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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Atco Royale B24

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Good afternoon, I have just joined up as a member in the hope that all you very knowledgeable people will be able to help me. 

I purchased a Royale B24 last year, it was owned by the father of the bloke i purchased it from, they always remember him having it and it does have a royal warrant decal on the mower itself so would love to be able to accurately age it.

Unfortunately the machine hasn't been that we'll looked after and I'm keen to restore her to as close to original as possible, the engine I'm thinking of rebuilding so will be asking many questions along the way, so the first one would be is it worth rebuilding the current engine or getting myself something better??

Thank you very much in advance

Craig

Forums

wristpin Mon, 30/05/2016

Welcome to the forum.

If it is definitely a Royale (Briggs and Stratton engine and plastic grass box) the first mention in the parts manual is 1986. The Briggs engine will have the words Model, Type and Code stamped into the engine cowling and under each word a series of number and letters. The first two digits under Code are the year of manufacture followed by the day and month. Assuming that it is the original engine and if for example it says 87**** the engine was made in 1987.

As you say that you want to restore the machine to as near as possible original condition and assuming that the engine hasn't suffered a catastrophic failure it would be nice to stick with it. They weren't a bad engine although there were some governor / hunting issues with the early Royales which were solved by adding an additional spring in the throttle / governor linkage to stabilise the revs - still got the service bulletin somewhere!

If the engine is beyond redemption the options are to look around for a similar one (and there will be plenty) or fit a H***a or even a Chinese look alike such as a Loncin but then the originality is lost - personal choice.

farmerboyce Tue, 07/06/2016

Evening wrist pin, reading many other topics on here it appears you have a wealth of knowledge. It would seem it is not a Royale then. The engine is a Tecumseh with a 1964 stamp in part of the casing. Definitely an Atco with a trailered seat 24" cut but does have remnants of a royal warrant decal on the casing. Hope this helps in some way? I have spoke to someone whose managed to get a Tecumseh key start engine on this type of mower which seems a fantastic idea but definitely want to get her restored and cutting my lawn again

wristpin Tue, 07/06/2016

Confusion reigns !

The Atco  Heavy Duty 24 that preceded the Royale had Tecumseh H50 and then an H60 . The first 24 that  carried the Royale name ( nothing to do with the coat of arms on the grass box) had a Briggs and Stratton and the later version of the Royale reverted to a more modern Tecumseh , the model number escapes me at present

So what have you got?

farmerboyce Wed, 08/06/2016

Right so does that mean that she might not be as old as I thought?? Or was told??

The grass collection box is metal and very battered to say the least. The numbers on the black plate on the seat back, would they be of any interest or help with anything? I cannot find numbers on the engine at all however I haven't looked at any of the cover plates as yet

farmerboyce Wed, 08/06/2016

Silver sticker on back of trailered seat reads

Serial Number

1772330393

Bostrom

If any of that means anything? ?

hillsider Wed, 08/06/2016

I think we need a few pictures to help identification, the number and name on the seat I suspect refers specifically to the seat, Bostrom is a well known machinery seat maker. 

wristpin Thu, 09/06/2016

Indeed  an image will help. Forget the seat, it may not even be contemporary with the mower  and as Hillsider says Bostrom are just a supplier of seats , not even the frame and roller that carries it.

The metal grass box suggests that your machine is not a Royale but is what was referred to as just an Atco Twenty Four or HD 24 and as such would have had the Tecumseh H50 or H60 as original equipment. The introduction of the Royale name  coincided with the introduction of the plastic grass box suspended in a cradle replacing the metal box hung on lugs each side of the chassis just above the front roller.

 

farmerboyce Fri, 10/06/2016

Right I have removed the engine but will get some photos this weekend and get them uploaded somehow!! 

Would the engine age of 1964 tie up as an original so either the tecumseh h50 or h60 as suggested or is there a possibility that this might not be original either? 

Wrist pin I've seen comments about your opinion of a proper pristine paint job but think she would look fantastic in ex works condition, is the paint still available as well as replacement decals???

wristpin Fri, 10/06/2016

With a 1964 build date there's a possibility that it may even predate the fitting of a Tecumseh and have a Villiers engine. An image will give the definitive answer.

Several firms offer Atco Green paint but this usually equates to the more recent brighter shade of green whereas the shade on older Atcos was a "muddier" shade. The inside of the chain case or under a handlebar grip should be relatively un-faded and if you want originality a motor trade paint factor should be able to match it.

The Club shop offers various Atco transfers for various ages of machine; so again we need to see exactly what machine you have.

 

farmerboyce Fri, 10/06/2016

It is definitely a Tecumseh engine but there's 2 electrical spade fittings on one of the covers that dont have a cable attached for some reason. 

Photos will be added over the weekend and I'm sure you'll all be able to tell me the info I'm after.

I'm tempted to put a different engine in for this season while I rebuild the current one and then strip down and rebuild / paint  her over winter