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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Ransomes Automaton

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Hi. First off I am a newby to this, so please excuse my ignorance. Could someone please tell me what c/w and FTGH stand for in the for sale section of the magazine? Also I have bought a Ransomes and Jefferies 12"  Automaton, which is in pretty good order, but I would like to restore it to it's former glory, is there an "Idiots guide book" that would advise me on do's and don'ts?  Any advise much appreciated.

Forums

Seb Tue, 09/08/2016

Hello and welcome!

c/w stands for complete with, i.e. c/w grassbox
FTGH = free to good home

as far as restoring your mower goes, it might be worth your while reading through here:

http://www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/restore/resthome

would be interesting to see a picture of your machine, which would allow others to see what needs doing, and also date it

Seb

olcadmin Tue, 09/08/2016

Seb beat me to the reply but he's right on all counts.

Plus the restoration pages he refers to are also an Automaton.

scissorman333 Wed, 10/08/2016

Oops!

 

 

scissorman333 Wed, 10/08/2016

Hope these pics are of some use. As you may be able to see, the grass box is split and quite rotten. Like I said I would appreciate any advice.

Seb Thu, 11/08/2016

Hello again, nice to see the pictures

what you have is a patent chain automaton, more info on that here:
http://www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/mowers/moms/mp069-ransomes-patent-cha…
given that yours has a filled in chain sprocket, I believe that makes it post 1905
the grassbox is not original but a rather nice home made example

as regards restoration:
given that it looks to be in rather lovely condition, have you considered leaving the paintwork as it is and just oiling the bearings, sorting out woodwork, and sharpening if necessary?

If you do decide to go down the restoration route, the following is how I restore such mowers:
find a nice clean large work surface where things wont be disturbed, then dismantle the machine completely, laying it out like an exploded diagram. I then work through all the parts in turn, cleaning, priming an painting, before replacing them in their place within the laid out mower, once all the parts are done, reassemble
I find that the wire brush on my bench grinder has saved many hours, as has the wire brush on a drill, and if the mower has a chevron cutting cylinder like yours, I have it shot blasted locally as it is too hard to clean with a wire brush.
also, a piece of wood with lots of holes drilled in it is ideal for painting bolt heads, whilst a series of nails on the side allows you to hang the nuts.

Seb

scissorman333 Thu, 11/08/2016

Hi Seb.  Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that it's not the original grass box, and I guess that they are not easy to come by. I think I will start by restoring the grass box and take it from there, I 'll probably end up doing the whole thing! I have a Qualcast Super Panther hand mower that I use for our lawn which I managed to sharpen O.K with grinding paste and it works fine. ( An old wheel nut brace from a Morris 1000 fits the end nut perfectly!! )  As you say the Automaton a lovely machine and runs nice and smooth so will give it some thought. Thanks again...

Clive1997 Thu, 11/08/2016

Hello

Lots of good advice been given already, I may be able to find a couple of original grassbox brackets & probably have a 12in box to use as pattern, will check & get back to you if interested.

Regards

Clive

On another subject, Sebs comment re FTGH, what do we consider a 'Good Home' for a mower to be? Free to roam about the lawn?, regular grease & Oil? or like many of us stored away in a dry shed for the future!

scissorman333 Fri, 12/08/2016

Hi Clive. Thanks for you help, yes I would be interested in the grass box pattern.     On the FTGH subject, maybe senior members of the club should go round and "vet" potential owners premises, after all, a mower is not just for Christmas!