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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

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Hello, another new member with an interest in push mowers. I have a small collection of 4 mowers, 2 Ransomes (MK5 & MK3) Greens Zephyr and a Webb Witch which I have accumulated in about 6 months.

I was actually looking for a push mower to cut the grass paths at the allotment and during the search childhood memories of cutting the family lawn came flooding back. It’s been many years since I have used a push cylinder mower having been using a powered self-propelled rotary mower.

I forgot how good the cutting performance of a cylinder mower actually is and that pushing a mower really doesn’t take that much effort. I’m finding that the time it takes to cut the lawn with the push mower is not that much longer using the powered mower.

With respect to mower restoration, the 2 Ransomes are in good condition and only required a good clean, rusty bolts, washers and nuts being removed cleaned and re-fitted. The Webb Witch was rusty and required a partial restoration. The side panels had a lot of rust so they have been rubbed down and resprayed. The rest of the mower had surface rust which was easy to remove, just a question of wiping the mower with an oiled rag.

The Greens Zephyr 12” 8 Blade is subject to a total restoration and I’m making good progress at the moment. The key tools being my cordless drill wire brush attachment, sand paper and a mask of course.

I have a few technical questions with respect to bearings as in their removal, re-fitting and routine maintenance so perhaps best to be discussed in the technical section of the forum.

Clive1997 Tue, 25/10/2016

Hello

Welcome to the forum & glad to hear you have gained a keen interest in old mowers. Yes would be an idea to post specific queries re bearing removal etc on the technical pages and I'm sure there are members out there to assist. Its always useful top have images, there is a useful video to help with this if needed. 

  http://www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/forum/adding-images

Do you have grass boxes for your mowers?

We look forward to hearing more.

Mower1 Wed, 26/10/2016

Ckive1997 – Thanks for the welcome.

I have grass boxes for 3 of my mowers but not for the Webb Witch at the moment.

Have been working on the Greens Zephyr this evening taking the rear roller apart.Trying to remove the ratchet assembly took considerable effort. The setscrews put score marks on roller spindle making it extremely hard to slide the ratchet off. Interesting enough I was expecting to see pawls and springs, only to find “The Villiers Midget” very neat design self contained assembly. Perhaps another subject for the technical forum.