The Old Lawnmower Club
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Help identifying year of Atco mower and any information

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markenglish82 Sat, 23/12/2023

Good Afternoon,

I have recently acquired 2 Atco Mowers and was wondering, by looking at the images, if someone could please give me some information on them ie. Approx. Year, What make of engine, is there a manual for these mowers and possibly point me in the direction of spare parts.

Many thanks in advance and have a great Christmas 

Forums

wristpin Sat, 23/12/2023

Late 60s to mid 70s. SIF engines ( Suffolk Iron Foundry ) part of the Atco, Qualcast , Suffolk group. The narrower one probably has a 75cc engine and the wider one a 98 cc. Count the cylinder head studs, 6 for 75cc and 8 for 98cc. Parts from eBay or a vintage / obsolete supplier such as Jon Cruse at the Hailsham Mower Centre, who advertises on the back of the Old Lawnmower Club magazine .  Manuals etc can be found on this website.

 

chirpy999 Sat, 23/12/2023

Two good finds there, look like from the 70s with the 98 cc engine, looks like you only need a fuel cap and you are good to go. Ive asked about the manuals for these but no one has replied yet. Good luck in fixing them up.

If you have Facebook theres an Atco Standard Lawnmower group which could be of use.

olcadmin Sun, 24/12/2023

Nice mowers. As others have suggested, we are in the late 60s, early 70s timeframe with these.

Our Atco Timeline might be a useful resource as it provides a sequential list of Atco mowers produced from the 1920s to the 1970s. Although the latter part of this list in particular still needs additions - let me know if you have something that's not listed - it's hopefully a good place to start for anyone with an Atco.

The list includes links to the specific machines which include details of the related online documents that are available. For these particular mowers, we have copies of the range brochures from the period.

 

markenglish82 Sun, 07/01/2024

Good Evening, All

Firstly, thank you for the responses and the manuals - they have been very helpful in getting familiar with the mowers.

I am currently, putting my attention on the smaller mower. I must add that I am not familiar with engines so I am pretty much learning as I go along.

I have tried to start the mower today and I didn't start (when I purchased the mowers, the previous owner had said that it has been a long time since they were last operated!)

At first, I noticed that there was no fuel going through the pipe from the tank to the carburettor. I made sure that the fuel tap was 'open'. I disconnected the fuel pipe at the carburettor end and the fuel started coming out the pipe - I'm not too sure if there was an air lock in the system or if there is an issue with the fuel going into the carburettor. I have taken the carburettor off to give it a clean.

I have also fitted a new Spark plug and suppressor, which I have attached an image of as I want to make sure I have fitted it correctly.

If any one could please give me some step by step pointers, I would really appreciate it

Thanks, 

Mark

wristpin Mon, 08/01/2024

If that machine has been stored for some time, the chances are that the contact points in the magneto that generates the spark, have become corroded and will need cleaning . To do this you will at least need to remove the engine cowling to expose the flywheel to enable you to clean the points via the little removable window . Possibly it will be necessary to remove the flywheel to give better access to the points.  OLC member Richard Jones ( aka Lawnmower Jones) has posted a number of YouTube videos about overhauling an older Suffolk mower and the appropriate video for the ignition will give you the general idea of what is involved but there will be others on YouTube which should be of assistance , so a bit of research may be needed.