Hello ODK History Lovers
The great Morrison Industries of Hastings, New Zealand,
influenced Australasia in garden equipment design.
A better statement is that their influence stretched worldwide.

It was a bitter-sweet day when Masport acquired them in 1986.
Masport got the bargain of a lifetime – with enduring designs
that would be exported around the world.

This topic covers the Morrison Olympics [before they became
Masport Olympics], a series of reel lawnmowers made in various
sizes – at times - from 14” to 24” in production lives that spanned
decades.



It was pretty clear that the older Morrison reel mowers looked
a bit ‘outdated’ by the late 1950s. Morrison looked to Mother England
for inspiration.

I have argued on these forums that Morrison chose
a very good design – in the Ransomes MK 7 Minor – as the basis
for their Olympic models.

Morrison’s would improve the design …

TO BE CONTINUED …

PART TWO – Specification
The first Morrison Olympics [1962-1968] were closely based
on the original Ransomes design. Morrison recognised the
scalability of that design and offered three cut sizes: the
400 (16”); the 500 (20”); and the 600 (24”).

In turn, these Morrison models formed the basis for the
Australian Turner-Morrisons; and the Victa Imperials.

Turner did not disguise the fact that their reel mower was an
import; Victa certainly did, and made significant engineering
changes to imported components to make the Imperial a
uniquely Australian reel mower.

So, the first Morrison Olympics not only up-scaled the original
Ransomes Mk 7 design, but made another significant change …
the double helix reel.



Whilst the origins of the double helix reel are unclear,
Ransomes abandoned the design post WWII. Morrison
adopted it as a selling feature. Though a more expensive
reel to manufacture, the double helix would cut and throw
grass towards the centre of the catcher.

The second change in the Morrison Olympics was the
redesign of the front roller height adjuster. Traditionally,
these were adjusted side-by-side … not a great idea for
domestic reel mower users. The new system was
introduced for the 1969 season; when a single point
rotary knob design was employed.

The Olympics were of a sophisticated design – employing
a large primary centrifugal clutch and a friction plate clutch
for the landroll [all typically Ransomes].

The great innovation was the chassis frame. The first
Olympics adopted a pressed and spot-welded steel frame
of great rigidity, replacing the steel plate designs of the
earlier Morrisons. This resulted in a significant weight saving.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE – Morrison 400 Parts List
This is not the earliest parts list for the Olympic 16”.
Note the post-1968 additions of the new style folding handle,
single-point front height adjuster and the primary clutch safety guard.

PART FOUR– Morrison 500 Parts List
This is not the earliest parts list for the Olympic 20”.
Note the post-1968 additions of the new style folding handle,
single-point front height adjuster and the primary clutch safety guard.

PART FIVE – Morrison 600 Parts List
The Morrison 600 [24”] was the largest in this scalable design.
I guess this demonstrated that a pressed and welded frame
could be as, or more rigid, than the previous reel mower designs.