Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

It does look like the slitter and others were fitted on the back in place of the rake bit. I’ve found a photo in the 1985 brochure with the slitter attached.

Until I looked, I hadn’t realised that the Lawngroomer Mark1 was such a short-lived attachment – just 1983 to 1986.

I have looked through my Westwood brochures, and two pages detail the Lawn Groomer which may be of help. Attached as a PDF.

Westwood used to have instructions on their website for the range of tractors but not implements. Anyway, the company is now defunct, and the website is no longer available.

The Lawn Groomer is early 1980s. In the…[Read more]

Hello

The club has someone who replies to all the emails, and there are quite a few each day. However, I have reviewed the email log and cannot find a recent email from you in the database. It may have got lost or not saved. If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask for you to resend your query?

Many thanks

The Triplex 84 dates back to approximately 1968. Are there any identification plates on the tractor?

The very early machines had rope-start Villiers engines, which were superseded by Kohler engines.

I see that your machine has a mesh panel at the front above the original grille – has your bonnet been lifted and a replacement engine fitted at some time?

There’s certainly a couple of models of the Braune/Batric carts. They seem to have been made starting in the 1960s but not sure exactly when. The invalid cars were more successful and were certainly produced into the 1980s.

I wonder if the carts and invalid cars used much the same (or interchangeable) wiring, motor and battery systems?

There…[Read more]

Thank you for the adverts about Aspera Frigo. Interesting to see the connections between all the companies. I had not seen those adverts before.

I have a Tecnamotor service manual, attached as a PDF. There is a list of 2-stroke engine specifications at the end of section F.The models mentioned are AH47 AV47, AH58, AH81, V51-TA, H51-TH, VA-VH,…[Read more]

Attached is the BV series brochure, which may date from the mid-1980s.

Also, a 1987 Tecumseh advert and a 1978 Aspera advert. Both are from UK magazines.

Thank you for the information. I agree that it is difficult to find all the data regarding Aspera!

Indeed, there is a Whirlpool link to Aspera. I have now found the Whirlpool history in a business publication. It lists that in 1985/6 that Whirlpool bought “A majority interest in Aspera s.r.l., an Italian compressor manufacturer”. Aspera produced…[Read more]

And it’s a 5-hp engine.

There’s some useful info on the Mountfield cultivators in the attached brochure PDF.

I have poked around the internet to see what I can find about the buildings on Stirling Corner Borehamwood. I assume these were the Opperman premises – but if anyone knows differently then please correct me.

The Ordnance Survey maps show a building appeared at Stirling Corner in 1938 – Opperman started there in 1938/39. This building no longer…[Read more]

As you will have no doubt found, there is some information online about Opperman. However, it is a bit sketchy and there doesn’t seem to be much about the factory.

There are references to different addresses for Opperman. A new factory was built in 1939 at Sterling Corner, Borehamwood. This no longer exists and, from anecdotal evidence, I think…[Read more]

That does look like a Gutbrod ride-on mower. Your tractor looks complete, although I cannot see if you have the mower deck. It is a reasonably scarce machine and the 1966 engine code seems a likely date.

I recall the mower deck would have been 24″ wide. It would have been side-discharge by the front right wheel.

The steel seat, steering wheel,…[Read more]