OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Double SB45 restoration

bb,
because it looks better IMO
yes, and his father in law also made up the new deflector plate out of the same heavier gauge zinc plated steel. not sure the green i used is period specific either way.

the 1970's decals looked cheap and understated compared to the 1960's decals.

i like to think it was rebuilt better than new so sticking with original colours and decals would not be true, especially with a new engine.

Hi Mikeo,

Yes He's pretty good (Dennis that is). I think that particular 20 inch catcher was originally manufactured for me but some how negotiations broke down over shipping. Sadly shipping is just so over rated nowadays and most times ends up costing more than the item itself does.
BTW the colour choice wasn't a criticism, rather more so merely a question as to why the colour change.

Regardless, it looks superb and will give someone many years of trouble free mowing.

Cheers,
BB

This isn't really relevant, but that's the prettiest SB45 I've seen.

Hello all

I've got to agree with Grumpy, it's a very nice job indeed.
That's a very pretty 'Bonnar green' too! I personally like the
old chaincase logo - a machine with something old; something new.
I bet that engine is a sweet little runner!

Smooth operator.
-------------------------------
JACK

Thanks very much BB, grumpy, Jack!!

I'm just planning out the 17" rebuild, the reel is in fair condition, bends and broken bits(repairable). its more cost efficient to buy a nice new 8 blade reel and bed bar with new knife good to go from OPE, so I was wondering if there was a market for the old reel and bed bar? and what sort of dollars they should sell for?

in the front roller bar assembly where the height adjuster bolts through, the hole seems flogged out so roller assembly can move up and down. probably not critical to lawn height but still could be worth welding up and re-drilling for tight fit. anyone else done this?

i don't think i will paint the front and rear rollers on the 17" knowing it will be put to use regularly and will wear off quick. I can't think of any other surface treatments that would be strong enough other than rubber lagging?

Hi Mikeo,

Honestly I don't really get it ? why would you spend an extra $50 on the sole plate if yours is OK and not cracked or bent out of shape. For standard lawn work you're not going to have anything better with an 8 blade reel opposed to the standard 6. If yours can be repaired and has plenty of life left on it then that's the way I'd go. It all depends on what contacts you have at your disposal I guess as my reel sharpening and bed knife replacement and machining only costs me $75, so you can see why I wouldn't go down the road you're thinking of.

I've just scrolled back to your original photos you put up and your bed knife is very serviceable indeed with a couple of machinings still left its belt and that reel could be easily repaired and thus save you quite a bit of money that could be required on the machine itself.

Yes I'm a tad frugal.

Cheers,
BB

Cheers,
BB

Hi Mikeo,
Congrats on a fantastic looking mower. That 3.5 with the red cowl is just the perfect engine and have to say looks like it should always have been there. I also love the old school decals as they do look better but I did succumb to peer pressure and purchased the later style ones! Look forward to the 17".

The 17" resto is stalling a little at the moment. I've been doing some investigation into making it a groomer/verticutter setup as other members have done on here. I've done some 3D models of some ideas based on whats commercially available. I managed to clear a lot of space in my shed so now easily have 3 mowers stored in there which means the push to sell the 20" machine is less from the wife. I managed to get a hold of a worn out 17" reel which I intend on removing the blades and plates and using the shaft as the base to mount new vertical blades on.

At this stage I will also be keeping with the original 3HP b&s motor. I combined the best parts of the two that I had and i must say the engine is running beautifully, even starting first pull!!

I have wintergreen couch and during summer months up here in Brisbane it thatches up very quickly and leads to scalping the lawn which is my main desire for a groomer mower. Just to try and limit the horizontal growth and clear out some of the thatch. Thats the plan anyway.

Hello mikeo

Yep, it's amazing how lawns can be improved with regular de-thatching.
Here is a post you might be interested in:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=64804#Post64804

(One of the cartridges may be cheap enough for the components you need)
Please keep us informed of any progress.

Hope this helps.
---------------------------------
JACK

Here is a couple of pics from the 3d model i've been working on. I was planning on getting the blades laser cut out of 1.2mm thk mild steel and folding out the three fins on each blade. The fins act as spacers between each blade as well as generating the wind effect to clear debris. I also went with a slotted hole to mount on shaft to be able to replace individual blades if damaged without having to remove the assembly. I was going to weld each blade to the next on the fold out flaps, and weld every 5th or 6th blade to the shaft. not huge amounts of welds, just tacks.

The quotation for the blades to be laser cut from 1.2mm thk mild steel sheet is $2.55 each. I need around 44 blades for the assembly so would order 15 or so for spares.

It seems verticutter blade spacing is around 1" and groomers around 1/4" so I was going to space these around 3/8" which is somewhere in between.

Hello Mikeo,

I can't really comment on the blade design or the spacing (I have no idea).
I can say that the pricing (for laser cutting) is way below any retail price for
commercial cutter blades.

It appears to me, for residential use, mild steel blades are the way to go.
At your pricing, a replacement set after a couple of seasons would be very economical.

p.s. I love your generated drawings. I'm a cad when it comes to those things

We look forward to following your progress here.

All very interesting.
--------------------------------
JACK

surprised no one else had any comments about the blade design?

Hi mikeo,

You seem surprised ? I'm gob smacked that there hasn't been any activity regarding Scotty's full stop.

In regards to your grooming reel, I want to have one 17 machine purely dedicated to this function and a couple of others for just normal cutting. So how much do you think it would be all up to make one reel to slide straight in to a 17 inch machine ?

Cheers,
BB

BB, I got hold of an old 17 inch reel as a donor for the shaft for $35, plus blades is $150ish all up for materials. Cutting apart old reel and welding is my time. A lick of red paint ought to finish it off. Its not too big and outlay to get a one made up as a prototype. I'm doing some work for a machinery company at the moment which is getting a lot of 1.2mm plate laser cut so I may be able to get some blades cut out of leftover bits for less dollars.

Design is based on having soul plate installed but no bedknife, so as in your case, my case would be as a dedicated groomer set up, leaving the 20" for cutting duties.

Hi mikeo,

I've got plenty of 17 inch machines laying around here (about 20 of them to be accurate) and one of them has a totally buggered reel (blades only damaged) so I could use that machine as the groomer and remove that reel for the transformation.

This would lower the cost by $35 I'd say.

Cheers,
BB

BB,

As I make the necessary modifications to the reel I will try my best to document the steps on film

I still need to pick up a 17" catcher off Dennis too.

I will weigh in on this discussion as I have made a similar reel.

I initially went with a tri-blade configuration, and while it worked well at every low HOC (less than 6mm) as soon as the lawn got too thick it tended to chop and rip rather that cut smoothly. Think of it like an actual saw blade; more cutting tips equates to a smoother finer cut.

Also, I would be pretty wary of having a fast rotating assembly (potentially under a fair degree of stress) without the all the blades physically attached to it. Personally, I think there is a potential for a blade to detach.

100% of the verticutters that I have seen have been mounted on a shaft (hex, square etc) and secured such that there is almost zero chance of blade detachment short of a catastrophic failure.

Just my 2c.

I have had some blades laser cut out of 2mm mild steel and tracked down some 10mm spacers through Golf and Bowling Melbourne. I went with slightly thicker material encase I want to do some deeper verticutting into the soil.

It is now a dead-ringer for devosi's reel, except for the cut-outs in the blade to help clear debris.

Simon

That looks an absolute ripper ! pardon the pun.

Cheers,
BB

Thanks for the input simrice. I'll take all those good points on board and have another play around with it.

have had a muck around again with the design of the blade and went with a simpler 8 tip arrangement. instead of fins for air flow i was thinking of getting a "rake" type plate that is basically a full width plate with fingers cut out that would go between the blades and span from the front roller to the shaft of the cutter. this would be to direct any debris into the catcher.

going a more basic assembly method as well with these blades by simply sliding each blade onto the shaft, spacing and welding each one. so removal of blades would mean grinding them all off. painful but just would like to get something working as summer thatching is almost happening here(i know its still winter!)

here is some pics(virtual anyway)

Pretty nice design work there Mikeo. I had enough trouble doing my 2D blades in illustrator!

So I would assume that you are going to cut off the final reel disc on one end, load and weld each blade onto the shaft, space them correctly and true and then weld the reel disc back on the end?

not sure about the reel discs remaining. that was just a carry over from previous design ideas. don't think there is any need for them if blades are welded on?

so an update after quite some time.

The 20" mower got sold!! Took a while to find the right buyer but really happy with the sale and the new owner is wrapped. It got shipped all the way to Adelaide from Brisbane so a bespoke box was required for the precious cargo.



The sale also means I'm allowed to spend some of the money on doing up my 17" machine. Its been running really well in its current condition so can't complain too much but a full tear down, clean, repair, re-paint, new bits and put together all shiny is underway. The scheme will be mostly the same as the 20" machine but as this is a working mower(read 2-3 times per week) I may not finesse it as much as I did on the 20. Still considering the new engine option. I was at the driving range and the had an commercial Honda type motor on one of their greens mowers and it was awfully quiet. Will see how I go.

I have finished the restoration of the 17" machine now. Managed to revive the chrome bars although not as good as original. Will replace the engine with a new B&S 3.5HP. Have only done a quick respray of the reel on this machine and also left the front roller unpainted. Put the machine straight back into use this afternoon, you can really feel the vibrations on a crack repaired machine compared to pre-repaired condition. Really looking forward to that shiny new motor.

and here it is with the new 3.5hp b&s motor. runs so well with the new motor. dream machine. different light angles and dirty after use

Hi mikeo,

and the beauty of the new Briggs & Stratton sloper motors is that they will slot straight on with the early handle bar fitted which doesn't have the kink in it like the later units that had the large tank on the 3 HP B&S engines.

I must admit that I found it rather strange that you sold your 20 inch machine to someone in Adelaide especially when there's a guy here that does full rebuilds on these model 45's and has them on ePrey all the time.


Cheers,
BB

hi bb,

for a moment there I thought the sb45 audience had all but disappeared. I'm happy in knowing the 20 went to a very good home. when it was for sale I had multiple bad offers from people that weren't really after a a machine in the absolute pristine condition mine was in. of course just as I sold it I had 2 offers to buy at full price to locals(Brisbane) but I wasn't going to back out on the Adelaide buyer.

I have been enjoying the new motor very much. I made an attempt to hook up the original sb throttle controller to the motor but couldn't get enough "leverage" from it to adjust throttle position. I will have to take another look at it before giving up on the idea, maybe cable and housing need lube?

I have been applying growth inhibitor to the lawns which has been very effective in slowing leaf growth. the wife loves it as I am only able to mow every 5 days now, but that kind of makes me sad

I still have the spare reel so the vericutter plans are still in motion but obviously not as a second machine.

Primo Maxx growth regulator?