PART TWO – Worthington Mower Company, USAFor the record, the Ransomes Overgreen was a copy of an idea, not a machine.
The idea of a triplex greens mower was not new to Ransomes at this time.
Ransomes was clearly
influenced by the North Americans in their mower
designs from the late 19th Century and the 20th Century. In the 21st
Century there has been a convergence and amalgamation.
The first Ransomes Side-wheel Push Mowers and Gang Mowers were
clearly inspired by these North American inventions at this time.
The most noteworthy being the
Worthington Mower Company of
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. To my knowledge, Worthington invented
the idea of the ‘gang mower’.
It was no secret that Ransomes used Worthington patents for their
first gang mowers. The Overgreen was a sub-species …
Worthington made the application of the gang concept to golf greens
mowers in about
1929. Below are the Worthington Overgreen tractor
trailing side-wheel and roller-reel mowers …
1928 Worthington Overgreen with Indian Motorcycle engine. 1932 Worthington Overgreen with Harley Davidson engine.There is a great Wiki record here: -Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worthington_Mower_CompanyA concise summary of the Worthington Mower Company was made
available in the
Monroe County Historical Society Newsletter of Sept/Oct
1999. This was reproduced in
Gas Engine Magazine: - [see attached]
There is a sort of irony in the
Overgreen story.
The then UK’s Ransomes’ development of the gang mower
was clearly influenced by developments of the lawnmower
in North America.
It is quaint that Ransomes was influenced by Worthington;
given that Worthington would be then acquired by North
America’s
Jacobsen in
1945. You get the idea …
it is a greater irony that the UK’s Ransomes would join with the
USA’s Jacobsen in the modern age to form
Ransomes-Jacobsen.
The history cycle was complete.
TO BE CONTINUED …