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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

atco royale B20 offer

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Hi all.

 

Well, I thought I was on to a good one. I invested in 2 lawnmowers and one free. OK, the downside of this is not having vision to see the quality of the mowers.

 

they arrived thursday evening. an Atco Royale B20, Atco B14 and a suffolk punch in need of repair.

 

Finally had the chance to get into the workshop today to fully inspect the rigs, have the atco B14 firing up nicely, the suffolk punch needs firing but points aren't responding. as the flywheel is aluminium, I don't have the pullers for it. what a pain.

 

here's the disaster. the Royal B20. I was told it was running fine until last year, then left to stand. So, started a service on it today. what a waste of £120 on it.  The points system is completely different and expensive to replace. the rear deflector is completely rotten and the rear drive is stuck. so needs work.

 

So I'm offering a near complete atco royal B20 mower including the rear seat and roller. however there's no box but I'm sure one could be found or fabricated.

 

If anyone is interested in it, even for parts, let me know. I'd like to make a little money back but if not then OK. please email me at turningbytouch@gmail.com or call 07936 877500

 

lew

hillsider Sat, 12/05/2012

Hello,

I can't help with the disposal of the Atco B20 but re the flywheel removal on the Qualcast you may be lucky enough to get the flywheel to pop off by gently warming it around the centre hub with a hot air gun or gas torch. Once warmed up tap the rim of the flywheel with a soft hammer to jar it off the taper.Also leave the nut loosely on the crankshaft to catch the flywheel.

Do be careful not to set the thing on fire though!!

Re the Atco B20 do you know the engine that is fitted? also the drive train of the B30 that I look after is quite easy too work on once you work out what goes where that is!! If you can get it to run it would probably be easier to sell on.

Good luck and take care,

Ray.

 

 

redfernmowers Sun, 13/05/2012

After my complete horror yesterday, I've worked out what I'll be doing.

 

1: remove engine completely  on atco B20 and replace with new B&S or Honda engine.

2: complete clean down.

3: new rear plate deflector.

4: some modification work to update it a little (this is not a restoration job. this is a refurb)

5: new grass box. will fabricate out of sheet steel and create mounting system as used on the new machines.

6: Sell for a reasonable price.

 

the rear roller assembly and seat are in decent condition. having thought about the rear drive, as it's been left to stand in what I was told "a shed" MY FOOT!, the drive has stuck, so time to strip down and rebuild with fresh grease, etc.

 

incidentally, does anyone have a plastic chain guide for a suffolk punch going spare? I opened the drive plate for the suffolk punch 14 and found the plastic insert to take up the tension on the chain has gone.

 

cheers.

 

lew

Aled Sun, 13/05/2012

I'm guessing that the engine on the Royale is either a Tecumseh H50 or H60. I have the same problem as you, not being able to find a set of points for the original engine, but just persevere with it: here's what you can do.

Get a second hand Honda G140/GX160 and adapt it to fit the Royale, get it running in tip top order, and replace the 'rear deflector' (I think you're on about the throw plate, yeah?). You can probably get a new throw plate from an existing Royale (they are still made, by a company called Allett, they may be able to help you out).

Once that stage is completed, do a normal restoration job, painting it up and adding decals. Regarding the rear drive it could just need lubricating, it could be that one of the bolts which mounts the engine on is too long and is causing friction between the rear roller, or one of the bearings could be broken. None of these are particularly expensive options.

Now if you like, you could then sell the mower on eBay once it's refurbished, I believe they fetch about £400-£600 sometimes if you were to put a buy it now or reserve on.

But if I were you I'd keep it for your lawn, when working they're very nice heavy duty machines and because of their weight they leave lovely stripes. I have a B20 and when I get the time to restore it I'll be using that on my lawn mostly, despite already having about 20 mowers.

redfernmowers Tue, 15/05/2012

hi guys.

 

well.. yesterday, popped in to the workshop to service the suffolk. running fine after warming up the flywheel with map gas. 

 

the atco b14 fully running.

 

the royal b20 is completely shot. had chance to remove the engine and found some serious damage. too much to recast or weld. The throw plat is completely wrecked and the knife shot. there's bits  where the knife has been eaten away and others where something has really taken the meat out of the blade. the cylinder is twisted in places and shot. so a scrapper I'm afraid. had a chance to check the drive plate for rear roller assembly and it's rusted and seized. dry of any grease or oil.

having priced up the restoration costs between stripping, paint work, replacement cylinder, knife, etc plus the blade adjusters which are both sheared. 1 is cracked, the other missing a large quantity of metal sheered off.

 

so am getting rid of them today for the price I paid.

 

off to the museum in southport tomorrow for better stock.

 

it's not like me to give up on a project but when you sit and do calculations, between engine replacement, parts, cleaning, stripping, mods, etc. it's not worth it. anyway I have a small garden in the back, hence using my ransomes AJAX fully restored. 

 

cheers folks for your advice. much appreciated.

 

lew