OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers 14" Rover Thoroughbred - Pre-purchase.

Hey All,

I am looking at purchasing a 14" cut Rover Thoroughbred machine tonight; I have the following things to look over; I have been using a Subaru Mower (Rotary) and I think I would like to start advancing my cuts with the lawn etc.

I have a couple of things/questions to look over:
1. Any play in clutch (movement sideways back to front)
2. Check Sprockets & Chain for wear and tare.
3. Check blades to see how much meat is left.

This is the mower i'll be looking at:







I absolutely love my lawn; but with the rotary and non propelled it's killing me taking me well over 2.5 hours cutting the lawn.

I also have a question for you guys with longer hilly lawns, will the 14" be enough; it's buffalo lawn so when you're "Pushing" the mower up the hill it tends to dig into the lawn, going down the hill isn't an issue at all.

My current lawn:

Hello Chadsticles

A warm welcome to these forums.
What a spectacular lawn!

I can't help but feel this is the wrong mower for you.
The Thoroughbreds were decent machines, designed and manufactured
at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. But . . .

This particular machine does look to have had considerable work,
with a re-manufactured catcher (the original was plastic).
The problem with the Thoroughbreds is that no parts are available.
So the condition of reel and bottom blade will be important.
[Some Competent repairers can make new blades from stock though.]

Given that it takes you 2.5 hours to cut the lawn (with 18" rotary),
a larger reel mower would be more suited. The Thoroughbred was also
made as a 16", but the best 'classic' machine would be a Model 45 17",
because it is a great design and parts are procurable.

p.s. Also check the engagement speed of the primary clutch. Worn shoes
require a higher RPM for engagement. The Scott Bonnar is a more
'relaxed' machine in that its primary clutch is a positive, cone
type, requiring less RPM for successful engagement of the cutters.
Both machines have very reliable - and similar - roller clutches.

Hope this helps.
-------------------------
Jack

Thank you, it has taken many hours to get it this way and starting to enjoy the look of it.


From researching the past couple of hours not many reviews nor forums come up with the Rover Thoroughbred unlike the Model 45 series.

The ultimate mower

Hi Chadsticles and Mod CJ,

I totally concur in what Jack has already mentioned.

My big beef with the Rover units is that it has a sharp edge on the rear roller and as such it would always press edges into the freshly cut lawn where as the Scott Bonnar's have a radius on the outer edges and are far more forgiving. Parts are almost impossible to locate for the Rovers and as Jack has mentioned the centrifugal clutches are always an issue with wear.

I guess I'm quite biased towards the Model 45 SB as you can probably tell from my user ID, but then it's the most popular cylinder cut mower in the domestic market with just about all user parts still available and also will be for many years to come.

In your case you could easily support a 20 inch machine on your lawn but a 17 might be just a bit more manageable and that's why so many of that variant were sold from the late 1960's right through to the mid 2000's.

Anyway that's my take on it.

Also a big warm welcome the ODK Forums, just about any machine you buy will be well supported here, but if the Scott Bonnar is your weapon of choice then you'll never have a problem here at all.

Cheers
BB