Suffolks of the 50s & 60s
Left to right.
Colt, Series 1 Punch, Series II Punch, 2 x MK VII Punches, Punch 17" Professional.
One MK VII complete with grass box is for sale or swap with a complete Series IV or V Punch with grass box .
The MK VII is a good useable and reliable classic fully overhauled and sharpened.
Forums
There is but it was
There is but it was inaccessible for the picture!
I've noticed my mower has the
I've noticed my mower has the fuel tank mounted midway up on the handle, would this mean it's not part of the punch family? I'm in Aus btw
May be but if you can post an
May be but if you can post an image we can identify it - hopefully.
Here it is hopefully the pic
Here it is hopefully the pic uploads ok
I'm thinking that your
I'm thinking that your machine would originally have had the fuel tank mounted on the top of the engine cowling. If your cowling has two captive nut holes above the coil starter and one on the horizontal surface between the recoil side and the cut out for the spark plug it will confirm the original position. However there is also the possibility that the cowling has been changed for one that never had a tank mounting.
Back in the day there was a tendency for people to grasp the tank to pick up the machine straining the spot welds holding the tank bracket to the base of the tank and causing it to leak so that may be the reason for the swap on your machine. Faced with 'this problem we would seam brazen right round the bracket which would seal the leak and prevent further failure. On later tanks the manufacturer did the same.
It may be of interest that the above image that I picked at random from my " library" is of the Professional version of the 17" Super Punch which differs from the standard machine in the following areas.
Solid steel front roller.
Eccentric adjusters for fine alignment of the cutter unit in the chassis.
Ten bladed cylinder
Heavy plain rear rollers
Drip tray under the carburettor to prevent fuel burns on fine turf.
Yeah I see on the engine
Yeah I see on the engine cowling it does have provisions for a fuel tank to be mounted.
I had another Suffolk with the same set up (tank on the handle) but the cowling didn't have fixing points for a tank on the motor and it was originally green. Did they ever have different colour schemes for these mowers?
The same engine was used on
The same engine was used on Suffolks, Atco and Qualcast. Suffolks were red / orange , Atcos dark green and Qualcasts a lighter green.
I wonder if you had time,
I wonder if you had time, would you be able to post close up pictures of the Series 1 and 2 Punch. I wish to try to identify which my handbook refers to , if either . Do you know the dates of these?
Unfortunately the machines
Unfortunately the machines are stored up in the air at the back of the shed on pallet raking with a lot of floor level machines in front of them. , but I'll go through my old images and post any that look as they may help.
However, the workshop IPL has a page covering the punch 14" Series 1 & 1a 1954/55 and the Series 11 (2) for 1956.. I can't see any immediate distinguishing features between them but NONE of them has dog clutch for the landroll - just a push-bike type free wheel incorporated into the landroll sprocket.
The Punch 14" Series 111 (3) of 1957 has the familiar dog clutch but still has the squared off chassis plates with individual bolt and slot front roller adjusters . The Punch Series 1V (4) 1960 and Series V (5) 1962 have the round nosed side plates and single screw operated Microset height adjuster for the front roller.
The attached may be of interest.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0ws94osmlpwtux/Suffolk%20IPL%20indexes0001.p…
The attachment is useful -
The attachment is useful - thank you . The book I have is for the Mk 3 then which was my fathers mower when new. I have a 17 Punch machine owned since 1988 which was pre recoil start and had the engine in the middle of the plate not at the right side as later ones did. Though the engine has now been replaced with later 75 cc one it is still in regular use and gives fine results. As most others had engine on the right hand side I assume its a Mk 1 ?
These may help but the
These may help but the illustration of the engine mounting platform seems to show the position as the one used right through to 1975 - not helpful!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/38b8nrv977xhggq/Suffolk%20Super%20Punch%2017i…
They look really good, you
They look really good, you only need one more and you have one for each day of the week.