[alan]

In 1977 the Horwool business was purchased by Nickerson Bros. of Lincolnshire.

[alan]

The only thing I can think of is that the shaft size may be different depending on engine and (from experience) require a pulley with a larger/smaller centre hole to fit on to the engine. I swapped a Tecumseh engine (cannot remember what machine)) for a much better Briggs and it required a new double pulley as the Tecumseh-sized one wouldn’t fit the Briggs.

I’ll attach the W6 brochure here as PDF for future reference for anyone (and subsequently devalue all W6 brochures being sold in online auctions). The brochure refers to the W6 as the Baby Gazelle.

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[alan]

I have the brochure, it says the W6 has a 222cc, 6hp, Tecumseh 4 stroke engine. The W6 was recoil start and the W6E was electric start.

The W8 model had a 314cc, 8hp, Briggs and Stratton 4 stroke engine with electric start.

However, this isn’t to say that the W6 was never available with a Briggs engine at some point. I’d be tempted to install a Briggs engine in any case if the current engine proves beyond repair.

[alan]

At the other end of the scale, I bought some brochures last week with free postage. Made an offer that was accepted by the seller, when they turned up the seller had paid more for the postage than I had for the brochures. They’d made a loss after taking into account the postage, listing fees and Paypal. I wonder if they were aware?

[alan]

Just had a look online, 1950’s by the Rowe Mfg Co.

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[alan]

Gary, Just out of interest do you happen to know what make the cultivator is?

[alan]

Brinly plough

[alan]

I have a selection of John Deere and Cub Cadet model garden tractors.

[alan]

Many thanks for information, Clive.

I’ve done a bit more research and find that the full name is MAC Garda, and it has Castelgarden connections, but I’m still vague on that one. And there’s bits of a Garda mower for sale, not far away from me, on the internet!

I think the Garda company made a lot of other machines. I’ll have a look for the machines that you have mentioned.

One bit of info I have states that ‘John Harston imports the MAC Garda and Weekend range of Italian rotary mowers 15″ to 20″ cut available, push or self propelled with a choice of 2 stroke or 4 stroke engine and grass collection facilities’.

I’ll send you a private message.

[alan]

It can be difficult to decide whether to restore a machine or not. I’ve got both restored and un-restored, the deciding factor being how much work or replacement parts were required to get the machine into a working condition. If it was a major job then the entire machine was restored and re-painted.

[alan]

The only image I have is an advert for March 1956. Basic price £157.10.0.

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[alan]

That’s correct, Simplicity made tractors for Allis Chalmers. There are the later 1970’s Simplicity models in the UK, but none badged as Allis. The early model Simplicity tractors are also causing me some issues!

[alan]

Clive,

Many thanks for the extra info on Ginge machines. I would never have found all that! I’ll update the Ginge article in due course.

The name J. T. Lowe does appear quite a lot with various machines, but I’ve not come across the GardenFlex name linked to Ginge before.

The link to the Liberallawnmowers website is really interesting. I see the mowers are in Pakistan. I looked at the copy of the Webb mower they have and thought it looked brilliant. Sadly postal charges might be high, though.

[alan]

When I wrote the article that Wristpin has kindly linked to, I think I got to about 1980 with research on Ginge in the UK, but then things get a bit sketchy. There’s been quite a lot of Ginge branded items over the last 40 years but sadly I have nothing to link items to such as brochures, adverts or an importer.

My notes say that Ginge did make the ride-on mower, but I don’t know when so never included it, but I guess it’s beyond the 1980’s. However didn’t Alko buy Ginge eventually? The Alko 620 (and the 700 model too) have a similar tubular method of construction to the Ginge ride-on although they have a different overall design ( I may be incorrect – but see how my thoughts wander!)

I’ve just seen a 1980’s UK Ginge brochure for sale on’t internet, it doesn’t have a ride-on mower listed in it, yet that doesn’t mean it wasn’t here then, it may just have had it’s own brochure.

[alan]

I’ve had a good search to see if there’s any mention such as reviews from the time the conversion was available – I’ve found absolutely nothing! I thought that there might have been a photo of the machine being tested in one or another magazine but sadly not. Does anyone have anything?

The question still remains; is there a Howard Holttum machine out there? Would be great to find one.

For anyone doing future research on this manufacturer, I did find where the Cherryhinton factory was on a 1945 aerial photo map, image attached. Typically, it’s now a housing estate.

Also the original Willingham premises where the Trustys and Rotehos were retailed from is shown on an aerial photo of the time on the Britain From Above website – cannot show it here ’cause of copyright etc.

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