This one was on ebay a while back. The seller had it listed as a vintage Scott Bonnar (with a big question mark!).
This mower has a lot in common with vintage Rover and Fairway mowers in my opinion. The reason I say this is the Briggs engine with oil bath filter, and the style of wheels with those little red caps in the centre. I have only seen these wheels on two types of mowers from the 60s, one is old Rover mowers, the other is on Southern Cross mowers.
However the handlebars look wrong for any of the Rover mowers from that period.
Can anybody offer a good ID on this mower?
Last edited by CyberJack; 22/07/1802:39 PM. Reason: change topic title.
It looks a bit like a HG Palmer that I have, but I'm not convinced this one is a HGP. Maybe the wheels have been replaced, but I've never seen those kinds of wheels on a HGP before. The height adjustment is also very different to the HGP I have from that era.
The spacing of the badge holes look about right for a typical oval HGP badge from the era. But I am sure other badges may also fit here.
I'm not sure if the paint colours are original, but I've never seen a HGP painted in those colours before.
However, HGP never manufactured mowers; they just ordered their 'house branded' models from a variety of existing manufacturers AFAIK.
If you'd like to look at more HGP ads/articles on Trove, our esteemed Forum Historian has created a useful source list; https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=24369
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
G'day all Really great contributions from vint_mow, Max, Gadge and Gizmo
The trouble here is matching the 8 Series Briggs to HG Palmer's first lawnmower - the HG Palmer Utility of 1960.
The Utility must have been a successful design - it certainly employed - through its lifespan - about half-a-dozen engines!
Did Palmer's use the first vertical shaft Briggs sold here on its first base? The answer is ... YES.
My best guess is that Palmer used the Briggs on their utility base in late 1960. However, by late 1961, Palmer's would reserve the Briggs for the Utility Deluxe.
Many thanks for all the valuable contributions on this topic. I always like to stand corrected on such things. This one had me beat for a few reasons.
Interesting that HGP used the Walter Barr wheels with the central red caps. I'd only ever seen them on Southern Cross and old Rover utility mowers, but the ads clearly show them on HGP's too.
It's interesting too that I've sometimes seen old Rover mowers with the same wheels that HGP commonly used in the mid-60s, with the larger plastic caps. H.G. Palmer always had their name on their caps, other brands like Rover and Supa-Swift had plain caps. The Southern Cross KXA had the same wheels too, but the colours were reversed on them: red hubs, snow white caps!!
In addition, it seems that Kirby-Lauson engines became the more favoured engine on HGP's in the later years. At least I tend to see more old HGP's with Kirby-Lauson engines than ones with Briggs engines.
In addition, it seems that Kirby-Lauson engines became the more favoured engine on HGP's in the later years.
G'day vint-mow I think that is right. The 4-stroke vertical lawnmower engine made its mark in the 1960s. Turner introduced the 4-stroke rotary to Australia in 1959. Everyone followed suit - including Victa. Victa's use of Kirby-tecumsehs was profilic. Of course, Victa never used the Kirby 2-strokes (for very obvious reasons).
Kirby-Tecumseh is a better name to describe what happened in Australia. Kirby-Lauson was a deliberate marketing tactic employed by USA's Tecumseh - simply because Lauson (acquired by Tecumseh in the 1950s) was better-know and a respected brand. The plan was to remove 'Lauson' from Tecumseh engines from about the mid-1960s. This is what happened here too!
It is true that Kirby had a broader reach than Briggs in the 1960s. That would change within a decade.
The best supporter of Briggs engines in the 1960s was Rover mowers. I also point out that Rover needed access to larger engines ... being an early manufacturer of ride-on lawnmowers. In the USA homeland, Briggs offered a superior range of larger engines to its main competitor, Tecumseh. This translated to the Australian situation.
Many thanks vint-mow for the observations of Walter Barr wheels. It appears that Walter Barr and Olympic were major Australian companies manufacturing wheels for Australian lawnmowers.
Companies, like Turner, used Derlin wheels, licensed to the North American Dupont giant. I do not know whether Derlin wheels were made here or were fully imported.
I am working on an article about Walterer Barr at this time. It is a surprising story.
A great topic! ------------------------------ Jack
p.s. vint-mow's original post images reveal an intact section behind the lawnmower base. This is a great example of how Palmer's offered a secondary skirt (for safety) on a 'toe-cutter' base.
Victa took another approach at this time. Their 'ring guard' turned a toe- cutter into a skirted base, but Palmer's solution, gave more space at the rear, between the blade tips and the outer rear base.
This is a great example of early rotary lawnmower safety design. Many of these rear guards were removed and lost.
G'day folks, The thing about the Kirby-Lauson engines, is that once they started to be made locally, they would have had a significant price advantage over the smaller Briggs models. This was due to the substantial import tariffs of the time.
At this distance in time, it doesn't look to be possible to pin down a definite start date for Oz manufacturing for J N Kirby's small engine operation. Certainly it was the early 1960s, but it's also possible that Kirby's might have started local assembly from imported parts kits a little earlier. The 1960-61 mower ads only seem to refer to 'Lauson'.
BTW, 'Delrin' is just DuPont's trademarked name for one of the acetal resins they supply to plastic product manufacturers in pellet form - it's not a brand of wheel.
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
The thing about the Kirby-Lauson engines, is that once they started to be made locally, they would have had a significant price advantage over the smaller Briggs models. This was due to the substantial import tariffs of the time.
Hello Gadge Yes, that is true, and it does somewhat explain the 1960s situation. I have written a lot about tariffs and their impact on local production.
We should also note that Rover used Briggs and Kirby engines from the early 1960s, suggesting that tariffs played a less significant role at this time than what might be suggested.
James Kirby had amazing 'networking' capacity with local manufacturers (including Victa). It may be that Kirby were preferred because of that fact - and when Victa committed to Kirby engines in 1960, others followed suit. That's my spin, anyway. Victa played a pivotal role ... and other makers followed suit, is my best view.
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At this distance in time, it doesn't look to be possible to pin down a definite start date for Oz manufacturing for J N Kirby's small engine operation
I don't see why not. Kirby's first lawnmower engines were manufactured here in the late 1950s. It is true that we will not know what percentage of components were local or imported. What is true is that Kirby's were manufacturing Tecumseh engines under licence from the late 1950s. That's a good start date for me.
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The 1960-61 mower ads only seem to refer to 'Lauson'.
Somewhat true. Victa, Pace and Turner avoided that issue altogether. There were Victa 4-strokes; Pace 4-strokes; and Turner Four Strokes! [even though the 'K' in VK 30 (for example) must have meant Kirby!
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BTW, 'Delrin' is just DuPont's trademarked name for one of the acetal resins they supply to plastic product manufacturers in pellet form - it's not a brand of wheel.
Technically correct (I guess), but Turner certainly used Derlin to describe their wheels in 1961.
G'day Jack, Thanks for your comments - reckoned if anyone had tried to pin down Kirby's start in small engines, you'd be da man.
Originally Posted by CyberJack
Technically correct (I guess), but Turner certainly used Derlin to describe their wheels in 1961.
Just so; what I was getting at was that the name just specifies a material.
The 'engineering plastics', as they are now known, really came into widespread use through the 1950's, and were almost 'wonder materials' back then. Very cutting-edge stuff. So, mentioning that Turner used Delrin became a selling point, i.e. that they were up at the leading edge of materials technology.
The 'engineering plastics', as they are now known, really came into widespread use through the 1950's, and were almost 'wonder materials' back then. Very cutting-edge stuff. So, mentioning that Turner used Delrin became a selling point, i.e. that they were up at the leading edge of materials technology.
Brilliant Gadge! I think you have responded with a fantastic summary here.
This is endorsed with Turner being the Australian maker first to introduce the plastic catcher to Australia.
G'day Max I am always amazed at what you find! You are my equal in the seeking of history.
Palmer's Utility did use the Australian Simplex engine. This is a significant find ... the naming of William Eastwood Hardman and John Francis Hall - the brains behind the Simplex engines used on many early Australian rotaries
Great thanks -------------------------------- Jack
Thanks Jack for the positive comments . William Eastwood Hardman had a Patent on a carburetor for stationary or marine internal combustion engines in 1940.(number 110,519) and an Improved pump adaptable as a water pump for internal combustion marine engines 1940 (110,848).
