Hi Jack and Mystyler
I also cannot confirm the blades origin after conferring with the seller and Ings, lots of things change over the years. I do however think these blades are a bit unique as they are stepped down slightly from the horizontal and then square off again and all are the same and in good condition for their age. The cutting section of the blade sits just below the skirt of the mower. The blades suit this mower.
The rear roller is fixed Jack as you suspected and the height adjuster gives a positive rake as you mentioned, It's a pretty fine thread on the adjuster so to end up with a negative rake you need to almost wind it to it's maximum travel and i think most operators would work out that it doesn't seem right but it's not a huge angle. Ill need to have a more detailed look at this though.
The front of the deck has a cut out section so if you are mowing on a low setting the deck won't catch on the grass. That was an interesting point the chap at Ings made as he wasn't certain that this innovation was incorporated in the early models.
Unrelated to this, did you notice the frame on the wall has a split rear roller, actually i think it's 2 smaller rollers, this would make it a whole lot better to turn than the big single roller on mine.
I tend to agree that these units may not have been designed for manicuring the tennis courts of Wimbledon but possibly more used to prepare the famous WACA pitch so the quicks could get their lethal short deliveries to rear up from a good length ! but who knows ?
Marketing, good question, Ill ask the chap about this when I next speak with him but it was all a long time before he took the reigns. Thank's Jack and Mystyler for your interest in these machines.
Now that travel restrictions have been eased here ,I and the bride are heading down to Margaret River for a couple of days to revisit an area we haven't been to for a fair period of time so will foward any more information about the Rola on our return.
Cheers
wce
