[alan]

I am not aware of any Uni-Horse clubs or groups.

There is the Lea-Francis Owners Club, which mentions the Uni-Horse, but the club generally seems more geared towards the cars that were made.

https://lfoc.org/index.php/unihorse-tractor

I hope you manage to find a tractor and a plough to continue your ploughing.

[alan]

Thanks for the extra details.

If any members want to correct the following information, then please do so! Info is a bit scarce and hard to search for.

Indeed, the USA company Troy-Bilt uses the Bronco model name – although, as far as I can tell, there’s no connection between them and your machine. It really muddled things when I were doing searches! (as did searches bringing up the Ford Bronco).

Bronco was a make of two-wheel models in Spain, but I cannot find any dates when they were active. The company is reported to have had an address on Valencia street, Villareal, Castello.

There are some models relating to Bronco. These seem to include models from 2 – 10 hp (perhaps more), with the model numbers E, G, H, JS200, JS250 (Villiers-powered), JS325, JS450, JS150, and JS250 (2-stroke). I’m assuming that there is a mixture of petrol and diesel models in there. There might be additional models.

So the castings on your machine say it is a Bronco JS450, with a diesel engine. I have no idea of Lombardini engines, but I’ve looked at images on Google and from purely visual match it could be an Italian-made Lombardini LDA450 engine. In an ideal world it would be good if the engine ID plate had not faded.

The Bronco JS450 is stated as having three forward gears and one reverse. Tyres shown as 6.00×12.

Does any of this info tally with your machine?

Do any members have knowledge of Lombardini engines?

[alan]

Also, to the right of the Bronco name on the casting it says J.S. and then a number. What is that number?

[alan]

An interesting machine!

There seems to be very little information on the internet. However, from what I have seen, I assume that the tiller is the Bronco brand, possibly with an address in Villareal, Spain?

Do you have any further details which may narrow down the search?

I see that there is an ID plate on the engine. What are the details on that plate, such as make and horsepower.

What size are the wheels?

[alan]

Thanks for the extra information.

I couldn’t find anything in online archives for your machine; it’s a bit of a mystery at present.

Parts of the machine match other Shay products; these include the handles and wheels.

I’m unsure if Shay manufactured products for any other manufacturer, potentially the machine may be listed under a different name in advertising. Anyway, I’ll keep looking!

[alan]

I know nothing about Shay, but I thought I’d have a look in the corners of the internet and see what I could find.

I cannot see anything similar. Shay did produce the Countryman, approximately a 1960s machine, photo attached.

Do you have any further information that may narrow it down, such as the width of the cut, the size of the rear wheels, whether it has had any original guards removed, or does it have any self-propelled function?

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[alan]

It looks like a Geest truck, made by Geest, the same company associated with bananas.

I do not know models, but trucks were manufactured from the 1950s to the 1970s. Addresses were advertised as Geest Industries Limited (Truck Division) Spalding, Lincolnshire, and Marsh Lane Truck Factory, Boston, Lincolnshire

Brian Bell’s book ’70 Years of Garden Machinery’ briefly mentions Geest with Villiers air-cooled engines and three-speed Albion gearboxes as the 10cwt 1.25hp model MT2/1, and the 1 ton 3hp model MT2/3.

[alan]

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.

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[alan]

I have looked through my Westwood brochures, and two pages detail the Lawngroomer 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 Lawngroomer is early 1980s. In the mid-1980s it was given away as a free accessory when a new Westwood tractor was bought.

Up until early 1986, it was listed (Mark 1) with the sprayer, rake, brush and spiker at £175, with the lance, slitter and roller (each £29.50) listed as additional items.

Ransomes bought Westwood in 1986, and later that same year the *NEW* Mark 2 takes over and is listed at £175 including the sprayer, rake, spiker, slitter, and a free hand-held spray lance. I assume the Mark 2 is the model with the integrated tanks – it appears in Westwood/Ransomes adverts before being deleted from price lists in 1992. Subsequent Westwood brochures show a separate wheeled aerator and a dethatcher instead of the Lawngroomer – presumably these two were bought-in items.

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[alan]

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

[alan]

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?

[alan]

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 are some photos of the Braune/Batric stuff in the gallery.

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[alan]

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, ZH, AV520 AV525, AV600 AV605, AV750 AV755, AV 125, MV100S, MV100SB.

A list of 4-stroke engines is at the end of Section G and specifies the LAV 172-173, BV150-153, BV172-173, HS-HBL 30, HS-HBL 35, HS-HBL 40, HBP-HBP 40G.

https://vhgmc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Tecnamotor-Aspera-Manual.pdf

[alan]

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.

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[alan]

Thank you for the information and for taking time to reply, it is appreciated. 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 refrigerator compressors since the 1950s, at that time the company was called Aspera Frigo.

Just for interest, a little bit of info about Whirlpool: We know Whirlpool in the UK for kitchen appliances, but it is not a recently formed business. It was started in 1911 as The Upton Machine Co. in St Joseph, Michigan, they produced an electric motor driven wringer washer. In 1948 the Whirlpool brand was introduced.

For anyone wondering, the Aspera engine article I put together can be read here: https://vhgmc.co.uk/2025/03/aspera-tecumseh-engines/

[Author]

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