WestwoodGazelle

Nice pickup Neil that looks well smart...
 
Would a WH fit in the back ??

Nice Moggie.

Commando 8  ??
 
I got one of them...
 
 

Just bought this little fella

Hi, yeah, i will be sure to show you some pictures of my W8 Westwood Gazelle and perhaps a video of it running if you would like. I am currently going away for a couple of days but will try to remember to send the pictures when i return. My Gazelle is a 1978 model W8 and was manufactured at Bell Close, Plympton, Plymouth. It has the column gear change 1-5 inc reverse. 8hp Briggs engine which has been on the mower all of its life! White grill 'pale face.' Done some work to it when purchased last year on Ebay. I have changed air filter for the first time in 39 long years! I have also changed the oil and fitted new points and condenser as after a few minutes of running the mower it used to cut out completely!! Now starts on key. Engine runs great. I also done a little restoration on deck but i think i went a little over board with what i had done. Sadly the clutch pulley has given up all life and had fallen off the mower so i lost control over the clutch!! Happened two weeks back when cutting. I have ordered a new drive belt and have also tried to order two new pulleys. Pulleys arrived a couple of days ago with belt, but was not convinced that they were the right ones so sent them back. Kept the belt. Thats the life story so far. Ha ha. Gazelle has now lost the use of her legs for now!! She will soon be fixed once i find parts. Thanks for reading.  

I hope that you get sorted out . I had a vague recollection of pulley issues with Westwoods of that era and modified pulleys being introduced. If pushed I'd say that they were deeper metal ones . I've had a look at our old stock file and there are two part numbers for "Pulley mod kits" part numbers 3230 and 5823 but no indication of what or why.

Ok, thanks for the part numbers as this will be a great help, i have also printed off a Westwood W series manual. If you want to print it off go to the official Westwood site and go to the help page and it should be under user manuals. Thanks for the reply, and hopefully i can get the Gazelle jumping for joy again!! Ha ha. 

Hi there, good to see another fan of these tractors. I think they have a really nice look to them, and they are very sturdy and easy to work on. I would love to see pictures of your W8!
 
Here is a video of mine in action: 
 
 
 

Yes, it does not give the impression that these machines are built to last. I think there should be more of a focus on keeping good machines going, encouraging an industry of aftermarket parts like that of classic cars, rather than this idea of "just buy a new one". 

Yes, it does not give the impression that these machines are built to last. I think there should be more of a focus on keeping good machines going, encouraging an industry of aftermarket parts like that of classic cars, rather than this idea of "just buy a new one". 

You think there is alot of plastic on garden tractors, take a good look at some of the farm tractors made today, all the "sheet metal" is plastic.

Managed to find just one image on line of the Alkotrac ride-on. The conveyor can just be seen on the far side and the frame for the collector on the back.

Interesting to read how well the hot air treatment works. I have tried to brighten up faded Flymo decks with all the usual cutting compounds and polishes but other than putting a shine on the faded plastic, no improvement. If it comes to a repaint you will need to roughen it up with 400 wet or dry and then apply a plastic specific primer as used by car bumper repairers and probably available at Halfrauds.
Al-ko, beside being a major manufacturer of caravan, motorhome and trailer chassis, make some decent garden machinery. 
Way back in the 80s they made a grass collecting ride on where the deck exited to a rectangular tube with a conveyor belt inside it carrying the grass to a big upright bin at the rear.  

You can now put in 1st gear on tick over & cut the hedge at the same time 

Latest little build. I needed more hight and reach for cutting a high hedge  and this is what I came up with. The old sweeper was past it as the bearings had seized and spun in the chassis. I can stand on the plarform at the   very back and not have the steering wheels lift. The front tyres have also been replaced to make them more puncture proof.

Sometimes sun faded plastic can be restored by using a hot air gun or old hair drier . just warm it up section by section taking care not to melt it.

Halfway through the day I decided to change the tractors around that I'm taking to Rural past times and change trailer as the one outside was a bit tacky.
The one I wanted was right at the back of my well organised storeage shed so had to shuffle everything to get it out.
By 4 pm I started to wander if i made the right decision not to mention the heavy rain we had.
by 7.15 i had the Bolens and Raider 12 in the van with the posh trailer and everything thrown back in the shed.

Looks OK. As to the faded plastic, you could try giving it a good polish with something like Mer or T-Cut. You would need a special kind of paint to repaint it I would think.

But this is Grandad's new lawn tractor. It is an AL-KO, and I have to admit I don't know anything about them really  It looks OK and it has a 12hm Briggs & Stratton with quite a bit of oomph. It seems like a decent machine and should be fine for Grandad's purposes. I think it's a shame they had to use plastic for the bonnet, I think there's way too much plastic used on lawn tractors these days, especially the kind that fades at a different rate to the painted metal, not sure if there is a way to fix that other than a complete repaint of everything. 
 
 
 

Hi, I am really in to these Westwood Gazelle white grills, I have a Westwood W8 1978 Gazelle and I have never seen this early model of Gazelle!? Would love to see and read more about it. Thanks.

Seems there is a new addition to the herd
 

 
As far as I know this is one of the earliest Westwoods. If you look at the foot rests they are very different from the later ones which rise up near the front of the mower, and have some pretty nice sharp angles The gear selector is in the same sort of place in front of the seat as a classic Wheelhorse instead of being column shift. The whole mower also seems to sit a couple of inches lower than my other Gazelle. It is basically exactly the same as my other one but everything is slightly different.
 

 
As far as I know this is from the late 1970s, but I shall check tomorrow, and get some better photos. It does not run currently, the carb needs some attention and the deck needs a new belt to mow with.
 
I plan on keeping this Gazelle as original as possible, I have rarely seen ones of this age about, and it isn't in bad condition at all, only some surface rust.
 
It needs some TLC but overall is very solid.
 
I think it would be a shame to repaint it but I wouldn't want it to eventually rust away, is there any product I can use to preserve it whilst keeping it with an original look? 

I love the look of this tractor:)

looks fab - well done.
 
yes where did the hood ornament come from?  is it a Glenn Petit one?

Looking good , where did you get the horse mascot from