OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Rare Finds & Donations Atom Mofast 15" Standard

Went to the shop today to measure some decals and hadto move this little thing so i could get to the one i needed , never heard of one before or seen anything like it , looks like it would be 15" cut ? called an ATOM MOFAST made in burwood in victoria ,
a few photos might be of interest




atom distirbuting co. PTY. LTD. 53-62 burwood road . burwood, victoria
Dave
thought you might like a look

Interesting, I've always thought Atom's factory was located in Sydney - but that does say "distributing company", so it may just be the Victorian warehouse.

That appears to be a Trojan engine. I'm guessing the mower would be from about 1958-60. It's rather a pretty little thing. The engine was only 76 cc, about 2 hp - hence the narrow cutting width I suppose.

i'll have another closer look tomorrow for you grumpy , was in a bit of a hurry today but couldnt resist taking a few pic's ,
the engine is all radial finned too if that helps ? and yes its so tiny and SOOO light !
think it might have been where k mart is now ? i sort of remember when they built it , was living in blackburn south then and rode my pushbike everywhere for miles haha early 70's i think it was

Hello vcomm and Glo Mod Grumpy

Yes, not to be confused with Sydney's Atom Industries.
This is the little 15 Standard with Trojan engine as Grumpy identified.
They made a range of mowers in the mid-late 1950s to early 1960s.



All very interesting.
---------------------------------
Jack

Thanks Jack - that means there were two Atoms, at the same time? I wonder what the brand name registration people were thinking.

Yes, vccomm, the radial fins, matching up to the radial fins on the detachable cylinder head, were rather distinctive, but I think there was at least one other British mower engine that had radial fins on the cylinder barrel, and some larger British engines did too. The Trojan's muffler was another distinctive feature. It was just a hollow aluminium casting with no baffles, it didn't muffle much. I packed mine with steel wool, but it burned and blew out through the exhaust hole, leaving a sort of afterburner trail behind my bicycle that it drove via a wooden roller above the front tyre. It was quite a decent engine under load, though its idle was about as bad as you'd expect for a 1950s British 2 stroke.

Hi Grumpy,

Yes, there were two Atoms.

Atom Distributing were in business from 1954. I think the company was originally
set up to distribute Ezy-Cut tools (founded in 1945). Atom Industries was founded
in 1962. A bit confusing, but not as much as names like 'Champion'.

The Trojans were popular here for powering lawnmowers, but there most famous use was for
bicycle motors - as you experienced. I wonder how popular they were here?
Great story about the muffler Grumpy - a Trojan afterburner!

That muffler looks very like the Trojan one, and the cooling fins are somewhat similar too. Does this mean the Trojan had a 50 cc predecessor?

My bicycle Trojan fitment was completely home-brew, Jack. The engine was far too powerful for the job, and wore out both the wooden roller and the front tyre in short order. The decreasing size of the roller, though, had advantages: the machine became capable of lower road-speeds, which was both more comfortable and safer. It started off at about 2.5" or so (it's a long time since 1961, so I don't remember exactly) and the little engine liked to run at about 6,000 rpm. If roller slip were zero (obviously it wasn't, or the roller wouldn't have worn away) that should have given it a road speed of about 42 mph. It went fast enough to cause considerable eye-watering from the wind of passage, anyway.

you were a bit of a lad grumpy . amazing how we used too do things back then , and no real problems too just fell off a lot ! we used to do it on billycarts , shove some sort of a wheel on anything we found and proceded down the closest hill .
oops , straying a tad here

heres mine running

[video][/video]

Hello vcomm , Gizmo, and Grumpy

vccomm, it sounds like you had a 'real' childhood too!
I think I'm really at fault here for straying - so I'll bring it back
at the end of this post

Gizmo - brilliant video - a nicely presented Trojan!

Grumpy, yes, there was a Trojan Major (75cc) and a Trojan Minor (49cc),
That's an interesting story - a home brewed job. The wooden roller was probably
less than ideal for the job. Some of the rollers got quite sophisticated:



Trojan is a fascinating company; because they made trucks and cars,
and even, themselves, attempted a lawnmower conversion kit:-



vccomm, I'll bring this baby back on track.
The Atom Mofast mowers should be considered highly collectable.
Atom were one of the earliest lawnmower manufacturers to understand the importance
of a 'mower range' - meaning they had several models in various sizes from 15 to 20 inch.
I hope to write about them some time this year.

All very interesting.
---------------------------------
JACK

Here is some more information that is worth a read

Bike

http://www.oldbike.eu/wordpress/?page_id=2220

History, cut and paste it's worth it

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pattle/nacc/arc0371.htm


I have two complete Trojan motors but nothing to mount them on, they will be stand alone set ups soon. Trojan motors also had light industrial applications and were made as a working unit.

Hello Paul,

Thank you for that great link!
Some really great photos of the little Trojan.
The Moped Archive has some great stuff too HERE.

All very on your bike.
-------------------------------
JACK

Hello Gizmo,

That's an interesting selection of Trojan powered machines!
The first is another 15", but I might add here that there were two other
versions of this Mofast - one had a kick start!

It's a pity the middle one was diminished by the addition of the lifting bar.
It's a rare beast indeed - Australian - and made by Melbourne's Precion.

The last is unknown to me. It's food grade
English at a guess... and a widow maker. It's a ...?

All very interesting.
------------------------------
JACK

wow that last one is an amazing looking piece of work and does look food grade yeah hahaha .
looks really a safe thing too . some interesting things toy have there man

Oh that is beautiful!!
But you can't leave us hanging.....what is it?
I've googled everything I can thing of.....dresmo, presmo,lesmo,

Hello all,

I have moved Gizmo's response to that photo on the Wesmo, because
it is not related to the Mofast, but has significance in its own right.

The new topic on the Wesmo may be found here:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=66504

--------------------------------
JACK

A History Record is now available for the Atom Mofast:-
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=74358


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