Trolley is work in progress I would be at painting stage for it by now but after 12 years my wire feed motor on my mig welder crapped itself and the new motor arrives Monday. I have seen some bald rear rollers and mine seems fairly evenly worn with plenty of groves left and I know that I will have to constantly move the Scotty around the concrete a bit to get around and manouvour other things in my garage.
What would be great is a once a year calender event SB swap meet get together where everyone can bring their restored or unrestored machines to showcase their original or former glory restorations where people can talk and share SB stories and information and celebrate these beautiful Aussie made machines.
Like a "Show and Shine" for cars ??? mmmmm that would be embarrassing I'd say, but then there are some much more minute things around the world that have a National day I guess.
Cheers, BB
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Yeah kind of like a car show but more for the SB enthusiest to see each other's work and share tips and experience ( more of a social gathering), imagine a fleet of SB as far as the eye can see. The thing now is there not all the same like they were 40-50 years ago out of the factory, there all different pending on patina or restoration and I'm sure there would be some examples of rare earlier models that not many people would have the chance to see in person. Maybe have a self propelled race at the end of the day for a laugh. Just a thought.
Yes I certainly see where you're coming from and I'd be all for it, but in saying that I strongly feel that there are way too many people within this interest that are there for all the wrong reasons. Currently the scene seems to be full of young punk flippers that are hunting these machines down and merely using them to get an instant huge financial gain out of them, on the flip side (no pun intended) there are just way too many folks that have paid way over the odds and bought one and have found they really are not devoted to these types of machines and the practises that they en-tale.
It's amazing how many out there think that you can turn a weed patch into a pristine lawn just by running a Scotty over the weeds a couple of times. When they discover that it's a lot of hard work, it suddenly gets all too hard and the machine gets relegated to being sold off in bits and pieces.
This is all quite evident by the many fresh new SB owners that have passed through these esteemed forums over the past couple of years for just a few weeks and then have just disappeared never to be heard of again.
One thing that's more so the truth and that is it's really all about the "passion for the lawn" and as such the machine is simply the vehicle that facilitates this. The mower is the romance in it all I've always said, but if you ask a greenkeeper he'll tell you that there's no romance to be gained from the mower at all. LOL !, but really it's his passion of the end result it gives after all his hard work is done. This is totally evident when he sees people wearing the wrong type of shoes on his billiard table smooth surface and he's got the dagger eyes switched on.
In saying all of the above I've been so impressed with your effort with your machine that there's a clear love for it showing right on through. The attention to detail eg. just the paint removal on the engine mounting bolts alone is what's got my faith in you.
After all this the next stage will be how progress comes along with your lawn with plenty of photos just like your machine's progress has shown.
Hopefully we'll see you in the Lawn care Sub-Forum as a major contributor, god knows we need to get that part of the forum up and firing again like it did when we first introduced it.
Cheers, BB.
PS. I'll probably give Billy Graham a run for his money if he could talk Lawn Mowers.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Well said BB, your probably absolutely right about the people in It for the $$$$ and I have noticed so many threads started that just end with out a finish. Reason I got the Scotty was to improve the look and cut of the lawn and yes stripe it. I have spent 8 years with a screwdriver picking weeds out fertizing and eradicating grubs aswell as talking to the lawn and all the hard work has paid off. It's at a good stage now as most of the yard was dug up when we put in a new retaining wall along the river but I'm finding the old Rover Rancher isnt ideal for the results I'm looking for now as the cut heights are a bit restrictive and you really have to watch what your doing with the ride on not to mess it up in certain spots as it's quite easy to put a 32" crop circle in the middle of the lawn not to mention uneven tyre tracks.
I'm starting to wonder if you've picked the wrong size mower to do all this marvellous work to as maybe it should've been a 20 inch unit. I started with a 14 but now I wouldn't part with my 3 of 20 inch machines for Quids.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Definately got the right size, I'm a little tight with storage space so the 14" is perfect the only reason I got the ride on was because we used to live on 2.5 acres in Brisbane and decided to keep the rancher when we moved down south to the family holiday house. We still use the rancher because we also own the house next door, even when I was in Brisbane the two blocks were cut with a John Deere L110 which still sits in the garage all covered up and makes an appearance every now and then but I prefer the rancher cause it's a little smaller and easier to use. I will be using the Scotty on one block in the back yard only as the rest of the grass will be done with the ride on as the front yard is more off road mowing, the Scotty will probably cut around 100m2 of manicured lawn so the 14" should give me more stripes.
Well she finally moved out of the house. Still haven't done a cut yet or a test run, but I think I will give it its first run for the start of the next season. The grass has slowed right down and we're getting some colder days so no point doing a finer cut with the reel mower for it not to grow back. Anyways it's finished and complete and it's on my home built (royal) trolley which is kinda finished but usable, I'm planing on closing the sides with sheet metal and installing orange padded vinyl upholsetry on the inside so it doesn't get bumped. Outside panels will be painted wrinkled black and covered with Scott Bonnar logos.
Some more picks of the trolley, catcher can also be installed on the mower on the bottom level and if handle bars fold down its kinda boxed in like a crate
Nice attention to detail - you've just made many grown men envious of your efforts! I will be reading your posts again and again in preparation for my own restore of 2 "every dayers"..
I must admit that I also am rather envious of what's been done here. I was awaiting the result of the trolley as I am in need of a method of transport for my mower to the front garden but not traversing over the rough concrete pavers used in the footpath down the side. I must admit that I will require something far different to what BS has made as those small wheels at one end just won't cut the mustard for me.
I feel that I will require a heavy duty sack truck (which I have) and attach a really long spade platform for the mower to sit on while I wheel it the 40 odd metres to the work area.
Always good to see what others come up with as sometimes we just get so bloody minded in our own ideas "that we can't see the Forrest for the Trees".
The part that will pain BS is the day it gets it's first scratch on it which it will no doubt get rather soon once it's put into service.
I'd still rather see this one preserved as a museum piece sitting next to Jack's bed at night. LOL !
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Just a quick one regarding paint, I know we've discussed at length the Black finish but nothing has been mentioned about the green.
I have to ask, how did this all come about ? the colour itself, is it an off the shelf colour or did you have it matched to a component from the chassis itself ?, did you pressure pack spray it or gun finish it using a compressor etc.
My reason for asking is that I'm current doing a quick build up of a 14 inch twin railer for my neighbour across the road which he's been hammering me over for the last 18 months now as he keeps on seeing my 20 inch machine every second day while I'm using it.
Anyway I'll look forward to your response.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
You want my 11 herbs and spices? Well I was keeping the paint a secret incase it was the last of the batch and it got discontinued. It's kind of a long story I recommend the colour and paint but the cans are s#!t ........... it's definately an off the shelf spray can which I don't know who actually re-sells it. You would have to contact Debbie to find a supplier in your state.
I originally bought 3 cans online from a WA supplier that cost more in freight than the paint itself and thought I could maybe get away with the 3 tins as I was doing the chain case and handle bar shield in black wrinkle finish. Problem was all 3 spray packs lost pressure half way through the tins and I wasn't able to use what was left. I was lucky to find the manufacturers address on the back of the tin which was located in Windsor, Sydney and after contacting them via email they said they sell direct to the public. Price per can was $4.40 compared to $10.00 from WA. When I spoke to the guy at the factory regarding the cans losing pressure he said that the supplier in WA had old stock and was the reason for the faulty cans so I purchased 5 more cans thinking it would finish the job for $20.00. I obviously finished short again with the 5 cans from the factory as they failed the same, so I rang them up and they said they would replace them if I took them in. I must admit their service was great but their pressure cans are crap but they gave me a complete box of 12 for my troubles which was plenty but in saying that the batch of 12 has the same fault. For the price, its worth buying a box of 12 for $60.00 to do a complete mower, they did say that the deep green hammer tone was a slow seller so maybe it's been sitting around the warehouse for a while. I'm hoping I can get the model 38 edger done with the 9 tins I got left as I went through a few cans on the trolley.
So for anyone interested below is the link to the manufacturer. Just be prepared to go through a few cans and have a bit of mess with more paint on everything except your work piece when they decide to fail. Maybe that's why they are so cheap.
I know the scratches will happen and I will cry but for now it's all rugged up with its royal robe covered in the garage sitting on its throne. I had to make the trolley as small as possible and utilise space so I made the shelf on-top for the catcher. The "Sturdee" wheels are off an old 1950's hand trolley that rusted away years ago and was scrapped, these wheels are solid and weigh a tonne the front wheels are cast steel wheels from Bunnings and should be ok to move a few metres out of the garage to the lawn. Steel was scrap laying around from left over jobs and the cypress pine deck is salvaged from an old tv cabinet I upgraded years ago, fake grass I picked up from a supplier that sold 1m square off cuts for $10.00.
Don't use pneumatic wheels as they will always be flat when you need to move it and you will forever be pumping them up. I used smaller wheels as it keeps the trolley lower to the ground so you don't have to lift it much when taking it on and off. Old solid mower wheels are probably ideal, I wouldn't go bigger than the Rover shredder wheels, even they might be too high.
I noticed your at Kariong (Gosford) I'm only 25mins north of you if you need some info or places of recommendation let me know I will point you in the right direction.
Hi BB No it's never been on their website, to be honest half the paint they had on display in the office wasn't online. I got a broucher somewhere laying around. Here's a supplier in your neck of the woods if you want to try a can to get an idea on the colour (it doesn't disappoint) I might buy a few different hammer colours like the blue next time I'm over that way to see how it looks and see if the blue cans jam up. They also said there's a new hammer colour coming soon charcoal.
I think they sell to the Mitre 10 Hardware chain if my memory serves me correct as I bought a spray can of Bright Red which incidentally is identical to Rover Red Powder Coating on which I had to do a touch up and this paint was all thinners with hardly any substance whatsoever.
I had to spray over and over and over and over and over again, ................. you get what I mean, to finally get some coverage without seeing the surface underneath. And to think that I thought "Export" brand paint was pure garbage ?
I hope that this Hammertone isn't like that ?
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
First machine to be done will be the groomer I converted from a Kermit 45 and I’m really looking forward to upgrading that colour! I’m currently converting a PC power supply into an electrolysis kit to clear out some rust so I’ll start a new thread tomorrow.. The clutch cork went on my mowing unit so that will be repaired too.
Appreciate the offer and your posts have been very helpful.
Hi BB, the Hammertone is nothing like you say with the standard paint it goes on very nice and covers pretty good with one coat , it's probably different as the hammer tone is a silicon based paint. I wouldn't have stuffed around with this paint if it's colour wasent so good with out getting a colour match done, funny how this company's paint almost match the exact color of the red Rover and Scott Bonnar original paint I was curious to find out if there blue hammer tone was close to the old Rover blue. The international orange I bought from the local $2.00 shop to paint the wheels on the trolley was all thinners and I couldn't get any colour through with out giving it 5-8 coats and it still looks see through. Aussie exports pretty good for hobby stuff or just to brighten something up.
Hi TC Will keep an eye out on your projects, if you need somewhere for chroming or blade sharpening just sing out. These PC power supplies are the bomb for a bench test power supply, I have made a hand full and everyone seems to take them off me as they want one I only got one left now and one 600w powering the pond in the front yard (obviously PSU is in the house). You can get 30-40A out of these and the over current protection and short circuit protection make these things gold.
Just thought I would share a little update to detail on my trolley. I painted up some Scott Bonnar signs on some sheet metal to close In the trolley, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Big shout out to my mother in law who scanned and cut out the stencils for me with some scan and cut printer machine she has, I also got some Tecumseh indian logos cut out as well which I might try in the top square. Planing on also putting some orange vinyl padding on the inside of those side panels so my baby doesn't get bumped and bruised.
I don't really repair these power suplies, there so cheap and easy to come by. Doesn't sound like there that good of a unit if 2 of them decided to crap themselves, I do however like the bigger wattage as they can power some decent stuff.
As for the stencils yes I got 2 sets, sprayed white first then overlayed the white parts with the next stencil and sprayed the red. Have to see if I can work out the Indian Tecumseh stencil next.
Not sure where you got 2 from, but anyway it's a Corsair Bronze TX-750 which is around $125 plus which is up there for a PC Power Supply in my books. I'd love to be able to get it repaired but it seems as though everyone shrugs their shoulders when you tell them it's a PC PS.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Sorry BB no idea what I was reading there, thought you said you had 2 my mistake.
No one fixes anything anymore and if they did they charge you more than what it's worth, I used to work with a Chinese guy some 20 years back that repaired the old crt TV's and pc monitors and he would repair these power supplies for us for $5.00 each. Unless you can see the component that's burnt out to replace and even if you do find the burnt out component it most likely burnt out because of something else that failed in that circuit causing the big bang further down that line which will happen again unless you find the origional source of the problem causing that component to go bang.
If you can find an old tv repair shop, not that they exist anymore that's probably your best bet to get it repaired.
Just a follow up on the machine I've done for my neighbour across the road, You'll see that this one has no identification showing as they didn't want the decal set applied. I understand it but I'd at least want the handle bar shield on it as it just looks a tad empty doesn't it ?
Anyway here's pretty much the finished product with front roller protectors still fitted. That's for him to remove.
This one is using a 3/4 shaft new Briggs and corresponding clutch half due to the current situation with the faulty 5/8th clutch halves out there.
I'm going to affectionately call this mower "The Sprinter". I wonder if anyone will be able to work it out why. I'll give you a hint.......it's because of something that's different under the chain case.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Yes it has the smaller Electric 45 cutter sprocket and as such as my neighbour currently loves to run quickly behind his Talon mower, so this will give him a run for his money. But in saying that these new Briggs engines will run rather slowly without faltering and thus it'll then run much the same as the larger sprocket versions that were fitted on all the petrol units but not require the engine to run at higher RPM's.
If he doesn't like it I'll just change the sprocket and primary chain back to Petrol standard and it'll be slower again.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
