OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum The Old Soap Box A little Precision Mower History

I mentioned in my belated intro thread a few months ago that I grew up in Essendon just a few doors down from Precision Mowers.

Anyway, I stumbled across the daughter (Donna) of the founder (Michael Talbot) of Precision Mowers on a local Facebook Group and reached out to her to try and get any pics or information the family may have from the early days - with a little encouragement from CyberJack.

I also pointed Donna to this links from our History section written by Jack.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/107861/precision-rotamow-c1956.html

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...ion-c1950s-a-hybrid-power-sidewheel.html

Thankfully I received the following very positive response;


Very much looking forward to Shane joining the group and sharing more with us. And thank you to Donna for sharing.

With permission, I'm attaching the following photos described above along with another photo posted on the Facebook Group with the description "This is my brother and I with one of the mowers Dad made, around 1955". This would be the Precision Rotamow model.

Wow!

Very cool Claude,

Thanks for sharing

How I wish for those simple days again

Hello Claudio, Donna and Shane, Styvo and Norm
Many thanks to Claude for the tenacity to follow this through
and help us gain insight into the Precision mower shop.

It is poignant that Claude grew up just a few doors down from their location.

The three images Donna supplied are priceless.
I loved how Norm expressed their imapct: “How I wish for those simple days again.”
As Styvo summed it up nicely: “Wow!”

This is a great dedication to Mike Talbot, a battler, that made a go
of it in the days when small firms could make lawnmowers. He started with
post-war reel mowers – and electricity - but quickly realised the potential
for IC engines and then the revolutionary rotary mower.

Many thanks to all.
-------------------------------
Jack

Even though I grew up just doors away, I've learned a lot about the early days of Precision through this page so thank you Jack and others. Those photos are amazing, never knew it started as a smaller store even closer to our family home.

And Jack, is it pure co-incidence you posted a pic showing a McEwans (a Precision dealer) ad with the garden seat shown in the 2nd pic

Hi Claude
Oh no, I did extensive research on garden seats ...

Claude, I will shortly update the Precision History Record for the reels.
I now know Precision was doing these reel conversions in late 1949.

I also better understand the chronology of the reel models.

Precision were prodigious advertisers in the early 1950s.
Digitization of records prevent a better understanding post-1954.
For this reason the rotaries will remain less-understood,
but it is clear a grab handle was added to the rotary in the 1960s

Many thanks for all your work.

-------------------------
Jack