've ever seen. You are without a doubt the pioneer of this variant.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
BTW I also keep thinking about making up some sort of trolley so as to transport my 20 inch machine around the property and thus not wreck the rear roller outer sections that have a tendency to wear out on the edges due to traversing on concrete and paved surfaces.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Trolley is work in progress I would be at painting stage for it by now but after 12 years my wire feed motor on my mig welder crapped itself and the new motor arrives Monday. I have seen some bald rear rollers and mine seems fairly evenly worn with plenty of groves left and I know that I will have to constantly move the Scotty around the concrete a bit to get around and manouvour other things in my garage.
What would be great is a once a year calender event SB swap meet get together where everyone can bring their restored or unrestored machines to showcase their original or former glory restorations where people can talk and share SB stories and information and celebrate these beautiful Aussie made machines.
Like a "Show and Shine" for cars ??? mmmmm that would be embarrassing I'd say, but then there are some much more minute things around the world that have a National day I guess.
Cheers, BB
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Yeah kind of like a car show but more for the SB enthusiest to see each other's work and share tips and experience ( more of a social gathering), imagine a fleet of SB as far as the eye can see. The thing now is there not all the same like they were 40-50 years ago out of the factory, there all different pending on patina or restoration and I'm sure there would be some examples of rare earlier models that not many people would have the chance to see in person. Maybe have a self propelled race at the end of the day for a laugh. Just a thought.
Yes I certainly see where you're coming from and I'd be all for it, but in saying that I strongly feel that there are way too many people within this interest that are there for all the wrong reasons. Currently the scene seems to be full of young punk flippers that are hunting these machines down and merely using them to get an instant huge financial gain out of them, on the flip side (no pun intended) there are just way too many folks that have paid way over the odds and bought one and have found they really are not devoted to these types of machines and the practises that they en-tale.
It's amazing how many out there think that you can turn a weed patch into a pristine lawn just by running a Scotty over the weeds a couple of times. When they discover that it's a lot of hard work, it suddenly gets all too hard and the machine gets relegated to being sold off in bits and pieces.
This is all quite evident by the many fresh new SB owners that have passed through these esteemed forums over the past couple of years for just a few weeks and then have just disappeared never to be heard of again.
One thing that's more so the truth and that is it's really all about the "passion for the lawn" and as such the machine is simply the vehicle that facilitates this. The mower is the romance in it all I've always said, but if you ask a greenkeeper he'll tell you that there's no romance to be gained from the mower at all. LOL !, but really it's his passion of the end result it gives after all his hard work is done. This is totally evident when he sees people wearing the wrong type of shoes on his billiard table smooth surface and he's got the dagger eyes switched on.
In saying all of the above I've been so impressed with your effort with your machine that there's a clear love for it showing right on through. The attention to detail eg. just the paint removal on the engine mounting bolts alone is what's got my faith in you.
After all this the next stage will be how progress comes along with your lawn with plenty of photos just like your machine's progress has shown.
Hopefully we'll see you in the Lawn care Sub-Forum as a major contributor, god knows we need to get that part of the forum up and firing again like it did when we first introduced it.
Cheers, BB.
PS. I'll probably give Billy Graham a run for his money if he could talk Lawn Mowers.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Well said BB, your probably absolutely right about the people in It for the $$$$ and I have noticed so many threads started that just end with out a finish. Reason I got the Scotty was to improve the look and cut of the lawn and yes stripe it. I have spent 8 years with a screwdriver picking weeds out fertizing and eradicating grubs aswell as talking to the lawn and all the hard work has paid off. It's at a good stage now as most of the yard was dug up when we put in a new retaining wall along the river but I'm finding the old Rover Rancher isnt ideal for the results I'm looking for now as the cut heights are a bit restrictive and you really have to watch what your doing with the ride on not to mess it up in certain spots as it's quite easy to put a 32" crop circle in the middle of the lawn not to mention uneven tyre tracks.
I'm starting to wonder if you've picked the wrong size mower to do all this marvellous work to as maybe it should've been a 20 inch unit. I started with a 14 but now I wouldn't part with my 3 of 20 inch machines for Quids.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Definately got the right size, I'm a little tight with storage space so the 14" is perfect the only reason I got the ride on was because we used to live on 2.5 acres in Brisbane and decided to keep the rancher when we moved down south to the family holiday house. We still use the rancher because we also own the house next door, even when I was in Brisbane the two blocks were cut with a John Deere L110 which still sits in the garage all covered up and makes an appearance every now and then but I prefer the rancher cause it's a little smaller and easier to use. I will be using the Scotty on one block in the back yard only as the rest of the grass will be done with the ride on as the front yard is more off road mowing, the Scotty will probably cut around 100m2 of manicured lawn so the 14" should give me more stripes.
Well she finally moved out of the house. Still haven't done a cut yet or a test run, but I think I will give it its first run for the start of the next season. The grass has slowed right down and we're getting some colder days so no point doing a finer cut with the reel mower for it not to grow back. Anyways it's finished and complete and it's on my home built (royal) trolley which is kinda finished but usable, I'm planing on closing the sides with sheet metal and installing orange padded vinyl upholsetry on the inside so it doesn't get bumped. Outside panels will be painted wrinkled black and covered with Scott Bonnar logos.
Some more picks of the trolley, catcher can also be installed on the mower on the bottom level and if handle bars fold down its kinda boxed in like a crate
