OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Rotary Whirlwind 16 Lawn Mower

Hi guys I bought an old whirlwind mower yesterday and was wanting to know if decals etc are available for them anywhere. Also after information as I can't seem to find anything on whirlwind. I would love to upload a photo but can't seem to get it to upload.
Thanks in advance Adam

Hello Adam Jones

A warm welcome here.
I am yet to write about the Whirlwind, not to be confused with the
American brand of that name. They were not an insignificant player
in early Australian vintage mowers.

They had a wide range indeed, making a name for themselves in slasher
mowers and tractor-drawn mowers. But they had a domestic range too!

For information about uploading photos click HERE.

Kye has briefed me and I suspect this is your machine?
Decals should be able to be reproduced if we accurately identify your mower.
Any photo and other records would be most helpful.

Hope this helps.
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Jack

Hi Jack,
Thanks so much for the information. That brochure is very similar to my mower. Mine doesn't have a folding handle and has a villiers two stroke engine. I've tried again to post pics with no luck. Do you have an email address that I can forward photos to you.
Adam

Hello Adam
Yes, I see, ...

This must mean (assuming handle is original) that your machine dates
to 1958 - 1960 (or about then).

Sorry to hear about the photo problem.
Sometimes, the issue is not with selecting your photo but completing the
task with the upload button.

This is a photo Kye has supplied to me.


p.s. The Torque-Master is a Villiers engine.

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Jack

Great to see you made it Adam!

I am hoping to see some Whirlwind info too! I hear so much about them being a big brand during the 1950s, yet I know hardly anything about them!
This one popped up the other day and I just wished I knew more about them.


I think the bloke with decals on eBay makes them so you might want to message him about it, or maybe try Darren Turnbull on Facebook.

Hope this helps Adam!
Cheers Mate!

Thanks Jack and Kye,
Also thanks Kye for posting the pic. I tried starting it this afternoon with no luck. Mind you I didn't try for long. Thanks for the info so far very much appreciated
Adam

Hello Kye & Adam

I think Whirlwind made its initial mark on the commercial side, with its
Hayter copy slashers. But their domestic rotaries have not been recorded
either. The maker, L.J. Phillips of Melbourne, was clearly a significant
manufacturer, so it is exciting that Adam and Kye are helping the record.

Kye's photo of the other Whirlwind is clearly early 1960s.



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Jack

I thought it would be early 60s Jack, no doubt there.

I want to try and find that bloke at a swap meet again who said he owns a Phillips mower, I wonder if it is just a normal Whirlwind, or is it a completely different mower, or different brand.

He said the brand had something to do with Hills Hoist?? Do you know anything to do with Hills Hoist and mowers Jack?? He said it was early 1960s.
Will be interesting to find out.

Cheers Jack and Adam! This discussion is going great already!

I strongly suspect it will be a Whirlwind.

I see no connection with the Hill's Hoist at all.

It may surprise some just how early Whirlwind started.
My earliest record is from mid-1955, but I am interested in this
machine too:- [note how the handle is similar to Adam's]

Thats what got me, we thought 1958, but by that time Victa had folding handle bars for a year, surely Whirlwind would have folding bars too.

Thanks so much for the information guys. It's Awsum, I've been searching the web and I think it might be a tornado 19" but not 100% on that one
Adam

Hi Kye and Adam.

The Villiers 7f only became available in late 1957, but Whirlwind
was certainly on the list of first recipients.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=51174

Adam's machine must date from late 1957 or from 1958, before there was
overwhelming market pressure to have folding handles.

In this advert (from late 1958) note the reference to a Whirlwind 16.
It appears this was a cheaper model introduced after the Sabre.
So, I would appreciate if Adam could measure blade tip to blade tip.
Is it closer to 16" or 19"?

Hi Jack I will run a tape measure over it tomorrow after work and let you know

Yep thats the ad I found on Trove with it.

It must have been very difficult for any smaller manufacturer to try and compete against the might of Victa in fifties and sixties and it is easy to understand why so many tried and failed. You have to give credit to anybody who managed to sell any of the smaller brands

Hi Jack I ran a tape measure over the chassis on the whirlwind tonight and I measures around 40cm wide. Hope this is of some help
Thanks again Adam

Hello Adam

So we now have a name for your machine: it's a Whirlwind 16.
It is not a Whirlwind 18", nor a 19" Tornado.

Because it is powered with a 7F Villiers, first used on AUS mowers
in very late 1957, your machine probably dates from 1958 or 1959.
I do not believe it can date from any later than 1959.

I believe Kye has said to you that the engine may reveal a date stamp,
which may get the exact year of production. That would be interesting.

I have renamed this topic Whirlwind 16 Lawnmower, so that we can document it
in a focused way.




Thanks to Kye for identifying this mower as one of interest.
The Whirlwind record is far from complete.

Thanks Adam for helping us compile a record on this machine.

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Jack

All good Jack and Kye. I'm so greatful to actually get some information on the mower. When I get home tonight I can grab the serial number,off it if that also helps.
Adam

Great to see we worked out what it is!
I can't wait to see what your write about Whirlwind Jack, info about them has eluded me somehow.

I am sure we might be able to work something out with the code, try to find some patterns.
Thanks for the pictures Adam, it an awesome mower, and I recon it will help Jack out when he does his article on it.

Cheers Jack & Adam!

I can't wait to see what I write either too!

This is a Whirlwind 16, but we now know it should be a separate model
from the Whirlwind Sabre 16.

Whirlwind remains an elusive brand, but I hope to write something this year.
It may be true that Whirlwind was more successful with its commercial range
of slashers, walk-behind, self-propelled, and tractor-towed.

It appears that Whirlwind concentrated on this area, and discontinued
domestic (residential) mowers in the early 1960s.

Any help appreciated in establishing this record.
Thanks Kye for resurrecting this under-recognised AUS make.

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Jack

I agree Jack, I think I know a place where I can get a Whirlwind walk behind slasher if you need pictures Jack, I have a bit to pick up from there. Also all my Whirlwind printing blocks are either for the walk behind slasher or the tractor slasher. I am planning to take one of each to the Nambour swap meet for any collectors there.

I would like to help in anyway with getting info for the Whirlwind, its a brand I have wanted to know more about for years!

Cheers Jack!

Hi Kye, we can't get too much information.

The slashers, of course, have not been recorded well at all.
I have said that Whirlwind copied - or capitalized - on a market probably
created and introduced by the British firm, Hayter.
[and the Rotoscythe goes back further].

It may shock 'the experts' to know that there was a petrol-power rotary
sold in Australia before Victa. It was a ... Hayter.
[And, of course, the Rotoscythe].

Whirlwind's first mowing products were 'inspired' by these machines -
tractor towed and walk-behind (that's my argument). It is also of interest
to note that the importer & distributor was ... Clyde!

All the best at the swap meet.
I wouldn't let those printing blocks go too cheap.
After all, they are part of an, as yet, untold story of Whirlwind Mowers.

We are making progress - thanks to your help!

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Jack

Wouldn't be surprised about the Hayter Jack. Also was the Mohall ever sold? Or just used by that family?
Interesting that Clyde imported them, do you think the larger Clydes would have been influenced by the Hayter?

Got this stuff at the swap meet, set of Pope spanners, happy. We didn't sell, I am counting down the days until Nambour, 21 to go!

Cheers Jack!

The Mowhall, of Lawrence hall and Victa folklore, is a one-off. Never sold.

G'day Kye,
The Mowhall, as you know, is preserved at the Canada Bay Museum.



Absolutely, Kye; just like the Phillips' Whirlwind.
Our 'slasher mower' market started with the Hayter.

It's this market that essentially ended the reign of the small, petrol-powered
sickle bar mowers so popular post war (also imported by Clyde).

Cheers
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Jack

Hi Jack it's been a long time since I posted and just wanted to let you know that I fired the whirlwind up over the Christmas break. She runs like a dream. It's still just sitting in the shed. I'm still very happy that I saved it.
Adam

G'day Adam

Many thanks for the update.
I'm glad you saved it too!

It's incredible to think these mowers are over
half a century old now.

Cheers
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Jack