https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Recent Topics en-us Sat, 16 May 2026 23:28:09 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 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113183.html#Post113183 Ferrymead Heritage Park
It's the second example I've come across and is basically two 16 inch model D's joined together.
As you can see in the attached photos, it users two side plates on each side and has a Briggs and Stratton engine.
Unfortunately the engine is missing the identification tag but probably dates from the late 1950's to the early 1960's.
The museum intends to straighten the handles, get the motor working and generally tidy it up before putting it on display.

Alan

]]> Mon, 01 Nov 2021 10:34:10 +0000 Alan M https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113183.html#Post113183 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109698.html#Post109698 PART C – Model B in Context
It was the 2018 Jim Judd audio interview that permitted us to
gain insight into the early Morrison days [see link in Related Reading].

Mind you, Jim did not join the company until 1963. So, his
information is based on his own research and understanding.
He explained that the wooden handles of the Model B came
about because of shortages in steel during WWII …



New Zealand, like Australia, restricted production of non-essential
products (like domestic lawnmowers) so that factories could make
military or government-approved products. Morrisons was no exception …



My best guess is that, whilst the Model B was a production model,
its actual production numbers must have been very small.

There must have been a small ‘window of opportunity’ when
the Model B was produced during the early years of WWII,
or the early post-war period. I favour early post-war c1945-46...

Otherwise, Morrisons were engaged in the war effort.
[I might also add, that Morrisons developed their Motor Cultivator
at this time, a machine more likely to have gained an exemption
status during wartime production]. That appears to be the case.

I do know that the first advertisements I have found post-war
date to early 1946 in NZ and mid-1946 in AUS, with almost
definitive proof that this was the Model C.

TO BE CONTINUED …

]]> Sat, 12 Dec 2020 07:55:46 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109698.html#Post109698 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109270.html#Post109270 PART TWO – The Parts List
This parts list is from my collection and it is in very good condition.

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




]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2020 02:29:12 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109270.html#Post109270 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109063.html#Post109063 PART THREE – Electric Speediecut
The Speediecut Electric reel mower was a precision
machine aimed at the cutting of bowling and croquet greens,
whether they be public or private.



Its design would change over time, with clear changes represented
in these early and late brochures: -




]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2020 11:10:34 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109063.html#Post109063 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109259.html#Post109259 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.




]]> Sat, 07 Nov 2020 10:09:50 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109259.html#Post109259 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/107568.html#Post107568 PART FIVE – Gallery
ODK Moderator Alan M has given us great images –
in profile and in detail - of a surviving Macalister mower.

Note the sand-cast aluminium construction and ribbed
rear drive roller. Also note the hand-stamped serial
number ‘669’ near the cast maker’s plate.



]]> Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:06:54 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/107568.html#Post107568 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97831.html#Post97831 Mod and Collector Alan

This is a great piece of research that brings to life the small
players on the lawnmower stage.

This story is of particular interest to me because it has a similarity
to a small Australian maker ... Berrigan.

Here, there is a synchronicity between the NZ and AUS experience ...
Different designs but same concept.

These companies - Boothmac and Berrigan - attempted something
a little different - the use of essentially robust, but domestic push mowers
for commercial purposes.

I wouldn't say it was a great idea - but it did cater to the clubs with
a restricted budget 'in the day'.

Here is the Berrigan story I wrote in 2014: -

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.auhttps://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...errigan-gang-mowers-c1933.html#Post60491

Alan, you have found far better records than I have
managed to find on the Berrigan.

Brilliant!
---------------------------
Jack

]]> Wed, 17 Apr 2019 13:10:11 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/97831.html#Post97831 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/90343.html#Post90343 still producing new products including washing machine parts and electric refrigerators.
In 1938 the company won a contract to supply all New Zealand Government Departments with mowers.
They were already supplying mowers to many Government and Local Body organisations but this contract may have been the catalyst which launched the Power Mower.
Motor mowers had already been designed as early as 1937 and advertised for sale in 1939. It seems likely that the Power Mower was intended to be used by contractors
rather than for domestic purposes because of the size of the cutting blades.
Although Mason & Porter was heavily geared towards supporting the war effort, some motors mowers were still being made in the early 1940's.
It is not known how many were actually sold, however the company took a more serious view in 1946.
Side wheel hand mowers were to be the main type sold to the public in the decade after WW2 but Mason & Porter continued to experiment with motor driven mowers.

It appears that three models were produced;
The earliest model was basically a hand mower with an engine on top and equipped with the same metal wheels that were standard on their hand mowers.
It used a push lever starting mechanism which operated along the same lines as the pedal start on a motor cycle.
Their first models were powered by a Canadian manufactured Johnson Iron Horse X-400 series four stroke engine, mounted onto a standard 16 inch side wheel hand mower with a wooden handle.
The blades were driven by chains which were linked to the horizontal shaft at the base of the engine.
The clutch control on the handle was used to release the clutch when starting the machine, the throttle was also located on the handle.
Many of the parts were made locally, the metal bases on which the engine was mounted were cast by Mason and Porter.

The next model was fitted with rubber tyres which absorbed the vibration and the push lever starting mechanism was replaced with a pull lever.

The third generation model used a Villiers four stroke engine with a cord start and the wooden handle was replaced with a metal tubing.
This model looked more like its successor, the Lawn Sprite, which superseded the Power Mower in 1952.

Initially, the number of Power Mowers produced was quite small, they were virtually hand made and were only making two a month.
The reasons why the first three or four years of production were so slow was probably due to the shortage of disposable wealth as people recovered from the effect of the War and that it was a new untried product.

I have seen claims that Masport produced the first motor mower in New Zealand. I suppose this is technically correct as Morrison (now owned by Masport) sold their first production motor mower in 1935
Many examples are still in preservation. All the examples I have seen have the exhaust pipe and muffler sitting just above the fuel cap making refuelling difficult especially when the engine is hot.

Most of the 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.

]]> Mon, 05 Mar 2018 11:38:13 +0000 Alan M https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/90343.html#Post90343 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/90072.html#Post90072 PART FOUR - Steelfort Lawnmaster c1970s
This article covers the Lawnmasters up to c1970s.
The Lawnmaster brand survives to this day, and I understand
Steelfort Engineering to be the last of the great lawnmower
Manufacturers in New Zealand.

A Lawnmaster Dual Drive was my first true lawnmower.
I acquired it as a teenager from a mate. It was the only domestic reel mower I
knew that had independent clutches for reel and roller. It wasn't a perfect design ...

The rear roller was smooth (rather than ribbed), and it had way-too-high centre
of gravity for anything but flat ground. Nonetheless, I loved it and I have fond
memories of it.

Below is an image of a NZ Steelfort trade stall display c1970s, again from
Palmerston North Libraries and Community Services.


SOURCE: https://manawatuheritage.pncc.govt.nz/item/55e8de94-e91b-4d76-89ba-b77cc8885e26


]]> Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:35:57 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/90072.html#Post90072 https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111238.html#Post111238

A History Record for Brown Bros Rotaries: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111237.html

]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2021 03:16:14 +0000 CyberJack https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111238.html#Post111238