So this is my only Australian Reel mower. Plenty of English ones. My favourite mower to start up and if my lawn was better, it would be the mower I would use all the time. Cheers Batimus.
G'day Batimus, The Model 17 was one of the first post-war SB designs. I know of only a few of these 'baby' Supercuts surviving.
They were beautifully over-engineered for a domestic mower size. I guess that's why the production run - a couple of years - was short.
The times changed so quickly, and I have argued on these forums that Scott Bonnar was confronted with a new and emerging market ...
For the first time, power mowing was within the reach of the working classes. The small Supercuts were way-too-expensive, because their design was way-too-expensive to make!
Scott Bonnar quietly retired the 14" and 16" Supercuts as their new domestic reel designs took hold.
Totally agree with over engineered. Plus some very neat and rarely seen ideas, one of my favourite is the adjustable scraper for the roller. And even the catcher, the most stout and heavy overbuilt reel mower catcher I have ever seen, must have also drove production costs up with the heavy brass hooks that hold it on the mower.