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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Standard paint from Ransomes or an add on?

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Ransomes in yellow.

 

Clive1997 Mon, 28/10/2019

Yes agree looks more like 'Canary' Yellow than Ransomes Yellow & in fact the artist does appear to be in Lancashire!

I have certainly no reference to any highlighting in either yellow or red, but no doubt re-painted to be more of a 'Garden Ornament' than a show machine, & somewhat over priced.

Warpa Mon, 28/10/2019

Overpriced at 45 quid? The other thing I've noticed on a few ajax mowers are the brass knobs to adjust the cylinder as I believe the Certes has. From the handles that looks like an early ajax and the 2 Mk5s I have are a nut and bolt affair.

I'm know push mower designer but the 1st thing i would put on my etcher scetch would be thumb turns for cylinder and height adjustment.

Clive1997 Mon, 28/10/2019

Yes as there are so many Mk 3,4 & 5's around I think it is expensive, I have a Mk 1 Ajax 1930's quite original that I would be happy to sell fo that figure. 

wristpin Mon, 28/10/2019

Ajax prices. I too was surprised at Clive’s comment . Regardless of Mk, we could ask and get £60 for any Ajax with a tidy box , sharpened and serviced , in working clothes.  Stand one near the showroom door and gentlemen of a certain age relived their younger years.

stonethemows Wed, 30/10/2019

Without wanting to stray too far from the original question I would agree with Clive. Any market is fundamentally governed by supply and demand. It's all down to research ( as I may have mentioned before ) and experience. My weekly localish deadstock auction regularly sells ' old mowers '. It's not unusual to find a usable Ajax for £5-10, often with a ' lesser ' machine thrown in. Clearly if one wants a machine for serious professional use then work/money will be required to bring up to optimum performance. For most practical purposes however some tlc is all that's really needed.

It's useful to remember that there is a whole world going on out there outside of eBay. Looking at that source though, during the last few months something over 100 Ajax's have been sold between £1 odd and £295. Many more have been listed but not sold, for various reasons no doubt.

I have been collecting machines of interest for over 25 years and have no doubt that  prices have dropped. This may not be a continuing trend but the reasons are a subject for another time and place.

 

Here's one I'm currently conserving :

This is for a mk. 3 ; Late King George VIth. transfer. I think we could produce this for the Club Shop if anyone is interested.

 

Antbr123 Tue, 29/10/2019

Spot on Stonethemows!

Regarding the brass adjustment knob question - I think this was only used on MK1-Mk3 and was later replaced by a nut, but I am not an expert on Ransomes Ajax models. Certainly the MK4 and MK5 variants I have handled didn't have it.....unless it was swapped at a later date.  On some models "enthusiasts" have replaced the nuts with brass wing nuts.

Tony

Clive1997 Tue, 29/10/2019

It appears the brass adjusters may well have only been fitted to the Mk3, just checked various parts list/catalogues, curiously the Astral often regarded as the 'Super Ajax' being 14in & filling the gap between the Ajax & Certes, was being produced during the same period as the Mk3 Ajax & had similar adjusters???

Were the adjusters changed due to a pricing issue, or possibly defective??

 

Warpa Tue, 29/10/2019

Interesting replies, now I have more reading to do on another subject, the Astral.  I believe the ajax is probably the right size mower for my 60m2 lawn, but wanted the Certes because it's rare and an excellent mower. Now the Astral I wasnt aware of and with a 14 inch cut may be perfect. I know they made a certes in 14 inch but I've found no info on them let alone seen even a part for sale.