PART TWO - CONTEXTRansomes is credited in making the first internal combustion engine motor mowers in 1902.
They were large machines - of 30, 36, and 42 inches - and that large sizes reflect the heritage
of the great animal-powered machines used since the 1850s.
The first motor mowers were not small! They were certainly not light either! The first was a ride-on,
but pedestrian machines quickly followed.
These were commercial machines - for those who could afford them - and are best referred to as
heavy-weight lawnmowers. They were for the wealthy estates and sporting grounds - some private,
but mostly for grounds accessible to the public.
The machine (below) is credited to one of the earliest Ransomes power mowers being used at the
Cadbury factory sports grounds at Bourneville, Birmingham, England.
Source: Ransomes factory archives
They could only be used on flat ground and embodied early horticultural ideas about grass cutting -
these machines should be able to cut grass and/or roll it - and therefore create a flatter surface -
mainly for the playing of sport.
The engineering DNA is pretty obvious - between these early lawnmowers and the post-war
40-inch machines the subject of this article.
TO BE CONTINUED ...