NZ Rotary Mowers https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Recent Topics en-us Fri, 22 May 2026 23:20:33 UTC 5 support@outdoorking-forum.com.au (OutdoorKing Repair Forum) UBB.threads https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/images/general/default/rss_icon.gif NZ Rotary Mowers https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm MASPORT - Commander - c1970s https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/112933.html#Post112933 PART TWO – Operator Manual
This Commander Operator Manual is from my collection
and it is in good condition.

As always, I make it available to members for viewing
or as a quality download.

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]]> Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:21:29 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/112933.html#Post112933 BROWN BROTHERS - Rotary Mower - c1955 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111237.html#Post111237

Alan M has a History Record on Brown Bros Reel Mowers: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/89501/brown-brothers-reel-mowers.html

]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2021 03:14:43 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111237.html#Post111237 MASPORT - Monarch & Monarch Rider - c1970s https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109503.html#Post109503 PART THREE – The Monarch Rider
It is not common that a design could be a pedestrian machine,
a ride-on via a sulky accessory, but then be adapted to
become a ride-on lawnmower! This was a clever design.

Here is a brochure for the Masport Monarch Rider.
Again, from my collection.

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]]> Sat, 28 Nov 2020 01:32:47 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109503.html#Post109503 MASPORT - Rotarola - c1960s https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109484.html#Post109484 PART TWO – 1970s Brochure
This two-sided brochure is from my collection and it
is in great condition.

As always it is made available to members for viewing
or as a quality download.

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]]> Tue, 24 Nov 2020 10:25:41 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109484.html#Post109484 VULCAN-MASPORT - Brochure - c1970s https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/105879.html#Post105879 PART TWO – the Vulcan-Masport Brochure
This brochure is from my collection and it is in average condition.
Beggars cannot be choosers here.

I preserve the hand-written prices of the 18” mowers on the last page.

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]]> Mon, 04 May 2020 08:30:59 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/105879.html#Post105879 BELLBANK - MOWER WITHOUT WHEELS https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97791.html#Post97791 Patent number 110384 was published on the 11th August 1955, namely an Improved Grass-Cutting Machine, a Mower without Wheels – Rotary Blade Type.
His machine consists of a housing carrying an electric motor and cutting blade, and a handle with the ability to pivot.
The housing is in the form of a cylinder, open at one end with an outer flanged portion adjacent to the open end.
The flange is ‘adapted to bear on a surface and to support the cutter in a desired position relative to such surface”.
It consists of a collar forming a sliding fit over the curved wall of the housing, adjustable with the use of three bolts and wing nuts.
This machine was designed to cut grass on sloping banks and lawn edges, where it is usually difficult to cut grass with know grass cutting machines.
When used on sloping banks, the mower is swung to and fro over the grassy surface in a pendulum like movement.

I wasn’t aware if any examples existed or if it had even gone into production until one appeared on a local internet auction site late last year.
BELLBANK, bearing the patent number 110384, was manufactured by Richardson McCabe and Co. Ltd (a machinery supplies company) in their Christchurch factory.
According to a former employee, they were in manufacture when he joined the company in the early 1960’s. He thought they were a bowling green edger, copied from an imported item.
Quite a few units were sold annually. The name BELLBANK is probably a combination of the two words BELL (the inventor, Colin Bellingham) and BANK, designed to be used on sloping banks.
This production model appears to have a fixed flange, not the adjustable flange mentioned in the patent.
It has also been modified with the addition of three wheels. I’m not sure if the electric motor is original to this machine, presently it has an English manufactured Klaxon, 1/8 hp single phase 230/250 volt example.

Alan


]]> Tue, 16 Apr 2019 03:32:31 +0000 Alan M https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97791.html#Post97791 L.J. Fisher & Co. Ltd, Auckland https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97765.html#Post97765 I know very little about this company but as you can see they made a range for mowers, including Hayter Motor Scythes.

]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2019 07:21:48 +0000 Alan M https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97765.html#Post97765 SACHS KM 3 (NSU/WANKEL) MASPORT https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/94815.html#Post94815
Quote
Earlier this month I attended a private engine crank-up ...
G'day Mod Alan M
That's a clever name akin to a bloke 'cook-up' I guess?
Many thanks for the update on the NZ scene.

These Wankel engines are intriguing for sure.
And they went into production ... and had success ...

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=42597

Unlike AUS's failed attempt with the ill-fated, snake-oil based Sarich ...
What were Victa thinking ...

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.auhttps://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...victa-sarich-engine-a-misfire-c1974.html

Cheers
-----------------------
Jack

]]> Mon, 10 Dec 2018 11:47:22 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/94815.html#Post94815 MASPORT ROTACUT https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/92269.html#Post92269 Masport Rapid hand mower
and their first powered reel mower the Masport Power Mower (basically a hand mower with an engine on top).
This third article discusses the MASPORT ROTACUT- their first rotary motor mower.

By the early 1950�s hand mowers were still the company�s biggest seller but there was a growing demand for powered lawn mowers.
The Power Mower had been replaced by the more modern looking Lawn Sprite range.
Their design team continued to try to improve and develop their products in an effort to keep ahead of the market.
Regular overseas trips were made to study modern trends, a trip to the USA led to the development of a major export market for vacuum dairy pumps.
It was during one of these trips that a Lawnboy rotary lawn mower was brought back to Auckland.
It was thought that this type of mower would be very effective in cutting some of the tougher grasses found in NZ lawns.

A mold for the prototype ROTACUT was cast directly from the Lawnboy in the Foundry. The first examples were only 17 � inches wide instead of 18 as they initially couldn�t stop the shrinkage.
The first ROTACUT produced for sale, the Standard, was manufactured in April 1955 and was powered by an Iron Horse two stroke engine.
This early model lacked a grass catcher as the grass was directed out through a chute on the right hand side, in front of the wheel.
The wheels were bolted to the chassis on one of the three holes available. To adjust the height the operator undid the bolts and put them into another hole.
Later models had an individual wheel adjustment.
The second Standard model produced had the chute on the side between the wheels and was powered by a Briggs and Stratton engine and available in 21 and 18 inch models.

Masport experimented with a number of different ways to expel the grass through the back so that a catcher could be used.
The De Luxe ROTOCUT Models 1 and 1A had the grass catcher offset which gave it a lop sided appearance.
The Model 1 had the catcher supported on the handles by means of a hook while the Model 1A had the catcher supported by handle brackets.

Masport had expected that there would be a decline in hand mower production because of the increasing popularity of motor mowers but it did not expect the ROTACUT to prove such a instant success.
The sale of motor mowers offset the decline in all other departments making up 60% of all sales in 1956-57.
In the 1957-58 year the Company for the first time had a turnover exceeding �1,000,000 mainly due to the continued demand for motor mowers especially the ROTACUT, which sold well into the 1960�s.

Information contained in this article came from the very informative book �Masport � 100 YEARS IN THE MAKING 1910-2010�
written by Jim Allnatt and used with kind permission from Masport Ltd.

]]> Sun, 29 Jul 2018 13:59:28 +0000 Alan M https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/92269.html#Post92269 RYAN Ryko Speediescythe - c1953 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/88486.html#Post88486 PART THREE - A Most Unusual Speediescythe
But here I present an overlay of extra importance to the Ryko Speediescythe story.

By the mid-1950s Ryan were following convention in producing a new 18" machine.
But this one also offered something special, a bit different . . .

Below is an old newspaper clipping supplied by NZ collector Greg S.
It is dated as October, 1956 [hand written date under advertisement].

This new machine is quite unusual: offset front wheel but no side discharge -
this machine has rear grass discharge. It has individual wheel height adjustment and
an Iron Horse 2-stroke engine. Note the anti-skelping feature - brought about by off-set
front wheels.

But - most unusually - its chassis is not metal. It is . . . FIBREGLASS!
It is clear that fibreglass components have been used on lawnmowers - but not a whole
rotary base made for a domestic rotary.

A grass catcher was offered as an optional extra. This would make the fibreglass Ryko one
of the earliest users of a grass catcher on a domestic lawnmower. I wonder what it looked like?

I hope ODK members come forward with information.
We have no photographs or knowledge of collectors who might have this rare and
intriguing 18" machine.

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]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2017 11:54:00 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/88486.html#Post88486