I picked this up this Sunbeam from craigslist today. Got it home and it works. The blades need to be sharpened.
Sunbeam Find
- Thread starter countryford
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another pic.
polkanut
Well-known member
Looks like the mower my great-aunt Adela had. What a cutie!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
You DAWG.
I've been looking for one of those forever - I used to have one, long ago and wish I'd never made the dumbass decision to leave it with the house when I sold it.
I'm very happy for you.
P.S.: If this is one of the earlier ones (which it doesn't appear to be), you will find wire encircling the tires; it sits down in the grooves of the tread. This is the mower's grounding system - don't mess with it.
I've been looking for one of those forever - I used to have one, long ago and wish I'd never made the dumbass decision to leave it with the house when I sold it.
I'm very happy for you.
P.S.: If this is one of the earlier ones (which it doesn't appear to be), you will find wire encircling the tires; it sits down in the grooves of the tread. This is the mower's grounding system - don't mess with it.
I don't know if I'll actually use it. My hard is rather large and I prefer gas lawnmowers. Plus like the ones with bags. I did get a bit of grief when I bought it home. Oh well. I couldn't resist.
laundromat
Well-known member
"rather large hard"?????? Let's discuss.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Justin:
"I did get a bit of grief when I bought it home."
It's shippable, mmkay?
"I did get a bit of grief when I bought it home."
It's shippable, mmkay?
I meant to say my yard is large. Opps. Don't need this to go to the Dirty Laundry Forum. 
redcarpetdrew
Well-known member
A large hard that needs a gas machine...
Leaving that alone and it's likely for the best...
That is a neat little mower. I didn't even know Sunbeam made one. Makes me wonder what else Sunbeam made that wasn't common.
RCD
Leaving that alone and it's likely for the best...
That is a neat little mower. I didn't even know Sunbeam made one. Makes me wonder what else Sunbeam made that wasn't common.
RCD
Electric Snow Throwers
Drew,
Out in the West I bet you never saw one of the Sunbeam electric snow throwers. They made a number of these over a period of many years!
We had one here but it never worked well due to the combination of heavy snows and voltage drop in the wiring to the garage. John hauled it back to the East coast last year. An electric snow thrower would only work well if it were run on 240v AC!
Here is a Youtube video of a similar model:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I also recall once seeing a cool reel type mower with an electric motor mounted above the reel that had the Sunbeam name on it.
Drew,
Out in the West I bet you never saw one of the Sunbeam electric snow throwers. They made a number of these over a period of many years!
We had one here but it never worked well due to the combination of heavy snows and voltage drop in the wiring to the garage. John hauled it back to the East coast last year. An electric snow thrower would only work well if it were run on 240v AC!
Here is a Youtube video of a similar model:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I also recall once seeing a cool reel type mower with an electric motor mounted above the reel that had the Sunbeam name on it.
polkanut
Well-known member
Here is a YouTube video of a similar model like the one Justin found. The one in the video looks a bit rough compared to the one pictured above. Nice demo though.
Sunbeam Twin Blade Electric Mower
Our next door neighbor had one these years ago that I fixed several times, this is indeed a fairly early one [ one these early ones they used two coged belts and you had to assemble them properly so the two blades would not strike each other at the blade tips, like a beaters on a food mixer ] I have a later SB TB mower and on these they moved one blade ahead of the other to eliminate the interference problem.
This little mower would be plenty big enough for your yard. Electric mowers today are so good I cannot imagine why anyone would still buy Middle Eastern oil to cut their lawns. The new rechargeable electrics are the perfect way to mow up to around an acre of lawn, these mowers are safer, more reliable, quieter and just an all around more civilized way to cut grass.
Our next door neighbor had one these years ago that I fixed several times, this is indeed a fairly early one [ one these early ones they used two coged belts and you had to assemble them properly so the two blades would not strike each other at the blade tips, like a beaters on a food mixer ] I have a later SB TB mower and on these they moved one blade ahead of the other to eliminate the interference problem.
This little mower would be plenty big enough for your yard. Electric mowers today are so good I cannot imagine why anyone would still buy Middle Eastern oil to cut their lawns. The new rechargeable electrics are the perfect way to mow up to around an acre of lawn, these mowers are safer, more reliable, quieter and just an all around more civilized way to cut grass.
alsaroy
Member
I had one of these back in the 60's
My grandmother had this exact electric Sunbeam mower back in the 60s. I used to do her lawn and the neighbors all the time. For a small machine, with two small blades, it did a fairly good job. The key was the handle which flipped over from one direction to the other. This way when you got to the end of a row, you did not turn the machine, but flipped the handle over. This way, you never had to turn the machine and worry about moving the electric cord. You just kept mowing each row away from the electric cord.
You certainly did not want to have an electrifying experience by cutting the cord!
My grandmother had this exact electric Sunbeam mower back in the 60s. I used to do her lawn and the neighbors all the time. For a small machine, with two small blades, it did a fairly good job. The key was the handle which flipped over from one direction to the other. This way when you got to the end of a row, you did not turn the machine, but flipped the handle over. This way, you never had to turn the machine and worry about moving the electric cord. You just kept mowing each row away from the electric cord.
You certainly did not want to have an electrifying experience by cutting the cord!
I like the rechargeable electric mowers as well-have a small collection of them.If only I could get the Whisper Mow rechargeable electric rider!-but its $15,000!Reminds you of the GE Electric-Trac.But alas-the only gas mower I use with the electrics is my John Deere tractor-it was $2000 as opposed to $15,000.Maybe-just maybe the prices of electric riders will come down-hopefully!.I like the idea of a mower that makes mowing as easy as vacuuming your living room floor!
Rare X 2
Finding a lawnmower in Phoenix would seem to be interchangeable with finding a needle in a haystack. And then it's a vintage Sunbeam!
Justin, how do you do it? You're like Hans' western counterpart!
Finding a lawnmower in Phoenix would seem to be interchangeable with finding a needle in a haystack. And then it's a vintage Sunbeam!
Justin, how do you do it? You're like Hans' western counterpart!
retromania
Well-known member
???
Don't think I've ever see one that small?!
Don't think I've ever see one that small?!
Vintage mowers-like vintage washers-just corrode away to a pile of rust out my way.Both are very rare.
redcarpetdrew
Well-known member
Phil, that snow thrower is just too neat. I'd use one out here if I could find one close and reasonable as it would be perfect for my small piece of real estate. Just too cool. Thanks for showing me that...
RCD
RCD
RCD,
Indeed the Sunbeam snow thrower was pretty neat! It sure started easily... I think it could actually do ok in the right circumstances. It needed better power then I had and MN snowfalls on a 40 foot 2 car driveway are just past its capabilities. I think I'd like the new Toro version better with the safer rubber blade impeller design though. I hope John found a good home for it, I bet it had less then 3 hours on it total.
Its a bit surprising someone hasn't built a cordless snow thrower yet... There is no limit to the ridiculous cordless applications they come up with, i.e. Shop Vac, Chop Saw and even a wirefeed welder!!
Oh and here is an image from the web of that Sunbeam electric Reel mower I saw years ago. I'd buy one of these if I saw it!
Indeed the Sunbeam snow thrower was pretty neat! It sure started easily... I think it could actually do ok in the right circumstances. It needed better power then I had and MN snowfalls on a 40 foot 2 car driveway are just past its capabilities. I think I'd like the new Toro version better with the safer rubber blade impeller design though. I hope John found a good home for it, I bet it had less then 3 hours on it total.
Its a bit surprising someone hasn't built a cordless snow thrower yet... There is no limit to the ridiculous cordless applications they come up with, i.e. Shop Vac, Chop Saw and even a wirefeed welder!!
Oh and here is an image from the web of that Sunbeam electric Reel mower I saw years ago. I'd buy one of these if I saw it!
