Iron Addiction Strikes Again! episode: Locke Triplex Mower

Even people with the best of intentions can succumb to grips of addiction. Luckily my addiction is with old iron. In this Iron Addiction episode I can't pass up a 1961 Locke 70" reel mower.

[@hawleygriffin1800]

I started working on the golf course when I was 13. My grandfather was a superintendent at the local country club from 1939 to 1955. I moved from maintenance at the local public course to the country club in 1976 working for the guy who had replaced my grandfather in 1955. They still had two 1954 Locke mowers that my dad had run when he got back from Korea in 1955. I loved walking a Locke. Everyone else who worked there would always take the caster wheel off the back and put the sulky on. But you had so much more control with the caster wheel on the back. We had one set up high to cut places where the rough mowers wouldn't fit and the other was set up to cut approaches and the areas around the greens and traps around the green. The great thing about the caster wheel was you could walk the Locke down a finger of grass that protruded into a sand trap and you could turn that Locke right back on itself and cut your way right back out. With the sulky the best you could do was try and "nose" your way down there with the front reel several times. When you got done, you had a higher traveling gear so you could get to your next set of greens and traps. I loved being out there by myself and walking behind that Locke. Fond memories.

[@elmoreglidingclub3030]

Very nice! I bought one identical last year. Mine needs some work and I’m slowly getting it back to working. I’m not a mechanic, but I do enjoy working on it so far. I love reel mowers and, as it turns out, these mowers were manufactured by an indirect ancestor.

[@elmoreglidingclub3030]

Revisited your video as I’m finally getting time to work on my Triplex. Rebuilt the carburetor and, after a couple of jet adjustments by a guy who knows small motors, the Briggs is running great. Cranks on the first pull every time. Getting new tires for the sulky today; they’re being installed as I write this. Next comes the transmission work. It definitely needs adjusting. Then I’ll work on the blades and bed knife adjustments. Great fun!

[@larslarson2319]

My grandfather had 2 Locke mowers like the one you got. He lived outside Birmingham, Mi

[@bookemdano1317]

I own 4 lockes. Wish I had time to get them running and well maintained, but they all need work. I have a large mowing business, and if I could just roll up to my storage area and put one on the trailer and go I would, but I just can't find the time to get them lawn-worthy.

[@scatteredrustyprojects]

It seems there are never enough hours in a day. I have 5 Lockes and wish I had more time to fiddle with them. One day the enthusiasm may motivate you to start the ball rolling.

[@matthewkochan4808]

Good video ! Always nice to see people getting into the locke mowers and saving them and old iron in general! I have 10 myself mostly single units but 2 are triplexes! Nothing cuts like a locke

[@scatteredrustyprojects]

Yes! This one makes #6 for me. It was local, priced right and irresistible. Being a Locke fanatic, I'd suspect you're in the northeast.

[@matthewkochan4808]

Yes I'm in massachusetts, I usually find most of them in Connecticut, coincidently, they were built in bridegeport, ct. the farthest I went for one was about 3 hours away from me that one was in somers New York. Do you know what year your other 6 are ? Mine go from 1930-1977.

[@scatteredrustyprojects]

@@matthewkochan4808 I can say this one shown on my other channel is a 1951 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKGqiIuIjdKqla8si=2MoAtWIPF6MpcJR1

[@scatteredrustyprojects]

@@matthewkochan4808 Back about 19 years ago there was a Locke forum in Yahoo Groups. There was a mower on there that someone posted pics of called Waseeka Locke in Ashland , MA. I'd love to find that machine because it was the one I used when I was 12. I tried to message the person about it, but their posting already a few years old and I never heard back....

[@matthewkochan4808]

@scatteredrustyprojects wow that would have been nice that name sounds familiar to! Was it a triplex machine? I use to be on that forum to it's a shame they shut it down, there was alot of good information on there I liked the old ads that somebody had on there back from the 30s and 40s! They have the locke group now on Facebook but it's not really the same.

[@wilfredorosa3742]

Nice!!! I’m going to pick one up soon. Whats the max height it can cut?

[@scatteredrustyprojects]

Not a whole lot. Like 6" perhaps. When the grass is high, some of it tends to get pushed over.