OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Video & Image Gallery History Pictures COLDWELL - Missouri Botanic Gardens - c1918

Hello ODK History Lovers

This photo from the Missouri Botanic Gardens depicts an early American lawnmower - the Coldwell.
The Coldwell Company and its mowers will feature in these History Forums because American-made
lawnmowers played a significant role in Australian vintage mower history. Their push-mowers sold
here from about 1880 and some Coldwell models were sold in large quantities. They are rare and
highly collectable today.

This particular machine, a Model G or H, was introduced in 1914. This photo dates from July, 1918,
and it was the first power mower in the Missouri Botanical Gardens.



HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE

Before I continue the discussion, I would like you to have a look at the higher resolution image
of the machine (link below). Note the rugged handlebars and the reel and land roll clutches on this
water-cooled beast. Also note the water hopper, and oilers feeding the bearing journals.

By Missouri Botanical Garden [Public domain]:-HERE.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO

American historians credit Thomas Coldwell as having made the first lawnmowers in America in
the early 1850s. The machine in this photo represents the first walk behind power mower made
in America in 1914, this particular photo dating from 1918.

These were heavy machines because, in those days, it was deemed desirable to have lawnmowers
double as lawn rollers; and I don't mean rolling sufficient to create lawn stripes, but enough
to introduce a compacted earth policy! The Model H had a 30 inch cut and weighted a whopping
850 pounds (385 kilos); the Model G had a 35 inch cut and weighed a whopping-plus 430 kilos!

The 1915 catalogue photo below shows the machine in the photograph. Note the huge crank handle
and the extensive use of oilers. The operator's brimmed cap is somewhat quaint by today's standards.



The c1928 catalogue illustration below shows that these huge machines stayed in production
for some time. They would have stood out in their 'Tartter Green and Gold' livery.

The big change in the latter machines seems to be the removal of the oilers in favour of
...Forced feed lubrication with the 'Zerk' automatic grease gun. It may be that Coldwell
were using an advanced [for the time] central automatic lubrication system. Otherwise, the
reference may be to the Zerk 'push-type system' of coupling line and nipple that we
still use today. A brief summary may be found HERE.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - Legacy Technologies

These early power lawnmowers, like their British counterparts, were the leviathans that dominated
the early power mower designs. Why were they so big? That's an interesting question. There is no
single answer, but a seeming combination of engineering legacies and engineers' mindsets.

In this classic photograph - of the Coldwell machine - the most striking feature for me was the
adoption of established stationary engine technology. The Fuller & Johnson engine had its water hopper,
large flywheels, and exposed internals (open crank) that revealed the shortcomings of these designs
for lawnmower applications.

The quaintest features were the wonderful brass lubricators that supply lubrication to the myriad
bearing journals on the engine and chassis. ODK engineers Grumpy and Gadge have told me these are
remnants of a steam-age era that carried over to the early 20th Century.

These large drip-feed oilers and greasers disappear on lawnmowers from the 1920s onwards, because
of improvements in bearing designs, but also to advances in oil sealing, that ended the era of
total-loss lubrication. Small spring-cap oilers and grease/oil nipples would become the norm with the
invention of the pressure grease gun. Later, we would see the almost universal adoption of fully
sealed bearings.

In the photographs below, note the large drip-feed oilers at the front. The unusual twin adjusters
probably lubricated both the reel bearing journals and the rear roller ones as well. The advantage
of these drip-feed oilers is that they could adjust, not just the amount of oil reaching the journals,
but they could be turned off after use - so puddles of oil would not surround the mower when standing
or stored.





The rest is history.
--------------------------------
JACK