[joe c]

so, anyone ever do a resto on an old rotary style push mower? I have a bitchen old one i want to do a resto on. i took a sharpening class at north bennet street school, so im hoping ill be able to sharpen the blades. i can sharpen pretty much anything to the point its dangerous. but id love to see anything anyone has on one of these old machines. ill get pics up of the one i want to do soon.

anyone?

jc

 

[FR]

Haven't done a resto, per se, just tried to keep ours going after putting it away for a few years. 'Dem blades is dangerous! Is your's a gas powered, or just push powered? You might check out some sites for golf course supplies, they use rotary blades almost exclusively...


FR

 

[joe c]

push, but i saw the most killer gas powered rider a few years ago. it was all completey rusted. it had about a 36" bar, and it was rear engined. the bar was under yur knees. of course all rusted too. but the front of the guard was missing. so the guy starts its up, takes it for a ride and mows a little wiht it, the blades flying around, and its roodting gras straight into the air in front of him. it was the most frightening thing i have ever seen. and literally so rusty it looked like it wouldnt roll!

yeah, ill keep looking. im just hoping there are some mower dorks out there messing with these things. and you guys seem to know everything.

jc

 

[parks61]

pretty simple to sharpen. a concave grind on the helical blades. and a straight/flat grind on the bar. they usually get dull from interference fit between blades and bar. should be a couple thou. clearance. when right, grass pops off like little green darts. just say no to motors...no one's lawn should to big to mow with a push mower. kinda like paying your carbon tax for running old bikes. my mower is ca. 1920. what a stupid caferacer thread. must be really salivating for spring. can't wait to mow.
-parks

 

[ROSKO]

Joe,
My family has a bunch of the push and gas powered ones from the farm. Great machines. If you need to strip it back to bare metal you can always drop it off for soda blasting.

 

[Judeyramone]

I used to have a cast iron one. Cut awesomely, and damn good exercise, but heavy as fuck. I have a newer one now, and use it occasionally. My issue with the old ones is that height adjustment is limited. I like to cut my lawn taller than it will allow. And you can't let the grass get too long between cuts, or it bogs down the mower.

Oh yeah, neither mower is/was gas powered.

 

[Hoofhearted]

Interesting. Last week my wife was reminiscing about her childhood and the sound a push mower makes. I was in Home Depot and saw a couple of models. Bought her one. Tried it out and being new it cut great. But I'll stick with a B & S on top all the same.

 

[jbranson]

Theys still sell those things??

Supposedly they still produce the best cut you can get on a smooth, nice lawn. Still the preferred method of cutting golf greens and fairways I think.
JohnnyB

 

[joe c]

there are some german made ones that are rediculous.

rosko, i might take yuo up on that. some of this stuff is pretty badly pitted i think. i need to pull it apart and start makng a list.

jc

 

[Pete Casper]

Joe; You should know by now that you can find anything on Youtube.

"How to sharpen a push mower"

By the way, mowers and I don't get a long very well since I lost my big toe to a BS mower when I was 15....walking behind it on a small down hill portion of the front lawn, slip, crunch, ouch!....Bones and sticks make the same sound when being crushed by a mower blade.

 

[FR]

The reason we had 'em was when my wife was a stay at home mom, she'd mow the lawn, but didn't want to have a gas engine running with the kids in the yard. It was great excersize, no pollution etc. but when we moved to the current home, it got a little more difficult to push. She bought an electric, rechargeable battery type conventional blade mower. It cuts ok, but we've replaced the battery three times in six years. I'm not convinced it's the "green" way to go, but still quieter than gas.
Me, I mow with my '72 J-D 120.


FR

 

[FR]

The reason we had 'em was when my wife was a stay at home mom, she'd mow the lawn, but didn't want to have a gas engine running with the kids in the yard. It was great excersize, no pollution etc. but when we moved to the current home, it got a little more difficult to push. She bought an electric, rechargeable battery type conventional blade mower. It cuts ok, but we've replaced the battery three times in six years. I'm not convinced it's the "green" way to go, but still quieter than gas.
Me, I mow with my '72 J-D 120.


FR

 

[jbranson]

Wow, Home Depot sells like 7 different models of reel mower...cool, didn't think they existed in the old push mower style anymore.
JohnnyB

 

[jbranson]

Wow, Home Depot sells like 7 different models of reel mower...cool, didn't think they existed in the old push mower style anymore.
JohnnyB

 

[joe c]

i just pulled this one all apart, cleaned, greased, lubed things up, and it works great. I watched the little video, which was useless for sharpening it, but i realized there is a sharpening bar, the guy mentions it in the vid, and that keeps it sharp all of the time. I dont think this one will cut news paper, yet, but its getting there. Its pretty cool.

j

 

[joe c]

i just pulled this one all apart, cleaned, greased, lubed things up, and it works great. I watched the little video, which was useless for sharpening it, but i realized there is a sharpening bar, the guy mentions it in the vid, and that keeps it sharp all of the time. I dont think this one will cut news paper, yet, but its getting there. Its pretty cool.

j

 

[coolatula]

I have an Old cast iron/wood one up in the attic above the garage.
How they got it up there I don't know as it weighs a TON. It was up there when we bought the house seven years ago and was probably up there 20+ years before that? I keep thinking I'll get it down some day cover the blades and stick it out front for decoration or something.

 

[coolatula]

I have an Old cast iron/wood one up in the attic above the garage.
How they got it up there I don't know as it weighs a TON. It was up there when we bought the house seven years ago and was probably up there 20+ years before that? I keep thinking I'll get it down some day cover the blades and stick it out front for decoration or something.

 

[joe c]

use it!

jc

 

[Geeto67]

I had a buddy who lost a toe to one of those mowers. the big toe. I stay away from them.