I have a little 12 inch Suffolk Punch. I found it to be in quite good nick once I cleaned all the gunk off. Then I found that the reason for the gunk is a cracked sump. The poms have plenty for sale so I don't think the problem is insurmountable. Pictures follow. Happy Australia day John
Certainly not the end of the world John, strip the motor down, find a fab shop in Adelaide that can tig weld it up and then find somebody with a mill to face the surface off and you should be good to go
Thank you. No doubt the SB and Qualcast can't be compared. This is interesting to say the least. Political correctness abounds with safety covers over every moving part. Not in the same league as the SB/Rover for quality. Norm, thanks for your suggestion, I should think that there are plenty of tractor repairers out this way who could do the job. Not as keen as I have been with the Aussie tough machines though. Cheers & thanks again John
Geez i think i threw an old suffolk engine away the other day. I'll check again for the bottom sump. Failing that these do pop up on gumtree regularly. $40 for a complete mower
Cheers, I'll commence to pull the engine apart, but the temp. outside is winning at the moment and the top shed is a good 20 degrees hotter again.
Thanks for the photos & article Jack, I must say that I like those stickers, I shall have to see what Grant can get/make
This little thing will do up really well I think, although, as I mentioned, not in the same class as SB (& she looks pretty small alongside the Supercut.)
Thought that I would report a continuance of the little SP which I am finding to be a real treat. Flimsy in a lot of ways but I think that it will be a good mower when finished I am attempting (unsuccessfully) to empty my top shed and so will be selling two SB electrics which I shall post on the For Sale section of the forum. Pictures of both are on the post links but I shall repost them with the adds, if anyone knows someone in the group who would be interested I would appreciate it. Cheers John
Thanks, Jack, I'm waiting on one bearing to come from England and a fan belt. I had a few other photos but they were too large for the upload & I couldn't figure out how to reduce them with Mac's update. I have yet to source a steel catcher John
Just thought that I would supply an update on the (very slow) restoration of this little Punch. Although it is comparatively simple alongside the 45, I have found that you need a third hand to keep all the bits in place while searching for that screw that is missing. I am in the process of putting it together to check that bits are in the right places and here are a couple of recent pics. A metal catcher has arrived in Australia & should be in my hands by next weekend. Plastic catchers are the norm for these little machines, but I think look second rate. A cracked sump has provided the opportunity to have a closer inspection of engine internals. Blades, bedknife (which keeps the 2 sides together) and bearings all in place & then I found 2 felt washers that should have gone in first. All apart again tomorrow, but for now, a cup of tea. John
Thanks, Jack, I take that as a compliment because as it turns out, storytelling is what I do at: www.johnallan.online I enjoyed watching James May, I love his self-deprecating style Cheers John A
The little Punch is almost complete. I am turning up a split front roller on a (very patient) friend's wood lathe. So far I've decimated one forest of timber, but feel that I am nearing the required expertise. (Who would have thought such a little piece of wood could be so damned complicated?). Anyway, I just couldn't wait for the final completion so here are the progress photos. I have to say that this has been a most enjoyable rebuild and I would recommend the Suffolk Punch to anyone who has not yet turned their hand to one of these little machines. Not in the same class as the SB (but really, what is?) however, everything fits with little difficulty and there is very limited hardware to bother with. Cheers John A
