[Teabag]

i missed out on the howard gem that i mentioned a few weeks ago,a howard bantam has come to light though,it has a villiers engine and is working okay as far as i know,has anyone used one of these machines and is it likely to be two or four stroke ?

[shaun]

hi tea bag.they are a great little machine,they are very narrow no more than 15" wide so are great for going between the rows,i'm sure frankie has one,the engine on the one i used was a honda replacement so i cant comment on the villiers,

[Bigbadfrankie]

Shaun is right they are narrow it needs a rare roto deck to be 15" wide.
10" is the norm. When I was a boy I used them with the villiars motor. A real pig to start but ok when running Good selection of speeds and more stable than the 200. More than likely its 4 stroke. Check the worm drive to the roto deck for excessive play.

[shaun]

sorry frankie i'm no good with feet and inches  

[bonzo]

Hi teabag,  When I was a boy (a very long time ago ) my Dad bought a secondhand Bantam.  It was a pig to start when it was cold (he did that for me), but I spent many hours using it.  It was  2 stroke and I think it was a villiers 98cc engine.  It died eventually - I think I wore out the wormgear on the rotors - and you could not get parts for a Bantam then.

A few years ago I bought a 2nd hand Howard 200 .  It is nothing like as good.  It is four stroke and does not have enough power.  I have tried to overhaul it - but I have not really got enough time to strip it down properly.  

If you keep an eye on ebay some old Howards come up occasionally!

Bonzo