OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories UK & EUROPEAN Power Reel Models MITCHELL - Powermower - c1920s

Hello ODK History Lovers
I am compelled to record the stories of the lawnmowers sold in Australia.
The priority is, of course, telling the stories of local manufacture (before it
is completely forgotten), but also the reality of imported machines from around
the globe that came to thee shores.

The first power lawnmowers in Australia were indubitably of British manufacture.
We are a commonwealth Nation, after all�

This is the story of the Mitchell Brother�s Automo power lawnmowers.
Mitchell�s of Derby Road, Nottingham, were a small manufacturer of power lawnmowers.
They didn�t re-invent the wheel though � they used a high-quality push reel/roller
mower from another manufacturer and powered it using one of their engines.

This story begins when a New Zealand collector, Greg Stokes, (I regret having lost
contact with) sent me some photos of an unusual mower. He had been sent the photos
from another NZ collector, Alan Mattingly, who had seen and photographed the machine.
It was clear that the mower had JP Engineering lineage, but it was unlike the JP
power mowers I had seen. What was it?



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - Mitchell Automo
There were some clues in the photos of this curious machine.
A faded decal on the tank revealed the word �Mitchell�. I contacted the
Old Lawnmower Club�s JP expert Henry Ellis for comment. He recognised the
machine as having been made by the Mitchell Brothers in Nottingham and that
it was indeed built upon a JP Engineering Super lawnmower. However, there
was little known beyond this � 'who made the engine?', being just one question.



It was a lucky breakthrough in 2015 that revealed so much more.
I was researching a brilliant archive � The Commercial Motor Archive �
a section of commercialmotor.com, the online presence for the British
Commercial Motor Magazine. What an amazing project! A small article,
from 1924, revealed the full story.




Source: http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/19th-august-1924/28/a-well-known-mower-now-power-driven

Below is a 1928 Advertisement (England) courtesy of Alan Mattingly:-

I feel it is important that the Mitchell be recorded.
Here are some more photos of the NZ machine, courtesy Alan Mattingly.

So, Engine and transmission by Mitchell, chassis by JP Engineering.
Note the crank handle, large flywheel, and external Bosch magneto.

PART THREE - The Automo in Australia
I have found some evidence that the Mitchell Automo was sold in Australia.
Specifically I now refer to Alex Grahame,'The Lawnmower King', that I
have written about in this History Forum.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s Alex Grahame Limited advertised regularly that they
stocked �All Leading British and Continental manufactured Lawnmowers��.

I have no doubt that was true. They were the Dennis Importer in Australia, and
they were lawnmower manufacturers in their own right � both reel, then rotary
lawnmowers. The ads specifically list the Automo. Here are typical adverts:-

EUROPEAN POWER REEL MOWERS


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