Gas Powered Lawn Mower History

[platefire]

It appears that the very first hand push mowers go back to the early 1800's and started in England. The very first gas engine powered mower also came from England in 1902. Here is a drawing of that machine plus a little background info:

"Around 1900, one of the best known English machines was the Ransomes' Automaton, available in chain- or gear-driven models. Numerous manufacturers entered the field with petrol (gasoline) engine-powered mowers after the start of the 20th century. In 1902, The first was produced by Ransomes.[6][7] JP Engineering of Leicester, founded after World War I, produced a range of very popular chain-driven mowers. About this time, an operator could ride behind animals that pulled the large machines. These were the first riding mowers."

 

[7394]

Thanks for the history.. Cool stuff right there...

 

[GearHead36]

For those of you who have Hulu, check out "The Machines That Made America". Episode 1 is about tractors.

 

[platefire]

Here is old picture of the the 1902 Ransomes' in action plus a present day picture of a fully restored one. This is said to be the first commercially available gas engine powered riding mower and weighed 1.25 Tons and was 8'-0 Long.

 

[platefire]

1918 produced one of the first Gas powered push or walk behind mower. They were still big and bulky at this point. I understand that this one is water cooled. I don't have many details about it so far.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

1918 produced one of the first Gas powered push or walk behind mower. They were still big and bulky at this point. I understand that this one is water cooled. I don't have many details about it so far.
View attachment 68797

Over a hundred years ago…
I wonder what that beast weighed?

 

[platefire]

I don't know the weight but-----I bet without the self propelled drive working, this buddys going nowhere by pushing!

 

[platefire]

The Roaring 20's brought slimmed down gas powered machines and a little better designs more suited for
residential yards of the common household. Still the most common for normal folks was
the non-powered walk behind push rotary mowers.

Enter the 1921 ATCO 22" cut:

The machine was introduced in 1921, the first mower made by Charles H Pugh Ltd. This company had been in existence for many years, and was best known as a successful manufacturer of small 'repetition' components. These had been used extensively during the First World War on many items, including armaments. Demand for these products inevitably dropped following the Armistice in 1918, and the company looked for new products and markets. The name "Atco" was derived from the Atlas Chain Company, another name owned by Charles H Pugh Ltd. The resulting mower utilized a number of components already manufactured by the company, including Senspray carburetor and chain drive.


The first 1921 design was a 22 inch (22") machine with an oval section cast iron frame and a 269cc Villiers MkIV two stroke engine with brass flywheel magneto. Cast iron was used because the preferred supplier was unable to deliver the right components due to an industrial dispute in the foundry. The cast frames were very fragile and apparently many of these early machines broke during assembly, particularly when the frames were tightened. Atco's own figures show that 921 mowers were sold in the first year of production.

 

[PTmowerMech]

The Roaring 20's brought slimmed down gas powered machines and a little better designs more suited for
residential yards of the common household. Still the most common for normal folks was
the non-powered walk behind push rotary mowers.

Enter the 1921 ATCO 22" cut:

The machine was introduced in 1921, the first mower made by Charles H Pugh Ltd. This company had been in existence for many years, and was best known as a successful manufacturer of small 'repetition' components. These had been used extensively during the First World War on many items, including armaments. Demand for these products inevitably dropped following the Armistice in 1918, and the company looked for new products and markets. The name "Atco" was derived from the Atlas Chain Company, another name owned by Charles H Pugh Ltd. The resulting mower utilized a number of components already manufactured by the company, including Senspray carburetor and chain drive.


The first 1921 design was a 22 inch (22") machine with an oval section cast iron frame and a 269cc Villiers MkIV two stroke engine with brass flywheel magneto. Cast iron was used because the preferred supplier was unable to deliver the right components due to an industrial dispute in the foundry. The cast frames were very fragile and apparently many of these early machines broke during assembly, particularly when the frames were tightened. Atco's own figures show that 921 mowers were sold in the first year of production.
View attachment 68817

I was just thinking about how much over thought they put into a push mower back them. Todays plain-jane models vs this model.

 

[platefire]

Yeah, it's taken a 100+ years to refine the design gradually to what we have today. They were hooked for a
long time on the reel type blades when the flat deck with vertical shaft motor and regular flat blade
was so much more simple and efferent.