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If all else fails bring it to my place and I can fit a later cup starter setup on it seeing you are in Melb

Hi FiM

Not completely sure what motor you have without seeing it but sounds like the one with those older Briggs recoil setups, that the clutch pawl or ratchet sprocket acts up, works just like a bicycle freehub—if the little dogs or springs get gummed up, worn, or fail to disengage, the spinning flywheel catches the starter and forces the cord back out at a million miles an hour, generating enough friction to melt the plastic housing and fry the ratchet.

You can buy a new inner starter part that threads onto the crank, if you can find one, but usually these have small steel balls inside to
engage ,if its not too stuffed I usually open the seal up enough with a feeler gauge on the ratchet part and spray WD40 into it , you aren't
meant to as this makes it slip but if you spray it then leave it a day its usually dries enough to work but is lubricated enough to stop the squealing
and ripping the rope starter apart.

I usually find if I replace them with another second hand one it does the same thing until you use WD40 in it.

Cheers
Max.

Hi Olqualcast

Its a D61 Turner mower they just put a Qualcast badge on it for a different manufacturer.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.a...turner-the-lawnmower-range-for-1961.html

It’s badge-engineered, exactly like how a mid-eighties Ford Laser is actually a Mazda 323 underneath. Turner and Qualcast were different brands, but they shared the exact same chassis and design—Turner built the mower for Qualcast just slapped their badge on the front of the same machine.

Sometimes other shops would sell them with no cast badge on the front.

Cheers
Max.

Hey I resently got an old rotary hoe with a briggs and stratton 5hp it had a few problem but iv got new carbi new exhaust new head gasket seal new electric starter motor but it starts and then sckwheels loudly and melted plastic pull cord assemble and pushed all the cord back out and the ratchet washer melted off so I replaced both started it again and same thing what going on please any help would be super appreciated

Digging through a barn at my grandparents farm in Western Australia came across this mower, have not found a single example or picture of another one anywhere, has sparked an interest in vintage mowers now, please some info or photos of one would be great I would like to restore it to its original state.
Deck looks to be hammer tone gold originally, thanks in advance

Hi Tony1985 and Sapper,
Couldn't be said better exactly as it is and very little can now be done about it. The future for this country looks bleak I am afraid

The major difference between when we made things, and not; tariffs.

Australia, like all western countries that made things, used to have huge import tariffs.

As soon as these were gone, most industry went overseas chasing the profit. A lot of manufacturing countries, even though they pay less, still have large tariffs. This was shown in Thailand when we exported a few Ford Territory's there, and the Thai government chucked a big tariff on them. There are no tariffs for all the diesel utes they ship here of course...

If you go back in time, you couldn't get a "cheap" mower any more than you could get a cheap TV. These were major purchases, most of which were made here by people on decent wages. Would people be happy losing all their cheap products in order to get manufacturing back? I strongly doubt it.

It would probably take a shock similar to what caused our leaders to begin our industrialisation after WW2; almost getting invaded by a foreign power and finding at the time that we made bugger all, being a resource bucket for Britain and importing everything from there, and relying on our allies for weapons, etc.

Hi mower1, Tuchcut Turftrack ? ALROH

Can't say I know much about them as I think they are Extremely Regional and Niche

Alroh a Western Australian company based in Perth. Unlike massive international brands like Rover, Victa, or Toro that exported worldwide, Alroh's heavy commercial and agricultural gear was mostly sold locally to WA councils, turf farms, and landscape contractors. Because it was a niche, low-volume Australian manufacturer from decades ago, very little of its historical catalog made it onto the internet.

I'd say it's an Alroh slasher by the looks of it.

How to Find the Exact Year
Check the Honda Engine Serial Number: Stamped directly onto the metal crankcase of the GX240 (usually near the base or behind the fuel tank) is a frame type and serial number code (e.g., GC04-1000001). You can cross-reference this prefix/serial combo on Honda's engine site to find the exact month and year the engine was built.

Check the Alroh Compliance Plate: Look for a riveted aluminum tag on the main chassis or near the hydrostatic drive controls. Alroh often stamped serial numbers directly into the frame. I can see a couple plates on the upper handle bars.

Finding an explicit "Made in Australia" map badge or sticker on a vintage Alroh piece aligns entirely with standard manufacturing practices of that period. Australian industrial equipment builders frequently utilized generic or universal "Australian Made" compliance badges alongside their proprietary brand decals to satisfy municipal and commercial procurement rules favoring domestic goods. Because Alroh was fiercely proud of its Western Australian manufacturing roots under Alan Hair, incorporating domestic labeling was standard practice.

Alroh Turf Machinery under Alan Ronald Hair, they built commercial-grade equipment meant to take an absolute beating on turf farms, golf courses, and municipal properties. Because those machines were over-engineered with heavy plate steel and commercial motors like the Honda GX240, they were built to last decades—which is why yours is still around, even if its siblings have long since vanished from the internet.

Alan Ronald Hair was the founder of Alroh Turf Machinery (derived from his name, Alan Ronald Hair). He operated the business as a manufacturer of specialized, heavy-duty commercial and domestic turf care equipment, including mowers and edgers, which became well-known around Australia. In addition to founding Alroh, he is historically noted for designing and building early forms of racing go-karts through his manufacturing business (Alan's Engineering and Manufacturing) located in Subiaco, Perth.


The Alroh brand has long been regarded as the best of all the manufacturers of turf equipment and for many years traded as Alroh Turf Machinery by the founder Alan Ronald Hair (Al-ro-H). At it's peak, the Alroh range of products included both commercial and domestic machines. Since 2005 the Alroh machines were for the premium domestic market. Production ceased in 2014.

Cheers
Max.