Skip to main content
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

New to forum

Enter a word or two to search the forum section and click the Search Forum button.

Hello everyone  my name is Dave and i am very new to vintage lawn mowers. it all started when i found an old Atco in a relatives garden and decided to try and restore it and while i was searching on ebay for parts i found an old Atco really cheap thet had been stored in a barn for a few years.so after the auction was over we went to pick it up. Tuned out it was in better condition than i expected but would not start had fuel and a spark. Also decided to take the carb off and give it a clean  After 3 days of trying to start it and having no luck i decided to take the head off and see what was happening inside turned out the inlet valve was stuck open so i freed it up and put it all back together and it fired up first time .I was going to clean itl up and and repaint it to make it look new but have gone totally against that and i am going to leave it all totally original.

 

gtc Sat, 27/05/2017

i am going to leave it all totally original

Might as well seeing as it's a goer. Unless you have a burning desire to pull a mower completely apart for the fun of it and the experience, better to leave it as found.

However, if you intend to use it, you may need to attend to the blades.

Davey-jay Sat, 27/05/2017

I have another I can pull apart for the fun of it although it's not the same 

I think the blades need sharpening but have no idea how to yet

gtc Sat, 27/05/2017

I think the blades need sharpening but have no idea how to yet

You've come to the right place for such advice. Ask away when ready.

wristpin Sat, 27/05/2017

It's not a DIY job but needs to be done by someone with the correct (and very expensive) equipment. It can either be done with the cutting cylinder removed from the chassis - which gives you the opportunity to check the bearings etc; or done "in situ" where the complete mower is mounted on the grinder but this is only effective if the bearings are good. 

 

Davey-jay Sat, 27/05/2017

So best to check the bearings first then.

Just so I have an idea what would it cost to sharpen it?

wristpin Sat, 27/05/2017

I have a feeling that the design of your machine may not allow "in situ" grinding. As far as charges for grinding goes, you need to choose carefully as there seems to be a huge variation between large multi branch firms or more local ones or even individuals with a machine in their garage but expect to pay in the region of between two and three pounds a cylinder inch. Larger golf courses often have their own machines so if you are a golfer or know someone who works for a course there is the possibility of getting the cylinder ground  for beer tokens. 

hortimech Sun, 28/05/2017

You can grind Atco's insitu, but it might be easier to find somebody who does 'loose' cylinder grinding as shown in Wristpin's picture. If you do go down the 'insitu' line, I would still fully strip the machine down, you could fully refurbish everything, including repainting the cylinder. You can then rebuild the cylinder back into the frame, refit the drive sprocket and at this point, take it to be ground  along with the bottom block assembly.