OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories AUSTRALIAN Rotary Models ROTA-CUT - c1953 - Another Mystery

Hello ODK history lovers

This lawnmower is important to vintage lawnmower history because of its potential date of manufacture.
The problem is that I can find precious little about the Rota-Cut 18� Power Mower.

The problem with the name �Rota-cut� is that in some advertising records the name changes to �Rotacut� from 1956.
Second, the Rota-Cut I am looking for should not be confused with the Champion Rotacut or the Tecnico Rotocut
from the 1950s.

The first model (below) was fitted with a Villiers engine. It appears to have a small roller at the back
in the style of our first rotary mower, the electric Tecnico of 1948. The fuel tank is handle-mounted.
This record does not identify width of cut.

Of particular note is the date and location of the record.
It�s the Melbourne Argus, and the date is early 1953, yet the ad. does not say this is a �new� machine
or �just introduced�. Could this machine pre-date the Victa as our first petrol rotary?



TO BE CONTINUED ...

THE SECOND MACHINE

I lose the record trail until more than a dozen newspaper advertisements appear in 1956 and 1957,
this time in the N.S.W.�s Nepean Times, a paper serving the Penrith and surrounding area.

By this time, the lawnmower still retains a low skirted base and handle-mounted fuel tank, but now has four wheels.
It is now fitted with an Australian Simplex engine and a height adjustment that appears to operate on the front wheels.
These ads confirm the mower has an 18 inch width of cut. The base appears to be made of aluminium.




TO BE CONTINUED ...

SIGNIFICANCE

The late 1952 Victa is recognised as our first gasoline-powered rotary lawnmower.
However, there are some contenders to that title: the Sydney TAD and Grasshopper machines had
petrol lawnmowers within months of the Victa (conceivably before).

The Rota-Cut should also be considered a contender. However, I do not know its manufacturer, or the
origin point of manufacture: was it Sydney or Melbourne?

Any information would certainly be welcome.



TAD Lawnmowers

GRASSHOPPER Lawnmowers



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