OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Curios and Stories MOWERS - The Odd Inventions

Hello ODK members,

In this series of posts I would like to present, as best I can, the
oddities of vintage mower history.

Some of these 'inventions' were far left-of-field, others more intuitive of
'good design' as many see it.

I have noticed that some of these 'inventions' are somewhat perennial -
they keep coming around, as though they are new. Hilarious! Others are prophetic,
in that they see things to come.

ODDITIES INDEX

[1] The lawn mower cycle
[2] The lawn sweeper
[3] The non-skid push mower
[4] The raised-edge push mower
[5] The motor driven mower
[6] The extension lawn mower handle
[7] The carting trolley & wheelbarrow
[8] The lawn mower as food chopper
[9] The lawn mower lighting bracket
[10] The chemical lawn mower

THE LAWN MOWER CYCLE

From early days there was always a desire to minimise 'labour inputs',
to make mowing easier. This first post covers the late 19th century's
love affair with the bicycle. Could it be used in other ways?
Yes, it could:-

Notice these two articles, more than a decade apart, that used the bicycle
to power a reel and then a cycle-bar machine. It certainly got rid of having
to tend a pony, donkey or horse.

THE LAWN SWEEPER

This comes up from time-to-time - the desire to sweep or rake
lawns (or other areas). There are two possibilities here: one is that
the average mug sees a need for a product; the other is that the average
mug sees a way to make it cheaper.

Whatever, the reality is that the sweeper business has become a multi-million
dollar industry. Here are articles from 1910 and 1923.

THE NON-SKID PUSH MOWER

In 'the old days' push mowers had metal wheels.
The problem was that in wet conditions the wheels had a tendency to slip.

Solution for the 'backyarder'? Use rubber or a new-fangled synthetic.
Rubberised wheels for push powers [hand mowers] only became standard fitments
in the 1950s. Remember that the first Victas had metal wheels - the Billy Carts.

Here's an article from the 1920s. It used rubber from a garden hose:-

THE RAISED-EDGE PUSH MOWER

This is the deal.
Side-wheel push mowers appeared because of the desire to make mowers cheaper,
and therefore, more accessible to the working classes.

Just like the automobile, the mower first appeared as a plaything for
the wealthy. The introduction of the British Climax in 1869 by Follows & Bate
opened-up a new direction in producing cheaper mowers. Get rid of the rear roller and replace
it with narrow wheels.

But...their was considerable social pressure to have gardens and lawn.
The cheapest way to have a garden and a lawn was to just dig the garden bed.

The defect was that a side-wheel machine could not cut up to the border, whereas
a more expensive roller/reel machine could. Solved:-



These attachments were sold in Australia and in New Zealand:-
[Photo courtesy National Library of New Zealand]

THE MOTOR DRIVEN MOWER

This is an important post and not one simply dismissed as an oddity.
But it was an oddity at one stage. This is how I see it ...

The petrol mower was introduced in 1902. It was an invention waiting to
happen - it was simply a question of who would do it first. It happened to be
Ransomes, the firm that used the Budding Patent to effect in 1832,
in manufacturing the first commercially available lawn mower.

The problem with the first petrol mower is that it was dragged down by engineering
heritage and the then available technology. It was big and it had a big engine.

Very quickly, engine technology advanced, and there was a strive to make mowers
cheaper, lighter, and more accessible to the working classes.

The article below dates from 1911, less than a decade after the first behemoth petrol
mower that Ransomes made. It was rapid advances in the internal combustion engine that
made the 'lightweights' popular mowers in the 1920s.

In this article, note the combination of a small IC engine and a cheaper, side-wheel machine.
This is amazing stuff for 1911!

EXTENSION LAWNMOWER HANDLE

Before lightweight rotary mowers, the ability to mow slopes was
restricted to small hand mowers.

An early invention was to simply supply a longer handle so that the
operator remained at the top of the hill.

The article below dates from 1922. The solution discussed here is
a variant, and it seems quite ridiculous.



The better solution was to just use a longer handle.
This is, in fact, what happened. The major manufacturers offered
longer handles as an option from about the 1890s.
[This catalogue extract from the Ransomes 1911 range]

LAWNMOWER TROLLEY

This is a common example of backyard ingenuity. It's the conversion
of old hand mowers to carting trolleys. This is a typical article
from 1919. I'm sure many folk during the Great Depression took advantage of this:-



[p.s. As a related anecdote. When my father put an extension on our house
post-war, the story is that he moved a whole section of roof using the
old Qualcast mower. Apparently the mower collapsed just as the job was done!]

A related backyard invention was the mower as wheelbarrow.
This article dates from 1952:-

LAWNMOWER as FOOD CHOPPER

Apparently it was quite common throughout Australia for households
to keep chickens. Instead of purchasing an expensive feed cutter,this
article from 1931 suggests that the household's hand mower could be
quickly converted to do the job. Instant chicken feed!



[p.s. Ever wondered what a real deluxe chicken coop would look like?
Look no further than HERE ]

But Wait - There's More!
The idea of a hand mower being adapter to cut food for animals seems quite old.
Here's two articles, one from 1898 and then 1908.

LAWNMOWER LIGHTING BRACKET

This one's a bit different

It's a bracket for holding a lamp, for mowing lawn at ... night.
I'd like to see the Ikea instructions for this one.



All very illuminating.
---------------------------------------
JACK

THE CHEMICAL LAWN MOWER

This one is out-right dangerous by modern standards.
The idea was to use chemicals to control grass growing.

Wouldn't that be great; given hindsight?
There was a more positive view of man-made chemicals back then ...