[alan]

I completely agree with your comments, Martin.

Although we do have to stray onto the internet and some of the big high street retailers sometimes it’s certainly one reason to use independent retailers and knowledgeable parts suppliers where possible and local dealers too where the person behind the counter knows the customer.

[alan]

Ah yes, of course Husqvarna and Jonsered were the companies I couldn’t think of!

I’ve found some newspaper cuttings regarding Flymo in my archive which ties a few businesses together, and I quote from them:

In 1980 The Electrolux Group purchased the Norweigen Norlett Group, this was to strengthen the outdoor power equipment activities of Electrolux in all countries and compliment their Flymo product range. At the time Norlett also owned the Guddena Company of Denmark and had a 50% share in Amnor, the Belgian manufacturer of Wheelhorse tractors. Flymo said they could now offer a complete range of wheeled and air cushion mowers, cultivators, nylon line trimmers and chainsaws.

In 1981 the Flymo organisation announced that they planned to lead the UK lawn mower business. Flymo was a member of the Electrolux group which was one of the worlds largest suppliers of outdoor equipment producing 700,000 mowers per year. Flymo marketing predicted that within the next twelve months 50% of the UK market would be air cushion mowers.

Acquiring Norlett also gained them the garden lighting division.

Following on from the earlier purchase of Norlett, in 1981 Flymo Ltd launched a subsidiary company called Flymo-Norlett Commercial Products Ltd. This was to market a new range of garden care products through a network of specialist lawn and garden dealers. They were to be based at the company headquarters at Aycliffe, County Durham. The product range consisted of mowers either air-cushioned, wheeled rotary, cylinder or ride-on as well as larger cultivators. “It combines new Flymo products with well-established Norlett models“.

In 1981 Norlett Ltd was quoted as being located in Oxfordshire as manufacturers of garden machinery and as stated were to merge operations with their sister company, Flymo Ltd, at Darlington.

There may be more but I cannot find it!

[alan]

The Qualcast E30 of my childhood!

I have attached a Flymo and a Qualcast 1970’s images from the Argos catalogue.

The Qualcast was £16.25 in 1973 but had risen to £35.49 in the 1978 catalogue.

The 1979 Flymo images has, on the left, a GLE 15″ cut at £63.99. The DLE in the centre of the image has a 12″ cut and was £45.99. Both had 52′ of cable. The Black and Decker mower on the right was a D808 ‘Super T’ and retailed for £32.99.

The Flymos were at the upper end of the price range for electric mowers.

Think the lady in the image had better get some steel toe capped boots on if she’s thinking of mowing.

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[alan]

Hello

Glad to hear that you have the Flymos running once again.

There’s quite a range of Flymo badged machinery so you’ll probably find yourself collecting all sorts of different Flymo stuff.

Also there’s a range of Flymo badged professional machines including cylinder mowers and trailed seats to fit too – there was some business links (cannot remember how) between Flymo, Electrolux, Norlett and a few others so perhaps the machines were shared between them and rebadged.

You have probably seen the gallery at: https://vhgmc.co.uk/photo-galleries/flymo/

Would be good to see some photos of your mowers now they are working.

Alan

[alan]

I think the chisel-mangled bolt is quite firmly attached and nothing seems amiss so we shall leave it alone. The gearbox works perfectly so all is well.

Unfortunately Cub Cadet parts are almost impossible to source in the UK, so we have to be really careful not to damage anything as naturally everything then becomes expensive from the US.

I’ve done some more very slow research on International Harvester Cub Cadets in the UK and I know of about 12. I also have a photo of a Cub on a show stand at possibly Smithfield, I’d like to find out a bit more on how many were brought to the UK but it’s taking time.

[alan]

Those look interesting, I’ve got an Allen scythe buried somewhere in the barn, and I recall a yellow Allen scythe at a show – the scythe was painted yellow for visibility as it had been used at an airport.

Photo found:

https://vhgmc.co.uk/photo-galleries/allen-scythe/allen-scythe-painted-yellow-imgallens004/

[alan]

Hello Dave

Thank you for the additional information regarding the bicycle ride on mower, I think more people should make machines like this as it’s immense fun. I’ll add to the article that the mower does indeed work and it provided hours of enjoyment.

The VHGMC article was spurred on by the 1888 report about ‘A Bicycle Lawn Mower’ being exhibited at the 1888 New York State Fair and if anyone is wondering it is a genuine article and the mower did indeed exist – even if we did post the article on the 1st April!

Thanks for the extra information.

Alan

Article reference: https://vhgmc.co.uk/2017/04/homemade-or-serious-ideas/

[alan]

As Wristpin says it’s worth checking the belt situation first. A while back I had a mower deck that didn’t run fast enough, the culprit was the deck belt had been routed incorrectly by the previous owner. It went the wrong way around a couple of tensioners which put strain on everything and slowed it down considerably.

[alan]

When I had my Bolens Ride-a-matic some of the drive belts I had to order from the US as standard section belts didn’t work as well. The drive belts were made by Gates and were recommended Bolens part numbers.

You could try looking up ‘Bolens Gates drive belts’ in Google and see what it throws up.

[alan]

A link to the old site is: https://www.tractorbox.co.uk/forum/default.asp

Search facility at: https://www.tractorbox.co.uk/forum/search_form.asp?FID=0

When searching make sure that the search criteria box called ‘Find Posts’ is set to ‘Any Date’ rather than ‘Last Six months’ else it’ll return no results.

The old site is a tad fragile and as you’ll know it’s not possible to post on it, it is just a research point.

Images from the old forum were transferred onto the gallery on this site (all 10,000+ images).

We have in mind to archive the old site as a text based search facility which means it could be stored on VHGMC alongside the gallery.

The VHGMC archive and databases (including the old site) are the largest and most diverse horticultural machinery databases on the internet, all contributed to by VHGMC members, that’s a brilliant achievement!

[alan]

So, Geoff, does this mean there’s a new machinery-related book for us to add to our bookcases?

(I think Mr Woollas should pay extra for the privilege of having the first read too).

[alan]

It’s possible that Paul may know where one is.

I’d send a private message to pmackellow, you can search for him from the Members tab in the menu at the top of the page.

[alan]

Just trying upload….

It seems fine at present, sometimes a URL fail is just a temporary break in the joins in the WWW as everything dashes about via numerous connections to get where it’s going.

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[alan]

John

Thank you for your reply regarding the Barford article.

Your reply about Horticultural Implements of Kent fills in a blank in the little bit of research I was able to do. Any information from anyone is always welcome as I’m much aware that sometimes there are history gaps in the articles which cannot be filled with easily sourced information – and input from VHGMC members is much appreciated!

The Switzerland article mentioned in the website article about Barford is attached below for future reference.

For anyone who missed it the Barford article is: https://vhgmc.co.uk/2016/12/atom-tractor-switzerland/

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[alan]

Charlie

I’ve been reading about this and it’s quite interesting.

Just found the following text:

“In a recent case Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav C-162/13, in the European Court of Justice, the courts ruled in favour of a plaintive claiming compensation after being involved in an accident. Mr Vnuk had fallen off a ladder hit by a tractor and trailer during the stacking of hay bales in a barn. After initially being dismissed by Slovenian courts it was later decided in the European courts that the concept of “vehicle” within the meaning of the European Directive on motor insurance (72/166/EEC) bore no relation to its use.

The implication now is that because of the Vnuk case, RTA (Road Traffic Act) compulsory motor insurance may now extend to “any use of a motor vehicle consistent with the normal function of the vehicle and anywhere”, it will no longer be limited to being in use on a road or public place. Following the conclusions of the case, the definition of a vehicle could change to “any motor vehicle intended for travel on land and propelled by mechanical power, but not running on rails and any trailer whether coupled or not”.

If this is the case then it could take up to 12 months to change the RTA and it will have to be approved by Parliament so nothing will happen immediately”.

[Author]

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