Upgrading / Repairing steering front engined Rover Rancher

[mixotricha]

Of course the alternative would have been to swap the steering over so that it came out the right side of the mower instead of the left. But the way Rover designed the steering it cannot be flipped. At least not that I can see. Also the tracking arm on the steering isn't on a spline! What I did to get around that was to rotate it 180' with the split on to the key. That is a bit dubious so I might end up putting a tapered pin through it when I am done or similar.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Move the sprockets higher ?
Gees, the steering gear for a 1980's super nova still availible .
These mowers really do run forever

 

[mixotricha]

Yeah that was my thought to. But what happens is the linkage out to the front/tracking arm contacts the motor. You get a narrow area of clearance out to the front steering arm where the linkage doesn't hit anything. So it seems to me that removing the engagement lever to a different setup is the other way to solve this problem and would enable any steering to be fitted really. I am pretty sure what I am hunting for now is an old pull and twist parking brake out of something. I might even have one in a box somewhere. So far I have spent 35 bucks on this. Bit of time into it now. But keeping the acres down with the hand mower is going all right. So will keep mucking with it. Almost got it right. Worth noting that if I had not flipped the steering arm about at the front like I did the wheels would turn to opposite lock the way it is setup. I tried to think if I could flip the steering over at the front. But I cannot really see how. Can you think of any old mowers like this where the steering came out on the right ( from drivers position ) rather than the left? I did contemplate cutting up the spindle and physically flipping the orientation of the arm. I suggest this because nothing at all is in the way on the right.

 

[bertsmobile1]

No they all steer either from the left or from the middle.
And yes I know the clearance problems with the engine which is why I have to raise the engines to get the OHV's to fit in the earlier SV Greenfields
The latter Cox & Greenfields have the sprocket in front of the engine pulley so the steering gear does not foul on the drive belts. Another option would be a third shaft on the other side of the steering shaft with 2 sprockets on it so the chain would go from the steering shaft to the new layshaft, get a 2:1 or higher reduction there then from the new layshaft to the original lay shaft
How many old sprockets you got laying around ?
OTOH check the king pins, they would probably swap over but that would have the tie rod in front of the mower where it would be vunerable

 

[mixotricha]

What I did in the end was just dump the whole mess. The sprockets. All of it. Put a big lever on the side. Bit like a skid steer. Works amazingly well and feels nicer than the original steering. Some things I noticed about this were that I can now steer the mower while pushing it from behind. Also can lean over and pick stuff up off the ground. I'll take a picture of the set up next time I go out to mow the lawn. To fix this in the end was not more than some old fashioned metal bashing heating and bending. Big lever. Bracket to hold it in. Bit of extra strength added to the area that it pivots on. What would finish it off nicely now would be to put the throttle on the steering arm. Also I now need to do the brake pads in the Peerless transmission

 

[bertsmobile1]

Well a long lever would give a bigger reduction ratio than the tiny steering wheel.
I had a couple of Cox Compacts with a long handle welded onto the F-R pedal, such that it was uncomfortable to sit on the mower with your foot on the pedal.
I had always thought it was some sort of dissabled work around.
Then when in town I was a caravan dealer with a similarly modified mower using it to shuffle vans around the lot and it all made perfect sense as the lever was very comfotable to use if you were walking beside the mower
So I did the same with a Greenfields to mow the steep verge as they have a left side discharge and an east-west engine mounting so I can safely mow across a slope.
Sold it last year to a customer who had lost his right leg .
He has never stopped thanking me for it .
He uses it for exercising walking next to it and when he gets tired jumps on and mows.