Vintage set of wheels

[David LaPell]

I spotted this today at the local dump, someone was going to throw this away, an old Clemson push mower. It works fine, but could use a little oil to help loosen up the height adjustment. Tested it out a bit when I got home, goes through grass like I am trying to make a salad. Not sure how old but would have to guess 50's or 60's. Love the old school mower, but even better, loved the price that was on it.

 

[walkin jack]

That is a neat find but for me at my age and condition my mower needs an engine....and self propel system. I'm just one short step away from a rider.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have the Sysiphus signature model.

 

[Old_Cop]

Get four more and you can make a gang mower.

 

[chief38]

I spotted this today at the local dump, someone was going to throw this away, an old Clemson push mower. It works fine, but could use a little oil to help loosen up the height adjustment. Tested it out a bit when I got home, goes through grass like I am trying to make a salad. Not sure how old but would have to guess 50's or 60's. Love the old school mower, but even better, loved the price that was on it.

WOW!! I remember using one of those every week to mow my parents lawn when I grew up. Our lawn back then was a "Postage Stamp" but never the less I'd always piss and moan because I HATED anything to do with Landscaping! I STILL DO - and have let the Landscapers and Gardeners take care of that stuff for the last 40 years.

Still Looks NEAT!!

 

[H Richard]

Hmmmm, that's the improved model from what I used every week cutting our grass back then, we had an iron wheeled model, and properly oiled (or over oiled with 30 wt oil) it pushed fairly easily. But the 6 ft high banks I had to do half from the top and half from the bottom. This was back in the late 40's.

 

[Funflyer]

It works fine, but could use a little oil to help loosen up the height adjustment.

Go over to the "bob is the oil guy" forum and ask which oil you should use. In less than a day you'd have those guys at each other's throats

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I was at a yard sale 20 years ago and they had a yard roller for $10. I paid for it and ask if it still held water, the guy said "He didn't know" in a sheepish way. I said it didn't matter I would fill it with sand, that way it wouldn't leak out. I could tell by the look on hid face, he wished he'd thought of that, I knew then it wouldn't hold water! So I pulled it behind a tractor for years, In the dry weather, it would hit a tuft of grass sticking up by itself, They sand made it weigh enough to pound the tuft to dust! Worked out great until I went to a Zero Turn. So I got 15 years for my $10 and a few bags of sand! I love old yard tools! (I liked the Zero turn even better!)

Ivan

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...I must be "vintage" too...

...cuz I used to push one of those all the time when I was a kid...

 

[kwselke]

A reel set of wheels. That will be the death of you mowing a Houston lawn in the summer. Down here the lawn grows about as fast as you can cut with one of those.

 

[CH4]

Go over to the "bob is the oil guy" forum and ask which oil you should use. In less than a day you'd have those guys at each other's throats

You'll likely get a similar response here Personally, I lube my wower with FP10 and my guns with Mobil 1

I, too, learned the fine art of lawn mowing with a similar mower. As a kid I made a good living mowing laws around the neighbourhood.

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

Nothing will make your grass look nicer than cutting it with a reel mower. That why golf courses use them. When I was a kid my dad used to cut the grass with a set of gang mowers he tugged along behind his Willys. That way he could listen to the ballgame while cutting the grass!! When I was big enough to reach the pedals it became my job, he would sit on the back porch with a beer listening to the game. Occasionally he would stand up and yell "Slow down, you're going too fast"! Little did I know but that extra speed played hell on the height adjustment on the mowers and he would fiddle with them all week to get them right before I cut again the next Sunday.

Ah, good times...

 

[Salty RI]

We used to have one with cast iron wheels.

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[OLDSTER]

Neat ! Those old mowers actually cut the grass; todays mowers (even with sharp blades)merely rip the grass.

 

[Benchrest1]

I used that type of mower growing up. My Dad always made me use a grass catcher which made it a lot more work. Plus hand shears to trim around the edges of the lawn.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Neat ! Those old mowers actually cut the grass;all todays mowers (even with sharp blades)merely rip the grass.

At my apartments, the mowing crews usually put newly sharpened blades on 2 times a week (One guy did every day!) but the guys on the riding mowers would go so fast the grass would just lay down and not get cut! I complained to the owner of the service. He came out to see how crazy I really was, and saw it for himself. So we got under a deck to see what was wrong (they should cut well at any speed!) The deck was packed full of grass clippings, as we pried some out, it was old and moldy. The crews changed the blades but never cleaned out the decks! The airflow was ruined and the blades couldn't "lift" the grass, so they just blowed it over!

I told the guy, "I may be a pain in your butt, but I'm not crazy!" The threat of not paying for a bad mowing, usually gets the boss's attention!

Ivan

 

[charles_the_hammer]

Take it to a local golf course mechanic and see if he can sharpen the reel and bed knife. If you have a Bermuda or Zoysia grass lawn, these things work great.

 

[DWFAN]

My father used to take great delight in making the blades razor sharp and watching me mow. It's pretty amazing how well they worked.

DW

 

[joe44va]

At 10 years old there was nothing in the world that I hated more than that blankidy-blank mower.

 

[ancient-one]

At 10 years old there was nothing in the world that I hated more than that blankidy-blank mower.

Amen to that. Those really were not not fit for human consumption. A youngster, some thick grass and one of those was the pits. I never used one as deluxe as that.