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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Certes with missing parts worth £60?

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This is not too far away from me, handles I see appear often enough but never a grass box. Along with my Ajax the Certes is a nower I'd like for my lawn. For the money is it worth buying to restore and perhaps a grass box from an auto certes ?

Antbr123 Mon, 18/11/2019

Warpa,

As previously explained these Ransomes Certes hand mowers are difficult to find.  I have seen two complete machine in two years on ebay and I bought one of them! This machine is offered by Clive Gravett who is a very active member of the club, a member of its committee and active on this forum.  I would not even countenance offering an opinion about a fellow club colleague on the merits of purchasing a machine or otherwise.  However, Clive and I are in regular contact and I can advise that the handle bars for these mowers are NOT readily available...otherwise, knowing Clive as I do, he would have already obtained them.  It is worth discussing with Clive. I am sure he will offer noteworthy advice. He knows his mowers!!

Tony

AUTO CERTES 1 Tue, 19/11/2019

Hi Warpa In reference to your earlier post about oil guns. This type is still obtainable from Stephenslube it’s made by Abnox Wanner and is good because it has a long reach especially if you buy an extension nozzle. A lot of the oil nipples are in hard to reach places on vintage mowers as I’m sure you are aware. Martin

Warpa Tue, 19/11/2019

Hi Martin, thanks for the info on the oil gun. Just looking on the website and they cover a range of nozzles, which one will I need for the Ransomes?

AUTO CERTES 1 Tue, 19/11/2019

 

These ticked parts enable you to get to the nipples in the Ajax land rolls and the blade bearings. A must for any vintage mower enthusiast! 
Martin.

wristpin Tue, 19/11/2019

I’ve bought a several  Wanners from eBay sellers and auto-jumbles, usually for around £10.  Ransomes used to supply a small Tecalamit  oil guns with their machines and these regularly crop up for less.

AUTO CERTES 1 Tue, 19/11/2019

You are correct it's a very expensive hobby especially if you want the correct imperial tools / workbench / vice and all sorts of stuff needed to work on old mowers without damaging them not to mention travelling the country to buy them in the first place! All worth it though and trying to get a decent lawn is hoot too! The gun is part number 31960 and it comes with a concave nozzle so you will only need to buy the extension tube in addition to the gun. Good luck ! 
Martin
 

Warpa Wed, 20/11/2019

I got this tecalamit for under a tenner and gave it a quick clean and polish. It appears to fit but I have no idea if it's supposed to click into place or I just hold it.

Good job I am a bit of a lawn nut and hopefully will have the lawn level enough next season for 1/2 to 3/4 inch cut with a cylinder mower and save the rotary for wetter days.

AUTO CERTES 1 Wed, 20/11/2019

Does that reach into the nipples in the back land rolls of your Ajax? 
Martin

wristpin Thu, 21/11/2019

You are correct it's a very expensive hobby especially if you want the correct imperial tools / workbench / vice and all sorts of stuff needed to work on old mowers without damaging them not to mention travelling the country to buy them in the first place! All worth it though and trying to get a decent lawn is hoot too! The gun is part number 31960 and it comes with a concave nozzle so you will only need to buy the extension tube in addition to the gun. Good luck ! 

With respect, I think that you are being a little pessimistic. My local junk shop / antiques centre has two or three sellers with boxes of assorted tools for very little money . So long as one doesn't set out to buy matching sets of everything in one hit, its possible to buy decent brand name Whitworth and AF spanners at a couple of pounds a throw .  Decent brands of vices can be expensive but so long as one is not going to use it as an anvil and knock **** out of it, a cheepo Chinese one will do; and talking of anvils, a short off-cut of RSJ or I beam from the scrappie will suffice until the right one comes along.  Bench? a desk from a used office equipment warehouse with a thick bit of mdf or ply over the top to give it some substance will do. 

Travelling - well yes, the must have mower is always in the wrong place  - my worst (so far!) was a 350 mile round trip. 

 

RansomesRob Thu, 21/11/2019

Hi Warpa. I too am a bit of a 'lawn nut' as I like my mowers to have something to get their cutting cylinders into!! A couple of photos showing a summer cut with my JP Maxees 3 and a cut done a few week ago with my ATCO 1264. Just a pity my lawn(s) are so small as the time spent using the mowers is not long enough for my liking!  I expect you will be more than pleased with the results achieved using your Ajax. Cheers. Rob

Warpa Thu, 21/11/2019

Martin, no it doesn't reach inside the land rolls, so will need an extension.

Rob, the cut and stripes are so much cleaner from a cylinder. Sinse I properly got into lawn care I'm also disappointed that I wont be using my mower for anywhere near as long as I would like to. As it's well fed it does need cutting every 2 days and a hand mower should stop the neighbor's being disturbed as much.

Triumph66 Fri, 22/11/2019

Ransomesrob . Your lawn looks great and I too have a small lawn which I mow every 5 days or so in the height of the season. It's worth mowing in different directions each time you mow and a light scarification in the spring is a must. All we need to see is your lawn mower in action!

RansomesRob Fri, 22/11/2019

Hi Triumph 66. Thanks for your kind comments on my lawn. I got myself a copy of 'The Lawn Expert' by Dr. D. G. Hessayon and that is well worth a read. 4 visits a year from a lawn treatment company also helps. My ATCO and Webb mowers are now over wintering in the Garage but having cashed in a years worth of 'Brownie Points' my Maxees and Mini Mower are living the dream in the spare bedroom - see photo. All the best. Rob