PART FOUR – Amplion Mower with Manley Roto-Trimmer The second studio photograph depicts the Amplion mower with electric trimmer accessory taken from the right-hand front.
This is the first time we see the shallow discharge chute. Again, it is un-Amplion to have used an alloy base.
The accessory is the Manley Roto-Trimmer that I have discussed in a History Record [see Related Reading]. The Manley was named after its inventor, Patrick Joseph Manley, in 1949. It was widely advertised in the 1950s and its manufacturer was … Amplion!
The trimmer was powered by a base-mounted generator, attached in a similar fashion to the Reilax compressor unit in the previous image. That generator looks very similar to the North American Delco Remy starter generators, and these were used on large horizontal shaft Briggs & Stratton engines at that time. Amplion was a Briggs distributor and seller of Briggs and Amplion generating sets at this time. You get the idea.
So, both accessories were not new products by 1959, when these studio images were taken.
The Amplion mower, itself, was the intended star.
The gallery below includes studio image clips and Manley trimmer ads from 1951 and 1962.
