aroundtheyard.com Forums

Hi All,

Thought I would post the results of my tinkering as I found some great info here after I bought the mower and was bringing it back to life.

My used mower recently started to die, and it made me think about the mower I used to cut the grass with back when I was a kid in Ireland. Took a bit of searching, but it was a Suffolk Colt, and it made me wonder why that style of mower wasn't typical here in the US. I googled some more, and discovered McClane mowers, way out of my price range, but yee gods were smiling, a craigslist search and 20 minute later I was on my way to pick up this mower for $40.



Not bad, huh? The condition was described as "engine seized", but I didn't really care because worst case scenario I had a 212 Harbor Freight / Predator engine sitting in a box that would probably work.

I got it home and found that the starter coil was seized, but pulled it, wiggled things around, and it was fine. Put a plug in it and it was immediately clear that there was no compression. Pulled the head.. stuck exhaust valve. Gave it some oil and forced it down as it stuck on rotation, and it seemed good to go. Added gas. Nothing. Pulled the tank and carb and cleaned them up really well - and the engine then started on the first pull. While I could still upgrade to that Predator 212cc, there is something rather endearing about old BS engines, so I'm going to keep it.

Well - on to the rollers. The mower that I used as a kid had wooden rollers, so I went to target and bought a couple of wooden rolling pins for $6.95 / each. From Amazon I ordered a cheap ($6) set of Skateboard bearings, and went to Home Depot and bought a 3/8 steel rod for the axle.



It's either a person or a machines job in life to drill holes through these in rolling pins, so it's a bit of a shame that they can't do it properly! The holes are so off center, the first thing I did was drill them out a bit and glue in wooden dowels.



After that, I drilled out just enough to seat the skateboard bearings.



I then threaded both ends of the steel bar and used the spacers that came with the bearing races to keep things from touching each other.. and the end result:



(In the background you can see the 5HP Snowblower I picked up for $75 with "seized motor" thanks to the success of the mower project.)

The rollers work great!

K

Nice deal and great, creative solution!

I am totally confused.....why would you want to put a roller IN FRONT of the blades,laying the grass down making it much less likely the reel will snip the grass blades???? seems like if you want a roller,it should be placed after the reel does its job cutting the standing blades of grass????

HanLawn wrote:I am totally confused.....why would you want to put a roller IN FRONT of the blades,laying the grass down making it much less likely the reel will snip the grass blades???? seems like if you want a roller,it should be placed after the reel does its job cutting the standing blades of grass????

I don't know what the theory is but typically I see rollers at the front on reel mowers. When you look at how the actual cut happens though it makes sense. You have a cylinder of blades spinning, and I can see cut advantages if the grass is leaning in to blade as it comes down and sweeps back.

Anyone?

K

I did not notice that the roller was in the front.

The one reel mower with a roller I owned had the roller behind the blades, not in front. My Fiskars doesn't have a roller.

My Sunlawn LMM40 reel mower also had its roller in the back,after the cutting was done.

If you mow it short every day or every other day like you would on a golf green, then having the roller on the front seems fine. When cutting at 3", I sure wouldn't want a roller in front of my reels.

Nice blower! I have that exact one (pretty sure) it was a hand me down from my father in law's dad! pretty old. what is the brand on that?

starts and runs like a champ! the chains on the tires are a 'B' however...

What is the date code on that Briggs and what HP? I believe the date code is the first 2 numbers in the 3rd series of numbers.

@Will - It's a 3HP. 20202 0855-01 78121201

On the roller, every reference I see for aftermarket rollers are:

- reel mowers, roller at the front
- non reel mowers, roller at the back

http://www.reelmowerroller.com/ states the benefits as:

1. Eliminate scalping when front casters fall into low spots
2. Mow along edge of flower beds/sidewalks without scalping grass
3 Roller bar gives your lawn that professional stripe finish
4. Additional weight of roller bar eliminates bouncing on uneven lawns

When I was a kid, every mower in Ireland had this setup without exception.

So, I'll stand by my belief that having the grass lay into the reel is an advantage. It's not like it's going to flatten the grass below the height of the blade - it's going to spring back up.

K

BoatDrinksQ5 wrote:Nice blower! I have that exact one (pretty sure) it was a hand me down from my father in law's dad! pretty old. what is the brand on that?

starts and runs like a champ! the chains on the tires are a 'B' however...

Mines a Montgomery Ward. Yours?

K

Your rolling pin roller is such a great idea!!

Do you remember what size skateboard bearings you bought from Amazon??
Thanks, Jim

Not likely to get a response on this. This user registered in November 2013, made four posts over that following week and has not been active since then.