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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

New Member with a Qualcast Suffolk Punch 43s

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Hi everyone,

 

Whilst it may not be the oldest mower in the group (far from it!) I have recently acquired a Qualast Sulffolk Punch 43S with a need for renovation, I feel that this qualifies as old in comparison to most of the Poly propylene bodied things now on the market now-a-days.

upon test run I noticed the following issues that need addressing

 

1)The handle fell off. This was caused by the aluminium casting at either end of the roller having been very badly MIG'd together after having performed a similar stunt pre-acquisition. this made for an interesting moment when heading towards the flowerbed with no control over it's drive owing to the below problem

2) Wouldn't dis-engage drive properly. This seems to be an issue relating to the belt tension as irrespectve of whether one pulls the "clutch" lever in or lets go. It certainly made for an interesting test run.

Upon disassenbly  of the mower to facilitate the repair of issue #1, I noticed what appeared to be significant play in the rod connecting  the outer drum of the centrifugal clutch to the upper drive sprocket  I'm currently unsure whether this is a design feature of the mower, or if it is in fact "correct"

I won't be making this a top flight restoration, I just want a good quality, functional mower, which is something that's missing from the UK market as most seem to be plastic bodied chinese "clones"

That's all for now and any thoughtsor comments welcomed :)

 

Phil

 

 

wristpin Thu, 07/08/2014

Get another one and start again!

those cast alloy side plates are probably pretty horrible to weld so it may be easier to buy another scrapper and make one from the two.

Your declutching problem may be caused by rust on the pulleys preventing the belt from releasing but also the small drive pulley on the end of the cutting cylinder is in two halves with spacers between them to adjust the belt grip and the "U" shaped keeper is slotted so that it may be adjusted to get the belt to spring off the pulley. Also possible that your exploit with the handle bars has displaced/damaged the drive cable and it's not releasing the tensioner pulley.

The clutch shaft is supported by a oilite bush in the clutch back plate and a self aligning  bronze bush in the left hand chassis side plate.. With the engine removed the clutch  shaft  will flop about but the spherical bush may also be worn, particularly if it hasn't been lubricated or the machine has been run with the chain too tight - or is yours late enough to have a toothed belt ?

Phil Grimsey Mon, 11/08/2014

Hi,

 

thanks for your input.

 

I've spoken to a fabrication company who saw the lawnmower and indicated that a repair was perfectly feasible on the plates. They're going to tack the broken pieces back on, then grind the crack out and re-weld it. He seemed perfectly confident of a successful repair and didnt think there would be a problem so I'm happy to let them have a go for what they're asking as I am of the mindset that I've got next to nothing in it so far and don't mind spending a little on what one could consider a hobby.

I will keep the forum updated on my progress as things happen, if it's of interest.. :)