OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories AUSTRALIAN Rotary Models VILLAGER Standard - c1955

Hello ODK History Lovers
The Villager Company's first model was the Standard, a simple but authoritative
name for any lawnmower. The company was established by three founders in 1955,
and the Villager was in clear competition with Victa. This was a 'toe-cutter'
copy of sorts - favouring the skirt-less base that Victa pioneered ... but with
significant design differences that probably made it a better lawnmower.

However, The Villager Standard had a 16" cut - quite unusual; given the 18"
cut that Victa established, and was then emerging in Australian rotary designs.
Nonetheless, it had a more compliant [and patented] height adjustment system
than the early Victas; in that pivot points could deliver height changes to
all four wheels.

Second, it had a 'Twin Cooling' system that gave, at least, a marketing
advantage over the opposition mowers, which relied upon simple cylinder fins
that radiated heat. The Villager used a system [also patented] that used radiation
and convection to dissipate engine heat via a flywheel propeller in combination
with a blade holder impeller.

The Standard would stay in production for about five years, as the range was
expanded to include, the 16" Model 70 and the 18" Typhoon. There were many
variations and colour options.

The most significant features of the first model Standard - 1955-56 - were
the introduction of Twin cooling, and patented height adjuster system. This,
first model, lacked the rear turn-wheel for adjusting height. There is some
evidence to suggest that this first model had solid 'billy-cart' wheels
(without rubber). Today, an original first model Villager is hard to find
complete with these solid, alloy wheels.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - Relevant Patents
The first (and subsequent) Standards differentiated themselves from the
Victas of the time in their incorporating the two distinctive Villager
features - their patented Twin Cooling and a pioneering single-point height
adjuster system. I have covered these patents under 'Component Histories'.

These features would be included on every Standard, Model 70 and Vampire
mowers. The Twin Cooling was obviously not necessary on models that used
fan-forced cooling - the Deluxe (16") and Typhoon (18") machines, and
early-mid 1960's Villager Utility mowers.



The Twin Cooling patent is discussed HERE.

The Height Adjuster patent is discussed HERE.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - Standard Model for 1955-1956
The Standard had a 16 inch cutting width, and the Standard chassis would
form the basis for the Model 70 and Vampire models (with modification).

Here I would like to clarify the known specification for the first model.
It was both advanced and primitive. It had the advanced patents (as
discussed) and I have no doubt the height adjuster was the key feature ...
more advanced than the guess work for height control on many competitive
lawnmowers. However, the height adjuster lacked - at this time - the rear
turn-wheel: meaning that 'pinch-bolts' needed to be loosened to adjust
height of cut. The greater defect in the Villager system was that it
lacked memory pre-sets (to reproduce desired heights).

It appears to have had solid alloy metal wheels (without rubber
vulcanisation or separate tyres). That is amazing; given that Victa had
rubber tyres from 1953! There is evidence that Villager corrected this
for the next season ... using steel hubs with rubber tyres.

The first Standard had the limitations of a fixed handle. This limitation
should not be under-estimated in the history of the rotary lawnmower.

The increasing ownership of motor vehicles meant that transporting rotary
mowers was problematic. Within a season all that would change - with
folding handles becoming popular.

On the aesthetic side, the Villager was a handsome lawnmower, with its
distinctive football shaped fuel tank (made from copper). That Villager
offered customers a small range of colour choices is amazing ...red, green,
or yellow - said a 1956 advertisement [Part One, above].

A final point should be made about one feature - 'Simple Flick Starting'.
What was that!? The answer came in an early 1957 feature article in
Villiers Magazine:-



TO BE CONTINUED ...

Formal acknowledge must go to Paul C of Brisbane.
He has supplied great representative images of the first model Villager
from his collection. The colour (blue) is probably not original.








TO BE CONTINUED ...