Old Lawnmower Club - Recently Updated Pages

General Hand Mower Advice

tgreen6to28 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:55:44 CDT

Wooden Parts

Hand mower components such as T handles and rear rollers for sidewheel mowers and hand grips and front rollers for roller mowers were often made of wood. These inevitably disappear over time through damage, rot or wood worm and replacing them with original parts can be almost impossible. We generally recommend asking a local woodturner or hobbyist to make up new parts using what remains of the old ones as a pattern. There is usually someone in most towns who knows how to use a lathe and they are often only too happy to help with this sort of thing. To find them, ask in the local ironmongers or wood yard as they are likely to be known there. Yellow pages is also a good place to look. When you have found someone, ask them to use ash, beech or elm for the greatest authenticity. As a guide, hand-grips on Greens roller mowers were normally of beech, but Ransomes used ash up to the late 1930s, when they too started using beech. T-handles on side-wheel mowers made in the UK were usually ash up to the 1930s, when beech came in. American side-wheel mowers often have maple handles, though Pennsylvania handles (UK and US) are usually ash.

Grass Boxes

Grass boxes inevitably go missing or simply disappear before your eyes due to rust and rot. In fact, many side-wheel mowers may never have had a box in the first place as it was normally an "optional extra" for these machines. As might be expected, finding a replacement box is virtually impossible. It is occasionally possible to find spare boxes at car boot sales, junk shops and especially at mower repairers but the chances of matching the right box for a particular mower are slim. Boxes for mowers such as the Ransomes Ajax, Webb models from the 1950s and a few other machines can still be found in this way with a bit of persistence.

For all other mowers there is no simple answer as making one from scratch is often beyond the capabilities of most enthusiasts and the cost of asking a professional engineer or carpenter to do the work can be prohibitive. However, anyone with the right skills should be able to copy an existing box using the original as a pattern or basic dimensions supplied by another enthusiast. Early boxes can be relatively easy to fabricate because they had simple wooden sides with the box formed by a thin sheet of steel. The box mounted on the mower by simple brackets that can often be easily copied (if those from the original are no longer available) and made from steel or aluminium rather than cast iron. Once painted nobody would be able to tell the difference.

Block Chain

The original block chain used on many hand mowers before 1914 cannot be supplied and we know of no current source. The only way to replace a missing or broken chain is to use a redundant lenght from an old "donor" machine.

Cast Iron Components

Most early mowers were made using cast iron components. While original replacements for these are no longer available copies can be made using modern castings. Although decreasing in number there are still many small iron foundries around the country that can make castings in small numbers to order using originals as a pattern. Members of The Old Lawnmower Club have, over the years, managed to obtain items such as chain sprockets, gears, gear covers, handles and grass box handles/brackets made in this way. It is sometimes possible, and usually cheaper, to make the casting from aluminium rather than iron and there are more foundries that can offer this service. An alternative method is to machine a copy using steel or aluminium.

Old Lawnmower Club: Specialist Support

olcspecialist — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:36:14 CDT

This site aims to provide useful information and advice on the collection, preservation and display of old lawn mowers. The information is compiled and added by a team of specialists from The Old Lawnmower Club.

Atco	Ransomes


General Hand Mower Advice	General Motor Mower Advice

General Motor Mower Advice

olcspecialist — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:31:47 CDT

Type Of Petrol
One of the commonest queries to the club is about the correct type of petrol to use with a vintage lawn mower. Although many old motor mowers with four stroke engines were made during the period when leaded petrol was standard the prevailing view is that these machines will run perfectly well on ordinary modern unleaded fuels. Lead based additives were used in petrol to help lubricate valves and prevent preignition on four stroke engines. However, old mower engines do not generally run fast enough, hot enough or at sufficient compression ratios for the presence of an additive to be a major factor. Two stroke engines do not require leaded fuel or additives.

Smaller and faster running engines made after about 1970 may benefit from use of an additive. Local mower repair shops will be able to advise customers on mowers with this type of engine which falls outside the scope of the Old Lawnmower Club.

Spark Plugs

Many older motor mowers require 18mm spark plugs that are no longer available. Some specialist vintage engine part suppliers may be able to assist.

A useful source that cross-references some old spark plug number with the modern equivalent can be found here.

Atco Home

olcspecialist — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:02:00 CDT

Overview

Atco has been manufacturing lawn mowers since 1921. The company has been through many changes of ownership and is now part of the same group as Suffolk and Qualcast.

Help With Atco Mowers

Dating Atco Mowers

Spare Parts Availability

Ransomes Home

olcspecialist — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:49:11 CDT

Overview

Ransomes started manufacturing lawn mowers in 1832 and has, with one or two short breaks, continued production ever since. The company is now part of the Textron Corporation.

Help With Ransomes Mowers

The Museum of English Rural Life at the University of Reading has an extensive archive of Ransomes information including operating manuals and sales and promotional literature. The museum can normally supply copies of some of this information and provide a basic machine dating service for a nominal cost which covers copying and postage.

When contacting the museum please have a note of any serial numbers from the mower and/or its engine. Patent numbers can also be useful. Motor mowers can generally be dated more accurately than hand machines because the production records compiled by Ransomes (and now retained by the museum) are more specific.

Dating Atco Mowers

olcspecialist — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:12:51 CDT

1921-1939

It is not easy to date Atco mowers made before 1939 with any precision. The company does not appear to have numbered its mowers or used any systematic dating process. There were relatively few different Atco models and it seems that the company was able to run its extensive service operations by simply knowing the type of mower and the cutting width. From this could be determined the spare parts required and there was no need for any further complications.

All Atco motor mowers produced during this period had either Villiers two-stroke or JAP four-stroke engines. Both engine manufacturers numbered their engines and it is often possible to date a mower from these, bearing in mind that the original motor could have been replaced at a later date. The numbering and dating of JAP engines is covered here and here. Dating Villiers engines is slightly more difficult for two reasons. First, it seems that engines were supplied in batches. Second, many engines were supplied with a special number prefix which denoted their use on lawn mowers but offered few clues to their date. For example, many Atco Motor Mowers (The Atco Standard) from the 1920s have Villiers 147cc engines with "H" prefixes to the numbers. Later, and into the 1930s, smaller Villiers "Midget" engines have CY or similar prefixes that also seem to be mower specific.

For these reasons it is normally only possible to date Atco mowers to an approximate age within the known production period. Experienced collectors and enthusiasts can often give an assessment of a mower's age based on small variations in design.

1945-1970

Like many other manufacturers Atco ceased mower production during the Second World War to concentrate on other products. When mower production resumed around 1947 the company adopted a systematic approach to numbering its machines using a small detachable brass plate on the frame. This was typically attached at the end of a frame cross-piece and held in place between the nut and frame. All mowers were given a basic identification number with the format AABB/C where AA is the cutting width in inches and BB is the last two digits of the year of production. So, for example, 1247 would indicate a 12 inch mower made in 1947. When present the C also indicates a year and is always one higher than the BB, so the full number appears as 1253/4 or 1255/6 and so on. It is likely that numbers of this style indicate the mower was either an early season machine (eg a 1954 model made or sold in early 1955 before a replacement model was ready) or one sold between seasons.

Atco used the same numbering system across it complete range. As with pre-1939 machines there was little need for a more complicated system as the company produced a relatively small range of standardiused designs. However, it should be evident that the basic numbering system did not allow differentiation between different models (or completely different types of mower) with the same cutting width. For example, the company made 12 inch conventional, rotary and battery mowers at the same time and needed to make a distinction between each. The simplest solution was to use a series of suffixes to the main numbering system.

This numbering system appears to have fallen out of use by the late 1960s and, as far as is known, no mowers produced after 1970 were supplied with these designations.

1970 Onwards

It seems that Atco began to emply a longer serial numbering system from the late 1960s onwards. We do not have any details of this at present.

Atco Spares

olcspecialist — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:07:44 CDT

Spares for Atco lawn mowers can be difficult to obtain, although the following notes may be useful:

Mower Specific Components

Parts specific to the mower, such as frames and handles, are no longer available and the only option is to use a second machine as a donor.

Generic Components

Items such as bearings and roller chain were often sourced from third party manufacturers and can often be replaced with a modern equivalent. Roller and ball bearings, for example, can be found at most general engineering suppliers. Roller chain is also widely available from engineering and transmission stockists. Original bottom blades and cutting cylinders are no longer available but a few specialist companies can supply replacements from stock or using existing parts as a pattern.

Engine Components

Spares for Villiers engines back to the 1920s are widely available from a number of specialist stockists as well as online sites such as eBay. JAP spares are also available but less readily. Spares for Suffolk engines used on Atco mowers in the 1950s and 60s are difficult to obtain and the best option is to strip an existing unit.

Carburettors

A number of specialist companies can help with spares for carburettors and auction sites such as eBay regularly have items for sale. Very early Senspray and Atco carburettors from the 1920s can be found but prices are rising. Later Villiers carburettor spares can often be obtained from engine specialists.