OT - Allen Scythe Info Wanted

EP 90 is 'Extreme Pressure' gear oil, thick sticky stuff, as used in car rear axles. You can get EP 120 which is even thicker. Assuming that your Allen has a 2 stroke engine, the oil won't have drained from the engine (if it's a 4 stroke and it did, use SAE 30). There are lighter gear oils available, e.g. for transmission gears as oppsed to final drives. Hard to say without knowing where you drained it from and what it's doing.

I seem to remember that the EP range of oils are high in sulphur & are not suitable for gearboxes which employ bronze bearings as it will attack the copper & turn the bushes into sponges of tin!

Over the years I've learned the hard way that just because it came with summut, it is no guarantee that it actually correct ;o)).

Regards,

Kim

It is a 2 stroke and the oil is from the main body of the scythe. What should go back in?

Thanks

Phil

Phil, If it is a model TS the earlier one with the long tapered casting then,

use a straight SAE30 oil in the gearbox and fill up to the level of the side plug. Not sure about the later model with the shorter housing and square steel bent arms for holding the cutter bar, but my guess would be that the basic internals are much the same so SAE 30 as well. Kev.

PS whats the serial no of yours?, mine is 90735, a 2 stroke TS model.

The use of silicone sealant in attempts to keep fluid - or even semi-fluid - lubricants where they are supposed to be comes up occasionally. I thought that as we are having a slippery moment here, I'd pass on again my tip on How To Get The Best From It.

If there is no paper gasket, make one. Thin brown packing paper is fine. Take a little silicone sealer (I use the clear variety, but it doesn't really matter) and squidge some out onto finger & thumb. Apply to both sides of the gasket evenly, working it into the paper & leaving a thin layer on the surface. Lay on a previously prepared cling-filmed flat surface & leave for 24 hours.

You now have a rubberised gasket that will not try to slide sideways out of the joint as you do the screws up. Tighten evenly.

It really works & I have sealed Triumph long chaincases with this method before now, a real challenge if ever there was one.

Regards,

Kim Siddorn,