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Hi there my name is Mike and I have just joined the forum, after doing some googling about the Mayfield Merlins. I own one. When I was a kid in the late 60s my father came home with one as we had a huge back garden at the time (I learnt to drive in the garden it was that big!!) We have recently moved back into the family home ( with a lot less garden now as the bottom of the gardens were sold off in the 80s to build a new road.) I never did know what happened to it until we moved back in and we were clearing some very thick hedging/ thorny/ over grown ivy stuff at the bottom of the garden. To my amazement I have uncovered what is left of our one, number 108.. My wife would love me to restore it, so I am making some enquiries with this in mind. Is it easy to source parts for it or do they all need to be specially made? I am a car mechanic and am very adept at making/repairing panels etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. For sentimental reasons I would like to restore it, It will have to wait a while as I am in the middle of doing my mk2 cortina GT, and I have a 71 challenger I should do too and I am slowly doing the bungalow too. I hope there should be a picture as found and I know it is in a state.

The blades on my 42" rear discharge deck are well past their sell by date. They've done a lot of work over the years and not on ideal ground. Blunt and worn is an understatement and the deck when mowing has got rather noisy. Bearings are ok so suspect blades out of balance. So Monday I checked over a 32" deck I acquired last year. This is a Torro one. No play in the bearings so they got five shots of grease. . Blades just needed a tickle. Popped it on the C-125 with a new belt, started the engine and engaged the PTO. Though the blades spun ok, something just did not seem right. Not as fast as I thought they should for the engine revs. Stopping the engine I felt the PTO. It felt warmish. I guessed slipping a bit so I adjusted the pressure. Runs great now and I tested it out on one of the lane verges yesterday. Cuts much better than the 42" deck, which wasn't really surprising given the state of the blades. 3rd low instead of 2nd or 1st and at less revs also. I'll get new blades for the 42" one day.

The rear weights I made for my Black Horse weigh 53lb each.

Yep the numbers started at 100 mike they were built in West Sussex the engines are Briggs- Stratton 8 hp

When you say number 7, mine has 108 on it. Did the number sequence start at 100? . I think the engine is U/S was seized at some point and the head was taken off, I still have the head though. I did give it a coat of hammerite blue many many years ago when I was young.

Cutter deck. I have one to restore for mine. It's only a Briggs engine & parts are easy to find. Sure mine is number 7 so they were prob build on same day. I have painted mine Fordson blue as is my sons & that's what he wanted. I need to finish it off as taken 6 years so on & off.

To reach this point to where it makes a reasonable job it has probably been built and rebuilt a dozen times 👍

That hand pump came from an old porta power set the type used in the automobile bodywork shops 👍

Well done. I notice you've got a hand pump for the lift. What was that off if I may ask?

Hi yes it is complete bar the vinyl base and back seat cutter assy underneath which fell off years ago( not worried as I will just drive it up the road and back)and maybe air cleaner. I do remember dad had put a 12v battery on it and a auxiliary coil so I guess the ignition was in trouble . Excuse my ignorance what is deck and the tyres would be handy I am in Walton-on-Thames.

Hi Mike. That's a great find after all this time. Shame the bonnet has not been covering the engine. I had 4 of the things sat here a few years ago. 1 was the 2nd built. Yours is number 8. I have been slowly restoring one for my son. I have a set of rear tyres for one going spare. Where are you based? Have you got a deck?

Mike. I've seen worse than that dragged out of the undergrowth and restored. I can't help you with any info, but there will be people along no doubt who can help.

Hello Andrew, @Triumph66 Here's a set of fronts on my Wheel Horse loader tractor. Pretty sure they're Bolens weights but . Shipping could be expensive but let me know if you're interested. Just recently sent a 20 lb box to pmackello and it was $131.00. They aren't going anywhere if you prefer to keep looking on your side and use these as a plan B if you can't find any. Just offering them up because I know what it's like to try and hunt down the stuff you collect. I can always use different weights on my tractor.