OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics ARCHIVE: Model 45 - Disturbing news !!

I hear today on good authority, that the manufacturing of replacement parts for Scott Bonnar and Rover models "45" will cease. Not sure when, however is this old news or something new??
Most unfortunate !!
Ross

hmmm ive thought its been coming for a while because when ever i order parts i have to wait ages. the mower shops excuse is they make batches of parts instead of a constant supply.
shows more than ever that todays society is a throw away one. i dont think the demand for these type of parts is very high though because apart from people like ourselves that enjoy the vintage appeal of such machinery.
i suppose we all have to accept their are more reliable things out there than the victa corvette or the Scott bonnar 45.

Hi to rossf and mowernut, this is not a rumour it is fact. Rover Australia ceased manufacturing in Brisbane last year and all jigs and tooling was subsequently scrapped. This happened after a bid for the manufacturing rights by a Victorian company was dismissed by Rover.....what a disgrace!!

However, some mower repair outlets still have new old stock (NOS) parts still available and 2 outlets I know of have heaps of new and used parts for sale.

The Scott Bonnar Model 45/ Rover 45, has been cloned in both South Africa as a "Scott Bonnar" and in China as the "Star". These are both knock-offs of the original and may be a source of parts in the future.....Plus the fact that there are plenty of SB 45's out there second hand, available through e-Bay etc. cheap; so it would be easy to buy one to christmas-tree parts from, to keep your pride and joy running sweetly.

To mowernut, re your last thoughts, I disagree with you there, I know of no mower on the current market, made in Australia, that is more reliable than a Scott Bonnar. There are Bowling and Golf clubs still using machines built in the forties, still going strong.
The main point here is don't worry, because of the Model 45's design, most parts can be sourced, and if not, can be locally manufactured.....that is the legacy of Scott Bonnar.

What would have been great is if the old machining equipment from where they made the SB stuff had gone up for sale and somone wanting to make spare parts bought the lot....

Hi Joe, that's exactly what happened mate, Golf and Bowling Machinery, who currently manufacture the Scott Bonnar "Queen" bowling green mower under licence, made an approach, in serious dollars, to Rover Australia for the manufacturing rights, jigs and tooling, machinery and trade-mark rights of the Model 45.

Rover rejected the offer, then subsequently sent the lot to the scrap dealer and local tip!!
What a bloody waste!! No one with any bloody common sense!
I'll get off my soap-box now....lol!

coming from a machinist / tooling background there really isnt anything on those machines that cant be knocked up on a lathe or mill in an afternoon anyway.

lol Darryl i knew that would kick up some dust! what i should have said is the are often labor intensive for the novice / home user. the cost of grinding the blade and knife alone is enough to send most people skyward. lucky i did a few for friends and i on the cylindrical grinder at tafe so saved a heap or cash there.
i would never argue that the atcos or similar are any better because they were all underpowered, over complicated English crap.

the number one thing i hate about these units is the clutch that connects to the engine to the main drive shaft. when replacing the cork you have to pull the whole thing apart then practice witch craft to get the strait thin strip of cork in there with out splitting or breaking it. done about 6 of them (4 for the local bowls club that run 8 of them) and cursed every time.
regards jay

Jay, some of the jobs are difficult even with a decent home workshop. I can't cut internal keyways, because I don't have a press-type keyway cutting kit (let alone a slotter), and keyways in internal tapers are especially difficult. Making chain sprockets - one of the most wear-prone parts - is also so difficult I'd never bother. I have a rotary table, so I can cut the teeth, but if you want it to last more than a year or two you need to use high carbon steel and heat treat it properly after machining, and I don't have facilities for that.

I agree with your point generally, but in practice I think you need to have access to a middle-sized toolroom rather than just a decent workshop. In a town or even a regional center, it doesn't seem practical.

Hi mowernut, talk about the luck of the Irish, my clutch cork went in without a hitch!
I must admit the cork I bought was cut in a very shallow semi-circle so, as you brought the ends together, it formed the cone shape. I got the cork from a supplier in Victoria.

grumpy, i agree in a home workshop even with a decent mill or lathe it isn't easy but i do all my machining at tafe in their workshop with endless types of lathes, mills and tooling so anything's possible there with enough time.
the problem seems to be people in industrial workshops feel if it isnt done with a CNC machine and there isnt multiple copies being made of the same thing it isnt worth setting up for it which is a dead loss to the rest of us.

whats scarier is that there isnt many young blokes like my self learning the trade (machining and engineering) so in the future there will be no one to make any parts for our projects.




mine were a total strait piece that was about 10 inches long so i had to cut them to length when in so they matted exactly. made for real fun lol
regards jay

Hi mowernut, there is only one thing for me to say with that news, "Long live the M & E Tradies!!

jay, if the part is suitable for CNC manufacture it can be useful to go through the exercise of setting up the job on CNC. Once you have a debugged CNC program to make a part, you can go back to the engineering company any time and get one part made, or half a dozen. That creates an easy opportunity for you to become the new supplier of odd bits like the wearing parts of an SB mower. You don't need to make them yourself, you just need a drawing of the blank plus a CNC program to finish-machine it. I suspect that is the long term solution to most problems concerning parts for vintage cars, motorcycles, mowers etc.

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Jack