PART FIVE - Conclusion
It has been a decade in waiting before I finally came to see evidence
of a Grasshopper reel mower. What I saw surprised me. The machine was;
and was not conventional - with its most unusual placement of the
small roller.

The evidence, today, suggests that the Grasshopper reel is extremely
rare indeed. This is the first image evidence of one existing in modern
times, and a big thank you to Scott and Ian for seeing something quite
unusual.

The Grasshopper rotaries are more important, I guess, in the scheme
of things - in that they were early, and they did not conform to the
direct drive designs adopted by major Australian makes. Grasshopper
had belt drive on its early machines, but moved to direct drive by
the late 1950s.

I feel the Grasshopper reel mower was somewhat an aberration -
a company wanting to expand its range to cover all tastes and
preferences had to offer them. But, the future lay in rotary
designs, and their reel design was ageing as it was born.
That is why they are so lovable and collectible!

The rest is history.
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Jack

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