Radio controled mower 1959

[vhgmcbuddy]

Found this ad from 1959. sold in USA I knew that there are products today that do this but 56 years ago made me wonder why they never caught on here way back then.

Attachments:

1. 

[vhgmcbuddy]

I recon production cost and battery storage would be part of the reason it didn’t catch on. It would be interesting to know the new price back then.

[hillsider]

That is an interesting one that I have not seen before, Webb were a British company so perhaps a search of patent records will uncover a bit of it’s history. Husqvarna have been turning out their Robomower for many years now but they are fully robotic as opposed to radio control.
I remember seeing the Husqvarna demonstrated when it first came to Kent I think in the mid sixties and it was knocking on the door of a thousand pounds back then.
Ray.

[vhgmcbuddy]

This photo was taken at the chelsea flower show to launch it

[dorigny]

I saw it on a tv programme that revisited gardening history by year including some show reports through the years.
I reckon I glimpsed a Webb push mower hiding under the cover.

Clive.

[vhgmcbuddy]

EAGLE EYES you dont miss much Clive.

[dorigny]

Eagle Eyes…is that a registered trade mark of the Action Man toy 😉 Action man is not me….I only talk about it. 😉

Clive 🙂

[trusty220]

I’ve been selling a remote-control mower for some years now. Under the Ransomes Jacobsen label it’s called the Spider and is used for steep embankments where trip hazards are common. It will do the work of three men with brushcutters with the added advantage that the operator can sit in the Transit and keep mowing if conditions permit (a brilliant selling point!).
We are now on the Mk3 version, and each mark is a different size to cater for different customers’ needs. I’ll try to find a picture to add to the post.

[wristpin]

Like this?

great improvement on a Flymo on the end of a rope!

[trusty220]

That’s the one, Angus. Great fun when you first start to drive it, but after a couple of hours into an 8hr day you can get very bored. Still…. what else could you drive on a steep motorway embankment in the pouring rain whilst sitting in a nice warm Transit cab with a mug of tea to hand? Much better than standing up to your knees in wet grass getting covered in all sorts of unmentionable things that you find in long grass.

[martin-ellison]

if you do it in this country, driver on motorway, look at that, eyes off road,brake hard, motorway pile up, i used to mow motor way batters late70s early 80s flymower on long rope

[wristpin]

When the Maidstone by-pass(now part of the M20) first opened they had a dragline excavator with the bucket replaced by what looked like a fairly standard Hayter Orchard Mower. They would sling it up the embankment and let it back down under gravity. Don’t think that it was a great success!

[vhgmcbuddy]

interesting gizmo Geoff.lots of development I am sure. don’t want to pull it to bits,but with the addition of a quick mountable ring for each wheel with say 3 inch spikes protruding it would not get wheel spin on tyres going up hill in moist or high volumes of cut brash areas. very nice all the same.

[wristpin]

interesting gizmo Geoff.lots of development I am sure. don’t want to pull it to bits,but with the addition of a quick mountable ring for each wheel with say 3 inch spikes protruding it would not get wheel spin on tyres going up hill in moist or high volumes of cut brash areas. very nice all the same.

…….and pick up litter at the same time! However with that crab-steer function it can easily work its way across the bank rather than the more spectacular straight up and down.

[stuart]

Think we have an imposter on the site guys.

[Author]

Posts