OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum The Old Soap Box New ROVER Reel Mowers

Hello ODK Members and Guests

Administrator Deejay gave me advance notification on this.
In his absence (interstate business), here is the news!

Rover Mowers have recently announced their new reel mowers!
This is the third manifestation of this type in their history.

They introduced their Thoroughbred in the 1970s, and had the Rover 45s
in the 1990s. The current offering involves two models: the Classic and
the Kensington. Both are 17" machines.

Note that these introduce the cassette system to these shores; although Rover
prefer to call them 'cartridges'. These enable an operator to quickly change from
reel to aerator, scarifier, verticutter, and etc.

They also have a true twin drive; meaning independent operation of reel and roller!
Prices are good: ranging from about $1,550 and 1,800, excluding dealer costs & freight.

This is a proven design, dating back some two decades. Does anyone recognise the design?

PART TWO - the Rover Alletts

The Rover Machines are really British Alletts: http://www.allett.co.uk/

It's not as simple as that though. Bosch, who used to own the Qualcast Group:
Qualcast, Atco Suffolk and Webb - sold the Group a few years ago. The 'Atco' name went
to GGP (Global Garden Products) who now sell the new Atcos, which are essentially Masports
(nee Ransomes/Morrisons).

The clever thing is: Allett bought just about everything but the name:
designs, tooling and manufacturing rights to make Qualcasts and Atcos. Hence, the new
Rovers are Alletts, but not real Alletts, but machines originally designed and branded
as Qualcasts, Atcos &c. I hope that's clear.

Here are the current Allett Classic and Kensington models:-

PART THREE - SPECIFICATION

The Classicis a mix of good features and not-so-good. It is said to be powered
by a Rover 87ccc engine. Just replace the word 'Rover' with Loncin petrol engine.
As I understand it, these Chinese engines have a good reputation.

The rear roller is a single piece - meaning no differential action on a 17" cut!
It has a plastic front roller. On the plus side, it has dual drive, with separate belt
clutches for reel and roller. The machine will take the optional scarifier cartridge.

The Kensington is, for me, better value for the money. It has a two-piece
differential rear roller and bearings in the zinc-coated steel front roller.
The engine, a Rover 118cc, is really a Kawasaki unit.

Here are some exploded parts views. Note that because the belt case has to enclose
independent belt clutches the final reduction gearing for the landroll is achieved via a
pinion and ring gear, similar as that used in the Scott Bonnar Diplomats and the cheaper
Morrison Scott Bonnars.

Here are some YouTube videos showing the general layout of the transmission
and cartridge systems:-

[video][/video]

[video][/video]

[video][/video]

I have a SB45 17" that was completely rebuilt by MozPartsOz at Marion, SA, Greg is a fantastic guy, love the SB45, so simply.

However, I saw a Rover Kensington 17L in very good condition that has the 118cc Loncin 4 stroke and purchased it for $1100. That may seem a tad expensive but the decider was that it included:

1. New replacement belts
2. Dethatcher QC cartridge (new $618)
3. 10 Blade QC cartridge (new #1032)

both in VG condition.

You see, I was thinking of buying a scarifier/detatching mower and was thinking if I like the Rover/Allett Kensington 17L as much as the basically new SB45 17", I'll purchase the Allett 17" QC scarifier cartridge and sell the SB45 17".

It would hurt me to sell the SB45 but really couldn't be bothered removing the reel cutter and replacing with scarifier reel, then changing back to mower.

Am I crazy with this thinking?

Finished up selling my rebuilt NEW Scott Bonnar for $3750, paid $3000 and spent about $400 so I made a profit of about $350 but money wasn't reason for selling.

I wanted to go to the cartridge system so I purchased a RoVer Kensington 17L, had to drive 800Km round trip from Adelaide to Mildura to collect. (diesel $150)

The RoVer came with standard 6 blade cartridge but the selling point was it included 10 blade and de-thatcher cartridges, to buy these 2 is around $1800 new so I thought the $1150 was a bargain for a near new RoVer 17L that had been carefully used and looked after.

I purchased a allett scarifyer cartridge for A$532 so I should be set now.

I actually prefer the RoVer 17L to my previous new Scott Bonnar 45 17" as it's a slightly lighter machine and doesn't seem to dig in on one side if ground is a little uneven.

Anyway, I rang ADE in Melbourne who are the Allett Aust agent and was advised that the RoVer Kensington 17L (Loncin) is a re-badged Allett Kensington 17H (Honda) and parts are readily available which is a huge bonus for a machine that hasn't been sold for maybe 5-6 years now.