If you told me last week I’d be watching restoration videos before bed to relax I wouldn’t have believed it. Great work, a pleasure to watch this wonderful chilled viewing.
This is exactly like the one we had when I was a kid. I used to mow the front lawn with it....I must've been around 7 or 8, and it took all my strength to push it fast enough to actually cut the grass. What a classic! Thanks for saving it.
The same thing happened to me when I was a kid. I mowed neighbors lawns to earn money. One of those customers offered me an old gas powered rotary lawnmower just to get it out of their garage. It had an old Clinton engine and a rope pull starter (not a recoil starter). It sat in our garage until we had winter weather. I stripped every part off, cleaned them, hand cut new gaskets for the carb, painted it, & sharpened the blade. I waited until spring for gassing it up and trying to start it. Much to my surprise, it started on the first pull!
Well, if everything is clean in tune and adjusted they should. My father got this old push mower for free from the side of the road put fuel in it and tried to start it, could not get it to run and threw it because he said he got screwed. Let me explain something for later, my father was a complete moron. When my father went in for his afternoon 3-hour nap, my uncle went over pulled the mower to the steps and started to look it over and pulled the plug out, put his thumb over the hole and rotated the blade and it pushed his thumb off. he then checked the spark and took the cover off and started to clean things up with wd-40, a small wire brush and an emery cloth, put it back together checked the spark made a gap adjustment of the plug with his pocket knife, put it back in, and one pull it started right up. My father came out slamming the door open, saw it running and then stomped back in the house like the baby he was. Now here is the good part, my Uncle went home and my father came out pulled the mower and proceeded to smash it with a sledgehammer. He said he was scrapping it to prove how smart he was at making money. I learned so much from my uncle by just watching him.
@Sandman Huffmaster I didn't get pocket money and we didn't have an edger, I had to run the mower with one wheel on the path and the other on the grass to do the edges. Now, 60 years later, I often do the grass strips along our street with a lightweight hover mower just for fun!
Sky King Yup if the millennials are serious about saving Mother Earth they should take us back to this, something the Boomers are familiar with.Instead they are proud to push an electric lawn mower, Lol.
The first time I was paid to mow a lawn, when I was a kid, was with a push mower just like this. At the time this was the definition of push mower, what we call push mowers today were called power mowers! I enjoyed this a lot, as it brought back memories.
Beautiful work! I would like to offer an idea though; washers. Whenever you crank down a nut on the beautiful new paint, the nut will grind off the paint and this is a point for corrosion to begin. Washers reduce and eliminate this effect. I could see the square nuts in particular scraping the paint. Washers! It might enhance your wonderful work!
Lol I just asked him what his method is for remembering. Can't tell you how many times I took something apart and had to look up where or how it went back.
Hahaha thought of that many times,,, yet,, I being an electrician,, it does not always work that way,, thus a good memory and knowledge of my work beforehand has kept me out of trouble and my customers asking, ''do you know what youre doing?" ,,, I sometimes kid with them, and say,, Nahhh I just guess really good,,, hahahah,, take care E
I remember when I was like 6, my grandfather would let me push this thing around his yard. I would get my fun and he would get a tired, less hyper kid, along with a partially cut lawn lol.
This is a pretty amazing save and it gives me an appreciation of how well it was made. Attention to detail on the restoration will make it last another lifetime. I don't think anyone will be saving newer electric mowers from the scrap heap.
God i remember using one of these in the 70s as a kid to mow our lawn, I found it when we moved into the house in a coal bunker with no handle, I found a stick in the woods screwed it on and he presto, mom didn’t have a lawn mower till then, we used it quite a few years till she could buy new, oh the memories….. thanx for showing this super Reno, very well done 👍🏻
Agree . The knowledge is valuable and you can learn to do it. The back lapping technique works well . Patience . Super impressive work. I purchased some of the products in the description. Bravo sir. Thank you so much.
I used one of these in the 60's when I lived with my grandparents. In the fall, we took the wheels off and cleaned the gears with a wire brush and put axle grease on when we put it back together. It made for a beautiful cut on the lawn. Now you can see why golf courses use rotary mowers. Great job, just a little patience until the snow melts. LOL
there is something memorizing when the mower is sharp and the grass cuttings flow thru the air in a uniform fashion and the blades clicking....brings back memories ...still would love to find one myself...
My dad had one of these when i was a kid. Kept the blades sharp as a razor. I always enjoyed using it as a kid. Dont know about one now. Lol. Great restoration on this one!
OH YEAH! I remember these mowers...my older brother got the chore of pushing one these around the yard! When I became old enough to mow the lawn, my Dad had switched to a gas powered mower....but that old real mower was still around, and it still cut quite nicely! Came in handy when the gas can ran out!
I'll be 70 in May, boy do I remember brother and I cutting the lawn with these. We had one about the cutting width of the one in your vid and one with a narrower cutting swath, the wider one was a bear to push, the narrower one was easy but didn't cut as much width wise, either way we were screwed. lol. Really enjoy watching this, took me back to the 60's mowing the grass!
I worked at a lawn and garden center, repairing small engines etc. They had a table mounted grinder just for these blades. Pretty impressive back in the 60's.
Very . I also have a few decades of experience in small engine repairs . I love the reel mowers and I live in St. Louis Missouri where the humidity is like Houston Texas or Acapulco Mexico. I can cut my lawn in silence with a solar LED light is cooler silence and not disturb my neighbors. Thank you
I had an trick for the tires: if you want them soften and nicer looking put them in a mixture of water and fabric softener / conditioner over night. It makes the rubber soften, clean it and easier to put back. And they look newer. Works also for window seals at old cars… nice work to bring that handmower back to its former glory!
He didn't sharpen the blades and the hole in the handle was off-center. What does this mean? That I've watched waaaaay too many perfect restoration videos.
When I look at each and every part you restored, I think of how many times I mowed our lawn as a kid with this mower. I remember the square nuts I tightened, the sound of the blades running against the plate on the bottom, even the feel of the handle as I pushed the mower. Rye grass, Dichondra and Bermuda grass… by the way, where’s the grass catcher? Thanks for the memories I’m now 66 and getting ready to pull out my “powered lawn mower” and get it back and running. Released my landscaper to save the money to help my youngest daughter through college for expenses. Great job with the restore!
I was renting a house in Arizona once and I found one of these mowers rusting in the backyard. I didn't have a mower so I tried pushing it across the lawn. It worked perfectly. I love push mowers. For a small lawn, they are perfect.
Good job! Back in the early 1960s in England, I used to use a mower like that. It was older and more solidly built though, and had no rubber on the wheels. Surprisingly, they were not hard to push along and they worked very efficiently as long as the lawn was level and the grass hadn't been allowed to get too long. I'd rather have a good solid 'push' mower than some of the plasticky rotary mowers I see in the DIY stores today. They left a nice striped effect, with no power cable to cut through and no fuel to buy.
My Grandfather had one of these that I loved to "play with" as a kid. Two years ago we took out a massive Maple tree in our front yard that left nothing but wood chips and dirt. I bought a cheap reel mower to help renovate the front yard and fell in love with the quality of cut and how much my Bermuda loved it. the entire front yard grew back in naturally by the end of the summer. How I wish I had my grandfather's old reel mower today.
Best part was missing and it is why I stopped by to watch the video. The blade sharpening process. I can remember as a teenage, helping my uncle repair lawnmowers. He had the sharpening machine, which was huge.... I loved watching everything rotate and the sparks flying. Must google to see if anyone has a post showing that process. Beautiful restore! Love watching your work. A true craftsman.
That is a very cool resto. I've got a mostly plastic modern version of a push reel. It does the job, but I'd love to have the mass of a cast steel frame.
With the technology we have today is there some way we can improve on this design to make it lighter and spin faster. Make the handlebars wider for more control and change the tire contact to ground ratio with thinner tires. Aerodynamics should be considered so testing in a Wind Tunnel might help with the installation of a small fairing to control air flow over the bearing surfaces. Maybe a no - spill drink holder using a dampening and recoil technology so no beer is wasted and what about Solar Power for the air conditioning system, hell I should have been an engineer, I always thought driving a train would be cool
I'm over 80 and I remember my dad refurbishing our push mower. Mom's favorite color was green and the color you used sure looks like the one dad used. I also remember that I had to push that green monster thru Bermuda grass. Glad we had a small yard. Looks good. Thanks for sharing
These are still a must for a pristine lawn, when kept sharpened they cut a blade of grass better than anything modern. You just don't want to use them on an overgrown lawn.
i restored one last summer and my grass never looked better. grew in much thicker as well. It's work but well worth it. I'm keeping my eye out for a gas powered reel mower. Missed out on one for $50 because I was at work. It was worth about $500, dude didnt know what he had.
You don't want over-sharpen your mower blades. A clean cut on a stem makes it grow back faster. Those hard cut bruised leaves and stems take longer to recover. With the right blades you can mow monthly w the moon instead of weekly
@@edgewatersbestguitarist1524 Good to know. That fits right in with my method of rotary maintainance: Once all the knives are machined to the bed, back off the bed until you don't hear anything hitting. Then let the knife edges corrode enough to fill the gap again. It will leave a hard and perfectly toleranced surface on the knife edges. It doesn't leave a perfectly clean cut, but its super efficient about not letting any get through untrimmed.
That's AWESOME. Not only did you clear the rust, repaint and sharpen the tool, you used the proper techniques to prevent rust in the future and truly did a great restoration. Will watch another for sure!
Nice work. This brings back bad childhood memories of hot sweaty summers. The sound of the blades turning against the cutting bed, it turns my stomach turns. Best day in my life is when we bought a power mower.
This is great. You gotta love the guy's sense of humor. He goes to test it and there's several inches of snow on the ground LMAO. This is what I used to mow our grass when I was a kid. Thanks for the memories. :)
That’s the best tool to “cut” grass. Rotary mowers beat it into submission. Smashing the blades. I used to service these mowers as a young guy. Trueing the bed knife and reel knives are key. They wear in the center concave. When it’s trued and set you can spin the blades and it will cut onion skin paper like confetti. Great job on resto
OMG what made you think of that line? I remember puking behind a church after I left the house my new gf was babysitting at...and that was 40 years ago:(
It always surprises me when after spraying down the nuts and bolts how they always seem to come apart with ease for him. If it were me they would snap off and or never come out lol
I can relate. I had a job with 2 guys in factory to disassemble 75kW electrical motor. One guy unscrewed bolts from rear side almost with fingers and my bolts were like welded even after half can of WD. That guys were like: chill out man, you gonna wear out the bolts.
I had one of these as a kid in the 90s. The best thing about them was when my dad made me cut the lawn, it only took me as long as how fast I could sprint with the damn thing lol
People love to watch other people working. I cannot start up my forge without drawing a crowd out of nowhere, even in the country. Human nature I guess. These days most folks don't know how to make things anymore. Could be that.
Nice! I restored 3 of the iron-wheeled type in the early 1990's and repainted in the original colors. I had a beautiful blue "Neptune" with silver striping on the reel, a "Roosevelt" from the President series, and I don't remember the name of the other, but it was red with gold accents. There was a place in town with an original sharpening machine so they did the sharpening for me. They worked great!
I've been looking for a hubcap for a Belknap C6 (1904 patent) without any luck. One of the originals fell and broke into fur pieces on the concrete garage floor. And I can't find anybody who will cast a replacement.
Thank you for the excellent documentation. Some great old castings there. That was a real made by real men in a hard working environment there. Rivets! Did you use walnut as blast medium? Watched start to finish. That is now not only an thing of beauty, but a useful tool that works well. You restore some of my faith in people.
Nice restoration! How many came here just to see one of those again? I use to go door to door at around 12 years old and mow my neighbors lawns with one for whatever they were willing to pay which was typically $2-$5 per lawn (54 now).... *Yikes, I'm an old fart now*
Great job!! I love buying almost any old machines, restoring them, then selling them. I've never really made a profit on anything, but that's not the point for me, if I break even I'm happy.
As 6 year old I used to help my grandfather sharpen those lawnmowers, then as a 12 or 13 year old I was sharpening mowers. Use to sharpen 125 or so a year until I got a real job at 16. My grandfather used to adjust the blade so it did not touch the reel but would have to make a clean cut on newspaper. Thanks for the memories.of the late 50s.
I used to be a sharpen cylinders and mowers, you should sharpen first in a cylinder grinder to make sure it’s parallel and the Bottom Blade should also be machined after a new sole plate is fitted as they will never be straight unless done so. Lapping is only done between services and if done incorrectly can cause a taper the cylinder. This is why it should always be trued in a grinding lathe. When riveting always use the correct dolly on the snap head and react against the stem. As Eliseo says always lap backwards and Deburr if required before use. Love your videos but I know a little bit about mowers which I wouldn’t expect everyone to know. 👍
It's one o'clock and time for lunch When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench I can always hear them talk Me, I'm just a lawnmower - you can tell me by the way I walk
Never had one of those manual jobs but when I was just old enough to start mowing the yard we had a Toro reel type power mower. I swear that reel blade did a better job than any other mower I've ever used.
greenkeeper here: beautiful work! the reel is a little to close to the bed knive though. you don't want them to touch actually. if you take 2 sheets of paper it should (while slowly turning the reel) cut the upper sheet and scrape the lower sheet. that is how i adjust my mowers and they work fine. hope it helps
i think you should be keeping the wood parts rather than remaking...all the marks, gashes, marring in the old wood give it character. it diminishes the value by alot. but i do love everything else...your attention to detail and patience is admirable.
My dad tied a rope on it. My sister and I pulled it around to mow our lawn. Dad later bought an early Greens motor model, second hand from a relative. We were in heaven
I use an old push mower just like this to mow my lawn because it’s actually faster than a gas or electric powered mower. (I only have to do a small area maybe 5ftx10ft)
I don't know why, but I find your vids very peaceful. Makes me wish someone could restore me back to what I was in my 20s. Alas, 50+ years means that will never happen till I get to heaven and get a new body.
Of all the “restoration” channels, you got one of the best. You and “My Mechanics” are the two I watch. Glad I found your channel, great job, looks good... I’ll sub to that
Using 50/50 acetone/ATF... It smells like death, but it's saved many a bolt on my 15 yr old car that has been subjected to snowy and salty Norwegian roads 6 months every year since it rolled off the showroom floor :P
Great job. I enjoyed your work. I used one of these in the mid to late 50's to cut our lawn and neighbors. I never learned how to maintain the mower so I am sure I had to push twice as hard as necessary just because of the mower's poor condition. I was young and needed the money. The extra work probably did me good in the long run. Thanks for posting!
Be careful with that anti-seize use AS LITTLE AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE you only need a tiny tiny amount to do the trick, that stuff gets every where... oops too late lol.
Purchased a brand new Ford truck in 1989. In the first few months I had it. Somehow managed to get a little small spot of antiseize compound about the size of a pencil eraser. On the Steering wheel center Bezel. Sold the truck in 1997. When I purchased another. That spot was still there. Just as silver as it ever was. 😆
NeverSeez is always a mess. Best is anti-seize that is food grade, high temperature (2100 F), and white....it does not stain, does not absorb into skin, and is highly acid and corrosion resistant.
Oh how this brings back happy childhood memories. My Grandfather fixed all types of mowers. He would get one like this, fix it where it would sing and the blades sharp enough to shave your hair on your arm, then have mow the back yard with it just to see it work.
The Great States mower is still available on Amazon and I bought one last year, but the castings are nowhere near this quality. Works great for tight spaces and the neighbors appreciate not hearing a gas motor.
Seattle Six try Husquvarna. Spelling may be a bit off, but they make some pretty good tools. Used to make firearms for the wars. They're for Sweden, but they make this type of mower.
Keith Atkinson Haha, I think that's so weird. The only reason I know of them is that their 6.5x55 Swedish Mausers from ww2 are sought after as really high quality old guns. I own a beauty. Then one day I saw a lawn mower at the hardware store. Since then I've seen chainsaws, axes, and now sewing machines! How do you go from one to the other?
@@jimf1964 Hi Jim, the Swedes are quite the business people, so they diversify into other businesses even though it is a socialist type of country. My father in law owned a beautiful Husqvarna 30.06 hunting rifle. Of course, like fools we sold it back in the 80's.
Keith Atkinson. you can buy still buy them for fairly cheap. The 1942. 6.5 Swede I bought was at a gun show, but there are sites where you can buy 30-06 for like a couple hundred bucks. I'm thinking about getting a 9.3x57 mauser, and I think I can get a Swedish one. I have an 8mm mauser, so I don't need a 30-06.....but who says I can only get one because I need it? 😃 I love the older stuff like that. Made by masters, not robots.
![1920s Lawn Mower [Restoration] - Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fSO9CpPROM8/mqdefault.jpg)
"I'm mowing the air Randy!"
Ran*
mr Lahey
@@mechfeeney Did he just say Ran? I don't remember.
Sexy Julian
Bubbles
this is how I feel in class when taking apart my pen and put it back together
Strange Cactus SAME
Strange Cactus yes.
Lol
Glad I’m not the only one😂😂
Haha yeah
If you told me last week I’d be watching restoration videos before bed to relax I wouldn’t have believed it.
Great work, a pleasure to watch this wonderful chilled viewing.
Agree . Fine craftsmanship in this wonderful restoration.❤ thank you
This is exactly like the one we had when I was a kid. I used to mow the front lawn with it....I must've been around 7 or 8, and it took all my strength to push it fast enough to actually cut the grass. What a classic! Thanks for saving it.
They make ones now thats a lot easier to puch.
I love that he doesn't have a bunch of crappy royalty free music playing.
Ditto. I hate that crap. I either mute or move on to another video.
AMEN to that!!!!
He tryna to hit that ASMR crowd …
Wrangler star known for crappy sad music
@@charlessawallich1870 I stopped watching wrangle star a long time ago - something about that guy just bothers the shit out of me
Even after a year, this is still my favorite restoration that I’ve seen on RUclips. It just satisfies me a ton
I love this channel . I love these reel mowers and doubt I will go back to the motorized ones. Bravo ❤ on the restoration. God bless.
The same thing happened to me when I was a kid. I mowed neighbors lawns to earn money. One of those customers offered me an old gas powered rotary lawnmower just to get it out of their garage. It had an old Clinton engine and a rope pull starter (not a recoil starter). It sat in our garage until we had winter weather. I stripped every part off, cleaned them, hand cut new gaskets for the carb, painted it, & sharpened the blade. I waited until spring for gassing it up and trying to start it. Much to my surprise, it started on the first pull!
Good job
Well, if everything is clean in tune and adjusted they should.
My father got this old push mower for free from the side of the road put fuel in it and tried to start it, could not get it to run and threw it because he said he got screwed. Let me explain something for later, my father was a complete moron.
When my father went in for his afternoon 3-hour nap, my uncle went over pulled the mower to the steps and started to look it over and pulled the plug out, put his thumb over the hole and rotated the blade and it pushed his thumb off. he then checked the spark and took the cover off and started to clean things up with wd-40, a small wire brush and an emery cloth, put it back together checked the spark made a gap adjustment of the plug with his pocket knife, put it back in, and one pull it started right up.
My father came out slamming the door open, saw it running and then stomped back in the house like the baby he was.
Now here is the good part, my Uncle went home and my father came out pulled the mower and proceeded to smash it with a sledgehammer. He said he was scrapping it to prove how smart he was at making money.
I learned so much from my uncle by just watching him.
TheHerrDark holy shit what a dickhead. Glad my dad isn’t that much of a tool.
@@theherrdark4834 No one cares about your messed up father. Shut up and move along.
@@djdime2002 No
As a kid, I spent many hours pushing one of these around the yard. Our mower looked more like your "before" model. Great job! Thanks.
Me too, ours looked like the "before" and the friction in the works was incredible, really hard work to cut the grass then.
Forcing children to use these mowers is the worst punishment one can give a child.
@@MisterRorschach90 Yeah, but I got $0.50 (US) a week allowance! :-)
@Sandman Huffmaster I didn't get pocket money and we didn't have an edger, I had to run the mower with one wheel on the path and the other on the grass to do the edges. Now, 60 years later, I often do the grass strips along our street with a lightweight hover mower just for fun!
Sky King Yup if the millennials are serious about saving Mother Earth they should take us back to this, something the Boomers are familiar with.Instead they are proud to push an electric lawn mower, Lol.
I was pretty disappointed he didn't cut some grass with it afterwards...
@bodd boward Not even the paper you saw it cut?
bodd boward was the paper fake
Rich L the paper was a paid actor
@@Blastof-ob2zb That explains it, lol.
@bodd boward I have one of those from 1906 blades not sharpened it was in the state it was before the restoration it cut my yard nice
The first time I was paid to mow a lawn, when I was a kid, was with a push mower just like this. At the time this was the definition of push mower, what we call push mowers today were called power mowers! I enjoyed this a lot, as it brought back memories.
About the same, here.
Five-dollars for a used "Push" mower...
You can still buy these.
Beautiful work! I would like to offer an idea though; washers. Whenever you crank down a nut on the beautiful new paint, the nut will grind off the paint and this is a point for corrosion to begin. Washers reduce and eliminate this effect. I could see the square nuts in particular scraping the paint. Washers! It might enhance your wonderful work!
I agreed when I saw that. Get some very thin washers to save the beautiful paint.
He also put together pieces that were not painted after sandblasting. A rust disaster waiting to happen.
@@michaeldextermonroe8548
That bothered me too.
Also the wood handle from that period would not have knots to make it strong.
@@michaeldextermonroe8548 He could have greased the raw bolts as well.
@@sheiladawg1664 using anti-seize ? What would you do to the bolt heads? I’m going down this process at the moment.
The nice thing about recording the process is that you always have a reference to go back and see what goes where in reassembly.
Lol I just asked him what his method is for remembering. Can't tell you how many times I took something apart and had to look up where or how it went back.
Exactly!
Hahaha thought of that many times,,, yet,, I being an electrician,, it does not always work that way,, thus a good memory and knowledge of my work beforehand has kept me out of trouble and my customers asking, ''do you know what youre doing?" ,,, I sometimes kid with them, and say,, Nahhh I just guess really good,,, hahahah,, take care E
I remember when I was like 6, my grandfather would let me push this thing around his yard. I would get my fun and he would get a tired, less hyper kid, along with a partially cut lawn lol.
See my comment,, I was 11, and started my own business,, ; D
I used to chop toads with it.
@@dreddj.9451 Oh OK!!! We're gonna go look you up! We're SO intrigued!!!
@@dreddj.9451 no you didn’t
Your grandfather was brilliant !!!!
This is a pretty amazing save and it gives me an appreciation of how well it was made. Attention to detail on the restoration will make it last another lifetime. I don't think anyone will be saving newer electric mowers from the scrap heap.
God i remember using one of these in the 70s as a kid to mow our lawn, I found it when we moved into the house in a coal bunker with no handle, I found a stick in the woods screwed it on and he presto, mom didn’t have a lawn mower till then, we used it quite a few years till she could buy new, oh the memories….. thanx for showing this super Reno, very well done 👍🏻
That rivet removal and replacement was impressive!
Agree . The knowledge is valuable and you can learn to do it. The back lapping technique works well . Patience . Super impressive work. I purchased some of the products in the description. Bravo sir. Thank you so much.
I used one of these in the 60's when I lived with my grandparents. In the fall, we took the wheels off and cleaned the gears with a wire brush and put axle grease on when we put it back together. It made for a beautiful cut on the lawn. Now you can see why golf courses use rotary mowers. Great job, just a little patience until the snow melts. LOL
Praetor6 golf courses utilize hydraulic powered reel mowers, not rotary
Yes has to be a cylinder mower for the greens!
there is something memorizing when the mower is sharp and the grass cuttings flow thru the air in a uniform fashion and the blades clicking....brings back memories ...still would love to find one myself...
Mesmerizing*
I have one...how much would u give me for it?
Lehman’s in Kidron, OH sells new ones. They drop ship.
My dad had one of these when i was a kid. Kept the blades sharp as a razor. I always enjoyed using it as a kid. Dont know about one now. Lol. Great restoration on this one!
OH YEAH! I remember these mowers...my older brother got the chore of pushing one these around the yard! When I became old enough to mow the lawn, my Dad had switched to a gas powered mower....but that old real mower was still around, and it still cut quite nicely! Came in handy when the gas can ran out!
I'll be 70 in May, boy do I remember brother and I cutting the lawn with these. We had one about the cutting width of the one in your vid and one with a narrower cutting swath, the wider one was a bear to push, the narrower one was easy but didn't cut as much width wise, either way we were screwed. lol. Really enjoy watching this, took me back to the 60's mowing the grass!
Does this bring back memories. As a kid it was my job to cut the lawn with one of these. Thanks for this restore video.
And now a days, people like me who care and want a perfect lawn prefer this same type of mower.
I worked at a lawn and garden center, repairing small engines etc. They had a table mounted grinder just for these blades. Pretty impressive back in the 60's.
Very . I also have a few decades of experience in small engine repairs . I love the reel mowers and I live in St. Louis Missouri where the humidity is like Houston Texas or Acapulco Mexico. I can cut my lawn in silence with a solar LED light is cooler silence and not disturb my neighbors. Thank you
I had an trick for the tires: if you want them soften and nicer looking put them in a mixture of water and fabric softener / conditioner over night. It makes the rubber soften, clean it and easier to put back. And they look newer. Works also for window seals at old cars… nice work to bring that handmower back to its former glory!
and what proportion to maintain? 1 to 1?
It's been two years. Still waiting for you to give that bad boy a test run.
Great workmanship. Bravo
When he drilled the handle off centre my soul dried up a little...
Thanks for giving me a good laugh. :) ruclips.net/video/DJaGovpAykE/видео.html
I got past that but the Lowe's two by four broke my heart.
My OCD went Nooooooo.
Right, all eat work and it’s off center. Ugh. Lol it only bugs me because I have to make things perfectly center for work. Lol
He didn't sharpen the blades and the hole in the handle was off-center. What does this mean? That I've watched waaaaay too many perfect restoration videos.
Wow, impressive! I never would have guessed you could restore that thing in 25 minutes!
Nice work. Its great that people bring these old machines back to life. Awesome
When I look at each and every part you restored, I think of how many times I mowed our lawn as a kid with this mower. I remember the square nuts I tightened, the sound of the blades running against the plate on the bottom, even the feel of the handle as I pushed the mower. Rye grass, Dichondra and Bermuda grass… by the way, where’s the grass catcher? Thanks for the memories I’m now 66 and getting ready to pull out my “powered lawn mower” and get it back and running. Released my landscaper to save the money to help my youngest daughter through college for expenses. Great job with the restore!
No talking. No music. I AM A FAN!
I was renting a house in Arizona once and I found one of these mowers rusting in the backyard. I didn't have a mower so I tried pushing it across the lawn. It worked perfectly. I love push mowers. For a small lawn, they are perfect.
If it snowed like that all the time I would be indoors restoring everything too
Ah that's nothing.
Good job! Back in the early 1960s in England, I used to use a mower like that. It was older and more solidly built though, and had no rubber on the wheels. Surprisingly, they were not hard to push along and they worked very efficiently as long as the lawn was level and the grass hadn't been allowed to get too long. I'd rather have a good solid 'push' mower than some of the plasticky rotary mowers I see in the DIY stores today. They left a nice striped effect, with no power cable to cut through and no fuel to buy.
Yeah and as long as their wasn’t an angry Scotsman standing there with his arms crossed refusing to move or trying to smash you with a boulder…
My Grandfather had one of these that I loved to "play with" as a kid. Two years ago we took out a massive Maple tree in our front yard that left nothing but wood chips and dirt. I bought a cheap reel mower to help renovate the front yard and fell in love with the quality of cut and how much my Bermuda loved it. the entire front yard grew back in naturally by the end of the summer. How I wish I had my grandfather's old reel mower today.
Best part was missing and it is why I stopped by to watch the video. The blade sharpening process. I can remember as a teenage, helping my uncle repair lawnmowers. He had the sharpening machine, which was huge.... I loved watching everything rotate and the sparks flying. Must google to see if anyone has a post showing that process. Beautiful restore! Love watching your work. A true craftsman.
Not only a nice project, but excellent workmanship and good video quality. Very well done sir!
Craftsmanship is superb ❤. You sir are an absolute treasure and and artist .
That is a very cool resto. I've got a mostly plastic modern version of a push reel. It does the job, but I'd love to have the mass of a cast steel frame.
Who else wanted to see it cut the snow 😂
I don't even know what that would mean or look like but still wanted to see it too!
HA! That don't cut no ice... ;-)
seeing it cut is the best part. I used to mow Grandpa's yard with one when we got there on vacations.
With the technology we have today is there some way we can improve on this design to make it lighter and spin faster. Make the handlebars wider for more control and change the tire contact to ground ratio with thinner tires. Aerodynamics should be considered so testing in a Wind Tunnel might help with the installation of a small fairing to control air flow over the bearing surfaces. Maybe a no - spill drink holder using a dampening and recoil technology so no beer is wasted and what about Solar Power for the air conditioning system, hell I should have been an engineer, I always thought driving a train would be cool
With a bit of luck it cuts snow. The blades are absolutely wrecked. They squish the grass but won't cut it. It looks really nice but its useless. ^^
one considerable advantage: never heard of anyone getting a foot or hand cut off with one of these.
Saw some cut off their finger messing with one of these when i was like 4. Not completely cut off tho, a flap of skin was still attached i think
My uncle lost 3 toes when he was young using one of these ! Lol no lie don't use in bare feet !
@@papatriots3529 you’d think that’s obvious but unfortunately some people aren’t that smart or don’t pay attention
I can change this
But you gotta move the sticks out of the way :(
I'm over 80 and I remember my dad refurbishing our push mower. Mom's favorite color was green and the color you used sure looks like the one dad used. I also remember that I had to push that green monster thru Bermuda grass. Glad we had a small yard. Looks good. Thanks for sharing
What a beautiful machine that is. I can hear the clatter and smell the grass. Wonderful.
These are still a must for a pristine lawn, when kept sharpened they cut a blade of grass better than anything modern. You just don't want to use them on an overgrown lawn.
i restored one last summer and my grass never looked better. grew in much thicker as well. It's work but well worth it. I'm keeping my eye out for a gas powered reel mower. Missed out on one for $50 because I was at work. It was worth about $500, dude didnt know what he had.
Zac Price: what brand and model type is that. I am looking for one
You don't want over-sharpen your mower blades. A clean cut on a stem makes it grow back faster. Those hard cut bruised leaves and stems take longer to recover. With the right blades you can mow monthly w the moon instead of weekly
@@edgewatersbestguitarist1524
Good to know.
That fits right in with my method of rotary maintainance: Once all the knives are machined to the bed, back off the bed until you don't hear anything hitting. Then let the knife edges corrode enough to fill the gap again. It will leave a hard and perfectly toleranced surface on the knife edges. It doesn't leave a perfectly clean cut, but its super efficient about not letting any get through untrimmed.
They just don't make 'em like they used to anymore...
That's AWESOME. Not only did you clear the rust, repaint and sharpen the tool, you used the proper techniques to prevent rust in the future and truly did a great restoration. Will watch another for sure!
Would’ve been nice to blue or nicks plate all of the screws.
Beautiful! We just bought a Great State reel style push mower two years ago and the quality doesn't compare to the old model. Nice work !!!!
Nice work. This brings back bad childhood memories of hot sweaty summers. The sound of the blades turning against the cutting bed, it turns my stomach turns. Best day in my life is when we bought a power mower.
This is great. You gotta love the guy's sense of humor. He goes to test it and there's several inches of snow on the ground LMAO. This is what I used to mow our grass when I was a kid. Thanks for the memories. :)
Craftsmanship at it's best, cracking job, hats off.
agreed! i started watching ruclips.net/channel/UCJtO0nF8bQWRX4ZsXIEaRUw . he's really new but i like him
That’s the best tool to “cut” grass. Rotary mowers beat it into submission. Smashing the blades. I used to service these mowers as a young guy. Trueing the bed knife and reel knives are key. They wear in the center concave. When it’s trued and set you can spin the blades and it will cut onion skin paper like confetti. Great job on resto
Nothing beats the nice job these do
I have three acres to cut, I'll stick to "Beating it into submission".
Beautiful restoration of a push lawn mower! You do great work!!
Extremely well done. I restored a Toro Sportlawn once but you took this one step closer. Awesome!
The end is the RUclips equivalent of getting blueballs
Lol!!!
Glad I didn't waste 25 minutes watching a useless video
OMG what made you think of that line? I remember puking behind a church after I left the house my new gf was babysitting at...and that was 40 years ago:(
@@lobitome Useless video? No one made you watch it. Go hate somewhere else. His lawn is covered in snow
I remember having to go mow the lawn with this type of mower, you will get your exercises !
It always surprises me when after spraying down the nuts and bolts how they always seem to come apart with ease for him. If it were me they would snap off and or never come out lol
I can relate. I had a job with 2 guys in factory to disassemble 75kW electrical motor. One guy unscrewed bolts from rear side almost with fingers and my bolts were like welded even after half can of WD. That guys were like: chill out man, you gonna wear out the bolts.
ATF and Acetone at 50/50 works the best. Lots on line about it.
@@janetyeoman1544 ATF?
LEMONY BOOMS , Automatic transmission fluid. With cheap acetone. I was surprised how well it worked and how economical to use.
Yeah, I'd barely call that rust compared to the stuff I get stuck with. The "it's-all-one" type of stuff.
thank goodness for a time when they made things to last where you repaired it rather than chucked it away. fantastic project and result.
I must say he has accomplished a task that would have taken me years to get it resembled. He has done a great job. Thanks
I had one of these as a kid in the 90s. The best thing about them was when my dad made me cut the lawn, it only took me as long as how fast I could sprint with the damn thing lol
Why in the hell do I find this so damn satisfying to watch...lol
Excellent job!
People love to watch other people working. I cannot start up my forge without drawing a crowd out of nowhere, even in the country. Human nature I guess. These days most folks don't know how to make things anymore. Could be that.
Nice! I restored 3 of the iron-wheeled type in the early 1990's and repainted in the original colors. I had a beautiful blue "Neptune" with silver striping on the reel, a "Roosevelt" from the President series, and I don't remember the name of the other, but it was red with gold accents. There was a place in town with an original sharpening machine so they did the sharpening for me. They worked great!
I've been looking for a hubcap for a Belknap C6 (1904 patent) without any luck. One of the originals fell and broke into fur pieces on the concrete garage floor. And I can't find anybody who will cast a replacement.
Thank you for the excellent documentation.
Some great old castings there. That was a real made by real men in a hard working environment there. Rivets!
Did you use walnut as blast medium?
Watched start to finish. That is now not only an thing of beauty, but a useful tool that works well. You restore some of my faith in people.
Amazing from start to finish! Just taking it apart and knowing how to put it back is incredible! A+.
The feeling of rust gives me the shivers, but the whole video is so satisfying my brain doesn’t know what to think lol
IKR OMG ROFLMAO
Nice restoration! How many came here just to see one of those again? I use to go door to door at around 12 years old and mow my neighbors lawns with one for whatever they were willing to pay which was typically $2-$5 per lawn (54 now).... *Yikes, I'm an old fart now*
That's quite OK Sir, you're in good company!!! (Here with the rest of us "old farts")
hahah same here,, see my note here,, I was 11,, and got $2 per lawn,,, that was in 68,,, ; D ,,,,, take care E
Great job!! I love buying almost any old machines, restoring them, then selling them. I've never really made a profit on anything, but that's not the point for me, if I break even I'm happy.
As 6 year old I used to help my grandfather sharpen those lawnmowers, then as a 12 or 13 year old I was sharpening mowers. Use to sharpen 125 or so a year until I got a real job at 16. My grandfather used to adjust the blade so it did not touch the reel but would have to make a clean cut on newspaper. Thanks for the memories.of the late 50s.
I love Push-reel mowers. They are super quiet, yet do an incredible job. Nice Restoration :)
If you had pushed one as much as I did as a kid, you might not love them so much.
Had my safety squints on when you started sand blasting.
Ave!
I used to be a sharpener. When lapping reel mowers you need to spin the reel in reverse to back lap the blades.
No te entendi ni vergas
@Eliseo Delgadillo You seem not the least bit edgy...just sayin’
I used to be a sharpen cylinders and mowers, you should sharpen first in a cylinder grinder to make sure it’s parallel and the Bottom Blade should also be machined after a new sole plate is fitted as they will never be straight unless done so.
Lapping is only done between services and if done incorrectly can cause a taper the cylinder. This is why it should always be trued in a grinding lathe.
When riveting always use the correct dolly on the snap head and react against the stem.
As Eliseo says always lap backwards and Deburr if required before use.
Love your videos but I know a little bit about mowers which I wouldn’t expect everyone to know. 👍
What's that mean , "neither heard nor "vergas""?
It's one o'clock and time for lunch
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
Me, I'm just a lawnmower - you can tell me by the way I walk
A proper test requires that a teenager cut the grass, and with dull blades at that. At least that's how my dad used to test ours!
Never had one of those manual jobs but when I was just old enough to start mowing the yard we had a Toro reel type power mower. I swear that reel blade did a better job than any other mower I've ever used.
Another stunning restoration. He makes it look so easy!
You made me laugh so hard when you opened the door and there was snow all over. lol
Great video and well done.
I remember pushing one of those when I was real little. It looked more like the before (without the roller) than the after.
When you opened the door and it was snowy, I burst out laughing😂
It was great!
old school lawn mower, original technology, great work !!!!
greenkeeper here: beautiful work! the reel is a little to close to the bed knive though. you don't want them to touch actually. if you take 2 sheets of paper it should (while slowly turning the reel) cut the upper sheet and scrape the lower sheet. that is how i adjust my mowers and they work fine. hope it helps
i think you should be keeping the wood parts rather than remaking...all the marks, gashes, marring in the old wood give it character. it diminishes the value by alot. but i do love everything else...your attention to detail and patience is admirable.
Yeah, seeing those parts replaced was a bummer. Would've liked to see them reused.
My dad tied a rope on it. My sister and I pulled it around to mow our lawn. Dad later bought an early Greens motor model, second hand from a relative. We were in heaven
yeah i remember using these if you has a gas mower you were somebody
Few months later: pulls out in a riding lawnmower to mow the lawn
thaintriguing1 fr
Reel mowing is now back in style
I use an old push mower just like this to mow my lawn because it’s actually faster than a gas or electric powered mower. (I only have to do a small area maybe 5ftx10ft)
neighbors: *why do I hear* _orchestral_ *boss music?*
ride on*
My grandparents had this same one. It worked great. Keep it oiled, keep it out of the rain. Boy oh boy does it mow the lawn.
I don't know why, but I find your vids very peaceful. Makes me wish someone could restore me back to what I was in my 20s. Alas, 50+ years means that will never happen till I get to heaven and get a new body.
Of all the “restoration” channels, you got one of the best. You and “My Mechanics” are the two I watch. Glad I found your channel, great job, looks good... I’ll sub to that
Hand tool rescue is my favorite! He adds a little comedy to it. Check him out
The blasting part is still my favorite. Loved the Made in USA too.
pb blaster, where would we be without it
Using 50/50 acetone/ATF... It smells like death, but it's saved many a bolt on my 15 yr old car that has been subjected to snowy and salty Norwegian roads 6 months every year since it rolled off the showroom floor :P
@@DrakeKillah nice.
Great job. I enjoyed your work. I used one of these in the mid to late 50's to cut our lawn and neighbors. I never learned how to maintain the mower so I am sure I had to push twice as hard as necessary just because of the mower's poor condition. I was young and needed the money. The extra work probably did me good in the long run. Thanks for posting!
YAAAAS! Every restoring video needs a sandblasting part. Thank you!!!!
Be careful with that anti-seize use AS LITTLE AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE you only need a tiny tiny amount to do the trick, that stuff gets every where... oops too late lol.
Purchased a brand new Ford truck in 1989. In the first few months I had it. Somehow managed to get a little small spot of antiseize compound about the size of a pencil eraser. On the Steering wheel center Bezel. Sold the truck in 1997. When I purchased another. That spot was still there. Just as silver as it ever was. 😆
NeverSeez is always a mess. Best is anti-seize that is food grade, high temperature (2100 F), and white....it does not stain, does not absorb into skin, and is highly acid and corrosion resistant.
@@heyinway *food* grade?
@@rinoz47 www.antiseize.com/hi-temp-food-grade-anti-seize-compound-formerly-high-temp-pure-white
yup
I remember having one like that when I was a kid.
Прекрасно, только сейчас зима)
Oh how this brings back happy childhood memories. My Grandfather fixed all types of mowers. He would get one like this, fix it where it would sing and the blades sharp enough to shave your hair on your arm, then have mow the back yard with it just to see it work.
I miss my reel mower. I had it for 15 years. My Husband insisted I buy a gas mower. It is faster but......thanks for showing this to us.
13:02 Looks like you're gonna need to restore a saw soon as well
I seen that too.
"Made in the USA" That's how you know it's old.
Sad but true
Why are the tools used metric?
@@maxwedge5683 Where you seeing metric?
Got the same mower(I believe) and about the same condition, no rust at least.
Hahahaha 👍
The Great States mower is still available on Amazon and I bought one last year, but the castings are nowhere near this quality. Works great for tight spaces and the neighbors appreciate not hearing a gas motor.
Seattle Six try Husquvarna. Spelling may be a bit off, but they make some pretty good tools. Used to make firearms for the wars. They're for Sweden, but they make this type of mower.
Hi Jim, there is no "u" after the q. Husqvarna. I know because we have been selling Husqvarna sewing machines for about 25 years now. Regards!
Keith Atkinson Haha, I think that's so weird. The only reason I know of them is that their 6.5x55 Swedish Mausers from ww2 are sought after as really high quality old guns. I own a beauty. Then one day I saw a lawn mower at the hardware store. Since then I've seen chainsaws, axes, and now sewing machines! How do you go from one to the other?
@@jimf1964 Hi Jim, the Swedes are quite the business people, so they diversify into other businesses even though it is a socialist type of country. My father in law owned a beautiful Husqvarna 30.06 hunting rifle. Of course, like fools we sold it back in the 80's.
Keith Atkinson. you can buy still buy them for fairly cheap. The 1942. 6.5 Swede I bought was at a gun show, but there are sites where you can buy 30-06 for like a couple hundred bucks. I'm thinking about getting a 9.3x57 mauser, and I think I can get a Swedish one.
I have an 8mm mauser, so I don't need a 30-06.....but who says I can only get one because I need it? 😃
I love the older stuff like that. Made by masters, not robots.
Про зиму супер 🤣
"Maybe in a few months"... Very good. Nice job, congratulatinos!! Big hug from Brazil.
Callese, no sea mamon
@@SuperLocoloco69 ???????
You should have used Cedar or maybe Oak. Just my opinion! Great job and video
I mowed a many a yard with one of these, I thought it was Christmas when my dad finally bought a gas mower.
it probably was Santa brought it LOL
When I was a kid, I absolutely hated my life when I had to push that thing around the yard 😂
Are you super old?
I actually always wanted to push it and I liked it but I was too weak and my grandfather always supervised me hah
Julia that’s funny 🤣
Kev mate your vidéos are super Nice! I clicked out of curiosity and they are banging!
Julia wow thank you !:)
You could cut grass all day with this mower and use very little or no gas at all. Job well done. Excellent video.