OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Rotary My Southern Cross KXD-2 restorations

Finally got around to taking some pics of my two Southern Cross KXD-2 mowers.

The amount of work and hours spent restoring these old girls to near showroom condition can only be described as monumental. The first restoration was my father's 1966 mower (the one with the black Tecumseh recoil). The second (with red wind-up starter) came from near Lismore and has been dated as 1962. My father had partly restored his mower and I really only had to fix a couple of oil and fuel leaks, clean and sand it all down and paint it. The second one was far more difficult as it had a crack in the base, no wheels, was coated in dirt and oil, and three of the wheel axles were almost completely eaten away with rust so had to be rebuilt. It was extremely rusty and it took 2 days just to get the deck lever to raise and lower again. I guess I should have taken some before shots, but for some reason didn't think of it. I was too busy getting stuck into the restorations. Suffice to say the one from Lismore was basically a rusty, corroded and broken wreck. The engine had frozen in place from rust and one of the valves was stuck tight. Thanks to my uncle who is good with engines and other tasks like soldering and welding, we eventually got it working again. I was short of a carby but as luck would have it one turned up on ebay. Then I found the electrics were dead and had to buy a new condenser and coil. It took an enormous effort to bring these mowers back to what you see on this page, but well worth it just to see them in their original colours again and to hear them running.

Beautiful beautiful job mate. They look gorgeous! Top notch job.

Hello vint-mow and all
I feel we are privileged in all of this ...

I do not feel anyone has produced Southern Cross mowers to this quality.
From my point of view, we have recorded a less-known mower - from this
great Toowoomba Foundry.

It is a monumental project - to restore these old girls.
Many of us have followed this project. It wasn't a simple one at all ...

I hope this record survives as a testament to Southern Cross and
vint-mow, who saw the potential, and inspired us all!

----------------------
Jack

Yes well done they look excellent

Thank you for the compliments, makes it all worthwhile.

One small goof, for some reason I forgot to attach the windrower. I also have a grass catcher but it still needs some repair and a coat of paint.

I also have the original Bendix Type K air filters, but decided to leave them off for now, rather than risk knocking off paint. All it takes is one slip from a screwdriver or spanner and I tend to be clumsy. lol!

They look great Ian, glad I was able to see number one at first hand.

Thank you for your help Paul. I picked your brains about some of the technical details on these mowers on many occasions. And you also helped me with some of the hard to get parts e.g. the blades.

Hello vint_mow, are the back wheel original or aftermarket, im having trouble finding replacements for my mower I think ill have to change my axels to suit bunnings wheels.

Cheers Greg

Congratulations vint-mow, what a superb job. I just wish I had your patience and talent to apply to my Deutschers. And I must agree with CyberJack, what a shame to see the Toowoomba Foundry go.

My Dad worked there many years ago. Congrats agaain, Al

They do look like the Bunnings tin wheels Greg but you can put whatever wheels you like on the mower ,link below showing Victa wheels.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...rk-kx-c-c1960.html#lg=111881&slide=2


Cheers
Max.