OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories GARDEN & FARM EQUIPMENT LITTLE DIGGER - Mower & Digger - c1959

Hello ODK History Lovers

The legendary singer Tom Jones has reminded us that some things were not unusual.

It's not unusual in vintage equipment to have multi-purpose garden machines. This one is
unusual in that in is an Australian made mower and digger designed for smaller blocks -
and it dates from 1959.

There is little information on the machine at this time. However, I do know it was designed
and manufactured by Byers Engineering Company of 43 Evans Street, Fairfield, Sydney,
and then at 219 Canley Vale Road, Canley Heights, Sydney.



This machine should not be confused with another machine - also called the 'Little Digger',
manufactured by Rotary Hoes of England and sold here in the mid-1950s. That machine was a
larger machine, which had attachments including a reel mower.

The Australian 'Little Digger' was a rotary lawnmower with a vertical shaft engine!
I only have one newsprint photograph:-



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - Specification

I was lucky enough to find an article from Sydney's The Biz from September of 1959,
detailing the construction and operation of the 'Little Digger'. This important article
is in poor condition and in column format, so I have reproduced the text in full below.



TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - Comment

So, we learn that it had a Villiers 7f 2-stroke engine and that it had a 16 inch mowing
width. The pivoting arrangement of the motor is an interesting one and we can only speculate
as to what the digging attachment looked like. That it could dig 'the heaviest ground' is an
ambitious claim.



SUMMARY
This is probably the first Australian-made lawnmower-tiller. I lose the trail
as to how long they were manufactured for, but evidence indicates it was the early
1960s. The Rover Tiller-Mower would be introduced at this time.

This record is incomplete. We know nothing about Byers Engineering and their
"Little Digger".

The rest is history.
-------------------------------
JACK