Opportunistically I brought the second machine into work this week to get it torn down and ready for its restoration. Big Red will be no more when I finish and the colour scheme will be somewhat similar to the one below. Would be great to have the catcher like that too, but we'll see how that goes...
The chain case is quite rusty so that will take an electrolysis bath tonight, and there are some gouge marks on the bottom which lead me to believe the chain is wrong or maybe the posts are a touch bent... The rest of the mower appears to have no ill effect from the scourge of time....
A few things are making me think this was a re-birth and not a genuine sale. None more so than the lubricating hole on the thrust pad pointing down! The cutter sprocket needs replacing, which is not necessarily indicative of anything other than being flogged, but the more I tear this down the more I doubt the genuine nature of the seller. The chain linking the cutter to the engine is a solid piece - no split link. Could this be an issue and am I right in thinking it may be non-genuine? The roller chain intermediate appears normal. The reel bearings are packed full of sand and dirt and old grease so they'll need a proper bath to ascertain their future. Stuff like this remind me of an earlier comment by Bonnar_Bloke regarding "Council workers flogging units" so I'll be extra vigilant when determine if parts can be saved or replaced. There are no visible cracks on the twin rails, but I'm keen to get rid of the powder coat to make absolute certain they're OK.
Good news is the sprockets came off the shaft with only minor persuasion. The keys look unmarked as does the channel each sprocket connects with and I'm hoping for a similar result when I attack the clutch area tonight.
Once I dialled in the reel to bed knife properly last October, the unit cut just fine for the past season which gives me hope the unit is going to perform even better when fixed and given a big dose of TLC.
