OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Component Histories CHAMPION MOWERS - Fans and Wheels - c1955

Hello ODK History Lovers

The full story of Champion Mowers of Church Street, Parramatta, is unlikely to
ever be told. Too much time has elapsed. However, some progress has been made.

Champion Mowers were one of the earliest manufacturers of rotary mowers in
Australia. They followed the 'toe-cutter' Victa design, but added specific
additions to their machines that made them quite unique ... and collectible.

I refer to two patents covering three inventions, made by George Parry,
lodged in 1954 and 1957. This article discusses his first lawnmower patent
from 1954. It involved improvements to lawnmowers relating to engine cooling
and wheels. This is patent 3,842 of 1954. I would like to discuss the cooling
feature first; the wheel design second.

Both features are shown in this 2013 auction photo of an original condition,
early model Champion (ignore the Victa petrol can):-



TO BE CONTINUED...

PART TWO - FAN COOLING
I feel it is important to stress the environment in which Australian petrol
rotaries were introduced and marketed in the early 1950s. They were pre-
sented as, not just turning grass into lawn, but something capable of turning
untamed wild growth into grass. The expectations for a residential rotary
were - in my view - totally unrealistic. A typical advertisement would claim
that X product would cut any height of tall grasses. Totally ridiculous ... and
totally irresponsible on the part of the makers!

Two-strokes (that powered 1950s AUS rotaries) were renowned for their
resilience to high temperatures, but, at some point, would show signs of
stress and overheating with heat and smoke rising from the cylinder.
In extreme cases, the mower would seize.

In this environment (before enclosed cowls and forced fan cooling) any
improvement was marketable. The cleverest responses were provided by
Champion and then Villager.

The Champion solution was to provide flexible vane fins on the engine
flywheel - to utilise physical convection to dissipate rising heat from
the engine. This was, essentially, an inverted 'cake tin' with slots for
the flexible vanes, which were made out of rubber or leather.



Today, many early Champion mowers - including restored machines - lack this
fitment. That is a pity; because it is such a remarkable feature of rotary
mower development (before forced cooling).


SOURCE: 2011 eBay auction.

In this photo from V.M. member Patrick we see two Seniors. The RH one
has original specification; the LH one is missing its fan.


Source: Vintage Mowers website

But this brings me to the second patented feature of early Champions ...
the wheels. I guess these two features make the early Champions so unique,
lovable and desirable!

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - The Ever-Lube Wheels
Before semi-pneumatic wheels with plastic hubs and nylon bearings, Australian
rotaries generally used rollers or steel wheel hubs with a thin rubber tyre.
The 'steel wheels' had a bushing that would require constant greasing or oiling.

The Champion wheel patent overcame these limitations with its 'Ever-Lube' wheel
design. Here the bushing had an oil feed hole and a reservoir in the wheel hub.
The wheel was filled via a filler hole on the hub's outer side - Brilliant!





TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART FOUR - Patent 3842 of 1954
This short patent covers both the fan and wheel inventions.
It is in the name of George Norman Parry (not Champion Mowers), and was
lodged in late 1954. There is good evidence that Champion Mowers made
their first machines in 1955.

An AusPat search for Parry's patents is most telling. Four of the six listed
patents were about washing machines! That is interesting when one considers
that a washing machine's agitator action of water over clothes is not too
dissimilar to the fan's convection cooling of air over cylinder fins.