Mister Mad Mower 2

Hi , just inherited an Auto Culto Model "M" , i think after looking at other's machines ? It looks like a Villiers 25c engine fitted with the rear exhaust and front carb with tin blower case . No plough but it has the tool carrier and harrow tines attached . Any one know anything about them -especially the age of the model M machines . Photo's / SN etc to follow as i havnt been to collect it yet . Deffinatly needs new tyres though , looks like rats have eaten the bottom off them both ...

Hi Bob , yours look pretty good for it's age .Mine was solid rust but as it's British it cleaned up and polished nice and easy . The bore looks good , love the Rotax engines .A friend had a 650cc bike .90mph in 3rd gear in around 4 seconds . The clamp works by having a long threaded bar to drop down through one of the engine bores so you can secure a cross plate under the cylinder liner .Using a toggle bar at the top to turn the cam to clamp the machine down .( shown in your images as the plate / cam under the rear of the motor ) Belive that it works the same with the table , I re wired mine and added the plastic expanding cable sleeveing to the cables to stop any damage occuring to them . The return spring for the centering fingers is a real problem , unless you realise the model Mamod steam trucks use a long one as the drive belt ........ I got one and cut it to length , then twisted the springs together and i added a spot of solder over the joint to make sure it didnt slip apart when the machine was opperating . I am busy making a new tool holder . Bought a few small boring bars that take the tri pojnt carbide tips , Thinking along the lines of modernising to bring the cut upto modern expectations iff you know what i mean by that . Also got the metal and a new micrometer head unit to make up a new tool setter for the boring bar unit when i get it finnished as the bars are cranked so the alignemt will be out between the center line and the cutting tool iff you follow .( the tool will be in and cutting before the head enters the bore ) . Has your's got the number plate on it ? Mine is number 34 , just wondering mainly to see iff earlier ones were red and older ones blue ?

Hi Bob , sorry about the delay but i lost all my login details as ive not been on here for ages , Had to create a new account just to reply . Here we go - For moving around it's best to remove the motor as this almost halves the weight . The main pulley has the drive lock fitted , engage for cutting and dissengage for winding back / tool sharpening . You found the feed lock to the right of the main pulley , as you say this locks the shaft to engage the cutting feed . Under this is the plain shaft a pulley guard should be fitted to . Above the motor is the plain shaft the tool holder slides onto ( center top of the image of the open box ) for sharpening the cutting tools on the little diamiond wheel behind the drive pulley . The knurled knob on the top has 2 functions , 1- to centralise the boring bar in the cylinder 2 - to lock the tool holder in the boring bar Basically drop the bar in the cylinder without the tool holder fitted and wind the fingers out to centralise the machine , then after clamping it in positon release the fingers and wind the knurled knob back which also raises the locking pin in the boring head so after youve set the tool in the holder you can slide it into the bar end and turn the knurled knob down to locate and lock the tool holder in place . You should be ok with measuring the bore and setting the tool in the holder using the micrometer , the same hole that locates and locks the tool holder aligns the tool holder on the micrometer . On the side is the auto stop , set the depth of cut on the bar so it knocks the switch off once the tool has cleared the bottom of the cylinder . See youve got the table , mine is a portable one that simply sits atop the engine and a bar drops down the adjacent cylinder and a cross bar is used to clamp the machine in place using the engine block . Once again appologies for the late reply but i am back on here now so should be able to keep up from now on .