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by alan

Quiz 2025 – As Seen On TV

December 13, 2025 in Articles

Here are twelve questions for a short quiz.

The theme this year is mowers that have been on TV or in magazines, and sometimes associated with well-known people.

It shouldn’t be a challenging quiz. If you have seen Only Fools and Horses, One Foot in the Grave, marvelled at Jim Bowen on Bullseye, watched Wallace & Grommit, or know who sang ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’, then this is the ideal quiz to pass a few minutes.

A pencil and paper are handy to write down the answers.

As always, the answers are at the bottom of the page.

Questions:

Q1: Who had a gold-painted Valor Ironcrete mower?

1: Which famous Welsh singer was photographed in 1967 at their Shepperton home with a gold-coloured Valor Ironcrete petrol-powered lawn mower?  It was said that this mower was specially painted and presented in recognition of their worldwide No. 1 hit with ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’ in 1966.

A: Tom Jones
B: Dame Shirley Bassey
C: Sir Harry Secombe

Q2: Did Victor Meldrew use a Mountfield?

2: In the 1990s TV comedy series One Foot In The Grave, Victor Meldrew played by Richard Wilson was always having mishaps. In one episode, he accidentally inhaled some fertilizer and got very high and jolly, before climbing aboard a ride on mower. Eventually driving into a house and shredding a carpet, as well as other disasters. But what was this rear-engine ride-on mower that was popular in the UK?

A: Reo Lawn Skiff
B: Mountfield M25
C: Toro Whirlwind

Q3: What mower does Grommit own?

3: In the brilliant Aardman Animations 2024 film Vengence Most Fowl, what type of lawnmower does Wallace & Grommit own? And used by Norbot the gnome to unhelpfully tidy-up Grommit’s cottage garden but instead destroying it.

A: Cylinder mower
B: Rotary mower
C: Hover mower

Q4: Maybe Rod Stewart didn’t have a Westwood.

4: In 1973, Rod Stewart, of singing fame, was photographed in the UK sitting on his red-painted, Kohler-powered, ride-on mower/garden tractor outside his house. But what make was Rod Stewart’s tractor? (Clue: Only one of them was being made in 1973).

A: Westwood
B: Countax
C: Wheel Horse

Q5: What was a lot less bovver than a hover?

5: In 1983, television adverts for a certain mower used the slogan ‘It’s a lot less bovver than a hover’. One advert featured the actor Nicholas Smith – who also starred as Mr Rumbold in Are You Being Served? But what mower brand was being sold in the adverts, which was (allegedly) better than the hover mowers? 

A: Qualcast
B: ATCO
C: Hayter

Q6: In 1980, who advertised Wheel Horse tractors?

6: In 1980, Mountfield adverts for Wheel Horse tractors featured which Scottish motor racing champion? He also advertised the tractors in the USA. Among other races, he won the 1965 Italian Grand Prix, but obviously not on a Wheel Horse. Who was he?

A: Jim Clark
B: Colin McRae
C: Jackie Stewart

Q7: Who advertised Webb machines?

7: In the mid-1970s, which TV personality, who presented Gardeners’ World, did Wolseley Webb recruit to lead their sales campaign of mowers and tillers? It is the earliest presenter – but which one was that?

A: Percy Thrower
B: Geoff Hamilton
C: Geoffrey Smith

Q8: What did Forest drive?

8: In the 1994 USA film Forest Gump, which real make of ride-on mower, with a Turtle inspired logo, did Forest use?

A: Tortrak
B: Snapper
C: Snap-Jack

Q9: Who got dragged about by an ATCO mower?

9: In the 1965 comedy film The Early Bird, about Grimsdale Dairy,  which slapstick actor (dressed as a milkman) gets dragged around a garden by an ATCO cylinder lawnmower before ending up in a pond? (I think the name Mr Grimsdale! might give it away).

A: Eric Sykes
B: Norman Wisdom
C: George Formby

Q10: Did Rodney buy mower engines, rotavator or tools?

10: In the 1983 episode of Only Fools and Horses named ‘Healthy Competition’, Rodney and Mickey were tricked by Del Boy into buying which horticulturally-related item at auction?

A: A rotavator which wouldn’t rotavate
B: A heap of old lawnmower engines
C: A collection of woodwormed vintage garden tools

Q11: Did Granville buy a Hayter Kestral?

11: In 1982, the TV series Open All Hours featured the episode ‘The Ginger Men’. In the episode, Granville buys a second-hand mower with the intention of fitting the engine to his shop bike. What make of British mower did he buy? (and consequently leave on the shop floor for the bun salesman to fall over).

A: Suffolk Punch
B: Hayter Kestral
C: Landmaster Sovereign

Q12: What amazing prizes could be won on Bullseye?

12: The original version of the darts quiz show Bullseye aired from 1981 until 1995. It was presented by Jim Bowen, who was often quoted (or misquoted) using the words “super” and “smashing” to describe things. Anyway, which of these super, smashing prizes could be won on Bullseye for just “the throw of a dart”?

A: Black & Decker H1 Hover Mower, together with a B&D electric lawn rake, a Fisons lawn spreader, a bag of lawn weed & feed, and a pair of lawn edging shears. 
B: 5-door Morris Ital car in white paintwork
C: £2000 clothing spending spree – possibly at C&A

Answers:

1: A: Tom Jones. He was presented with a gold-painted Ironcrete Valor mower in 1967. He had sold over one million copies of his recording of ‘Green, green grass of home’ – hence the grass connection with mowers. It was obviously a sales and marketing tactic by the Ironcrete company, who were based in Birmingham and some distance from the Shepperton home of Tom Jones, so not a local company. Here is a picture (Note: It is an external link to alamy.com)

2: B: Mountfield M25. Victor Meldrew drove a Mountfield rear-engine model M25 in the TV series One Foot In The Grave – causing mayhem along the way. You can watch the clip on Youtube here (Note: It is an external link to Youtube). The mower does have a custom-made rear grass collector, presumably for comic effect when mowing the carpet and ejecting the cuttings!

3: A: Cylinder mower. Wallace & Grommit owned a cylinder mower which they used as part of their ‘Gnome Improvements’ household maintenance business. Grommit also owned a strimmer, which Norbot used in the garden.

4: C: Wheel Horse. Rod Stewart was photographed in 1973 with his red-painted Wheel Horse mower. The model looks like a Raider 10 or similar. He didn’t have a Westwood as in the photo – that was a red herring…or a red Westwood. Here is a picture (Note: It is an external link). Westwood didn’t make their own branded tractors until 1976, and Countax until 1990.

5: A: Qualcast. Nicholas Smith (aka Mr Rumbold in Are You Being Served?) also appeared in adverts for Qualcast mowers.

6: C: Jackie Stewart. In 1980, Scottish motor racing champion Jackie Stewart featured in magazine adverts for Wheel Horse garden tractors. In fact, in 1980, Jackie Stewart also filmed a Wheel Horse advert in Florida for the USA market.

7: A: Percy Thrower. In the mid-1970s, Percy Thrower advertised Wolseley Webb mowers and tillers. Gardeners’ World started in 1968 with Percy Thrower as the first presenter until 1976 when Arthur Billitt took over. Followed by presenters Geoff Hamilton from 1979 (1979 to 1996), and Geoffrey Smith from 1980 (1980 to 1982). Alan Titchmarsh took over from 1996.

8: B: Snapper. In the 1994 film Forest Gump, Forest used a real American-made Snapper ride-on mower for mowing his lawn and then public spaces around Greenbow, Alabama. The other answers, Tortrak and Snap-Jack were made up.

9: B: Norman Wisdom. The film ‘The Early Bird’ was the first Norman Wisdom film in colour. Norman Wisdom (as Norman Pitkin) worked for Grimsdale’s Dairy in competition with Consolidated Dairies. Not all goes well, and Norman gets dragged around a garden, through a fence, a greenhouse, and into a pond by an ATCO cylinder mower. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Early_Bird (Note: It is an external link to wikipedia).

10: B: A heap of old lawn mower engines. Del Boy had originally bought the engines but took them to auction and tricked Rodney into buying them. The clip can be seen on Youtube here (Note: It is an external link to Youtube).

11: A: Suffolk Punch. Granville bought a red-painted Suffolk Punch mower with the intention of fitting the engine to his bike.

12: A, B, and C: All three answers are correct. And yes — a Black & Decker mower, lawn rake, and various other lawn products did make an appearance as prizes. Bullseye was, after all, renowned for its eclectic prize selection, ranging in value, desirability, and, one suspects, their proximity to the nearest Argos-type warehouse. While the show often had a Mini Metro as the star prize, the Morris Ital also made an appearance.

—————————————-
Footnote:

The Howard Gem as featured in The Good Life from 1975 onwards

This year’s twelve questions are all about mowers. My apologies to non-mower collectors. I did set out with good intentions to find examples of rotavators, hand tools, sprayers and other implements that might have been on the tv or had celebrity ownership. The search turned up very little, except for the obvious Howard rotavator from The Good Life, as in the picture.

However, there have been many appearances of mowers on TV, so that must be the go-to horticultural item for TV purposes.

Who remembers the Anchor butter advert from 1993? I’m told that the mower still exists somewhere, but does anyone know where? Apparently, there was only one machine and that was built from spare parts for the commercial, then digitally copied to make it appear there was more than one. The Anchor advert can be seen on YouTube.

Also, a club member can be briefly seen with his Dennis mower in the opening scenes of the 2002 film The Gathering Storm about Winston Churchill. The mower scenes were set in 1934 at Chartwell.

I also have vague memories of mowers and garden tools appearing as prizes on UK quiz shows, but found nothing apart from Bullseye. But I’m sure a Flymo or strimmer must have passed by on The Generation Game conveyor belt.

As we have seen with sitcoms and also with Norman Wisdom, mowers have long been used in comical situations. This includes Tom and Jerry, who can be seen on a 1949 comic cover with Tom about to be mown down by a sidewheel mower.

I shall now embark on twelve more questions for next year. Subject currently unknown, but it won’t be machines on TV as this one wasn’t easy to compile.

After multiple rounds of editing and head scratching, this 2025 question page was created on the 7th October 2025. It was raining.

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by alan

Rare Hoes and Thinners?

November 1, 2025 in Articles

Occasionally, a long-forgotten machine may turn up in a book reference or a magazine article, and if we are lucky, an actual example may appear in the tinwork. But sadly, it seems, some of these machines are nothing but a distant memory, perhaps a period advert in a gardening magazine, or an article praising the machine’s qualities which never amounted to any meaningful sales.

Two intriguing machines featured in the June 1965 issue of Farm Mechanization: the Minni-Ho and the Wanten SSEC 2-row thinner.

First up, the Minni-Ho. Shown below is this small tool-frame tractor, initially powered by a 2.5 hp four-stroke engine, designed for cross-blocking work. When operated at right angles, as shown in the photo, it could hoe gaps over a 52.5 inch width, leaving plants spaced at about 7.5 inches. Once the first pass was done, the operator could side-hoe along the rows. One user proudly reported tackling twelve acres in just three days – a fair achievement considering the Minni-Ho operated at a steady 2.5 mph. It must have been a slow and bumpy ride across those fields!

The machine was the brainchild of Lincolnshire farmer-inventor Mr H. C. Rothery together with his neighbour, Mr J. E. Morris. To bring their creation to market, Farm Hydraulics Ltd based at 38 Market Place, Boston, Lincolnshire was formed. In 1965, a new Minni-Ho would have cost around £250, but it is unknown if any were sold via Farm Hydraulics Ltd.

However, the Minni-Ho did not disappear into complete obscurity. Later in 1965, Howard Rotavator Co. Ltd. took up the design, calling it the ‘Howard Mini Cross Gapper’. It is said that they intended to produce fifty machines, but that target was never met. Potentially, this leaves few surviving machines. Here is a picture in the VHGMC gallery.

The Howard production model featured a Kohler K91T 4-stroke single-cylinder engine, with a quoted 3.2 hp, and a recoil starter. A two-speed belt-driven gearbox with a hand clutch gave four forward and four reverse gears. The toolframe was raised and lowered by hand.

Minni-Ho was developed by two Lincolnshire farmers in 1965. Although there is some reference that the machine in the photo might have been a prototype, images from the same photoshoot appear on Howard brochures.

The second machine, illustrated below, the Wanten SSEC 2-row thinner, is another rarity from that same year. It was developed by Mr G. Wanten and the SSEC – the Société Sucrière d’Études et de Conseils (Sugar Research and Consulting Company) in Belgium. The SSEC’s expertise covered the entire sugar beet process from seed to molasses, producing equipment such as precision drills, beet washers, and stone catchers.

Their 2-row thinner was trialled by the Belgian Sugar Beet Institute, 45 Rue du Molin, Tienen (or Tirlemont in French). A 2.5 hp JLO engine powered it, and it was claimed to cover five acres a day, which explains why it was said to have been adopted by a large number of Belgian sugar beet growers – no doubt helped by the flat, easy-going terrain of the region.

Sugar beet is big business in Belgium, and the city of Tienen has long been known as the “Sugar City” thanks to its thriving beet industry and impressive processing facilities. I wonder if any of these 2-row thinners still exist over in Belgium?

Wanten SSEC thinner, developed at the Belgian Sugar Beet Institute in 1965

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by alan

Video: Malvern Autumn Show 2025

October 3, 2025 in Articles, Club News

On the 26th-28th September 2025 the VHGMC put on a show stand at the Autumn Show at the Three Counties Showground at Malvern.

A good range of machines were exhibited with hand tools, walk-behind and ride-on machines, rotavators, and mowers. These included examples from Uni Horse, Barford, Gravely, Atco, Ransomes, Nash, Dron-Wal, and many others.

The video below is just a walk about with the video camera – edited to two and a half minutes. Plus some photographs of exhibits.

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by alan

When Mountfield Plugged In

August 29, 2025 in Articles, Machinery

A while ago, this blog looked at Vertex engines. These were two-stroke engines which made their way onto Mountfield mowers in the mid-1970s. It was not a success. Around the same time, Mountfield experimented with adding electric motors to their mowers, but this effort also appears not to have been a great success. In fact, one of the models was advertised as “…the first ever British Rotary Electric Mower to be fitted with Power Drive”.

But where have all these Mountfield Electric mowers gone? They don’t seem to appear anywhere. Perhaps a few are lingering at the back of sheds waiting to be discovered?

In the mid-1970s (frighteningly, 50 years ago), lawnmower maker Mountfield, based in Maidenhead, took a bold step with their successful range of petrol mowers by adding a full range of electric rotary mowers; the black and white image shows a 1975 example of the electric 18″ cut M4. As an alternative to petrol-engined mowers, these electric-powered machines promised homeowners a quieter, cleaner, and more convenient way to tackle their lawns. Mountfield’s selling points were clear: no petrol, no oil, no annual overhauls, and no rust.

Mountfield proudly described their electric mowers as “designed and manufactured in Great Britain to cut and collect some of the toughest grass in the world.”. And they weren’t exaggerating. The mowers were not only intended for neat suburban lawns, but also for rougher grass areas where a good finish was still expected.

Mountfield 18″ Standard Electric Mower -using the same chassis as the petrol-powered equivalent.

The range of mowers was based on Mountfield’s existing petrol-powered platforms – the M3 and M4 with die-cast aluminium cutting decks. Swapping petrol engines for electric motors meant that the range could now appeal to homeowners who previously may have entirely dismissed the brand because they only sold petrol machines. These buyers may have instead opted for an electric mower from established players such as Black & Decker, Flymo or Wolf. Just to make sure every base was covered, Mountfield also introduced a 14″ mower for smaller lawns, this was the M35, but it still had a hefty die-cast alloy deck.

The electric-powered M3 Power Drive was debuted at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1980

Safety was high on the agenda. Mountfield’s electric motors were encapsulated in double-skin insulated covers, giving added protection. Even TV interference (how many members remember that?!), a common issue with some early electronics, was eliminated. As marketing described, a simple flick of a switch and the mower easily started —and stopped instantly when the handle was released, with a visible spinning disc on top of the motor indicating when it had stopped.

Every Mountfield Electric featured the brand’s trademark “Vacuum-Flo” system. This wasn’t just clever marketing—it was a genuinely effective innovation. The blade was curved to act both as a cutter and as a fan. As it spun, it generated a powerful airflow that sucked up not only grass cuttings, but also leaves, twigs, and lawn debris. All of this was deposited into a large grass box, leaving behind nothing but a well-groomed lawn. Also included were spring-loaded grass deflector safety guards (optional on M3).

The range was modified and updated over a few years, but brochures generally included:

The Mountfield M35 Electric mower, later renamed as an Emblem.

The 14” M35 Electric (later renamed the Emblem Roller Electric in the early 1980s) – A compact, hand-propelled mower for small and medium lawns. With a 900-watt motor and five rollers, it was easy to manoeuvre and could even mow right up to the lawn edge. Rear wheels could be used when a higher cutting position was selected for rougher ground or slopes. In 1980 it was priced at £174 complete with a 32 metre cable. Earlier, in 1976, it had been offered complete with a 16 metre cable for £99.

The 18” M3 Standard Electric (Illustrated, second image above) – Powered by a 1250-watt motor but later upgraded to 1300 watts, this larger hand-propelled mower was aimed at medium to large lawns. Its split rear roller made it agile around trees and borders, while still delivering a striped finish. In 1975 it was £132. The 1300-watt was £249 in 1980, again with a 32 metre cable.

The self-propelled M3 Power Drive Electric mower.

The 18” M3 Power Drive Electric (Illustrated, right) – also with a split rear roller – A real milestone: “…the first ever British Rotary Electric Mower to be fitted with Power Drive“. Driven by a powerful 1800-watt induction motor, it offered both self-propulsion and excellent cutting ability in one quiet, refined package. With a cable, it was £358 in 1980.

Illustrated below is the largest machine, the 18” M4 Electric (1250 watt, later upgraded to 1300 watts)– A four-wheeled workhorse designed for paddock-type grass, yet equally capable of producing a tidy lawn with its optional grassbox. Independent fingertip height controls gave it adaptability across rough ground or fine lawns. In 1975 it was £110 with cable. The 1300 watt model, with cable, was £211 in 1980.

Mountfield M4 Electric mower. This was a push machine and not self-propelled.

But what happened to these Mountfield electric mowers? The only model which sometimes appears is the smallest, the 14″ M35. Perhaps the M3 and M4 Electrics were not big sellers, or maybe not as good as the competition. Has anyone got any knowledge of one?

Read about the Vertex engines and Mountfield here: https://vhgmc.co.uk/2024/08/vertex-engine/

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by alan

Compost – A little bit of history

April 1, 2025 in Articles

Gardening requires patience, persistence, and a certain amount of hard work. Thankfully, we have a huge range of machinery to help with the work element. There are secateurs for pruning, spades for digging, mowers for grass cutting, tillers for the vegetable garden, and a never-ending list.

This article is a little bit of history about compost. After all, it is an important component that makes plants grow, and accordingly, there is a need for all the tools we buy and collect.

Surviving from the 20th century are a lot of vintage machines, tools and items – including seed packets, seed sowers, and vintage terracotta pots – related to compost and growing media.

In the domestic garden, making compost has long been important, whether for borders, use in plant pots or sowing seeds as illustrated in this late 1800s Sutton’s advert.

By the 19th century gardening periodicals were advising on potting up greenhouse plants and various ‘recipes’ for compost. These usually included mixing fine peat siftings with loam and sand; for potting up pansies also mix in well-rotted and thoroughly dried cow manure (apparently they like it – but would it attract flies into the Victorian conservatory?).

Additionally, a good compost for palms requires equal proportions of fibrous peat and turfy loam, adding half an inch of bones (unspecified source), and an unknown quantity of sand (perhaps throw in a handful?). Other recipes included horse manure, leaf mould, charcoal and silver sand. Sphagnum moss and cocoa-nut (sic) fibre were advertised as able to aid in growing plants. The recipes likely worked, albeit somewhat unscientific, trial-and-error, with a rather ad-hoc approach. One writer in 1881 said that the plants “were often victimised”.

Thankfully, commercial progress was made with compost. But it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the John Innes Horticultural Institute in the UK was created. In the 1930s, researchers there (William Lawrence and John Newell) created standardized compost formulas to improve plant growth and ensure consistency – the origins of the John Innes loam-based (sterilized topsoil) composts that we see at the garden centres today. These formulas were not patented so anyone could benefit, and allowed others to produce them for nurseries, research institutions, and later as bagged products for the home gardener. Occasionally, vintage compost sacks, in paper and hessian, bearing the John Innes name do come up for sale on the internet.

Often compost was measured by the bushel (Illustrated, above right) and mixed by hand – a bushel being eight imperial gallons in the UK. Many vintage periodical adverts stated their products in bushels, including leaf mould, peat mould, and loam all at one shilling per bushel in 1883. The word bushel comes from the French ‘little box’, and I can remember in the 1990s still using a wooden box for measuring compost. Has anyone come across a vintage bushel?

Of course, mechanical machines became available to help with mixing compost and soils. In 1949 at the National Association of Groundsman at the Hurlingham Club, London, the Pneulec Royer petrol-powered compost shredder mixer was being demonstrated (Illustrated on the right). Apparently, the design was originally made to help the production of John Innes compost mixtures but users found it could also aerate old compost, produce top dressings, etc. It could handle wet or dry materials and produce compost of a size that could hold moisture and be easy to use.

Demonstrations also took place for the Quick-Press soil block machine by L. Garvin Ltd, Isleworth. A press of the pedal (as illustrated on the left) produced a block of soil. This was a time-saving machine and ideal for the commercial nursery and soil block culture of plants. One plant could be grown in each block, and it also removed a need for plant pots.

The Quick-Press machine was in great demand abroad. Trials were carried out in the 1950s in New South Wales, Australia, to see if the machine and soil block culture would help with early tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. Charlie Moore exhibited such a machine at Malvern in the autumn of 2023.

In the 1950s, the University of California investigated loam-free composts which instead used peat and sand as the main components. In the UK, Fisons Levington Research Station investigated the use of peat as the main component.  Subsequently, Levington’s loam-free compost was launched to the professional market in June 1966, and then launched to the public. You can read more from Levingtons here. Other brands were available.

For domestic gardeners, bagged peat-based composts from many manufacturers became popular. I surmise that this was due to a rise in suburban gardening (more houses, more leisure time, etc), the rapid expansion of garden centres (the first in the UK opened in 1955), the launch of BBC Gardeners’ World in 1968 encouraging people to garden, and the increasing availability of glossy gardening magazines filled with enticing adverts. This inspired many families to pile into their Morris Minor on a Saturday afternoon, heading off to buy plants, pots, and various gardening supplies—including the convenient, easy-to-handle plastic-bagged compost from brands like Arthur Bowers or Levingtons.

Making life easier for the gardener was a good way to advertise a product. In the 1960s and ’70s compost-filled pots with ready sown seeds were available by mail order. A convenient way to grow from seed but it doesn’t seem to have been a big hit.

In 1964, “amazing results! with new Vermipeat” (Illustrated, right) which could grow plants better and faster than using John Innes. But was this better than sowing a packet of seeds into a tray?

And finally, in 1976, an enterprising Australian nurseryman found a way to make degradable plant pots from cow manure. As the saying goes “where there’s muck there’s money”.

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by alan

Aspera & Tecumseh Engines

March 11, 2025 in Articles

Tecumseh is one of the main engine brands we see on many vintage machines, including mowers, rotavators, wood chippers, and even mini bikes. In the USA, Tecumseh bought the small engine manufacturer Lauson in 1955, and in 1956 the company Power Products which made 2-stroke engines. The Tecumseh engines owe their origins to the products from these companies.

In 1960, Tecumseh gave Aspera Motors a licence to build engines; they were produced in Torino, Italy. Reports in 1960 stated that only six basic Tecumseh models were used to develop the whole Aspera range – this gave economic mass production and the interchangeability of parts. Aspera said that the vertical and horizontal engines were being built at a combined rate of 3000 per day.

It should be noted that there are differences between the engines that Tecumseh produced in the USA and the Aspera engines made in Italy.

Tecumseh also granted a license to James N. Kirby Automotive Pty, Ltd, Australia for Lauson 4- and 2-stroke engines. Hence the Kirby engine link with Lauson and Tecumseh. In Australia, in the 1960s, the Kirby engines were fitted to mowers made by Turner, Scott Bonnar, Pace, Pinnock, Victa, and others. The engines can be found on several UK machines including the early-1960s Mountfield mowers with 4-stroke engines and wind-up starters.

1970s Webb Windsor 18″ Rotoscythe. With a 3.5 hp, 4-stroke Aspera engine and wind-up starter.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Aspera engines made in Italy found their way onto many machines from major brands including Webb (pictured), ATCO, Mountfield and Hayter rotary mowers and Crown and Flymo hover machines. But the engines seemed to be the lesser-known alternative to Briggs & Stratton, Kohler and Tecumseh.

Many folks’ knowledge, mine included, of Aspera engines probably doesn’t stretch far beyond the basic vertical engine 4-stroke and 2-stroke models on the above mentioned machines.

However, Aspera produced a vast range of vertical and horizontal engines for rotary and cylinder mowers, tillers, chainsaws, outboard motors, water pumps, and anything that needed powering.

Horizontal shaft engines from Aspera included the HC, HCB and HKB models
Aspera LAVR 40, 4hp, 172cc. With side-mounted recoil starter and side-mounted PTO which could power wheels on self-propelled mowers.

Models that can be found on rotary mowers include the vertical shaft 4-stroke LAV 30 (3 hp – 127cc), LAV 35 (3.5 hp – 148cc) and LAV 40 (4 hp – 172cc). These engines were advertised with automatic compression release, fuel shut-off valves, optional heavy-duty flywheels, optional side-mounted PTO for wheel drive etc, and top-mounted or side-mounted recoil starters – image, right.

In the UK, at the start of the 1960s, the Aspera engines were introduced by Mackay Industrial Equipment Ltd, Central Way, Feltham, Middlesex. Subsequently, they were handled by Aspera Motors (England) Ltd, in the 1960s they were at 16 National Works, Bath Road, Hounslow, before moving to 152/154 Commercial Road, Staines, Middlesex. In the 1980s the trading name changed to Tecnamotor (UK) Ltd. Their adverts claimed that Aspera was the ‘leading manufacturer of small industrial engines for the European lawn mower industry’, which they no doubt were, but in the UK getting past the other established brands being used was not easy.  

1978 Aspera LAV172, 4-stroke, 4-hp. This engine has Aspera decals.

In 1978 they were advertising the new model LAV 172, a 4-stroke, 4 hp engine (Image, right. Note the Aspera stickers on the blower shroud). The intake and exhaust valves were made of special martensitic steel, it had a new piston design, an aluminium conrod, and a cast iron liner for long life. This engine was advertised as having improvements in reliability.

Discussed during 1981, and with a formal understanding on February 16th 1982, Fiat and Tecumseh entered into a joint 50/50 venture to build Aspera engines at Torino. The name Tecnamotor was created. Though in 1989 Tecumseh bought out Tecnamotor. Tecumseh stayed at the Torino factory until 2006.

Introduced in 1980 were the BV series engines. These continued to be built under Fiat/Tecumseh. Models included the vertical-shaft models BV150 (3.5 hp, 148cc) and BV172 (4 hp, 172cc) which were ideal for rotary lawn mowers.

Fiat Aspera BV172, 4hp, 172cc

Advertising for the BV engines (Image, right) detailed a positive force-fed oil-pump. This meant that even when the oil level was at a minimum, they could continue to operate on gradients that other 4-stroke engines couldn’t – an ideal choice for hilly lawns or undulating grassed areas. The engines were also designed to be quiet, easy to maintain, reliable and ‘built to last’.

The BV and LAV models were the most prominent through the 1980s. The LAV included the LAV 30, 35 and 40.

Tecumseh produced a varied range of engines, and in the early 2000s their Italian website (now defunct) detailed the last Italian-made Centura, Enduro, Formula, Prisma and Vantage engines for mowers, tillers, generators and pressure washers.

The Aspera/Tecumseh factory was located at Strada delle Cacce 99, Torino (Turin). Tecumseh vacated the factory in 2006. For many years it has stood empty awaiting redevelopment. It can be found on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y25KaC7cg94bBw5E7

Small engines are being made at the Aspera factory – perhaps one of the engines could be yours. Note the engines on the benches and on conveyors in the bottom right corner of the image.


This article was not that easy to research – particularly the Tecnamotor name. So, if anyone can add additional information, or even correct anything on this article, then there is a VHGMC forum thread: https://vhgmc.co.uk/forums/topic/aspera-engines-2/




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by alan

Mowers and Bicycles

February 16, 2025 in Articles, Machinery

It is often overlooked, but many of the manufacturers of vintage horticultural machinery were also involved in manufacturing an array of other items. Just because we know them for horticultural items doesn’t mean they didn’t have interests (or beginnings) in other products.

One modern example is Honda. We know them in horticultural circles for starting to make lawnmowers in 1978 (47 years ago as I write this!), but they also manufacture across a range of areas, including automotive, motorbikes, marine, aircraft, generators, and power equipment.

Going way back to the 1950s, Nutt Engineering of Cambridge, who made the Hayn mowers, had a sideline in producing wire-framed clothes horses – a world away from the Honda empire, but companies need to diversify to keep working.

You may know the USA ride-on mower manufacturers Huffy, Murray, and AMF (American Machine and Foundry), but did you know that in the early-to-late 20th century they all had an interest in the manufacture of bicycles? Indeed, there was a booming industry with bikes, followed by a similar interest in ride-on mowers and powered garden equipment. Manufacturers diversified, expanded, and invested where the market and profits were.

Like the ride-on mowers that Huffy, Murray, and AMF sold in the UK, many of the bikes they produced were sold worldwide.

I have found some USA adverts which show the bikes that these ride-on mower manufacturers made:

Huffy

1967 Huffy bikes and a Huffy Sheraton ride-on mower. At the back-left is the British-designed Huffy-Moulton luxury bicycle. In the foreground, the Huffy Rail dragster.

Huffy, who produced bikes throughout the 20th century, is best known in the UK for their diminutive yet well-engineered ride-on mowers in the 1960s and ‘70s. Along with the mowers, Huffy was advertising 55 bike models including tandems and trikes in America.

In the mid-1960s, Huffy collaborated with the English engineer Alex Moulton and created the Huffy-Moulton bike (see image, right), this was claimed to be the first basic advance in bike design in 70 years. The bike had small wheels, instant acceleration due to gearing and low inertia, and was said to be nimble with light steering.

Interestingly, in the early 1980s, Huffy signed an agreement with Raleigh bikes in the UK, which gave them exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the Raleigh models in the United States. Huffy also sponsored a professional BMX (Bicycle Motocross) team. BMX started in the early 1970s in the USA, and eventually, Huffy had a range of BMX bikes. The Anglo-American BMX Championship, held in the UK in 1982, included the Huffy BMX Racing Team.

It is reported that bikes for the Huffy brand are now made in China.

Murray

1970 Murray Eliminator

Murray is another name that we associate with mowers in the UK. In the 1970s, many Murray ride-on mowers and garden tractors were rebadged and sold as Mountfield-branded machines. In the 1930s, in the USA, Murray started producing bikes alongside car parts and children’s pedal cars. However, in 1985, F. H. Tompkins, the owner of the UK company Hayter, purchased Murray for the mower brand and production, then in 2005 Briggs & Stratton took over Murray. According to research, Murray bikes had been produced until the end of the 1990s.

AMF -American Machine and Foundry

The third company that had an interest in mowers and bikes was AMF. The company manufactured some of the Massey Ferguson lawn and garden tractors starting in 1966, as well as the first ATCO ride-on mowers in the early 1980s. They also produced models branded as Dynamark, which Westwood sold in the 1970s before creating their own range of ride-on mowers. AMF had purchased the Roadmaster brand of bikes from the Cleveland Welding Company in 1950. There were 41 bike models in 1970, and bikes were manufactured until the late 1990s.

1970 AMF Roadmaster bikes. The interestingly named ‘Flying Wedge’ on the left, and Aerobee Renegade. The Flying Wedge had a 5-speed stick shift.

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by alan

Quiz 2024 – Locations and Countries

December 11, 2024 in Articles

Here are twelve questions for a short quiz.

Usually, the questions are quite random but this time they have a theme! How good is your machinery/manufacturer/geography knowledge as the questions and answers all relate to places around the UK and the World.

Reading the questions and answers it becomes apparent how widespread machinery manufacture is before the products even reach the shops in the UK. I’m also amazed how many machines manufactured abroad have had long journeys by sea, rail, road or perhaps air to get to their destination – they may be better travelled than many people!

A pencil and paper is handy to write down the answers. Many of the manufacturers and locations have been mentioned on the VHGMC over the years – also the pictures and captions may help with some.

As always, the answers (which are sometimes much longer than the questions) are at the bottom of the page.

Questions:

Q1: In which cities were Green & Sons located?

1: Thomas Green & Sons of lawn mower fame manufactured numerous machines. They had ironworks in Leeds, but which other city did they work from?

A: Birmingham
B: London
C: Coventry

Q2: Where was the Bean tractor made?

2: The Bean tool frame tractor was initially a mid-1940s machine but had design changes passing through several manufacturers. The first machines were built at the Blackburn Aircraft Factory, but in which county?

A: East Yorkshire
B: Lancashire
C: Lincolnshire

(Get this tricky one right and gain bonus points!)

Q3: Over the border to the Ginge factory.

3. In the 1960s the Danish company Ginge set up a new factory far northwards in the UK to produce their lawn mowers. They were still manufacturing in Copenhagen, and had an office in Croxley Green, Herefordshire, but where was the new UK factory?

A: Grantham, Lincolnshire
B: Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham
C: Irvine, Ayrshire

Q4: Where was Hahn located?

4. In the 1970s, the companies of Ransomes and Hahn had a two-way agreement selling each other’s machinery in their respective countries. Ransomes was based in the UK, but in which country was Hahn?

A: Germany
B: USA
C: Switzerland

Q5: Morrison didn’t have anything to do with Kangaroos.

5. Flymo had associations with Toro and Norlett in the 1970s. They also had a foray with Morrison selling their imported mowers in the UK in the 1960s. In which country was Morrison based?

A: New Zealand
B: Australia
C: Canada

Q6: Allett Mowers moved about.

6. In 2021 Geoff Ravenhall restored Allett’s first ever MK1 production mower. It was made in 1965 and powered by a Reliant 3-wheeler four-cylinder engine and gearbox – read about it here on the forum.

Allett is firmly a British company with an amazing history of producing top-notch mowers, however, the company was sold in 1994 and moved north from its premises in Corby, Northamptonshire. But to where did it move?

A: Swansea, Wales
B: Arbroath, Scotland
C: Belfast, Ireland

Q7: Taking Le Qualcast over La Manche.

7. Qualcast sold their mowers all over the world. Although we are used to seeing English adverts, it stands to reason that they must also exist in other languages. Advertising for the Qualcast Model C in 1923 carried the heading “Le Secret Des Belles Pelouses Anglaises” – but in which country did this advert appear? (And for a huge bonus point can you guess the translation of the advert heading?)

A: Canada
B: Austria
C: France

Q8: Where were Rolcut secateurs exhibited early last century?

8. There are many secateur brands and designs in the UK. Rolcut made the anvil-type ones, but at which major show were they first exhibited by Rolcut?

A: The Chelsea Flower Show, London – 1927
B: Ideal Homes Exhibition, Olympia Exhibition Centre, London – 1949
C: The Royal Show, Newcastle – 1962

Q9: Where did the Merry Tiller originate?

9. It can be surprising to find that a machine (or design) has been imported to the UK rather than being home-grown – the Merry Tiller is one such machine. In which country did the Merry Tiller originate?

A: Australia
B: Netherlands
C: USA

Q10: Bobbing along on a Dixon ZTR.

10. Many horticultural machines (now vintage), as varied as the Dixon ZTR mower, Billy Goat, and Bluebird Scarifier, were sold from the Garden Machine Centre, Sunningdale, Berkshire. Which name is usually associated with this address?

A: T. Parker & Sons Ltd.
B: Bob Andrews
C: John Allen & Sons

Q11: Where was the Solo Multimot from?

11: In the early 1980s, Solo Power Equipment Ltd of Brierley Hill, West Midlands (later moving to Chorley, Lancashire) imported the Solo Multimot system – it was an engine that could be attached and removed to power various garden machines/attachments. But where was the Multimot from?

A: Germany
B: Wales
C: Australia

Q12: Where did the Piaggio trucks come from?

12: The usual odd question/answer to finish: The Piaggio 3-wheel commercial truck was sold in the UK in the 1970s and advertised in greenskeeper magazines and the like. It was ideal for golf courses, nurseries or large gardens where it would be useful with a tipping rear body and up to half-ton capacity. Where did the Piaggio truck come from?

A: Andrews Lawn Edgers Ltd
B: Italy
C: Sunningdale, Berkshire

Answers:

1: B: London. Adverts for Greens lawn mowers often show the addresses Smithfield Ironworks in Leeds and New Surrey Works, Southwark Street, London – although earlier London addresses were shown in the 1800s for items including fencing, gates, and verandahs, and large items such as steam road rollers.

2: A: East Yorkshire. The Blackburn Aircraft factory, where the Bean tool frame tractor was made, was located at Brough, East Yorkshire. The town of Blackburn is in Lancashire…..but no aircraft factory.

3: C: Irvine. Ginge mowers were produced at a factory at Irvine Industrial Estate, Irvine, Ayrshire. In the late-1960s the cylinder mowers included the hand-propelled 12″ Prisma and 16″ Futura. Powered cylinder mowers featured the 18″ Meridia and 21″ Atlanta. The mowers were popular and in 1967 were said to have captured 6% of the British lawnmower market. Petrol rotary mowers followed in 1970. There is a VHGMC article about Ginge here.

4: B: USA.  Hahn was based in the USA. Two garden-sized ride-on machines brought into the UK were the Hahn LTD 550 ride-on mower and the Hahn GT-700 multi-purpose tractor which could be fitted with a mower, snow blade, sweeper etc. There were Briggs & Stratton-powered pedestrian rotary mowers but these seem quite scarce in the UK.

5: A: New Zealand. Morrison was based in New Zealand. In 1980 the range of mowers advertised included 14, 16, 20 and 24″ Olympic cylinder models, and the M4B and Conquest rear-collect rotaries. In 1969 Gardening Which? magazine tested the Morrison Golden mower priced at £48, it had 4 wheels, rear grass collection, and a 3 hp Kirby/Tecumseh engine.

6: B: Arbroath, Scotland. In 1994 Allett Mowers was sold to Reekie Engineering. Production moved to Arbroath in 1995. Turfmech Machinery purchased Allett in 2007. The mowers are now made in Hixon, Staffordshire. You can read the detailed history of Allett Mowers on their website blog – here.

7: C: France. The heading is from a 1923 advert in France for the Qualcast ‘Modele C‘. The heading translates as “The secret of beautiful English lawns”. The mower could be purchased at L. F. Michon, 46 rue de la Bienfaisance, Paris.

8: A: The Chelsea Flower Show in 1927. The Rolcut secateurs were a success and in the 1930s advertised that they had an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society and a silver medal from the National Rose Society.

9: C: USA. The Merry Tiller originated in the USA. It was designed by Clayton Merry in 1947. Wolseley in Birmingham had the manufacturing rights in the UK. In 1953 the USA-made Merry Tiller was introduced to the Japanese market and was an immediate hit as it was a simple and lightweight machine with lots of attachments and uses at a sensible price – one never knows which countries machines may end up in!

10: B: Bob Andrews. The Machine Centre, Sunningdale, is associated with Bob Andrews. A wide range of garden machines from an array of manufacturers and suppliers were retailed. John Allen & Sons are associated with Allen machines, Motostandard, Mayfield, and Roper. T. Parker & Sons sold many items but also imported the Australian range of Deckson mowers in the 1970s.

11: A: Germany. The Multimot from the German company Solo consisted of a 1.5 hp 2-stroke engine that could be fitted to a number of different machines such as a hover mower, chainsaw, tiller, etc. There was an earlier Solo system before the Multimot. There are quite a few Solo machines including more traditional-powered rotary mowers in the UK.

12: A, B, and C. All three answers. Andrews Lawn Edgers Ltd, The Garden Machine Centre, Sunningdale, Berkshire, advertised the Italian Piaggio Vespa commercial trucks. The model VC600 could do 60 mpg and transport half a ton; the VC200 could carry slightly less but managed 100 mpg. Both were ideal for running around a horticultural or garden establishment but would later be replaced by machines like the Kawasaki Mule or John Deere Gator.

Footnote:

And that’s all the website front-page posts for 2024.

I was asked how long it takes to find and compile the twelve questions for December. Well, if we add up the hours then it will certainly total a couple of days. The questions were written in early September with this whole article page pre-loaded onto the website to publish itself on a set date in December.

It takes a while to find the questions (made harder this year because I decided to go with a ‘theme’ of locations and places), write the answers, cross-check everything for correctness, then find a picture for each and crop and upload, and a general bit of ‘nip and tuck’ to tidy up the questions and answers. And have the whole thing previewed on laptop/tablet/mobile to make sure it displays as intended.

To aid and assist….(or perhaps hinder)…the website spell-checks and grammatically susses everything out as I type but it gets very confused with manufacturers and machine names that it’s not familiar with. Then an analyzer (some AI malarky) decides to criticize the whole thing by giving a readability score out of 100. Anyway, you have read this far so the words must have been strung together right proper-like at my desk in Yorkshire. Happy Christmas!


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by alan

Quiz: Guess the company…#3

September 18, 2024 in Articles, Club News

This is the third in a series of ‘Guess the company’ quizzes – and is more difficult than the first two and the clues are not in date order. Can you determine which single company the clues refer to?

The answer is at the bottom of the page.

Past quizzes can be found here: First Quiz and Second Quiz

Which single company do all these clues point to?

Clue 1: This UK company made most of their own gardening machines and by 1987 30% of production was sold abroad.

Clue 2: A successful company, the assets included a full-size helicopter in a brown livery with the company name.

Clue 3: The company started small in a former warehouse in High Wycombe in the 1960s, but nearly twenty years later it was eventually bought in a £9m deal.

Clue 4: In 1985 an unorthodox ride-on mower was produced. It was called the Clipper and had an engine protruding at the front. It had chain-driven small front wheels and strange steering. It was a short-lived model!

Clue 5: A slight deviation from garden machines, in the 1980s the company also advertised a range of small groundwork machines for DIY excavation projects. These included two four-wheel dumpers and a small digger.

Clue 6: Several small garden tillers/cultivators were made including the Gemini, Imp and Groundhog. In 1973 the Imp had a 15″ working width, a 2.5 hp Aspera engine and a centrifugal clutch, and cost £60+vat.

Clue 7: Although a range of pedestrian mowers was made, in the 1980s rebranded Ibea mowers started to be sold by the company. These included the Rotastripe (rear roller), County and Enduro (4-wheel).

Clue 8: The company is best known for their range of ride-on mowers, the early/vintage ones are popular and have a following of enthusiasts. These include the early W series models which were petrol-driven, in 1984 a diesel model was added. The W series was replaced by the S and T series.

Scroll down for the answer……

All the clues point to the company Westwood Engineering Ltd.

The company started in the late 1960s at Fryers Works, Abercromby Avenue, High Wycombe. Around 1973 they moved to Plympton, Devon.

The company originally manufactured many pedestrian lawnmowers and tillers, including the Sabre mower range and the Westwood Imp 2.5 hp cultivator with a 15″ working width. Westwood also listed the Rockwell electric hedge trimmers.

Westwood got into the ride-on mower market in 1971 with the launch of the Lawnbug. To have larger lawn tractors, Westwood sold the American Dynamark tractor range in the 1970s. However, by the mid-1970s the more familiar tractors that we associate with the W-series were manufactured by Westwood.

The Westwood tractors can be found worldwide, and in the 1980s were rebadged as Ginge in Denmark and Agro-Trac in Austria. They also had cosmetic changes and rebadged as the Honda-powered Lawnmaster made by Bartram Mowers Ltd in Norwich.

In 1985, Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies purchased Mountfield for £9m.

Away from horticultural machines, the Westwood company advertised the ‘Muck Shifters – clue number 5 and illustrated below. These were diggers and dumpers for small projects – such as in a back garden where larger machines couldn’t gain access. The ‘Muscleman’ was a small digger that could dig down to 7′ deep; the ‘Muck Truk’ was a 46″ wide 4-wheel dumper that could carry up to 400KG; the ‘Skip Truk’ was a high-lift version of the Muck Truk that could lift high enough to tip into a skip.

Westwood Clipper (Clue 4), and the Muck Shifters with the Muscleman digger and the Muck Truk (Clue 5)

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by alan

Vertex Engine

August 26, 2024 in Articles, Machinery

Earlier this year there was a discussion on the forum about how many different manufacturers (or brands) had produced engines that were fitted to horticultural machines. The list became long and would have been longer if I hadn’t stopped adding to it.

The forum topic and list can be found here: https://vhgmc.co.uk/forums/topic/engines-brands-manufacturers/

One engine name that didn’t get mentioned or added to the list was Vertex. Internet searches indicate that these engines had a Villiers connection.

The reason that I mention Vertex is that I have been researching Mountfield lawn mowers and these two-stroke engines began to be fitted to a few models in the mid-1970s – Mountfields own literature and price lists show the use of the 4 hp, 2-stroke engines in 1975. Although I have found a brochure showing these Mountfields with the Vertex engines, I’ve yet to find one of the mowers in real life – what happened to them all? If you are someone who owns such a mower and scouring the internet for info, then you have a rare survivor!

Mountfield M6 Power Drive fitted with a Vertex engine.

In 1977 and while the engines were already being fitted to their mowers, G. D. Mountfield announced they were now taking over production of these engines and would produce them at their Maidenhead premises, they were marketed as ‘All-British Built’. In fact, in 1977 Mountfield advertised for Skilled Production Machinists to start immediately to set up and run the recently-formed Vertex Engine Division at a new production facility being built in Maidenhead – the advertised wage was £4000 plus relocation expenses.

Mountfield were quite upbeat about their engines. Apparently, they had exceptionally high torque over the whole working speed range giving unmatched power. One trade report (AMJ) stated that the engines would be ‘…a welcome replacement to the engines of US and Italian extraction as seen in previous models’. However, people who maintained Vertex engines in their line of work have told me that they weren’t the best!

Classed as medium-sized professional mowers, in the late ’70s, the three models fitted with the Vertex engines were the 18″ M4 Professional, 18″ M4 Power Drive, and the 21″ M6 Power Drive as illustrated. All three machines were fitted with snorkel air cleaners, and polythene grass boxes were optional. In 1975, Mountfield had listed the M6 Power Drive 2-stroke at £177.50 – which was £19 more than the equivalent 4-stroke.

In the early 1980s, the Vertex models were still advertised, but with other new mowers being more important, an always-evolving market, and whatever issues the Vertex engines may have had, they seem to have soon vanished.

One thing is certain: even with relatively modern machines, some do not appear on the scene or on auction websites. Machines don’t have to be old to have disappeared into obscurity leaving only some fleeting bits of literature and adverts behind.

But I do wonder where all the Mountfield Vertex mowers went!

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