OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers Hello all, new SB45 owner from Vic

Hello all, It looks like I've been bitten by the Scott Bonnar 45 bug, I have recently purchased a Solid deck 17" with replaced Honda G100 motor. I had been looking to replace my rotary mower with an Aussie reel. What I know so far from my limited knowledge: - Reel grind and new knife - Reel drive sprocket will need replacing along with chains - Clutch has a crack near cotter pin - Clutch thrust pad washer to be replaced. - Replace most/all bearings - Front roller has had shaft welded on both sides (I will repair/replace) Let me know what you think, my plan is to restore to neat and tidy condition as it will be my main mower. I will start another thread when I start this process to document the restoration. Also, I have been offered another SB45 17", a twin railer, with a replaced Briggs and Stratton, newer catcher (doesn't match mower green), reel is still sharp and knife is good condition, chains and sprockets all serviceable. One downside is the deck has been repaired a long time ago by a local company who specalised in SB's, I can see small plate has been welded to the deck front and back but would not be able to take motor off until i purchased. They are asking for $500, just not sure if this is a good price and i realise it would be hard to guesstimate without good photos which i dont have. Happy to be here and have found tonnes of information on this site. Ryan

Hi Ryan,

You have done well to get a solid deck 45 series as your 1st cylinder mower. I have a 17"(cost $300) and 20" (cost $200), both are twin rail mowers. Both have cracks in the rails, but the 17" are only small at the moment, and are only on the topside of the rail. The 17" came with a Chonda GX160 and 20" came with a B&S 3.5hp.
The 20" had some flat bar welded to the rails front and back like the one you are looking at. It also has some round bar welded on the inside of the rail between the top section and the shorter middle section. This indicates that the rails have probably totally failed, as the cracks have moved from the top side of the rail and gone through both sides. Having inspected both of my mowers rails I decided to put the lighter and less powerful B&S engine on the 17" and use it this summer. I am now rebuilding the 20" as I have to replace the rails, then I will fit the heavier and more powerful Chonda GX160 to the 20".I have cut down some 3mm thick 50x50 RHS to replace the rails on my 20". This will make the rails stronger and slightly thicker than the original bent steel plate rails.
When the 20" is up and running, I will rebuild the 17"....... Well that is the plan so far.

To answer your question about the 17" twin rail for $500, it does sound a lot. But if the catcher, reel and engine are all in very good condition it may be worth it. As these 3 items are the most expensive parts of the mower. As they all can cost between $200 - $400 each, to replace.

Hi BT and Ryan,

You could do a lot better for $500 than an already mucked around with machine that's mismatched. That sort of machine will only ever be worth around $250 tops in its current state.

Come over to SA and you'll find plenty of these mowers still tucked away in old sheds ready to be re-homed. BTW I do understand that Victoria has the smallest SB population.

Cheers,
BB.

Beantin

It looks like you have your work cut out on that 20" the other 17" twin deck I was looking at was very neatly welded plate the height on the deck face and had been re-painted to match.

BB

I think ill give it a miss now and just work on my single deck, I paid $150 for it which in my neck of the woods is ok as they dont pop up much. Im going to replace the chain/sprocket/clutch half/bearings, font roller shaft.

Does anybody know how to remove the extra shaft on the drive clutch originally put on for the edger? I assume I will be able to remove it when I disassemble or is it once whole shaft?

Thanks,

Ryan

PS. Why does my post remove all spaces between paragraphs? Thanks

Hi Ryan,

Yes my question also exactly. I rang our administrator yesterday as I tried to correct it and when I go into the edit facility it shows up how you would've first set it out (which incidentally I thought was really good) and when I had a crack it reverted straight back to how it currently appears, all compressed up.

The $150 you paid is around the mark I'd say for Victoria and with what work you have lined up for it, it should be all good in the end.

The old edger fitting is rather simple to get off. Wrap a well doubled up rag around the transfer shaft to protect it from grip teeth damage and then apply a set of good large vice grips onto it over the rag so you can stop the rotational movement. Then you'll find a hole through the fitting where you can slide a bar or applicable size Philips head screw driver through and un-twist. Don't use a thin screwdriver if using one as it will bend into an L shape as these fittings are quite tightly bound up on the end of the transfer shaft.

Cheers,
BB.

I do not see any compression of paragraphs.
The best approach is a screen capture of what you view - to see the issue!

A new paragraph should be formed with every two enter keys.
We need more information here.

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

p.s. after the quote, I have created two paragraphs.

Hi Jack,

Here is what we are seeing of the first post in this thread.



Cheers,
BB.

Thank you very much BB I will give it a try tomorrow and see how I go!


I have just started stripping it today after a degrease and pressure wash, I love the original green hammertone inside the chain case!

Regarding chains my impression is having them made up from a bike shop? And I believe I will need to replace my clutch half as there is a crack then the cast adjacent the cotter pin, is this as simple as buying a replacement alloy one and bolting it up? or will I need a counter weight also?

Should I now create a new thread regarding the rebuild to ask all these questions?

CyberJack - I see exactly how BB has posted the screen shot, it might be that I only used one enter to leave a gap as thats how I would normally do it on other forums.

Many thanks,

Ryan

Edit: CyberJack - I had double entered for paragraphs and it still looks the same as BB screenshot

Hi Ryan and Mod CyberJack,

I've just done a screenshot of how it looks when I bring up the edit page but no matter what I do it squeezes it all up into one paragraph.


Cheers,
BB.

PS. regarding the chains there are three different sizes and widths in the chains used. I feel it would be better to either buy them from our online store or via an eBay seller.

Also for Jack,

Could you please be so kind as to move this thread to the "Questions on Scott Bonnar cylinder mowers".

BB - Thanks regarding the chains I will check out the store and ebay. Would you agree replacing both sprockets on the reel and maybe the clutch drive sprocket? I can upload better photos when I remove the chain. Thanks Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Your cutter sprocket is shot and those aren't cheap to replace along with that I would replace the main power supply chain and also the drive feed chain. Leave the rear roller supply chain as is, as these never require changing, just correct adjustment. Clutch drive sprocket is fine and anyway you can no longer purchase those.

Cheers,
BB.

BB, Will change the cutter sprocket and order a new set of chains thank you. Cheers.

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for the update.

I notice that you've again nicely spread out your response but strangely the system has compressed it all together into one line.

Still no idea as to why this is happening with you only atm.

Cheers,
BB.

BB - Weird, im running Windows 10 on a tablet if that helps? Ryan

Hi Ryan,

I'm just wondering if it's the mobile version of the software that's doing it to use less capacity.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB, Can I ask how you knew the cutter sprocket was stuffed from looking at the above photos? Cheers, heady

[quote=heady]Hi BB, Can I ask how you knew the cutter sprocket was stuffed from looking at the above photos? Cheers, heady[/quote] p.s. I spread that out too and it's compressed me to one line? Could be this thread?

Check out the next post as the text on this one has been removed by myself.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi heady,

Well we'll find out once Jack moves this thread to another sub-forum titled "Question on Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers". I can see that the cutter sprocket has razor sharp pointy tips on the rear sprocket teeth. They are shot.

Feel free to prove me wrong with a close up photo.

Cheers,
BB

Hi all,
I hope I moved this one to the right forum ..?

Cheers
Jack