Ransomes Mk12 Towed 3 Gang Mower

[spudulike]

9 hours ago, Doug Tait said:

 

By that advice we should have rotary!

I'll hang on to Will's comment about the ape with a lump hammer, describes my mate and I better than 'technicians'.

How far South is the sharpening fella located Spud?

Just north of Stevenage. He is to Atco Cylinder Mowers what I am to chainsaws. A decent bloke in my book.

[topchippyles]

3 minutes ago, spudulike said:

He is to Atco Cylinder Mowers what I am to chainsaws. A decent bloke in my book.

Can he port those mowers to spud 😏

[spudulike]

Nope but he does a nice spray job on them, can't recommend him enough!

[GA Groundcare]

We have rebuilt lots of those gangs over the years. Unfortunately whilst they can be picked up for very cheap (most cricket clubs have a set parked up in the stingers) the cost of overhauling them is expensive. They are very labour intensive. The cylinders & bottom blades need to be sharp and set on cut properly otherwise they just won't cut any sense. The issue with ground driven gangs is that the "power" of cutting is only as good as the traction of the wheels, hence why they use Ag style tyres for better grip. Gangs are particularly bad for blocking up in the wet.

 

The grass will need to be kept at less than 4" and as a rule of thumb need to be reduced by less than half.

 

That said, in good weather, a well setup set of gang mowers will out perform a ride on hydraulic triple.

 

For the gearboxes, just mix up some grease and gear oil. I expect the gearboxes will leak so don't mix it up too runny.

 

Edit - Just looked at those cylinders. They are almost down to the welds of the spirals so need replacing. A set of three cylinders will set you back around 1k for the parts alone which will also still need grinding. A long term cylinder mower mechanic could do three units in a day if pushing on. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by GA Groundcare

[Doug Tait]

3 hours ago, GA Groundcare said:

We have rebuilt lots of those gangs over the years. Unfortunately whilst they can be picked up for very cheap (most cricket clubs have a set parked up in the stingers) the cost of overhauling them is expensive. They are very labour intensive. The cylinders & bottom blades need to be sharp and set on cut properly otherwise they just won't cut any sense. The issue with ground driven gangs is that the "power" of cutting is only as good as the traction of the wheels, hence why they use Ag style tyres for better grip. Gangs are particularly bad for blocking up in the wet.

 

The grass will need to be kept at less than 4" and as a rule of thumb need to be reduced by less than half.

 

That said, in good weather, a well setup set of gang mowers will out perform a ride on hydraulic triple.

 

For the gearboxes, just mix up some grease and gear oil. I expect the gearboxes will leak so don't mix it up too runny.

 

Edit - Just looked at those cylinders. They are almost down to the welds of the spirals so need replacing. A set of three cylinders will set you back around 1k for the parts alone which will also still need grinding. A long term cylinder mower mechanic could do three units in a day if pushing on. 

 

Thanks for all that, very helpful knowledge. It seems we're in deeper than we ever realised!

[GA Groundcare]

12 minutes ago, Doug Tait said:

 

Thanks for all that, very helpful knowledge. It seems we're in deeper than we ever realised!

That is often the issue,  even if you didn't need to replace the cylinders a full regrind, new bottom blades (which still need grinding) and service will set you back £1,000- £1,500 easy.  The problem is, next winter you'll have the same bill again! 

 

If you have a tractor with PTO and you're not after a nice "sports" style finish get yourself a 5ft topper from the likes of Fleming or Wessex. If no PTO then get an ATV spec topper with donkey engine. It'll be a similar cost to seeing those gangs overhauled. The bonus is each winter your service costs will be barely a few hundred quid and something you can probably do yourself. 

[Doug Tait]

16 minutes ago, GA Groundcare said:

That is often the issue,  even if you didn't need to replace the cylinders a full regrind, new bottom blades (which still need grinding) and service will set you back £1,000- £1,500 easy.  The problem is, next winter you'll have the same bill again! 

 

If you have a tractor with PTO and you're not after a nice "sports" style finish get yourself a 5ft topper from the likes of Fleming or Wessex. If no PTO then get an ATV spec topper with donkey engine. It'll be a similar cost to seeing those gangs overhauled. The bonus is each winter your service costs will be barely a few hundred quid and something you can probably do yourself. 

 

We did consider an ATV powered topper a few years back but my mate decided not to at the time and stuck with getting someone in to do it occasionally (helpfully we have a couple of mates that do agri contracting work) but their machinery really struggles with the narrow access to the paddock.

 

Given what you've advised, and the costs involved, he may need to look at the ATV option seriously.

Many thanks for your advice.