[taildragon]

Hello All

I am posting this in an attempt to help my partner (she is the gardener, I'm just the assistant!!)
She who tends the garden has an old cultivator/tiller that she inherited from her dad. He bought it secondhand many years ago at a farm sale. I dragged it out of the back of the shed earlier today, and after a bit of TLC to the engine, got it running. However, it needs a little more TLC in the way of belt adjustment and new blades etc

I'd like to find a copy of the owner/service manual for this machine, the only marking I can find (apart from the B&S engine markings) is the word "Monarch" but Google doesn't find any useful results on the word "Monarch" in this context.

Can any of the "machine heads" here help to identify this gadget?

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x124/taildragon_album/P6110107.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x124/taildragon_album/P6110106.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x124/taildragon_album/P6110105.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x124/taildragon_album/P6110104.jpg

Many thanks!

[richyrich7]

Hi Taildragon can't help you I'm afraid, just wanted to say hi & welcome to the forum.

Hang on someone who know's more will be along shortly, though you may have to find a blacksmith for the blades.

[WG.]

Hi TD & welcome from me too

[Gwiz]

hello taildragon.
your machine is a mountfield monarch, later to be known as an M1 gardener.
its very, very old and so original parts for the machine are no longer made.
parts for the engine are still made, and are obtainable from your local lawnmower repair workshop.
our friend bert on this forum has had a real pig of a job getting a belt for his machine. there seems to be two different models of mountfield. one has two belts, and one has a single belt. we have a link here for you from a place that sells replacement belts and bearings for alsorts of older stuff, with any luck you will find what you need here. http://www.bearing-supplies.co.uk/
good luck, and dont forget to let us know how you get on.
oh yes, the give away for who made your machine is the two words monarch ( mountfield used this for a couple of their products ) and maidenhead ( thats where they had their factory )
im pretty sure that one of our members who still has one will let you know how to adjust the belt, and maybe even let you have a copy of a manual, you will be extreemly lucky to buy new blades for it, i wouldn't bother looking untill you have a new belt or two in your hand that fits!

[taildragon]

Thanks for the welcome all, and thanks to gwiz for the pointers.

Now that I know what the machine is called, my Googling is much more productive! Here's a pic of fairly complete one lifted from an eBay auction that's currently running:



Our machine has the double belt, and the belts appear to be in good condition. I'll make a note of the markings on them and post back here later. The "clutch" mechanism drags, so belt adjustment is required, also there is a squeaking noise from the idler pulley which hopefully is just a lubrication issue rather than a knackered bearing!

The engine is fairly sweet now that it's run for a while with fresh fuel. I also set up the carb and the throttle linkage according to the B&S manual. I found that the B&S engine manuals are available for free download on their website www.briggsandstratton.com

Hope that link helps someone else!

The blades have a bit of life left in them yet, but one is broken (missing in action). That doesn't seem to affect the use of the machine too badly though...

[taildragon]

OK, have now had time to go and check the belts fitted to this machine. They are Quinton Hazell part No. QBB675 ( which seems to translate to 13mm x 675mm). According to the QH reference manual, this belt is commonly used on Hyundai cars for the power steering pump.

Hope this helps someone!