I just bought a 1963 ALROH Imp lawn edger. It has a different design from any edger I've seen before: direct crankshaft-mounted cutter disk with a pair of rotary-mower-style swing-out blades. Engine is a Briggs 60102 (2 hp) made in April 1963. The guy I bought it from bought it in Perth in the 1960s, used it until 1982, then parked it in his damp farm-shed and ignored it until now. He says it only ever ran a few hours. It starts 4th pull, but might do better in future now that I've found the choke. I may need to do something about the surface rust on the cowl, air cleaner and cutter shield. It has a broken glue-joint on one tyre. It needs a new piece of foam for the air cleaner, fresh hand-grips on the bidirectional handlebars, and one replacement clip for the cutter shield. Otherwise it seems good to go.
Serial number is 4IEB641038. My guess is that means it was made in 1964 and was number 1038. Presumably they started from 1000 as most people seem to. I've even found a small patch of unfaded original paint, behind where some sticker seems to have been. Pity I don't actually have a use for a lawn edger, but I can run it around the tiny patch of grass instead of using the hand-wheel.
