OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers SCOTT BONNAR - Model 45 Restoration - Nicholas24 2015

Hello everyone, attached are some photos of my current Scott Bonnar 45 17 inch. It needs a little TLC but that's nothing to worry about. I will be starting the full restoration in a few weeks in my garage with my Dad, but for now its still cutting the grass every week. Before I start the restoration I have one question;how do I get the wheel on the side off as it is restricting access to the chains.









Cheers Nicholas

Hello Nicholas

A warm welcome to the forums.
Our resident Model 45 expert is MOD bonnar_bloke.
I have turned your images 90 degrees to make them more friendly.

Instructions for removing the edger pulley may be found with the operator instructions HERE.

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

Thank you CyberJack.

Hi CyberJack, do you think it is worth rebuilding the original kirby engine or should I just buy a new engine such as a Honda or Briggs and Stratton.

Hello Nicholas

Well, that depends ...
If you intend to make this an every-week runner (your main mower)then
I would upgrade. The replacement engine should be an OHV though (much smoother).

The good think about an engine change is that it can always be
changed back to the original spec. (keep the old engine).

The old Kirbys were great engines and basic parts are available.
There are plenty of SB45 posts in these forums - enough reading
for many happy hours.

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

Hi Nicholas and also Mod CJ,

Firstly a warm welcome from myself to the ODK Repair Forum.

What you have there is a very early series 2 (twin railer) model 45 that's displaying the first lot of twin ID plates fitted over the top of each other. These are the last of the brass ID plates before swapping over to Aluminum, also your Kirby HK25 sports the larger fuel tank which was mostly fitted to the higher powered HK30 3HP model power plant, but certainly is original and looks far better than the smaller unit.

I very much support what CyberJack has suggested and that is what do you intend to use the mower for ? (cutting grass I hear you laughing), but what we are referring to is if you intend to use it as a daily driver or more of a show piece restoration ?

As far as getting the edger pulley off, just put a rag around the PTO shaft to protect it and use a pair of stillsons over the rag to clamp the shaft and then use a spanner on the lock nut that holds the pulley on and turn in the opposite direction to undo it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
BB

Hi BB, thanks for the information and yes the mower will be a daily driver. I'm going to order a 3.5 HP Briggs and Stratton off ebay which is a OHV engine like CyberJack suggested. Also, the mower will ONLY be cutting grass and hopefully no branches. :lol:

cheers,
Nicholas

Hello everyone, I have started to take apart the mower now. I've already got most of the parts off now but I ran into a problem, I cant get the front roller assembly off. I've undone all the nuts, bolts and screws to do with it, but I'm still unable to get it off the mower frame. here are a few pictures.

LOTS OF PICTURES!!!!!!!

Hi Nicholas,

All you have to do is use a large flat blade screwdriver and place it between the roller frame and the mower side plate and lever it out carefully from the non drive train side, don't go beserk with it, just gently does it.

Cheers
BB.

Hi everyone, here is an update on the Scott Bonnar.















Here is a before and after shot of the serial number plates

Hi Nicholas,

Well if the ID plates are anything to go by then the rest of the machine is going to be an easy task for you.

BTW your primary clutch looks to be in superb condition as does most of the rest of the mower. You should be able to get the frame and associated panel work blasted and then simply repaint as you don't seem to have any chassis fatigue as many other machines of this age are suffering from.

I gather you are going to repaint in the same colour again ? if so before you get the blasting done go to the paint supplier you are going to use and get the colour matched up to the inside of the chain case as that will be your most original un-faded painted to work from.

So far so good.

Cheers,
BB

Hi Bonnar_Bloke,

Thanks and yes I will be painting it the same colour but not until after Christmas though. Also, after Christmas I will go and get the 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine I have been looking at. At the moment I've been working on the catcher, hammering most of the dents out and welding up the pop rivet holes. To strengthen the bottom and front up I'm going to weld a new piece of sheet metal to the inside and bog up all the rust on the outside.

Nicholas

Hey everyone, sorry for this delayed update on the Scott Bonnar 45 17 inch restoration. Lately I've been short on time so the restoration has been going slowly, but it will get there in the end. Here are some photos to show how the restoration is going.









At the moment I've been working on the bed knife, trying to get the screws out but they wont move. I've tried spraying oil on them and heating them up, and yet they still will move. The previous owner must have had a go at it as well, but started to strip the heads of the screws. I managed to get two of the six out, any ideas?




Nicholas

I've tried spraying oil on them and heating them up, and yet they still will move. This was meant to say; and yet they still will not move.

Use an impact driver, a must have tool when working on this old stuff

Hi Nick,

Norm is right, a impact driver is the best choice as it applies downward force and torquing force at the same time. It is the best tool if you want to save and reuse the bed knife. A manual impact driver is struck with a hammer, for example: http://www.amazon.com/Ko-ken-Attack-Driver-Set-An112a/dp/B002P8ARLC

The problem you have now is that you can't get enough purchase on the slotted head screw because they are already stripped. You would have noticed that your screwdriver was cambering out.

What I did was get a dremel with a aluminium oxide grinding wheel/disk and cut the slots deeper and wider. Then I used a large flat head screwdriver that was as wide as the slot in the screw. After soaking the bolts in wd40 (both sides) and afterwards heating with a butane torch (for at least a couple of minutes), I was able to remove the screws. However, use a screwdriver to pry from between the blade and the sole plate to free the csk heads first, it will make things easier. My bed knife was already wrecked and too thin, so I wasn't thinking about saving it and if you use my method you will probably ruin the blade anyway.

Before I attempt any of this I re-attached the bed knife to the chassis and used a couple of trestles, some steel channel and clamps to ensure everything was secure and I could get above the screws to apply enough downward force.

Hi All,

Here at the ODK we don't recommend that you remove the bed knife at all, rather take the complete Sole Plate assembly to the engineer that is going to do the machining and let him do it. He has the experience and expertise to do this rather quickly without running the risk of cracking the sole plate which is rather expensive to replace, that's if you can even get one as they are not available as a spare part at all and if you take one from an existing machine then that will render that mower as useless for the future.

Cheers,
BB

Hi Nicholas24

Also while I remember, all you need to do is place that transfer shaft in a vice with protection on the shaft so as not to bur it up and then use a piece of bar or a very solid long Philips head screwdriver through the hole in that pulley stub and twist it off the shaft.

Apart from that it all seems to be coming along really nicely.

Good Work.

Cheers,
BB

Thanks everyone for your responses, I will be leaving the bed knife on the sole plate and letting the engineer that is going to be do the machining do this.