OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Show and Tell I Bit the Bullet - Greenfield Enduro Longreach

G'day all
Yes, a great story there Mod BB

I remain disappointed with many lawnmower dealers in Australia.
And we don't get those 'Buy Australian' ads anymore.

When I first researched the Scott Bonnar company company I noted
that, from the earliest days, Scott and Mick Bonnar were staunchly patriotic.
Their print ads would appeal to buying Australian made - and their decals,
for many years, depicted the Australian flag.

Today, so much has changed.

I have two principles that guide me in purchases:
- Buy local and support small business;
- Buy Australian, if quality is comparable.

The conflict is when the former do not support the latter:
that is, when Australian businesses, who want you to buy local,
do not themselves support Australian-made products ...
of comparable quality to imported ones.

I feel this story has a happy ending for, at least, a couple of folks.

-----------------------------
Jack

Well done BB now I hope David goes back to Adelaides "premier dealer" and lets them know in no uncertain terms that they lost a sale for no other reason than the fact they were too lazy to be bothered following up on what the customer wanted, not what they wanted to flog. I use this approach any time I am in this situation because feedback on things is important, but usually it goes no further than the salesman you are talking to and they don't care. Only person who is interested in this feedback is the business owner and you usually can't find out who that is in the bigger shops.

Hi Norm,

Well Barry at "Strathalbyn small Engines" said in his parting comment........."Well that's another sale he's pinch of "xxxxxxxxxxx" with a huge smile on his face.

Honestly I feel that he should keep a bit of stock at my place and then sell to customers who could then pick them up locally in Adelaide and not have to go all the way down south like we did.

Only then would that dealer lift their game knowing that they are the only Metropolitan Dealer in Adelaide for Greenfield.

I wonder if the steel guard strip for the base can be ordered as a part at reasonable cost?
I would like to try and retro fit it to a Victa.

Funny you should say that BB, I was thinking along the same lines, seeing I have people coming here often after mowers but then the people I seem to attract are after the cheapest mower they can find. I did think that I should contact Greenfield and I would be happy to promote and sell them on ebay, just to get people aware of the name. Both my son and my mate up the bush have both in the last few days asked me "do Greenfield make push mowers"

I should tell any mowing contractor I walk past about it.
I know of one who is using a Victa at the moment.

Most of the better contractors use the Honda HRU216 Self Propelled and flog them hard. Greenfield don't make SP models in push design.

Also MF the steel strip on the side is not just a scrape guard, if you look closely you'll see that the casting is actually much closer to the blades on that side, about 7mm away and with that side being straight it is better for mowing really close to edges. Closer than any Victa will ever get.

Yes Norm I might ring Barry tomorrow and see if he's interested in doing something like that as I'd like to see an Australian company that makes a great product succeed and give some of those big wigs with their imports a shake.

Cheers,
BB.

See what you've started Jack !!!!

I was told recently contractors never use self propelled. It seems they indeed do. I would have thought they viewed it as they do with bump feed heads on whipper snippers. Too much wear rate.
Onto your next point, you have me wanting to get my grime soiled hands on a Greenfield!! That edging feature sounds unreal, unless it requires scraping those nice wheels.

Nah, it's shaped perfectly, actually when you stand behind it and push it along it just feels so right where as a Victa feels uncomfortable.

Honestly these Greenfield's are such a fantastic machine and to think they are made in "OUR" backyard makes it just so much better.

Anyone would think I was a rep for them, floggin' em ! I will say though that when I find a product that I totally believe in I'll shout about it from the roof tops.

Bit like Meguiars Car Care Products.

Cheers,
BB.

Even though they are plainly a fantastic machine, I can't drop the best part of a grand on one when I have 16 mowers that work, many of which I found for nothing in working order and one I bought for $5.00 for parts on eBay only for another needle being enough to get it going (125cc Victa Mayfair).
But what would you pay for a never used red Vortex with it's CSIRO disc??

Hi MF,

Not for one moment am I suggesting that you personally buy one, it's more about the person that only wants one mower and a good one at that, just like Jack and David did.

As far as a Vortex is concerned I don't need one so my price point would be low, but to a collector it'll be worth about $250 I'd say, but just remember I'm no Victa expert.

Cheers,
BB.

They say what a valuer says and what people will actually pay are two different things.
In the case of a nos red Vortex, I'm confident it would actually exceed what any "valuer" says.
Personally, I would be happy to spend a three figure amount on the modest end of the scale for one in good sound used condition.

Hi All,

Sadly as Greenfield has gone under so to speak, spare parts are going to get thin on the ground really soon. At this stage we are not sure if "Cox" who now own Greenfield, will service the "Enduro" line of machines as they are push mowers and not Ride Ons as Cox are basically known best for.

In the photos below are the Genuine blades for the last "Enduro" models as pictured in many of the above posts in this thread.

I would strongly suggest to any one that has this style of Greenfield to remove the blade holder disc off the crankshaft and place plenty of "Anti-Sieze" on to the Boss and crank end and also do this annually so as to avoid corrosion setting in and locking the boss firmly onto the crank thus not being able to remove it for easy blade removal and replacement .

Cheers,
BB.

Below is an image of the Blade Disc Boss and the affected area that should be liberally coated with Anti-Sieze regularly to keep the joint in good serviceable condition.

Hi BB, why do you need to remove the blade boss, surely it isn't part of the blade carrier?

Hi Norm,

The above photo shows the Boss which is in most cases normally solidly fitted to the lower end of the crank, and then has the blade Carrier just bolted up to it. In this case the Boss is welded to the carrier as shown and it has a single 14mm security bolt go through the Carrier / Boss and into the crank end that has a key way in it.

In the case of a Victa you just undo the single bolt (or in some cases 3 small bolts) and the carrier drops straight off leaving the Boss attached to the crankshaft, while with the Greenfield it's not like that.

Hope that this makes sense to you.

Cheers,
BB.

Thanks BB, not one of the brightest ideas I have come across, I can't believe a manufacturer would do something like that, although when a company is struggling they can do odd things.

One area where Victa excel over the rest, although I have seen at least one where the key had sheared off.

MF if the key has sheared off it is not a design problem, it is something that just happens with the abuse a mower cops. I had a bloke here a couple of days ago who had had the bottom of the shaft break off on a Powertorque, now that is unusual