Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

The range of pedestrian-controlled machinery is certainly extensive and it is all covered by the VHGMC. Whether it was built in the 1920’s or the 1990’s it is all the same to us.

The walk-behind category is probably the largest one in the club and encompasses everything from the humble cylinder lawn mower to the larger Iron Horse type tractors that compete at ploughing matches.

Now that insecticide sprays are widely used in agriculture the motor hoe has completely disappeared, yet these were widely used in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s to combat weed infestations and these remain one of the main collectible machines of our club members. They are generally light and easily transported yet very eye-catching, and were always painted in bright colours to increase their appeal.

Another favourite of collectors is the rotavator that has been used on allotments since it’s invention in the 1950’s and is still a firm favourite today, with manufacturers varying from Atco to Wolseley with every company in between.

The appeal of this machinery is that the collector can restore it using very few tools and in a very small workshop. It is generally inexpensive to buy and is widely available, and when the restoration is finished the restorer can use it at many of our club working events so that the work is never finished when the restoration is complete. You can actually play with the finished article, or even use it for what it was deigned to do originally – assist in growing food.

Vintage hand-tools covers more than just a collection of garden shears or grandad’s pre-war spades and forks in the allotment shed.

There is a vast and eclectic range of tools, powered by electric, petrol or human power. Although the term hand-tools tends to automatically refer to smaller items like shears used in the garden it does also cover a broader area including pushed hoes, garden sprayers, insecticide dusters and lawn edgers to name just a few.

This is a fascinating and growing collectors area where superb collections of items can, mostly, be gathered relatively easily. These are sometimes exhibited or displayed as a group of items such as secateurs through the decades, or perhaps as a collection produced by a single manufacturer such as the 1960’s range of Black & Decker hedge-trimmers. These displays of hand-tools appeal to the viewing public who can often remember using them or recall their grand-parents having them many years ago.

Collecting hand-tools can be a great hobby especially when one has a manufacturers brochure or a catalogue and the challenge is on to find the one elusive item advertised!

Many vintage hand-tools in the UK were made by UK companies rather than being imported from the US or Europe. So it is very easy to find UK engineered items at vintage auctions or even car-boot sales.
Some of the most well known companies in the UK are Jalo (push hoes), Sheen of Nottingham (flame guns), Fisons, and Sisis (both making lawn fertiliser spreaders in the 1950’s & 60’s), There is quite a long list of manufacturers and a wide range of products they manufactured too.

Although there are many Uk manufacturers there are US manufacturers that imported their tools into the UK like the Planter Junior company . Their wooden-handled hoes were incredibly popular and sold in huge numbers from the 1930’s onwards. Some of their hoe models were available with a small plough and a seeder too. These are collectible, can be found quite easily and make a good exhibit.

Most hand-tools are items in their own right but some hand-tools can be attachments or additional to a much larger machine. For example the Wolseley Merry Tiller had attachments which could include a hedge trimmer and chainsaw – both of which worked via a flexi-shaft from the Merry Tillers petrol engine. Similar items were available for other makes too such as an electric-powered hedge-trimmer running from an Allen scythe and the range of implememts manufactured by the Tarpen company.