Atco front roller repair

It’s my understanding that they are not an easily serviceable item but most things are possible with the right equipment and determination. As an alternative to the Atco / Allett parts list, have a look at companies supplying industrial conveyor components or consider reverting to a traditional wooden roller set up.

There’s a Dutch contributor to this forum who has done quite a lot of research into this issue but for now his name has slipped my mind. Perhaps the moderators will come to the rescue.

Re my earlier reply, the forum contributor is Henno.

This was one of his posts.

https://oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/forum/history-and-technical/technical/ne…

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah AED can supply at £180 (mine is B30). So this is my last resort option.

I will persevere a bit longer.

Slide hammer and heat to get those end covers off and see what we've got.

Can't seem to find an accurate diagram of this one (2008 model), the one on the net looks a bit different.

I was hopefull that someone else may have experience of this repair.

This is the Atco drawing.

So, what I have is either a newer version, which I suspect, or some other pattern part.

Unfortunately it appears that your roller is a “sealed for life” non serviceable unit. My literature is now well out of date and I can’t find any reference to a sealed unit so it may well have been a pattern part. Back in the day, suppliers such as Central Spares listed seal rollers - mainly for professional / commercial machines but their 2017 catalogue shows nothing for Atco or for Allett as it is now. Central have since amalgamated with Spaldings  and there is nothing shown in their 2018 / 19 catalogue either. There are listings, some with dimensions,  for Ransomes, John Deere , Toro and Hayter etc, so a bit of research may be rewarded. 

Thanks wristpin.

Central list the b24 front roller at a good price, but not showing a b30 version, I will contact them on Tuesday. But I'm not hopefull.

I'm convinced mine is a genuine version later model roller, not sure if it's sealed for life or wether to pursue repair.

I've sent a photo to AED to see if they can refurb, I know see they sell direct pattern replacement for £140 which sounds more reasonable.

You are probably aware that your 30” machine is now sold as the Allett Buckingham H30. That is shown with a sealed front roller F016L66405 - obsolete - but without offering a substitute. The last price shown is £237 + vat.

May be worth following up with an Allett Dealer .

Possibly not what you wished to see !

https://www.gardenhirespares.co.uk/genuine-allett-30-front-roller-alf01…

Allett prices:
Buckingahm 30h (pull cord) £5740. And many spares are unavailable!

Front high cut rollers (a spindle and 2 pulley wheels) £369

Rear trailing seat £919

Wow!

I wonder how there business is doing.

Wooden rollers maybe?

What about using the existing spindle and fitting a set of wooden rollers, oak or beach. Readily available from the bay.

I have quite few patio edges, where I know my old b24 steel roller used to clatter noisily across the edges.

So pros and cons of steel vs wooden front roller on a Atco royale B30?

Is wooden going to be 'naf', I'm not sure.

Multiple wooden rollers won’t provide much support so they will need a decent diameter spindle to resist bowing. So long as that’s addressed , why not ?

The stock spindle is dia 0.750" (which I will re-use) which even at 30" long will be strong enough I feel.

I have requested a price.

Don’t know about Idigbo but I would choose Oak over Beech, less absorbent and less prone to woodworm. When you get the costing on 30” of wooden rolls it would be interesting to compare it with getting a local metal turner to make a plug for each end of your existing tube to accept a standard size of sealed bearing. 

It's  taken me a long time to get there but Countax / Westwood use a steel roller under the Powered Grass Collectors  (PGCs) .

May be worth taking a look

CountaxWE32731900ROLLER-PGC-C-SERIES£71.694WestwoodWE32731900ROLLER-PGC-C-SERIES£71.694 +vat

Half an hour in the machine shop, get the fronts of those sealed over bearings machined off.

Pop the old bearings out to expose the original seats.

2 new 42x25x9 (£5.39) fitted and ready to go.

Front roller is now serviceable in future if I ned to change bearings again.

A neat solution. I wonder whether there would be any advantage from the addition of simple “ tin” shields to complement the moisture resistance of the rubber seals? 

Yes, I also did consider this. But a bit tricky to make a cap to cover it over effectively.

I wont really be going out with it in bad conditions anyway.

At least now it is relatively easy to change the bearings again if I should need.

The whole system of maintenance free and then £200 odd to purchase a new roller when it does pack-up.

Something wrong with the world we live in!

Yes, the phrase “ sealed for life” isn’t very helpful. There are some things called Nylos Rings that can be used with sealed bearings for added protection. At one point Atco/Suffolk used them on one machine with open bearings. Not sure what the idea was.

Sorry, forgot to put a comment with the uploaded photo, had similar problem and came across these on this website.

Yes, those end caps were for the earlier serviceable version I believe.

Not sure if I could have fitted those, would need to have shortened my roller and not sure if the inside diameter would be the same.