OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Old Mower Pictures Some mowers seen in my travels

Gooday All,
Here are a few rough pics of some mowers I saw down near a little town south of me called Frances (SE of SA) They include three ATCOs, Ransomes, Victa, Alex Grahame, and a Yellow one I cant name (but gave away an engine off one a few months ago) - note the electrical conversion.







This bloke had a shed full of old stationary engines, strange machinery, more mowers, 20 tractors, and a few motorcycles - all stuff I am interested in.
Stationary

Hi Stationary,
What a great collection of old stuff!

He didn't happen tohave any old mopeds did he? I have a circa 1950 autocycle which I have restored and am just about to try and get the engine running - Villiers 98cc, and would like any info about old autocycles that might be laying around. My bike originally came from Adelaide and I believe a lot of them were sold there in the late 40's and early 50's - he might have one the same as mine - a Norman.

But otherwise, must have been quite an experience to have a look around his shed.

Jeff49

Hi Stationary, a nice collection of mowers there mate; the yellow one you are referring to is a Pope. They originally made that model as a push mower and later added the engine...quite rare to see one these days.

The yellow one looks almost identical to the 1950s Qualcast my father bought new back then, but if I recall correctly the Qualcast was orange. It also had a clutch pull-rod that I can't see on that yellow one. The clutch pulled the engine upward to tighten the V belt.

Edit: The clutch didn't pivot the engine, it pulled an idler pulley onto the inside of the V belt to tension it. My thanks to Joe Brown for putting me back on the rails, and doing it in his usual gentlemanly manner by PM.

The electrical conversion you refer to is just fitting an old-time car DC generator on brackets, removing the V belt that drove the mower, and fitting it between the engine's drive pulley and the generator. It looks as if he's fitted the voltage regulator (also an ancient electromechanical one, to suit the generator) to the opposite side of his generator mounting bracket. It would make a decent portable battery charger, if you could make do with a charging rate of only 12 amps (which is all those old generators could produce, and was enforced by the third solenoid in that voltage regulator, to keep from burning out the generator or using up its carbon brushes too quickly). At least he was using a regulated voltage - a lot of people making "tenant's improvements" to engine driven equipment in those days didn't, and ruined the battery they were charging as well as the generator.

Yes grumpy, it looks very similar to the Qualcast....Ogden also made a push mower with an engine, but they were blue. With this particular mower though, you can read the Pope logo in script on the right hand wheel...there are 2, 1 is upside down.

I wasn't doubting you, Deejay, and anyway the colour was wrong. The Qualcast started off with a block-tread on the tyres, but it soon wore off and left them bald, which was actually better because you had to hold the mower back a bit when mowing - the gearing between wheels and reel was wrong, and it left cut-marks if you let it have its head. The Pope in the picture looks as if it has bald tyres too.

I suspect they were the same mower badge-engineered.

No probs grumpy, I knew what you were getting at mate...and I think you may be correct with the badge engineering...that has been around for a long time...especially with BMC products.

Gooday Jeff49,
No, sorry to say, he didn't have any in his collection. But I have a 1946-ish Malvern Star Autobyke restored some time ago - early 1980s I think. I got it from a bloke in Adelaide who didn't want his kids trying to ride it around the city streets - I swapped it for a Lister A 2.5hp stationary engine which cost me a dozen bottles of beer. If you need any data on the Villiers motor for Bike, Industrial, Agricultural or Horticultural use I have two booklets on hand that cover the lot. Virtually workshop manuals. From the 1950s and both by B.E.Browning. If anyone wants any particular section from it I can photocopy any amount of data. They are a bit big to scan and put in the forum library I think.
One is 270 pages and the other is 150 pages. The second book on Industrial engines gives a lot of data on the Mk2 and Mk3 Midget engines (21 pages) - and a lot on the Mk 10 engine as well (is that the one seen on mowers too??) Send me your postal address by email if you want any data. My email jeffholly@internode.on.net. I will attach a photo of my Autobyke.



Jeff71 (lol)

Hey Grumpy, I've just bought an old Qualcast mower which was probably similar to the model your father had. Mine is painted baby blue with orange handle bars and chain guard. It is fitted with a J.A.P. M-80, the same engine as the yellow machine pictured. It has "Duo Drive" written across the fuel tank with a lightning bolt separating the words....heheh love the 50's

Craig

I think the Duo Drive may have come later, Craig - a sort of facelift of the one my father had. I'm not sure, though - all I am sure about is that his didn't have a Duo Drive sign on it. I didn't like the mower much, because of the wheel gearing error and the engine was by no means a sweet runner. It may have been a JAP, I was a kid at the time and didn't pay that much attention. First times I ever operated a motor mower, if I recall correctly. Lots of stinking blue smoke (a 12:1 petrol oil ratio, as I recall), hard to start, etc., and if it had to work hard it whiskered the spark plug fairly often. If we hadn't been mowing kikuyu, I'd have preferred a push mower I think.

The first one is Ransomes Minor mk 7,the forerunner of the Marquis and Autocertes. I still use a mk 6, which had crank handle start and no land roll clutch ,but cuts really well and is a good machine to use . Much better than the two stroke Atcos in the next picture which are of the same era but of lighter construction. Often difficult to start when hot, with modern oils and plugs they can give years of reliable service.