Well, what can I say? If you’re looking at the photo above, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was taken from a Ransomes lawnmower catalogue some time in the 70s. But no. It was taken just a few weeks ago and is a photo of my restored lawnmower. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this little saga, it would probably be a good idea to do that before reading any further. Just click on this link.
We left my father’s old lawnmower in the more than capable, elven hands of John Gregory of The Old Lawnmower Company who promised that he would restore it to its former glory. This seemed like something of a tall order. Although the Ransomes had not spent a few months at the bottom of a canal, it looked as if it might have done. Where would you dare to begin on all the rust that covered the thing like a fungus? The motor was going to be the least of John’s worries – if it had any oil in it, it probably wasn’t rusted. Being a motorcycle enthusiast myself, old motors are not as frightening as they might be, but cosmetic stuff? That’s a nightmare.
I’d told John that I wasn’t in a hurry to have the mower back. Some time in the spring would do, as I’m not about to start cutting my grass in the snow. My garden is on hold over the winter months. I don’t spend much time in it although no doubt there are all sorts of pruning jobs I could be doing, or, indeed, looking after my tools, sharpening and oiling them.
But I did ask him to take some photos as he went along so that I could understand the rebuild and share it with anyone interested, which is what I am doing now. So what follows are his photos and explanations of what they all mean. I don't know that I necessarily have the exact order that John did the work in, but these are all the things that needed to be done to restore the mower.
The first thing to do is take it all to bits and create your own Ransomes lawnmower puzzle. You'll end up with something that looks like this:
Anything that was to be painted needed to be stripped down to the bare metal and in some cases filled to remove the dents that had accumulated over many years of banging into things as my father was mowing. It pains me to think that I will undoubtedly be putting the dents back in over the years to come.
Then everything needs to be primed prior to painting and in some cases the elements are treated with Kurust Rust Inhibitor:
Then you can finally paint some things:
The cutting assembly requires a lot of attention. After all, it's sort of the whole point of a mower, isn't it? If it's not going to cut the grass properly, there really isn't much point in restoring a mower, except as a sort of museum piece and I'm not too keen on them. First off, you've got to get the thing apart. Out with the blowtorch and the impact driver:
Once you've got it to pieces, you can start repainting it, putting it back together and sharpening it. The cutting cylinder and new bottom blade are sharpened together, using backlapping paste, with a strip of paper used (like a guillotine) to check its effectiveness.
One of the secrets to the amazing results you get on your lawn from using a proper cylinder mower is the heavy rollers that it contains hidden at the back. These iron out the bumps that accumulate in a lawn over time, due to the soil shifting, wheelbarrows and in my case at least, moles or other creatures burrowing about underneath it. In order to have some manoeuvrability, the rollers come in two sections with a differential allowing them to be driven independently of each other. Very cunning. You want to keep this properly greased because otherwise it can seize up making the mower extremely difficult to operate. Here the differential is lubricated and the bearings refitted. The bearings secure the rear-roller assembly to the mower chassis.
The engine also inevitably needs some work after all these years. The good news is that it was built in a time when you could still understand your engine. It reminds me somewhat of taking motorcycle engines apart in university bedrooms. Not great for the carpet, but there wasn't really anywhere else you could do it. I am surprised, though, by the amount of gunk and crap that was coking up the cylinder head. After all, lawnmowers aren't run that much in the scheme of things, if you compare them to a bike or a car. Perhaps it had been running rich? Talking of which, I am going to have to ask John what sort of petrol to put in it now, as it dates from the time of leaded petrol. Do you just put in some unleaded, or does it need magic additives to keep it running sweetly? Here is John working on the carbon deposits in the head:
There's none of your new-fangled electronic ignition with a motor like this. It's all about points and probably setting them with a cigarette paper. Isn't that how it used to be done? Not so convenient now in the non-smoking age. First you clean them:
Then you set them:
The Ransomes is also treated to a new condenser and coil for the ignition:
Not forgetting to deal with the starter mechanism, the part of the mower that can potentially instil more rage in the owner than any other. You'll want to make sure that this is perfectly restored if it's going to start reliably. The recoil start assembly gets its spring lubricated...
... a nice new piece of string...
... and is lovingly put back together:
And now we move into the final stage of the restoration in which all the restored assemblies are bolted back together again to recreate the mower of my dreams.
First off, the reassembled engine showing the flywheel and centrifugal clutch. The flywheel holds the centrifugal clutch shoes, which are spring-loaded. The centrifugal clutch automatically engages when the revs of the engine are raised, which revolves the cutting cylinder. Look at that paint !
The fuel tank, engine cowling and carburettor are fitted:
The rear roller and cutting cylinder assemblies are then fitted to the deck:
The cylinder's sprocket is secured with a left-hand thread (ie. it does up anti-clockwise). The sprocket is done up using a stilson spanner gripping an old chain, which protects the sprocket's teeth:
Fitting the engine to the deck - the engine is aligned with the mower's drive-shaft and positioned on the deck (the cardboard protects the deck's paint, during this procedure).
Then it's securing the rear roller sprocket. The sprocket is again on a left-hand thread and is tightened, in this case, using a fabricated bar with two lugs protruding- these lugs slot into two holes drilled into the sprocket:
And you thought a lawnmower was a simple device?
The rear-roller clutch is the next to go on. The clutch plate is shown being fitted to the backplate:
The positioning of the rear-roller clutch determines the tension of the two drive chains, so it is tightened with them both fitted to the sprockets using a pin spanner.
Grease those chains!
Now the handlebars can go back on. The handle bars are in four tubular sections which slot together and are held in a central clamp. If you look back at Part 1 of this story, you will see the lamentable condition of this clamp which now looks like new. Maybe it is new, although it doesn't appear in my new parts list so I assume it has just been restored to look like new. Astonishing.
And here is the mower is fully assembled and running (the cutting cylinder is revolving, hence, its blurry effect).
All that is required now is the grassbox which has not been forgotten. Go back to the first instalment to see its initial sorry state, covered in dings. We did talk initially about just junking it and replacing it with another one and this is what John has done. A second hand replacement has cost all of 40 quid. All that is required for the finishing touch is for the original decal to be recreated, which John is having done by a local firm.
So there will be another instalment of this in which you'll be able to see the final mower with the decal and the grassbox fitted, and I'll tell you about how I got the thing to Switzerland. At the moment, I have no idea how I am going to do this cost effectively. John's bill has come in at well under £1'000 which is astonishing value for money, and even more so when you consider than almost half of this amount is for new parts and materials. I don't know how he does it. So it would seem ridiculous to pay some company now a similar amount just to get the mower to me. I'll have to do some research. I can't think that Brexit is going to make things any easier.
A huge thank you to John for what looks to be an incredible job. I can't recommend him enough to anyone who is serious about lawnmowers. Why would you want some Chinese junk when you can have something that has been through his hands? You can find out all about The Old Lawnmower Company here.