OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories AUSTRALIAN Reel Hand-Mowers PRESTO - The Magic Mower - c1932

Hello ODK History Lovers

The Presto was an early Australian-made side-wheel hand mower.

The lawnmower represents one of the first lawnmowers that started the Australian
lawnmower industry, and it was manufactured by the firm of William Adams & Company
of Sydney.

NOTE: The Australian Adams Presto should not be confused with the English 'Presto',
made by Arundel, Coulthard & Company of Preston, Lancashire. There is no connection.

The Presto made its appearance in the last quarter of 1932.
Here are two of the earliest records I have found, both from late 1932:-



The Presto was dubbed in advertising as "The Magic Mower"; hence the name
Presto, meaning, "So suddenly that magic seems involved". Presto was a
clever name because of its double meaning: its main feature was that it was a
'pressed' steel lawnmower, rather than the much more common cast iron framed
machines of the day.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - Specification

This was an all-steel lawnmower with all components made of sheet steel or
bar. There were no castings. Clearly, this was a mower suited to Australia's
fledgling steel industry. However, It was not unique in using steel on a
pushie. Competition would come from Adam's competitor, Clyde Engineering,
with their all-steel Clyde lawnmowers.

The wheel gears and pinions were machine cut from solid blanks and a ratchet
system replaced the common pawl arrangement (I am unsure how that worked).

This was a well-speced mower in that self-adjusting ball bearings were used
throughout, including the steel rear roller.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - Analysis & Comment

The Presto was advertised widely and sold across Australia, in small towns
and cities alike. Its main competition would come from Qualcast Australia,
Crowe Engineering, Clyde Engineering. and Purcell Engineering.

The tariff restrictions introduced by the Australian Government in about
1930 clearly did their job in establishing an Australian lawnmower industry.

It is important that I stress a key point at this juncture: All of the
companies (above) were not small companies. Our lawnmowing industry was kick-
started by deliberate government policy and our first lawnmowers were made by
heavy industry firms - who had the capacity to mass produce human-powered
machines that were now competitive with the mostly American imports.

The Americans had dominated this sector since the late 19th century, and
their stranglehold was broken by competitively priced Australian mowers.



Post war the Presto appears to have not been updated when production
resumed in about 1946. By 1949, there would be significant competition
from the new kids on the block ... the newly designed Ogden and Pope
machines, with their rubber-tyred alloy wheels, tubular handles and
beautifully enameled colours.

And, of course, all of this in the context of rising prosperity and the
emergence of power lawnmowing for the masses. Not just cheaper sidewheel
power reel mowers, but the rotary revolution, which really started in 1948
(with the Tecnico), and this new sector would eventually push (pun intended)
the pushies to near extinction by the 1960s.

Presto - 'the magic mower' - had lost its magic.

The rest is history.
--------------------------------
Jack

PART FOUR - Who Invented the Presto?

William Adams was the target of a takeover in 1984. A biography of the
company was commissioned to record the 100 year history of this old
Australian firm.

The full title of the bio is:
The Bell-Wether: William Adams: an Australian company from foundation
to takeover 1884 to 1984. First published 1984, Thomas Nelson Australia.
Information here: http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/1938.php

The biography, though extensive (210 pages), does not mention the Presto lawnmower.
I guess there was just too much product to cover over the company's 100 year history.

However, there is just one small entry under 'Significant Dates' at the book's end.
That entry, from September, 1931, identifies the surname of who I believe was the
inventor and patent holder of the Presto. His name ... Hedges. It would appear, then,
that the Presto was initially a licensed arrangement whereby Adams paid a royalty fee
for every mower made.

Unfortunately, I have no good photos of the Presto.
These 2015 auction photos show the mower less the bottom block
(soleplate and bedknife).

PHOTO RECORD 02 - Scott's Presto

In late 2015 I was lucky enough to be contacted by an owner of a Presto in
original condition. Scott Gibson-Zielinski said he found his Presto in an old
farm shed at a house he lived in at that time, at Barmedman, NSW, in about
January, 2006.

Scott was generous in supplying good quality photos of the machines workings.
These, and his clear explanations, helped solve some of the features of the Presto.
Note the all-steel construction, including the rear roller.





SELF-ADJUSTING
Springs on the wheel axles and reel shaft were the conventional means by
which the bearings were self-adjusting. That the Presto had ball-bearings
immediately meant a selling feature - these bearings being better than the
plain bearings used on cheaper machines.





DRIVE & SET
Most importantly, we gain an insight as to the drive and set mechanisms.
One-way drive was achieved, not by a pawl internal to a sculptured pinion,
but by a steel plate, two-toothed pawl that relied on gravity and centrifugal
force for its efficacy. This arguably meant quiet operation without even
light oiling. Quite clever really.




The set between reel and bottom blade was less conventional - in working
on eccentric stub bolts and locking nuts.




I would like to thank Scott for his generous assistance in creating this
photo record of the Presto lawnmower.

I had mentioned in Part 4 that the Presto appears to have been licensed from the
actual inventor. In 2018 I found the patent for what would become the Presto.

Patent 3130 of July 1931 identifies the actual inventor: James Thomas Hedges of Waterloo, Sydney.

WILLIAM ADAMS & COMPANY:
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=70547

PRESTO BILLBOARD - c1932
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=70526


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