Front Mount Mott Flail Mower Refurb - F32S

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

I'm pretty pumped about a restoration I'm finally making headway on, and wanted to share. It's been long enough...I found this nearly a year ago (or rather, it found me). It's a real unicorn, as I have only seen four model F32S...the Simplicity/AC model (2 reside right here on ST). I thank Seth for giving me a shot at this one.

He commented a couple years back when the Mott found him:

http://simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=130209&SearchTerms=mott,Front,mower

And a few months back was surprised with some original literature on the mower, here:

http://simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=146690&SearchTerms=mott,F32S

I really wanted to get this mower in shape, as it was badly neglected, and seems to have sat on it's end, on damp ground for a very long time, resulting in pitting and some decay. The mechanical's all seem unaffected, with the exception of the caster spindles.

I was able ask a favor of a fellow AC collector, who lives locally in a fab shop. He replicated my destroyed sheet metal gaurds, out of a bit heavier gauge steel...life saver!

I am not even good enough at welding to be called a novice, but I tried my best and the patch job on the main body of the mower, where you could drop a golf ball through the rust holes...I was very pleased with this minor accomplishment:

I went to work on the top half with filler, and really took my time to make it look as good as possible

There were several bolts rusted/snapped off that held the rusted guards on. I drilled and retapped the holes, to use the oem machine thread bolts. Every bolt on this thing is fine thread...which I found kinda neat. I did have to fab one missing flange, weld on, and drill/tap for the end belt cover. The spindles were subjected to months of intermittent electrolysis, lubricants, heat, sledge hammer blows, etc. I could not free them. Finally, with only a week remaining before the show, one came free and the other I had to cut. A friend welded the seam shut and no one will be the wiser.

The paint on this thing has to be the most durable stuff ever created...I had decided to save $ by NOT going to my sandblast guy (that, and I didn't want further damage to the rusty areas)...it took me a very long time to grind and wire wheel the old finish completely off, after disassembly, but eventually I had bare, rust free steel and dis some yellow paint sampling...I ended up going with Cub yellow from TSC (and plenty of hardener).

From a towbehind Mott restoration I did a couple years back, I had clickitandstickit make up the Mott decal set. I got ahold of them and reused/modified some of those, to match what this mower had, and based on pictures of others online.

The mule drive assembly is odd, and I only know of one other that is complete. I still need to figure out how it mounts properly, as the brochure pictures just don't show clear enough:

I did contact another owner who was missing the mule, and my fabricator friend, and had a repop made for him during the project, so we can both be up and running:

Finally, we had some dry weather, and I began paint 3 days before the show...Tuesday:

Any by 10pm last night, things were dry enough to begin some assembly

I'm very happy with how things are looking, and can't wait to put some more time into finishing it tonite. I painted the casters this morning while getting ready for work...between 5-6am, and bolted up a few more parts. I'm short a couple fine thread bolts for the sheet metal and will grab some at lunch. I'm thinking it will display well this weekend on my Squire 9, which is otherwise, show ready =]

[tadams 988]

Looking Good.

Tom

[Brettw 1,130]

Very cool attachment. Nice rebuild, that has to be a rare one.

[Chris727 2,016]

Awesome job! You never see the Mott mowers.

[gwiseman 1,678]

quote:...I'm thinking it will display well this weekend on my Squire 9, which is otherwise, show ready =]id="quote">

id="quote">

I think it will too Josh. Another nice piece (after restoration) in your collectiondOd

[GLPointon 41]

Ditto...nice job and another cool attachment for your collection

[devinbrown07 1]

Sweet! Can't wait to see it in person!

[RayS 79]

Nice work!

[farmtoybuilder 4]

Rare Mower! It will look great on your Squire.

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

Well, I'm working on a small mounting bracket I didn't realize I was missing, to hold the mule in place. So, she's not operational yet, but good enough to take along to the show tomorrow.Anti-scalp bar mounted

A few decals from my favorite decal guys

This corner, and especially the top surface near it was totally rotted...after some patience, I think it hides well. I'm also loving the paint. It looks better than I had hoped, sprayed well, dried fast (dry to touch in under an hour), despite humidity outdoors, and seems rock-hard and scratch resistent, only 24hrs after spraying. It is the Majic enamel from TSC, in Cub yellow, with their hardener mixed to a 'dallop plus a dribble' per half pint. First time I have tried that paint since they dropped Valspar...I'm happy enough to consider trying it on a tractor, if it stands up to some wear.

[johnmonkey 4]

Wow, that looks awesome. Nice work. JH

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

quote:Originally posted by RayS

Nice work!

---

id="quote">

id="quote">Special thanks to Ray, who welded a 'zipper' on the cut I had to make, to free up one of the spindles. Can't even tell it's been mended!I mailed Ray the spindle (1 day from his place to mine), and he had it back in the mail the very next day...within 48hrs I had it prepped for paint.dOddOddOddOddOddOddOddOd

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

I also want to thank a new member here, devito0824, who was able to provide me with a couple pictures that solved my mule mounting confusion. I'm missing a bracket, and it should be easily fabbed.The mule properly mounted:

That's the little bugger I'm missing:

[GLPointon 41]

Josh it looks like it could be made from an FDT snowblower pto...or I have an extra 300 series front mule drive with similar "insides"..? It doesnt look too bad to fab from scratch too if need be.

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

I have the mule...i just needed to fab the small bracket behind the axle.

Made the missing bracket and mounted my mule drive while I await the rain over at the Gilmore show to clear. Used an adjustable belt to get proper length...71"

[Tonyvdb 1]

Great job, looks nice.

[B10Dave 1,787]

dOddOd Great job on the refurb Josh...Dave

[D10-Allis 24]

Excellent Job Josh.

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

I've had a change to run the old girl a bit, but it's been too wet to actually mow. My Squire float was sticking, so I did a quick carb clean/adjust and now she's starving for fuel. Dang 3 bolt carbs and me just don't get along like my 4 bolt sweathearts.

The mower is unique, in that the engagement is on the implement. The PTO on the tractor keeps the belt to the mower spinning constantly, so there is a bit of a load on the S/G when starting up.

The mower seems to spin with little to no load when engaged though. It's whisper quiet. I'm looking forward to giving it a shot.

[TimJr 206]

Cool.