Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

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]

There’s an advert and pictures in the gallery:

Bean