OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. Rover Thoroughbred reel removal

Hi Everyone, my name's Andy, and I recently acquired my partner's Grandfather's Rover Thoroughbred. He passed away about 5 years ago and it was sitting in his shed. Not having much luck attaching a pic, so I'll try again later. I've been cleaning up the reel assembly and drive chain assembly before I try firing the engine up. It's all in pretty reasonable condition and I recently joined the site which has been a fantastic resource. The reel will need a sharpen at some point, and I'm hoping someone on here has removed it before and could offer some advice on how to proceed? From the parts diagrams it doesn't seem to have bearing holder top brackets like an SB-45, and it looks like you have to unbolt the whole bearing holder. Can anyone please enlighten me on the best way forward? Thanks for any input.

Got a pic to upload. It has a deflector and chain cover, they are just off because I needed to get to the chain tension and drive clutch bolt. Has a catcher as well, but not the original plastic one. It's a green metal one, possibly Jack made it, he was a farmer and repaired a lot of his machinery.

Hello Andy E
Welcome to these great forums.

The Thoroughbred was always a hybrid design - taking features
from Ransomes and Scott Bonnar machines. But Rover added their
own take on this.

Yes, no reel bearing assembly like a 45 and no
connecting the bearing assembly to the bottom block.

So disassembly is easy. Remove the bottom block bolts (23)
and then remove the reel bearing housing pivot bolts (20).
Drop the reel downwards with housings intact.

Housings can be removed by a wooden or rubber
dead blow hammer or mallet.

Hope this helps.
-------------------------------
Jack

Thanks Jack, I'll have a look at it in the next few days.
Cheers.