OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Rotary 1956 Whirlwind 18" Rotary Mower - First Model

This mower was originally purchased from the Evans Anderson Machinery store located in Boonah, SE Queensland. The owner purchased it new and used it up until he could no longer push it around his small block, by the height of the deck and the amount of dirt built up on the deck and motor I would say he wasn't keen on leaving any grass behind.

The Whirlwind uses the Villiers Midget engine, this unit has a flywheel date of August 1955. A one piece cutting bar is fitted which also provides some cooling to the cylinder by means of pushing cooling air up through a hole beneath the cylinder head. Cutting height is adjusted by manually repositioning the wheels.

One interesting feature is the engines exhaust is directed down and into quite a large chamber beneath the cutting deck, a nice bit of over engineering when a simple bun type muffler would do the job easily and allow for quick and easy replacement. Did Victa copy this idea for their future Specials?











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The second model of this mower sees the deletion of the under deck exhaust and the addition of a cooling shroud and recoil starter fitted on the Villiers 3G engine, this upgrade in engine would also do away with the brackets to fit the fuel tank as the fuel tank is mounted to the shroud of the 3G unit.

A much more efficient air filter is also fitted to the Villiers Junior carburettor, pics are from a past EBay auction