Hello
ODK History Lovers
The
Model 40 was a 14-inch self-propelled reel mower made by the
Scott Bonnar Company.
Released in about
1961, it would be made in petrol and electric variants. It would be the
first Scott Bonnar to introduce the
Cordless-Electric, a battery-powered machine.
The Model 40 would be made in
Cordless, Mains, and
petrol-powered versions.We should not underestimate the importance of this small reel lawnmower. It sold in
volume and it was a good design. It corrected the defect(s) of the previous 1953 -
Model 19 - design; in that that older design had an 'open' transmission, with chains
exposed to dirt ingress. But ...
Most importantly, the main defect of the
Model 19 is that it offered no primary clutch
to isolate the reel for engine starting. The Model 40 corrected this, and it would feature
a new
rubber-friction Primary Clutch [for isolated engine starting], and a separate
landroll clutch. The small, domestic, Scott Bonnar had come of age.
This machine copied the 'new theory' of the larger
Model 33, released a year before,
in
1959. It is not unfair to say that the Model 33 and Model 40 would be the precursor
models that would morph into the highly successful
Model 45 Range of
1968.
TO BE CONTINUED ...