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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

corporation conundrum

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Finally another 75g is on the bench from a Suffolk corporation MK2.

Engine is all painted but I have a dilemma on the colour for the cowl tank and handle. I got bought this mower from a mate, the chassis and wheels are the standard green, but the tank, cowl and handles are quite a nice cream colour, I haven't stripped any paint off to see if this was a paint job from a previous owner or if suffolk did some variant colour changes during different periods but I'm edging towards keeping it cream rather than the orangy red that all suffolks wear. Any thoughts would be greatly recieved.  The contrast between the engine colour and the cream will be nice but between the cream and the green I'm not so sure about.

If it wasn't a Suffolk colour then somebody who had it before spent the time to paint it which is a nice thought, among that thought is that green and red is everywhere and would it be nice to have something different or keep to the standard colours. 

Also,  I would like to replace the plastic rollers, could anyone advise if the wooden rollers on a punch are the same size that were used on the corporation.

wristpin Fri, 16/11/2018

A quick flick through some parts lists shows different part numbers for the Corporation and Punch but there's no indication of whether the difference reflects length or diameter - or even spindle size.

Lee Smallwood Fri, 16/11/2018

I'll do some digging, always fancied making my own rollers, would Ash be used for the wooden rollers, got plenty of oak I can use but I can only assume it'll crack over time. I'm a chippy by trade and without a lathe it'll be time consuming but quite a personal touch.

wristpin Fri, 16/11/2018

I think that ash is more usually used for handles and either beech or oak for rollers . I make my own rollers and leave each one soaking in a jar of clear wood preservative for a few days before fitting.