Opportunistically I brought the second machine into work this week to get it torn down and ready for its restoration. Big Red will be no more when I finish and the colour scheme will be somewhat similar to the one below. Would be great to have the catcher like that too, but we'll see how that goes...
The chain case is quite rusty so that will take an electrolysis bath tonight, and there are some gouge marks on the bottom which lead me to believe the chain is wrong or maybe the posts are a touch bent... The rest of the mower appears to have no ill effect from the scourge of time....
A few things are making me think this was a re-birth and not a genuine sale. None more so than the lubricating hole on the thrust pad pointing down! The cutter sprocket needs replacing, which is not necessarily indicative of anything other than being flogged, but the more I tear this down the more I doubt the genuine nature of the seller. The chain linking the cutter to the engine is a solid piece - no split link. Could this be an issue and am I right in thinking it may be non-genuine? The roller chain intermediate appears normal. The reel bearings are packed full of sand and dirt and old grease so they'll need a proper bath to ascertain their future. Stuff like this remind me of an earlier comment by Bonnar_Bloke regarding "Council workers flogging units" so I'll be extra vigilant when determine if parts can be saved or replaced. There are no visible cracks on the twin rails, but I'm keen to get rid of the powder coat to make absolute certain they're OK.
Good news is the sprockets came off the shaft with only minor persuasion. The keys look unmarked as does the channel each sprocket connects with and I'm hoping for a similar result when I attack the clutch area tonight.
Once I dialled in the reel to bed knife properly last October, the unit cut just fine for the past season which gives me hope the unit is going to perform even better when fixed and given a big dose of TLC.
That's one thing you have to be carefull of is dodgy people who sell things they know are dodgy and think people won't notice. I bought a mower a few years back and every piece of the engine looked like it was replaced with worn parts right down to the mixture needle, I can't even use it for parts. By the way your groomer looks good on your other post, looking forward to this one.
A lengthy delay between posts won't show the pain and time working on the unit, but I'm happy that it is now taking shape as I'm about a fortnight away from needing to do a "tidy mow" on my sleeping beauty.
Photos below are the result of again listening to our resident Oracle (BB) after he posted a link to an online auction site selling the right size SS tube. Lucky for me when I checked therm out, they had a 1m section for $36 so I'm now able to add a new roller to my groomer too!! A bit of a buff on the cloth wheel and it looks pretty good. There is one way to ensure a proper cut - use the right tools!!
My current delay is the reel itself. Blasting it is a real pain in the grass as our cabinet fits it in but making it hard to get too the ends to do a proper job.. I'll probably just wire wheel those bits and move forward to getting the sole plate finished so they can be sent to Cam for grinding.
I reckon I've learnt so much more from freshening up this unit (compared to the first) that if I had my time again there's no way I would have bought this one. My rush to get a groomer in action outweighed common sense, but at least now it'll look nice and totally safe to operate.
Yep, you soon realise after you've done one how much this can set you back.
What's keeping this interest going is all the newbies that simply buy a machine without seeing or knowing the pitfalls within them and have to pour insane amounts of money into them thinking that these machines will turn a patch of weeds in to a manicured bowling / putting green.
12 months later the machine is sold off and they're all back to their Victa's and slashing their patch of weeds once every 3 weeks, just like they did before.
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.
The roller lifting arm was stripped back, blasted then coated in Dulux etch primer then a few light top coats of silver gal from Dry Mark (image) from Bunnings then a final wet coat. I like the look of it as a transition from the shiny roller to the inner workings and other components (cutter bearing housings etc) once they are polished up with the cloth wheel. Same paint was used to freshen up the clutch operating lever and I'm still thinking about what to do with the black cap/knob.
Thinking aloud that the reel may end up this colour too .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Buffing with the cloth wheel is a 2 part process. First is coarse to get nicks and scratches filled in/buffed out and the second is with a very soft wheel and more of a ruby rouge bar gives a 'pop' to the finished product. Sure, it won't last forever but you can always clear coat the finish or include a refresh in your Winter maintenance plan.
Are you referring to the threaded Hockey stick adjuster for the front roller ?
Yes you are correct that the polishing of mild steel can certainly be a tedious task and multiple steps in the process are to be taken.
One major point would be not to use a stitch mop, but instead a Sizal wheel. This will cut down time by half. Rag / Stitch mops are only to be used on "Non Ferrous" metals such as Brass, Copper, Ally etc. Sizals are solely designed for use on "Ferrous" metals and basically have an appearance on the wheels surface of the end of a rope twine as it's made up of the same material as the early style ropes before they went to synthetic fibre.
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.
Hey TC, looking good. I learnt a lot from mine. She was solid but ugly. But the guy I bought it off went through a total rundown on the care of the mower and all its oiling points before cash had even changed hands. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. At least you saved one from going to scrap.
I don't collect mowers. I just require Multiple Mowing Solutionsâ„¢.
Happy to report SB #2 has been 99% completed and a maintenance mow at 19mm has been a success! Reel to bed knife contact was exceptional - without a grind so I'm thinking of just doing a backlap for the moment. The final 1% will just be a bit of touch up here and there.
I'll have to get photos up next weekend - too much going on and didn't have time to post them. In the spirit of sharing knowledge, I'll also list the issues I had getting to the finish line as some only popped up late in the game.
