OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Cylinder Scott Bonnar 45 X 2

Picked 2 more Scott Bonnars 45s both will run and are complete
What year are they
So now I have 4hp, 3hp, and 2hp models
Ian

Hi Ian, and ODK members,

Unfortunately, there is no rhyme or reason to the numbering sequence of Scott Bonnar mower numbers.
One thing is for sure, they do not run sequentially (ie. they do no start at 0001 and continue on) They may have been more of a batch numbering system..but we will probably never know as very few records exist.

The best way of dating a Scotty now, is by the date of manufacture of the Briggs engine (Model, Type and Code) stamped into the metal air cowling.
I will need the numbers of your engines to date them successfully mate.

The engine numbers
60102 0302 01 111103

8020 0607 02 76071901

Ian

Hi Ian, the first of your pics I can see faintly a 7 in front of the code, so it could be manufactured on the 1st November 1971 or the 10th November 1971...grumpy may advise here....
The second is easier....19th July 1976.

As I read it, the 60102 was manufactured on 10 November 1971. The 80202 was manufactured on 19 July, 1976. The 60102 is the silver engine on the one piece deck mower, while the 80202 is the orange engine on the two piece deck, which all seems to make sense.

Hi Grumpy, and thanks for confirming those dates, the silver one threw me a bit with only 7 numbers in the code.

Yes, I'm always uneasy with the 7 digit codes too Deejay. It seems that when the Model-Type-Code system was first adopted, Briggs thought they could get away with 7 digits, which meant only 1 for the shift/plant numbers. In practice in something less than 10 years they found themselves with more than 9 plants, so they had to add the eighth digit. I'm not at all sure they ever did use the second-last digit for a shift number, but they claimed that was what it was for when they first added the extra digit.

Thanks for that grumpy, it may only apply to the early 2 and 2.5HP Briggs engines.
One other thing here that has me tossed, Ian has stated:
I must say I have never seen an original Scott Bonnar with a 4HP engine fitted from manufacture.

I can't think of a side valve Briggs that was advertised as 4 hp (there were very popular 3.5 hp versions at that time though), so it might be a re-powering job.

I may have to go hit the back yard, I know I have several vertical briggs 4hp sidevalve engines, I will see if there is any 4hp ones of that era. I sprayed the weeds in the "wreck area" the other day I might be able to find something.

My error I can't tell the difference between a 3 and a 4 and I wear glasses the other is always telling me I'm half blind. I wont tell her I mixed up a 3 & 4
Ian

The 11 cubic inch vertical shaft sidevalves of the 80's were certainly badged as 4hp. I've got a Model 114902, Type 0174-01, Code 85072208 original engine on a SupaSwift Big Bob, that is.

Ian, no harm, no foul, the matter is trivial to anyone but a Scott Bonnar historian. You might have had a machine that had been retrofitted with an 11 cubic inch engine. A lot of SB45s have been re-engined by now (including Deejay's own beloved example, which now has a Honda G100 engine).

Joe and Gadge, I didn't say it but I meant in the core SB45 period that Ian's mowers came from: 1968-71 for the one piece deck, and around mid to latish 1970s for the collectible SB-made two piece deck machines. I'm not certain there weren't 11 cubic inch horizontal crankshaft 4 hp engines in that core time, I just haven't heard of one personally.

Thanks for the replies guys, that has put my mind at rest, I thought that I was seeing things when I saw the reference to 4HP.
All good,