Got this mower last week and have not been able to find any information on it. I'm hoping it's a Sunbeam fastcut which would predate my Sunbeam rear catcher lawnkeeper 2. I'm really hoping that Jack has some images or information on it as he has described this mower in his previous posts about the early Sunbeams, offset wheels etc. I have spent the last couple of days trickling some slippery in the plug hole and hand winding, changed the rotten engine oil just in case and then replaced the spark plug. Compression is fine, dropped the fuel bowl off, pretty clean, it's amazing how good these old fuel bowl o rings are compared with the new. Borrowed a starter cup off the Turner and it started no problem at all and runs great, will need a good a good clean out to idle well. The vk30 is a great engine and looks the same as the 2 stroke when viewed front on. The colour combination is the same as the lawnkeeper, dark blue/ light blue.
When my wife got home, she looked at the mower, looked at me, smiled, shook her head and went to the house without saying a word ! Priceless. Check out the hand made brass muffler which shredded my shins with the carbon bits it shot out when it started. No idea if the wheels are original or too much more about this mower but i think its pretty original. The hole in the thick steel deck must have been caused by something more than a rock ? I'm thinking the mower was used as a mine sweeper in it's former life !
Cheers wce
Last edited by CyberJack; 05/05/1906:36 PM. Reason: Title
When my wife got home, she looked at the mower, looked at me, smiled, shook her head and went to the house without saying a word ! Priceless.
G'day wce and Tyler I guess it all depends on body language with the Fastcuts. Did she shake her head in the vertical plane or the horizontal?
I can confirm this is a Sunbeam Fastcut and it probably predates the Sunbeam rear discharge machines.
Many thanks for the images as they record the first known 4-stroke version of the Fastcut.
This appears to be original - even the up-swept handlebars! The dress cowl is missing and the wheels are generic. The rear wheels appear to offer a negative angle to the blade holder. That is a no-no! [Sunbeam were an early user of large diameter rear wheels.]
The Fastcuts are the most frustrating of rotary mowers - because little evidence has been found of them. I suspect this is because of post 1954 copyright issues with newsprint publications.
I will rant and speculate here. I hope that is okay? This is an important machine, historically - because it involves a sort of clash of design civilisations!
Sunbeam had been part of our landscape sine the earliest of days, and Sunbeam (AUS) wool clippers testify to that.
Post WWII, Sunbeam entered the domestic consumer market - mix-masters, shavers, frypans, ... and then lawnmowers.
Sunbeam entered the lawnmower world here in 1960, with their brilliant twin-rotor electric. I love that mower!
They then entered the petrol-powered market with the Fastcuts and Lawnkeepers in the mid 1960s. This is the thing ...
So, Sunbeam Corporation, introduced a USA styled off-set wheel job. [Sunbeam is a North American company]. But they did something radical here ... Sunbeam (Australia) added single-point height adjustment to an off-set wheel base. Know of anyone else that did that?
Also note the under-base. There is some attempt at increasing the gap between blade tip and rear and front sections. NOTE the difference in the skirting on wce's machine and the 2-stroke images I supplied! The Fast Cut evolved.
Also note the high-skirted pressed-steel base. This would have been an excellent lawnmower. Pope did it, Sunbeam did it, but who else at this time?
Also note the swing-back blades on a bar blade-holder! ... certainly Australian ... not USA!
For the record, I attach 2016 auction images of a Fastcut 2-stroke.
Thanks for the information and images. The head shake was horizontal Jack, but in a nice way. The dress cowling is the same as my lawnkeeper 2 which fits the fastcut perfectly and would have been the same colour I would think. Might be a bit hard to find, likewise a set of wheels but I have put the call out and hopefully someone might have some parts stashed away. I presume mine would have had an impulse starter as the screws are there and looks to be the right mounting pattern. It's not so evident in the pictures taken on the lawn but 3 three of the wheels are in contact with the ground but the right rear wheel is about an inch off the ground and I can only get a very small amount of movement from the height adjustment lever. I've been spraying all the pivot points so something is out of kilter, will need to have a good look at that one.
I always thought the Fastcut was late 1960s early 1970s.
G'day Max and wce Max, I would like to reserve judgement on that. I did modify my above post to remove 'early 1960s'. That cannot be possible, given what we know about Kirby engine specs.
I also changed my comments on safety. Note the difference to the under-deck in wce's image and my 2016 record of a 2-stroke. A rear secondary skirt has been added on the 2-stroke.
This means wce's machine is earlier!
Late 1960s is most probable given the spec of the KAV 87 2-stroke, and the VK30 4-stroke. Is mid-1960s a possibility ... ? I'm not sure.
We know the USA patent for this mower dates from early 1958! This is reflected in AUS patent 42914 of October, 1958. The inventor was North American Etchison G. Lill
Note that the patents envision a primitive multi-point height adjuster. I have argued that AUS modified the design to a single point system. WE also change the blade system from a fixed bar job.
When this occurred is the question ... I wonder whether there is a patent for the AUS changes?
Is a clue the Design Number 51189... in wce's images?
Cheers ----------------------- Jack
Last edited by CyberJack; 04/05/1904:24 PM. Reason: Corrections
Hi Max and Jack Plenty of food for thought there, what a shame there doesn't appear to be any form of date coding. Thanks for the heads up on those mowers, they are about in the middle of both of us but will investigate further. Do you know if the Sunbeams only had the one large rear wheel diameter size or different sizes ? It looks like the wheels on the mower in Jack's images would be the same as my Lawnkeeper 2 but a bit hard to tell in the gumtree picture if they are the same.
Hello wce and Jack Jack is correct ,the rear wheels are larger on the back of the Fastcut mower (most likely the same as the rear wheels on the Sunbeam Lawnkeeper)
I don't think wce's is a earlier version ,I can see evidence of the secondary skirt on his mower. I've had a few Pope mowers and others where the secondary skirt is missing from rust or damage.
I think if there was a Fastcut that was earlier than the Lawnkeeper there would be different parts used on the Fastcut .
As we know the earliest Victa rotary mowers had swing back blades, Austral Villiers, there were a few mowers in the 1960s with a similar blade setup to the Fastcut.
Here are a couple of early patents showing the newer modifications to the bar blade.
Happy to be corrected but I haven't seen evidence of a earlier Fastcut.
Thanks Jack for all the info., the Sunbeam history is definitely a favorite.
The early Sunbeam twin-rotor electric is the best looking electric mower in my opinion.
G'day Max I appreciate the point about the rear secondary skirt.
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As we know the earliest Victa rotary mowers had swing back blades, Austral Villiers, there were a few mowers in the 1960s with a similar blade setup to the Fastcut.
Yep, for sure. This is an important question. It is clear to me that Victa introduced the swing back blade system here, but the idea belongs elsewhere...
I pointed this out in my record of the British Ladybird...
I have not been able to identify the origin of swing-back blades but evidence it is of British origin - best guess.
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The early Sunbeam twin-rotor electric is the best looking electric mower in my opinion.
I agree Max. I love the design - the way two small rotors were used to overcome start-up loading, the toothed belts, the twin chutes, the swing-over handle....
For me, the magic was lost with the second Sunbeam electric. The demands for a side catcher meant one chute had to go.
I think Max is spot on with his observation of a secondary skirt. there is a short section of the original skirt evident and a weld on the other side of the base which would have secured the other end, the short section of skirt in the top left corner is welded in the same. Without the rear secondary skirt to give the underside a cylindrical shape you would be expecting the cuttings to travel around corners en route to the discharge outlet and given the distance between the blade end and the rear of the deck I think the cuttings would drop at the back of the mower. Maybe the only difference between the 2 and 4 strokes was the colour schemes and the sticker on the front of the cowl. Mine is definitely the light/dark blue, the Sunbeam logo is in the same place as the other model and you can see in one of Jack's pictures there is printing on the top of deck behind the engine that i can only presume is the information about the pending design number which is on mine. The 2 stroke version has a green engine and cowl and should, i would say, have a green air filter top as in the pictures the filter base/mount is green but the top is blue the same as mine. It also looks like it has a dark blue fuel tank and cap. The 2 stroke has Fastcut 287 on the front of the cowl, would this have derived from 2 being a 2 stroke and 87 from the engine being a KAV 87 ? I have no idea what would have been on mine but in the images Max has posted the model on the left could be the 4 stroke version but I can't clearly make out the letters or numbers next to Fastcut on the cowl front as opposed to the model on the right which is clearly visible with the 287 in reverse block. My blue base Lawnkeeper 2 has a KAV 74 in the same colour scheme as the 4 stroke Fastcut. Were the KAV 74 and KAV 87 engines the same vintage ?
I think Max is spot on with his observation of a secondary skirt
G'day wce and Max Yes, Maxwestern is like a digital hard drive .... he has a great memory and he certainly keeps me honest, and he shares my same view ... that ODK is about dispelling myth with good argument and evidence.
Yep, Fastcut 287 derived from engine type and Kirby-Tecumseh model. I wonder whether the 4-stroke was a Fastcut 430? Who knows!
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Were the KAV 74 and KAV 87 engines the same vintage?
Well, best guess, they were. They shared the same Operating Manual...
Jack, I was in no way inferring that someone was right and someone was wrong about anything in my post, please accept my apologies if it appeared that way. I think my posts clearly display that I am completely out of my depth in relation to vintage mowers and knowledge about them but am enjoying my mowers, learning a bit and like this site. All the wealth in Fort Knox couldn't buy the wealth of experience and knowledge that you and other members provide and I'm very great full of that.
Hi Max and Jack Would this be the North American version of the fastcut ? was in the shed looking at wheels and as it turns out the wheels on the Lightning are the same diameter and tyre width as the Lawnkeeper 2 so took a front wheel off the lightning and tried it on the Fastcut and it's a perfect fit.
Would love to get that windrower Max and looks as though the Aus version of the mower might have decided to stay with the same base colour on the 4 stroke ? looks pretty close.
Jack, I was in no way inferring that someone was right and someone was wrong about anything in my post, please accept my apologies if it appeared that way.
G'day wce and Max It's all good wce. Both Max and myself share the same view about research and presenting facts, and having friendly argument. That is a great USA image of their version you showed us!
Max's hard-drive memory always boots up to an impressive specification, and I do not ever remember it failing. - its digital, after all
The important thing here is the finding of swing-back blades in a 1941 patent. Goodall is recognised as an early maker of USA rotaries, but I had never seen a bar holder and swing-back blades on a Goodall.
It is an exciting find in piecing together the history of swing-back blades. I'm sure we are getting closer to understanding the AUS Fastcuts, too.
I can't say I understand why Sunbeam spent design effort on the AUS off-set design, given the rejection of that experiment here in the late 1950s.
In any case, Sunbeam's purchase of Victa in 1970 must have been instrumental in the demise of the Fastcuts. Victa were already making fantastic side-discharge, catchered, utilities by 1968 [Special 2].
The Goodall mower patent looks like swing back blades and reads as having single bolted blades but I have not seen images of the blades on a Goodall mower. (just to authenticate the patent)
The 1971 Fastcut ad was from New Guinea ,it's a little strange we could not find Australian newspaper ads showing the Fastcut .
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Jack, I was in no way inferring that someone was right and someone was wrong about anything in my post, please accept my apologies if it appeared that way.
Yep all good, as Jack said The more facts we find helps to better understand vintage mowers.
A Herschel blade has the same basic shape as the Goodall blade .
The information well on this site is seemingly bottomless, Love the attachment of the catcher for the fastcut . I wonder if there was any such option for the Australian version ?
