any lawn mower people? suffolk punch tyre mowers

[steveo3002]

thinking id like stripes in the lawn and see the vintage suffolk punch ones are still affordable in running order

wondered if anyone knows whats the best ones to look for or avoid , i see later ones are qualcast branded ?

 

[julianthegypsy]

The really early colts are beautiful, with the cast iron block. Cost a bit to get the cylinder ground if it needs it but will last forever. You can get them to idle really slow and smooth too, a joy to use.

 

[Smallfry]

Ahem. I worked for a dealer, so,

The old IRON bodies Suffolk mowers were superb, but sadly spares are almost non existent now. The later alloy bodied ones are rubbish in comparison, and were later branded Qualcast, and again, parts are very thin on the ground.

If you can get a decent iron bodied one IMO they are worth having. They did 12 inch Colt, 14 inch Punch, and 17 inch Punch, and 17 inch Punch Professional. Had excellent little cast iron engines. If you can get its original grassbox too, even better.

Failing that, look for an old Ransomes Marquis, or Certes, but with a Villiers engine. NOT Briggs and Stratton.

As Julian has said, smooth and a joy to use.

Having said that, I do not find cutting grass a joy at all !

 

[Robotstar5]

There's still some NOS spares around if you know where to look.

I picked up a gasket set for one of mine.

 

[steveo3002]

spares ? what even engine spares ?

i was thinking if its still running then its not going to need alot doing

would a stout man be able to lift onto a hatchback ? they look heavy

 

[RonMig]

£10 on facebook Ransomes Marquis 20" in Npton, might need 5mins of fettling...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/387065220665070

I prefer a modern rotary (although mine is over 20yrs old) just to barge along & get it over with asap... & some come with a roller...

 

[DAPPH]

I have a battery Allett 20 inch (?) cut with a full welded cylinder ,, I understand a split cylinder is available for both battery & engine driven ones , yes you get the stripe effect but at a price my mower cost £800 ish six years ago . a cylinder grind cost £78 with me stripping and reassembling it .

Looking at things on the cylinder grinding bed I reckon i could have put my lathe on the smallest feed per revolution ( 0.0178 ) at 28 RPM and done a better job . The base plate was not totally flat even when brand new !" thou bow out in the middle so I very carefully straightened it with a rubber hammer .
On setting it up after the rebuild I was able to cut a fag paper at any place along the cylinder length.

On Alletts website they show a video of using a sheet of fairly fine wet & dry between a barely raised cutter & the sole plate and running the cylinder backwards with a battery drill with
tiniest smear of fine valve grinding paste on each blade edge for a few ten second bursts to sharpen up a wearing blade .
Clean it well with WD 40 & a power washer to remove all traces of grinding paste , you should be able to do two or three such tune up sharpening's before a regrind is needed .

 

[Erie Fred]

£10 on facebook Ransomes Marquis 20" in Npton, might need 5mins of fettling...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/387065220665070

I prefer a modern rotary (although mine is over 20yrs old) just to barge along & get it over with asap... & some come with a roller...

I see a striping attachment for the commercial zero turn lawnmowers, must be for certain clients.

 

[steveo3002]

6 and a 8 blade there , is more blades = better ?

 

[julianthegypsy]

spares ? what even engine spares ?

i was thinking if its still running then its not going to need alot doing

would a stout man be able to lift onto a hatchback ? they look heavy

Often if a colt isn't running, it's because the tappets have got too tight, being sidevalve, as the valve wears tappet clearance reduces. Grind a bit off the end of the valve stems, lap them and Bob's your uncle.

 

[Smallfry]

The eight bladed one is a Punch professional. Intended for bowling and golf greens and the like.

More blades give a finer cut on fine grasses. Meant for flat lawns and grass to be cut twice a week or more. If you have rough grass, they will not cut it. If you cut only once a week the six bladed one will be better.

A cylinder mower will not cut well, if at all, if you leave the grass to get long, normally higher than the centre spindle.

Big gang mower for outer sports fields etc have 10 inch dia cylinders with 3 blades.

 

[steveo3002]

yeah i like to keep it short , half the trouble with my hayter is its either too long or scalped no fine adjustment

 

[Slowcoach]

‘ clip rate’ is the term I think for comparing blades.
As small fry says some of the 8 and 10 bladed cylinders are down to 3mm grass height which is a bit unnecessary for a domestic job. The bottom blade is different on higher bladed mowers too.

 

[Ross365]

If you get in to the world of old cylinder mowers, The Old Lawnmower Club https://oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/ is a wonderfully friendly and helpful bunch.

I bought my first 17" Suffolk Punch over 30 years ago and loved it greatly until it became troublesome last year and took a while to sort out. I then I have one of the more recent Qualcast models (made when Bosch bought the business). I don't like those later machines as much as the old ones. For one thing, the powder coating is "dubious" and some tend to rust.

On the older models which have the Zenith 13 carb, I think some of them are reaching a stage where the brass spindle of the throttle flap wears away the diecast ally body, so unwanted air gets in to the mixture. Putting a bush in to close up the gaps might do well.

A few months ago, I bought an old, non-working 12" Colt off eBay, thinking that it did not need to much work doing... but I was wrong, and it's yet to cut it's first blade.

Rust inside the metal petrol tanks is something to watch for.

 

[Smallfry]

£10 on facebook Ransomes Marquis 20" in Npton, might need 5mins of fettling...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/387065220665070

I prefer a modern rotary (although mine is over 20yrs old) just to barge along & get it over with asap... & some come with a roller...

That Marquis is a bargain. Shame its so far away for me

And we don't have the lawn for it.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Can't do the link on my phone, but there's a gorgeous Ransomes 24 on marketplace for £180, a sit on one. You couldn't buy a cheap rotary for that!

 

[Highway_Star]

I have, and still use, my grandad's old Suffolk Colt, I believe bought new around 1960.

Every few years it needs a de-coke and the valves lapped in a bit. Other than oil change, a new plug and fettle the contacts, it just keeps going.

I bought a gadget which attaches to the bottom blade and does a passable job of polishing up the cylinder by running it.

 

[Smallfry]

Can't do the link on my phone, but there's a gorgeous Ransomes 24 on marketplace for £180, a sit on one. You couldn't buy a cheap rotary for that!

Great if you have a big garden, AND although its old, will still outlive any modern one. Except for a Honda. Our Honda Izy is on its second deck now, as the originals rust (mainly through lack of cleaning) and break in half. Engines are superb though.

Out the back here, there is a derelict Atco 24. Only thing is, it has a Briggs engine, so not worth bothering with.

 

[RichardM]

My experience is the plastic fuel tanks on the later ones leak, never had a problem with the steel ones.

 

[DAPPH]

I have, and still use, my grandad's old Suffolk Colt, I believe bought new around 1960.

Every few years it needs a de-coke and the valves lapped in a bit. Other than oil change, a new plug and fettle the contacts, it just keeps going.

I bought a gadget which attaches to the bottom blade and does a passable job of polishing up the cylinder by running it.

Always run it dry of fuel at the end of the season and when it's stopped gently pull the engine over onto compression , that way both valves will be sat closed on their sets and you don't get them rusted on the faces plus the cylinder is sealed as well , so no need to lap in valves every few years . pre start up clean round the plug remove it and give a spray of WD 40 down the plug hole and pull it over several times without the plug in so you lubricate the cylinder walls before starting it.