Stepney 2,325 #1 Posted April 12, 2020 Saved this poor old thing from the yard where it had been sitting for 30+ years. It is a ROOF brush cutter, built in Pontiac, Illinois. Sometime around the 50's, going by the Wisconsin engine. Was mostly frozen, but came free pretty easy since it seemed to have been totally doused in oil during it's life. In fact, even the crusty old Fairbanks external magneto came to life after a points cleaning.. Belted it up to the WorkHorse to crank it over faster than I could by hand.. after a few minutes running, it had plenty of compression and starts easily. Currently attempting to repair the cracked cast metal carb, and get the tank cleaned out. Figured you'd like some photos of the death-trap.. 7 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,766 #2 Posted April 13, 2020 I'm too busy scoping out the bone yard to notice those tire chains! 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stepney 2,325 #3 Posted April 13, 2020 3 minutes ago, WHX24 said: I'm too busy scoping out the bone yard to notice those tire chains! The yard is about 20 acres in all and includes no less than 20+ fullsize antique tractors, dozens of GT's, various trucks and other vehicles.. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZXT 2,401 #4 Posted April 13, 2020 20 minutes ago, Stepney said: The yard is about 20 acres in all and includes no less than 20+ fullsize antique tractors, dozens of GT's, various trucks and other vehicles.. And you only came home with that? Whaaaat? That thing is scary looking with no guard on it. Definitely cool. My neighbor across the street brought home a Scimtar Clean Cuter the other day. It has a deck over the top of the blade, but nothing on the sides.. I thought that was scary! It has a Lawson on it and cuts great. I googled it and the only mention I could find of it was a video on YT. Pretty neat little brush cutter. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stepney 2,325 #5 Posted April 13, 2020 She's alive!! Managed to patch up the carb. Running in slow motion clearly.. camera won't pick up the blade at speed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C-85 681 #6 Posted April 13, 2020 We were a Roof dealer and we sold quite a few of these! This one isn't missing any guards, that' the way it originally was! They worked great for clearing out rough stuff! This was back before safety guards/switches and when you had to use your head to be safe, or else you paid severely! I liked it much better back then! I'd never seen anyone put chains on them, so that was neat to see! Roof also made the Palimino, and I saw them, but I don't think we ever sold one. I've always been a Jeep fan and have a '79 CJ-5, and I guess this was Roof's attempt at making a Jeep like tractor! We sold all sorts of Roof mowers, the high wheeled regular mower, their riding mowers with high wheels that had a unique steering handle that you could push down on to lift the deck up and over stumps and rocks. They were a pretty good piece of equipment! I'm not sure what happened to Roof, we went from selling Roof to selling Bachtold mowers which were similar and did have a guard. C-85 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stepney 2,325 #7 Posted April 14, 2020 9 hours ago, C-85 said: We were a Roof dealer and we sold quite a few of these! This one isn't missing any guards, that' the way it originally was! They worked great for clearing out rough stuff! This was back before safety guards/switches and when you had to use your head to be safe, or else you paid severely! I liked it much better back then! I'd never seen anyone put chains on them, so that was neat to see! Roof also made the Palimino, and I saw them, but I don't think we ever sold one. I've always been a Jeep fan and have a '79 CJ-5, and I guess this was Roof's attempt at making a Jeep like tractor! We sold all sorts of Roof mowers, the high wheeled regular mower, their riding mowers with high wheels that had a unique steering handle that you could push down on to lift the deck up and over stumps and rocks. They were a pretty good piece of equipment! I'm not sure what happened to Roof, we went from selling Roof to selling Bachtold mowers which were similar and did have a guard. C-85 Very interesting tale! Know of a local Palomino tractor myself. After lots of google searching, I cant find a single photo of one like mine. Do you have any idea when it was built? There is also a sort of rod and sleeve linkage under the transmission gears, I'll have to take photos of it.. cant figure out what purpose it serves. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
