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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Anglia 14 inch

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Time has come to try and fix up the 14 inch mk 3 Anglia. A nice looking mower with a few ailments. the previous owner had made some wooden wheels that fits nicely in the original brackets, but unfortunately this has taken its toll and bent one bracket quiet badly and cracked the other, I was intending to try and bend the first bracket until I noticed the crack in the other, so on my shopping list is a set of brackets, LR4 and LR5 is cast in the metal. Maybe an alternative way is to find another mower for parts. Also one of the cylinder blades has a corner missing, not massive but annoying.

Other than that it's in pretty nice shape, took the gear cover off, although very rusty and caked in crud all looks well, I've given them a bit of oil but as these will be removed shortly for proper clean I thought I'd get them running free. 

the rusty dust on the table gives you an idea of the state of them. 

I'm making my own handles and rollers by hand once mower is back together as I'd like to add my own touch to this one,  if any brackets are available for sale by another member, please get in touch. I'll add more progress reports once I've got my teeth into it, few chores to do and then by the end of the week I'm hoping the strip down will commence. 

Cheers for now. 

stonethemows Thu, 11/06/2020

Greetings Lee

How refreshing to see an old lawnmower ! The Anglia was a relatively sophisticated machine in it's day and interesting to note that according to the mk5 parts list one could have a 5, 6, 7 ,8 or 10 blade cutting cylinder. In 1939, after ten years or so of production, an Anglia was nearly twice the price of an Ajax and more than twice the price of an Atlas. One might speculate that it was Ransomes answer to Drummond Bros. Willing Worker, another high quality, relatively expensive machine.

I will check my machine but I'm wondering if your front roll brackets are original as there seems to be a discrepancy in part numbers.

stonethemows Thu, 11/06/2020

My 12" Anglia ( 6 blades on the cylinder ) has the same brackets; I believe it to be a mk 1 as it doesn't say anything different. I don't think it will be too easy to find replacements, more likely to come across a scrappy complete-ish machine. However as a short term solution I have ascertained that the brackets from an early mk 3 Ajax will fit, without modification. The section is slightly different but the shaft and the set screws are the same size. They are made from alloy but painted you will have to look fairly close to tell the difference. The look of the section could be improved with some filing, but as I say they will fit ok as is.

If you need some let me know - round here Ajax's are ' two a penny '. It's not really worth doing them up for resale so there are loads of spares; in fact that's probably where any value lies. I have asked Clive if he has any Anglia brackets, just in case.

The even better news is that you don't need to find a spark or clean the carb. to get these going.

Clive1997 Thu, 11/06/2020

Sorry none that I know of, but lots of bits that need sorting, another 12 months lock down would be useful to get the sorting done!!!

Lee Smallwood Thu, 11/06/2020

Thanks for reply, I've been looking at the bracketry on my early ajax and like you say, will fit but not right. Couple of mk 3 ajaxs down here for sale so I'll keep an eye on out for one worth travelling for, if Clive comes up trumps with some brackets or a part machine then that'll be great as I'm planning  to visit soon. It is a nice machine, even with the wonky wheel it cut grass but obviously it isn't easy as the little wheel digs in like an anchor, probably how the brackets had bent. Didn't know about the cylinders, interesting stuff. 

Lee Smallwood Fri, 12/06/2020

Spent an hour today breaking down the Anglia, was going well until I came to the 4 machine screws that hold the blade carrier to the side plates, slot head countersunk buggers that are stuck fast, they are soaking in penetrating fluid for the night, and fingers crossed they will let go, if not, I'll be looking for replacements and drilling them out, skuppered my plans for a good session with the wire brush wheel and sandpaper tomorrow, I'll be chasing around local DIY and machine hire shops for replacements as the heads are quite soft and already starting to round off. 1 Is out amazingly, will give me a pattern for thread size. Satisfying crack when they let go. For a split second I thought it was my wrist. 

hillsider Fri, 12/06/2020

Unless you are fortunate enough to have an old style engineering shop near you that keeps a bucket full of Whitworth and BSF bolts and screws rescued from older machines I think you will only find stocks of Metric threaded hardware in modern hardware stores.

Alternatively you could try the internet route, here is a supplier that I have used but there are others out there.

https://www.namrick.co.uk/acatalog/BSW_Countersunk____Round_Head_Machin…

Lee Smallwood Fri, 12/06/2020

Cheers Ray, the little DIY shop I worked in when I left school, (a long time ago) kept a lot of old bolts and nuts, I'll check with them, if not, there is Nuts And Bolts in Weston S Mare about 25 minutes away but not open til Monday, if those two haven't got what I need then I will be following your link, they may at least know what thread it is for ordering. 

Lee Smallwood Sun, 14/06/2020

Little update, I've got it all apart, found the same machine screws, so decided to rip the old ones out with a bolt extractor bit in the cordless, first time I've used one so well impressed when the came undone, found a scrap thin piece of tin between one side of blade carrier and the side plate, don't know what that's all about, will probably find out on reassembly, also one cylinder bearing carrier, although rotating on the shaft nicely will not come off, fear of damage is higher than the need to remove it so it'll be masked and protected whilst rubbing down and painting cylinder. Can't see what's holding it on, the other one came off easily, scratchy head. Tomorrow will be a cleaning up and sanding day, ready for paint. Inside the rear rollers are very grimey so cleaning them will be awkward, but rewarding, no other issues to note.

Lee Smallwood Fri, 30/04/2021

Well it's been a most a year since I stripped the Anglia and its been in bits in the garage ever since, fishing, sunny days in the garden and pure lack of enthusiasm took hold until now, with posts of other restorations on this site giving me a little kick up the perverbial, things are going well,  had the front roller brackets straightened and repaired, found some round bar the perfect size to make a new spindle, cleaned and painted a few bits, only a handful of parts left to do before reconstruction commences, but before that, I would like some input from you lovely lot.

Cutting cylinder? It's red, should it be? Would the cast writing be picked out with a colour on handles and scraper or left green? front roller, one piece or sectional? I'm still having trouble removing bearing carrier from end of cutting cylinder, so without knowledge of how to remove without damage, I'm going to mask off and paint.

The cylinder is going to be tackled later this evening so hopefully will uncover some date, RS&J is visible on the top of each blade, but very rusty underneath, fingers crossed.

Some photos. 

Lee Smallwood Mon, 03/05/2021

Thanks to Clive confirming the cylinder date 1929/1930, I say cylinder date as you never know if its the original,

I've painted it in a nice red along with bottom blade, once properly dry and ready to go in I'll sharpen, without the removal of the bearing, cylinder grinding might be tricky. 

Few things to finish before assembly but yeah, happy it's moving in the right direction now. Been a long time. 

 

 

Will Wed, 05/05/2021

Starting to look really nice Lee, whenever I see cylinder blade damage like that  I wonder what on earth can have caused it. 
 

Keep the photos coming!
 

Will

Lee Smallwood Tue, 07/06/2022

Well yet another year has passed, and finally finished, photos attached. 

Taken a year to do about 6 hours work on it putting it back together, yes, shocking I know,