Posted 14 years ago
bigben
(72 items)
The lower dial rotates once per year and gells you when to plant your beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, kale, leaf lettuce, muskmelon, onion sets, parsley, peas, peppers, pumpkins, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, squash tomato and turnip. The setting can be custimozed to your location in the continental United States based on the dates of first and last frost. The upper dial shows the phase of the moon and has regular hour and minute hands.
The back of the clock is labeled "Designed and manufactured by Mechtronics Corporation, Stanford, Connectucut".
The clock is 15 1/8 inches tall, 10 1/4 inches wide, and 3 7/8 inches deep. The case is made of pine with a pressed board back and a plastic cover over the dial. The clock is electric and uses a Synchron I129RB motor. The original motor was dated 5-78 (May 1978).
My husband had a clock like this, and used it on his families' farm. I think it stopped working and his Mother threw it away not realizing how much it meant to him. If you ever decide to sell yours, would you let me know? I don't have much money, but this would be such a meaningful thing to give him.
Thank you so much,
Alexis Deal
I have one of these and I love it!!
Alexis I see these come up on ebay all the time.
I bought one in the 70's, it hung in my kitchen for a long while. It was a good clock.
I bought one at Pennys in 76 and my daughter still has it .Cool clock.
How do you set one of these electric garden clocks?
Thanks
I have one, but don't know how to do the setting, year, etc. It runs great. Can you help me? Thanks, Linda
The only way I have had everything right where it should be (Month, moon ect) Is to be patient and just keep turning it.
i have had this clock for some time and i would like to know how much they cost
corrected e-mail adddress
They are going for about $25 on eBay
I would like to know if anyone has directions on how to set a true temper electric planting clock,it has the moon phase and 1st and last frost (killing frost).It came with instructions glued to the back of it but by the time I bought it they had falling off.
I found a true temper the time to plant clock. It looks like in the same photo on top with the moon clock... How old is it and is it worth anything to collectors?
It still Has the sticker on back showing - Last Killing in frost in spring / First killing frost in Fall....
The USA map with the months of seasons. It has the MODEL NO. 4 and a hand written H in ink on the side of that ... It's Designed and manufactured by Mechtronics Cooperation Stamford, Connecticut.. thanks for anyone's help.
Mechtronics produced this clock and a few others in the mid to late 70’s.
I am collecting these Mechtronics Planters Clocks.
I have the Standard (no advertising), I have the None Advertising but with the Fancy Brass/Gold tone Face, I have the Burpee Seeds version, I have the Nestle Toll House “Time to Bake” version, I have the Astrology Clock version (very hard to find), I just recently found and purchased the True Temper version, and I still need the “Time to Plant FLOWERS” version (very hard to find).
The most common issue with these clocks is the Synchron moo4 motor.
They were produced by Mechtronics, of Stamford, CT in about 1979. At that time, Mechtronics apparently purchased motors and movements to put into these clocks from Mallory who had recently purchased Synchron. Mallory does not currently own Synchron, and although both companies exist, they are now independent.
This bred an unusual situation...Mallory made a motor for this clock, which was marked Synchron and numbered as the model M004...today referred to by Hansen (who currently owns Synchron) as the "Moo Four". Although Hansen makes a lot of direct replacements for the motors in older clocks, they do not make a direct replacement for the Moo Four. This motor was a Mallory creation. Hansen tells me that Mallory does not deal in small orders, and does not supply replacements for the Moo Four.
I was lucky enough to get mine running again with a good cleaning and oiling of both the motor and movement. However, if the Moo Four motor is not repairable, the approach recommended by Hansen is to order an A129RB-6 from R&M Importers (Hansen's distributor)...the R&M part number is 811030. You then partially remove one of the two tabs that interferes with mounting, and supposedly super glue this side of the motor down. Since it is not a high torque motor, this should work.
I'm not sure I wouldn't keep trying to find a New Old Stock Moo Four motor...but this is what Hansen recommended. Luckily, I didn't have to push it this far.
I hope this helps someone else who might be contemplating fixing one of these clocks in the future...they aren't valuable, but for some folks they are sentimental.
I found a similar clock at my local plant nursery about a month ago. It's the "Planters Clock" version. It needed some repair and a cleaning and now works and looks great. Since then I have found another version. It is a "Time to plant Burpee Seeds and Bulbs". It is different than any of the other versions I have seen. It has a white frame and clock face. It has all of the same functions. I am stumped on how to get into the clock mechanism. It looks like the hands and face need to be removed to get in from the front. Anyone have any knowledge on this would be appreciated.