The Old Lawnmower Club
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers
X

Keep Suffolk or Atco?

Enter a word or two to search the forum section and click the Search Forum button.
sww712 Thu, 09/09/2010

Hi, my first time on here and I'm after views and a bit of advice please. I've got 2 mowers, both inherited from my Dad. Neither particularly old, both work (although both could do with some work on the cutting cylinders). I can only keep one, but which...? Any views appreciated, here goes:

Suffolk Colt 12" with centrifugal clutch and tank on the side of the engine cowling. Dog clutch to drive the roller. Think it's about 1963/4 as I was born Dec 1960 and I can't remember my Dad using anything else. Cylinder and bottom blade worn, and been re ground several times. Needs a new exhaust (holed silencer, which looks like a big sausage).

Atco Deluxe 14" with 2 separate clutches operated by handlebar levers. One engages the roller and blades, the other disengages the roller drive when squeezed. Think it's from about 1974. Blade could do with setting/sharpening. And the base plate, on which the engine sits, is cracked from one of the corners to about an inch in. From engine vibration I guess.

Both leave 'crinkle cut' effect on the grass so blades need sorting. I don't have a big lawn area and the Suffolk is big enough but I am not sure spares (eg cylinder and bottom blade) are still available for it. Both have good grass boxes, and start and run fine. I tend to use the Suffolk with the roller drive off so I can push it slowly enough to get a good cut!

But although both are of sentimental value I can't keep both - so any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

Forums

Aled Sun, 12/09/2010

To my knowledge the Atco Deluxe and the Suffolk Colt share the same engine, so parts are interchangable.

If you look on eBay, you will probably find a replacement exhaust, a friend who is a club member here told me companies tend to reproduce parts for Suffolk mowers because they are even today popular and people like to use them because they are a usable machine.

I would keep the Atco Deluxe with no shadow of a doubt, it's a very nice machine, decent engine and with a little work it should be running just about right.