OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Solid Deck SB 45 20"

I was perusing the interweb recently and came across this SB45 on Gumtree. I already have an original 45 17" that I was looking at changing out the reel for an 8 or 10 blade with a modified bottom blade for ultra low height of cut.

Unfortunately this mower has not had any love for quite some time. The reel was incorrectly adjusted and hitting the blade, the engine wouldn't run, the clutch thrust pad was destroyed, the catcher was rooted and some parts were missing including throttle cable and handle bar grips. But the mower had some potential and the things I wanted like the 8-blade reel and modified blade. I had recently also found a dead SB45 14" that I grabbed for parts, so the missing parts were not going to be an issue. I got it for a $120 which I thought was fair.

I got it home and had a play around to see if this was worth the investment to get it cutting to a level I was satisfied with. A quick assessment of the mower I can see it requires the following repairs;

- Reel and bedknife grind
- New cutter bearings
- New front roller caps
- New rear roller bearings as there is some slop in the rear roller.
- New PTO sprocket and bearing
- Potentially new chains, although I have a spare set from the 14"
- Clutch fork has some lateral movement, but still operates correctly

I thought I would do some quick servicing and see if this mower is something that I want to use. My lawn is a little pokey in some areas so I wanted to try it out.

-Disassembled clutch and engine from chassis. Cleaned carb, reset governer, replaced thrust pad and captive cotter with parts I had. Removed reel and soleplate, reset tolerance and gave it a backlap to clean up the blade and reel faces. Adjusted and lubricated chains, set the height and got mowing. It went pretty well, although the motor has a surge issue. No dramas, I have a GX160 that I scored from work that will be going in place of the aftermarket Tecumseh. Add a 3/4 inner clutch half to the parts list.

I will be doing a full disassembly of the mower over winter to correct the problems I have already observed, and I will probably do a soft resto of the appearance.




Can anyone determine when this machine was manufactured please?

Here are some more pics HERE