OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Cylinder Bon Rover 45

Hi Guys just thought I would start bringing some of my mowers "on line" and sharing some pics, this is my little utilty, "daily driver" and unrestored unit.

Pictured here just after a major service, found a guy through ebay who was just fantastic, sharpened cleaned and repaired what I didn't have time to do myself, he was really well priced and was what I would have expected from a service from "yester year". Man this thing could cut a field of kevlar almost now that its been ground and relieved... yer I'm definately chuffed with this little 45 now, I couldn't believe it was the same mower when he dropped it back to my house..

I use this one on my nature strip as my model 65 is just a tad big to manouver around the concrete footpath, gutter edge and power pole.

The 10 blades make easy work of my kykuyu, I am mowing down to about 6mm at the moment with it. I will probably end up doing a full resto next winter once things slow down about I reckon.. Cheers Glenn.

Hey Glenn, we are worlds apart, at our place we are all about setting cutting height at maximum and slashing.

But I can appreciate a nice mower and nice lawn to go with it.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Glenn, she looks brilliant in original condition mate... well kept and well maintained, it will give you hours of mowing pleasure.
Personally, if it is in all original trim, I would just do a cosmetic restore...replacing bearings, clutch corks and worn parts if necessary. In other words, in depth maintenance and a full detail.
My Scotty 45 is 30+ years old and has had many parts replaced; (as worn out) plus of course the Honda G100 engine, the chassis is still in original paint.

Nice machine mate!

Hi Mark I certainly know what you mean there, I also have a 5acre property and it will never see a cylinder unfortunately, would love to have the time... but Like your place it gets the good old fashioned slashing...

Hi Deejay, I agree, this is a work horse not a show pony.. how ever a bit of dressage never goes astray on the old nag..

I just replaced a couple of bearings and the handlebars due to some fatigue stress cracks..

As far as painting goes I really only need to touch up the inside of the grass deflector to stop the surface rust and the chain cover as it is serioursly scratched.

I would also like to get it back to original livery and am chasing a "Rover" decal for the chain case though.

I must say I like a Bonnar in the original paint where possible, it definately adds character.

Its surprising how many people passing by comment on my Bonnar's when I'm out the front using them, one guy even pulled over in his car telling me he hasn't seen one in years and thought they all went by the way of sims metal and wanted to know where he could get one..

I think when my Briggs goes I will repower with a Honda also, I have a brand new 5hp sitting on my shelf just waiting for a new project....

I guess one of the nice things about these machines is they are fairly simple and other than the cast alloy pieces spares can be remanufactured if need be, so I hope that mine will be mowing for a lot more years to come..

I'm just geting my cylinder honed and a new bedknife blade installed on my model 65 and will put up some pics of that one when I'm done as well..

Cheers Glenn.

She looks like the last of the Genuine breed. With that being said I don't know what the star and the Protea's are like.

Hi Greg, initial reports on the 'Star' mower, that I have heard, said it is a knock-off of the Model 45, but that the build quality was reflected in the price comparison with the Scotty/Rover 45. The Star is considerably cheaper. They are made somewhere in Asia.

The Protea on the other hand (as the name suggests) is manufactured in South Africa and from all reports possesses excellent build quality.
Scott Bonnar had been actively engaged in exporting their range of high quality turf care products to South Africa since the mid 1930's and so they have had first hand knowledge in mower manufacture with staff from the Thebarton factory sent to train them in 1957 and based in Johannesburg.

The Drive shaft cover looks interesting are still avail as a new part as I would be interested in getting one for my 20' 45