https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Recent Posts en-us Mon, 27 Jul 2026 05:48:06 UTC 5 support@outdoorking-forum.com.au (OutdoorKing Repair Forum) UBB.threads https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/images/general/default/rss_icon.gif https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/115311.html#Post115311 PART THREE – CATALOGUE PAGE EXTRACTS
The relevant catalogue pages demonstrate that
The Cleavers had a diverse offering.

The trump card was always Victa for rotaries, but Sunbeam,
Simpson, and Pace were also offered. Note that Pope lawnmowers
were sold under the Simpson name that reflected the actual
company at this time [Simpson-Pope] but also reflected what
name was better understood in a particular market. I guess
that the Simpson brand was better recognised in Tasmania
at that time.

The most interesting thing – for me – is the promotion
of British made imported reel mowers [Webb and Qualcast].
Note that the Webb mowers were all battery electric!




]]> Tue, 10 May 2022 12:39:49 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/115311.html#Post115311 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113299.html#Post113299 PART TWO – The Mower & Outboard - Page Extracts
QPS offered a full range of lawnmowers for 1957-58 –
from other makes and their own brands.

Push Mowers: -
QPS offered the major AUS brands here: Qualcast,
Pope, Ogden, Purcell, and their own Cambridge
push mower. They also offered the imported
Folbate [also Qualcast].

Power Reels: -
QPS offered the AUS Pope, Mobilco, and their own
offering, the Cambridge Powered Sidewheel. QPS
also offered imported power reels – Atco, Greens
and Royal Enfield.

Rotary Mowers: -
QPS sold their own make, the Cambridge De Luxe.

Outboards: -
The Conqueror outboard presents as another QPS brand.
Note that the power unit could be converted to a QPS lawnmower!




]]> Sun, 14 Nov 2021 03:00:25 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113299.html#Post113299 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113208.html#Post113208

A Very Special Publicity Stunt: -

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.auhttps://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...victa-toecutter-to-victa-treecutter.html

The Vicmobile Pump was sold by Ray Tijou: -

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=60740

]]> Sun, 07 Nov 2021 02:17:53 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/113208.html#Post113208 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/112487.html#Post112487 PART THREE
For the record, the demise of the Harrigan Electric was probably
due to the fact that Harrigans began selling Atco reel mowers
from the mid-1930s.



This is a typical story – how a regional car dealer came
to be selling lawnmowers ...

This is an atypical story in that Harrigans saw the potential in
power lawnmowers when they were novel in the community.

Post War, Harrigans would continue selling lawnmowers until
the mid-1950s. I guess, after that, specialist garden-equipment
stores started to appear.

Harrigans should be remembered for being pioneers in
introducing power lawnmowers to regional Australia.

]]> Sun, 18 Jul 2021 02:41:30 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/112487.html#Post112487 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111934.html#Post111934

VICTA - The Years 1951-1954: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111406/victa-the-years-1951-1954.html

]]> Sat, 01 May 2021 18:05:25 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111934.html#Post111934 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111406.html#Post111406

So, what was in Store for Victa in 1955? ...
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/92113/victa-1955-the-second-beginning.html

]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:47:12 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/111406.html#Post111406 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/110637.html#Post110637

The 1964 Victa Repair Manual can be found here: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.auhttps://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...7/victa-first-workshop-manual-c1964.html

]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2021 03:19:54 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/110637.html#Post110637 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109744.html#Post109744 PART THREE - Lawnmowers
It was only in research that I realised an anomaly:
Walmac were making lawnmowers years before the first ads
appeared for Walmac mowers. I know this because of classified
ads for employment at Walmac, the earliest I have found dates
to 1962 [see Gallery below].

The first ad for a ‘Walmac’ mower I have is from late 1965.
It depicts the first version of the Walmac Utility (not the one
most collectors know of), and it appears in an Eric Anderson
ad (Canberra) with an Eric Anderson rear-catcher Lawnmaster.

Take a close look at both mowers. Have you seen them before –
as another brand ...?



It is my contention that the E.A. Lawnmaster was also
made by Walmac. But both of these mowers appeared
years’ earlier as …

TO BE CONTINUED …

]]> Sat, 19 Dec 2020 23:05:18 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/109744.html#Post109744 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/107767.html#Post107767 PART FOUR – The Thirties
Despite the hardships of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, the
Alex Grahame Company prospered in the mid-to-late 1930s; becoming
importers of many UK and European brands. They would also begin
manufacture of some of their own products.

The 1930s records reveal the company was growing.
Many advertisements title the business as ‘The Great Eastern and
Western Lawn Mower Hospital’, and Alex Grahame as the ‘Lawn Mower King’.

Alex Grahame was not the self-proclaimed ‘Lawnmower King’
without good reason. In terms of power mowing in Australia,
the company was there pretty much from the start, and the
makes and models were impressive …

DENNIS AGENCY
The Dennis Brothers Lawnmower agency should be singled out;
because Alex Grahame held this exclusive Dennis Agency for many
decades. This was a real coup!

These were respect commercial mowers of the day and they were used
by many leading councils, including Sydney City Council. Grahame
referred to Dennis as the ‘Rolls-Royce of Motor Mowers’ in some advertising …



Also note the company had a showroom at 549 Parramatta Road,
Leichardt at this time ...



By the mid-thirties Alex Grahame clearly had an inventory that
livedup to the company’s claim of being a ‘Mower King’.

They offered push, horse, petrol and electric mowers.
They were also selling their own mowers and the Australian-
built Gravic mowers.



By 1936 Alex Grahame had the capacity to not only manufacture
their own mowers but also offered duplicate [spare] parts for other
makes and for other local sellers. Alex Grahame was no small, local seller.



GANG MOWERS: -
A special mention should be made about gang mowers.
Although an American invention (1919), gang mowers ‘took hold’
in Australia in the 1930s. They solved a big problem: how to cut
very large areas of grass. The idea of gang mower was made
possible by the invention of the tractor, and tractors became
much more common – and affordable - in the thirties.

The Late 1930s was in the shadow of the imminent and terrible WWII.
It is no surprise that Alex Grahame was involved with Gang Mowers
used for military purposes. The Aerodrome was central to war effort
and Grahame help the sole agency in NSW.



Also, the market consisted of municipal bodies -
who wanted to develop public parks; sporting clubs;
and golf clubs. The latter explains why gang mowers
were sometimes referred to as ‘fairway mowers’.

Clearly, Alex Grahame saw the commercial and military market,
and help agencies for Ransomes and Shanks gang mowers,
and the Exclusive Agency for Green’s gang mowers.

CONCLUSION: -
By the end of the 1930s Alex Grahame was clearly a major
seller of all types of mowers. The situation is nicely summed
up in this advertisement from early 1939.

Most popular Australian power mower: Scott Bonnar; most
popular imported power mower: Atco; Everything else in terms
of power mower – from Britain and Europe - was pretty much
being sold through Alex Grahame!



TO BE CONTINUED …

]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2020 03:23:19 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/107767.html#Post107767 https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/102545.html#Post102545 PART TWO – The Brochure
This brochure is from my collection and it is in great condition.
As always, I make it available for member viewing, and as a
higher-resolution download.




]]> Mon, 23 Dec 2019 12:11:35 +0000 CyberJack https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/102545.html#Post102545