The Adelaide City Council Machine

Current research says that the first motor mower to be used by a public body
was imported in 1908. The decision by Adelaide City Council to purchase a power mower
was made in early May of 1908. This was reported in the two major Adelaide papers,
the Advertiser and the Register:-

[Linked Image]

This Ransomes water-cooled machine probably arrived in September of 1908.
The machine's first trial was near the Rotunda at Elder Park on Friday, 2 October.
The machine had a 30 inch cut and it was a pedestrian (walk-behind) machine.

Here is the transcript of the 1908 article I found:

The advance of the motor has assumed another phase in its entry into the lawn- mowing business. The Adelaide City Council has about 70 acres of lawns, which have to be cut at frequent intervals during the spring and summer months, and their constantly increasing extent� no less than 18 acres has been added in the last couple of years�has necessitated attention to the most up-to-date machinery for keeping them in order. Negotiations having been opened with Messrs. James Hill & Sons, a motor lawnmower has been introduced, and, in the presence of a member of the City Council, a trial was carried out under the supervision of Mr. H. F. Nicholls, in the vicinity of the Rotunda at Elder Park on Friday. The Adelaide Council is the first public body in Australia to adopt the new power for this purpose, and the machine is said to represent the second one landed in the Commonwealth�the Royal Sydney Golf Club having been the pioneer patron of the petrol mower. The Adelaide mower, which cost �156 delivered, is by Messrs. Ransome, Sims, & Jeffries, of Ipswich, England. It has a 30-in cut, and is driven by 6/8 h.p. motor. The engine, which is water cooled, is controlled by the driver, who walks in the wake of the machine and direct its course much in the same manner as the old-fashioned plough. It can be worked at any rate up to eight miles an hour�provided the man can maintain the pace�but it is intended to be run at a walking pace. The motor made a clear sweep of the well-grown parts of the lawn, and every- one was impressed with the tho- roughness of its work. The mower is provided with a receptacle to gather up the spoil, from which the driver can deposit it in heaps by the side of the trail at will. It was calculated that the mower should be capable of cutting the Rotunda lawns in two to 2� days, a task which occupied a horsemower five days. The motor, attended by one man, should at least be able to do the work of two men, two horses, and two mowers.

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]


All very historical.
---------------------------------------
JACK