Hi all,
I must be bit of a glutton for punishment with old equipment as I don't think I've ever owned, or even used, a new mower!
I've joined to find out a bit more about two old mowers I've found, I'll post about those in the "Identification of particular machines" section.
Meanwhile, I've been mowing (and trimming) lawns since I was a kid, for some reason I find it relaxing. I was also the only one who could get the equipment started with any reliability!
A brief history of the main mowing equipment I've used since I was young:
- Rover Princess mower (2-stroke Villiers wind-up). I couldn't wind it all the way (had to see-saw it) and also had to prime the trigger when I was young to be able to start it! The catcher disintegrated early and the safety flap only lowered toa 45 degree angle- great for all the dog bones scattered around...The carby tended to flood when the fuel tap was turned on. I eventually worked out a pattern which pretty much started it first go,e very go. It had little torque and was unsuited to heavy/thick grass, with much better options (as I found out with a B&S 4-stoke later)
- McCulloch "Eager Beaver" 200 whipper snipper. Tough as nails, had for 20 + years. A right B***ard to start at any time. Ended up with a free masport with exactly the same engine (and problems)eventually that died too. If it wasn't for the starting issues they could have run for ever.
- Victa Utility (side exit). My current mower, doesn't see much work in Canberra. It's an oldie, bought refurbished on Ebay from a retired engineer who refurbished them. I believe it's not original as it has an old (points ignition) 3hp B&S mated to a 4-blade flywheel. But it's light, manoevreable and does the job admirably. Might post queries about this one in the future...
Anyway, glad to be here! Now off to compose a thread about two old Victas...
