OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Machine Histories LARK PARKES - Our First Powered Lawnmower?

PART SEVEN - Paint & Front Outrigger Wheels
We are lucky that a largely original, very early, New Moon survives.
This machine survives mainly because of Mark, and other players.

I do need to point out the bits that are not original.
The glaring ones are the paint and the front outrigger wheels.

PAINT:
I do not think the paint is original.
My best guess - based on evidence I have - is that New Moon
Mowers had un-painted aluminium parts.
[see Related Links]

FRONT WHEELS
The bright green colour matches the front wheels -
and that presents a second problem: the front wheels.

I do not feel they can be original at all, and I do think
that needs to be addressed for the record:



Thin tyred rubber wheels seem to have occurred on lawnmowers post WWII.
Both Pope and Ogden were using them from 1949. The tyres here are three-grooved
rubber on a pressed tin hub; and the wheels present as a classic Model 1 Victa wheel.
There is further evidence of minor "back-yarding" . . .

'Outriggers' appeared on lawnmowers from the mid-19th Century; but became accessories
on later reel mowers. Front, full-width wooden or steel rollers became the norm.

Note that this design (as presented above) has an alloy adjustable bracket connected to
another steel adjustable bracket. This must be an engineering faux pas, that is evidenced
by a change to the original design by a 'back yarder'. Engineers just don't do that!

The second inconsistency must be the twin steel braces that meet the centre axle of the wheel.
These are classic wheels and steel brackets from a Victa Model 1 of the 1950s - but not
New Moon of the 1920s! My best guess is that this machine had a makeover in the 1950s or 1960s.

TO BE CONTINUED ...