It's quite old. Wrap around cord pullstart, deck that barely covers the blades and in general doesn't look that youthful. I'm looking at fixing it but can't find any maker marks or engine manufacturer marks. I'm going to give it a closer inspection and try again when I start working on it properly but in the meantime maybe someone knows more than me.
The deck is removable and when you do that and remove the mower blade along with the front wheels it turns into a rotary hoe after putting the blades on. As far as I know it used to run, turns over fine. I can't find much info on these combo hoe and mower things.
Just seems like something interesting to tinker with.
74nova,
Jun 25, 10:22am
Man where did you find that thing!
skin1235,
Jun 25, 10:22am
villiers! or ironhorse!
jmma,
Jun 25, 10:22am
Flat_white will be the one to ID that, I did mowers for around 15 years, can't say I seen one of those. 2 or 4 stroke! '
jmma,
Jun 25, 10:24am
I'll go with Villiars
pollymay,
Jun 25, 10:25am
Appears to be 2 stroke, can't see an oil casing anywhere on it. It's a really weird old thing, I like it.
Except it has a removable mower deck on it. I wonder if those are the original colours!
jmma,
Jun 25, 12:10pm
Yes, That looks like it, Maybe it was a two in one type machine. Keep looking, thats part of the fun (o:
pollymay,
Jun 25, 12:21pm
It certainly is odd. I'm not exactly drowning in information over it. From what I can tell it's a 120cc made in Basingstoke England.
Be nice to have it going so I can mow lawns wearing a monocle and wearing a tweed jacket
saki,
Jun 26, 5:06am
May be an old JA prestwich
bwg11,
Jun 26, 5:18am
Yes, I would say definately JAP. Looks as if your mower may have been a "multi-tool" as it has the 90 degree gearbox for rotors as does the Shay rotary hoe. Alternatively, it may be a hoe converted to a mower as the sheilding does not look very professional or safe.
Edit: Written before I read the previous post
cuda.340,
Jun 26, 5:22am
this pic of the rotary hoe is identical except for the lack of paint, to the Iron Horse unit my dad had when i was a kid. it was painted yellow on the cowl & red on the frame. b!tch of a thing to start but once going, it ripped up everything in sight, much to my dads displeasure. i remember the Iron Horse logo on the cowl like it was yesterday.
desmodave,
Jun 26, 5:23am
I have something similar but its a rotary hoe .I found it at the local mitre 11 a few years back and thought that some1 must have made it themselves.
flat_white_ltd,
Jun 26, 5:24am
Cheers, jmma
.And, Yep.it's an early 1950's Rotoscythe County. ( & def, 2-stroke ) They made a variety of different shapes around the same basic engine .remember.in.1950's, 100 was a major production run ! ( well, for mowers ) Basingstoke, England, is where the co. was based, Rotoscythe actually patented the world's first rotary blade mower, but made cylinder mowers & rotary hoes as well. - Identical engine & shroud to one in my w/shop (can't post a link, or, apparently, get sent to the norty corner, .but you could work that out.)
Here's a vid of another one my mate Mal got running.again, same engine, shroud, wheels, etc,. his is a dedicated mower, .but your one wasprobably designed to take a drive off the output shaft ( cultivator, etc.)
Pollymay. if you would ever consider selling it ( would love to restore that baby) . .don't be shy.:) :) ( You know it'll never do skids, .right !:):-):o)
Cheers, Ant.
flat_white_ltd,
Jun 26, 5:42am
^^^p.s . forgot to say, if it's got the little Amal carby ( little "tickler underneath) it's def. a Villiers 2-stroker. run it rich ( oil)if ya get it cranking. p.p.s . if you have trouble geting a spark, . under the starter pulley ( inside the aluminium shroud ) are some flimsy connections for the eath/cut-out .& coil. they perish & short it out. bit of insulating tape ( and some steady fingers ) is all you need.
sifty,
Jun 26, 5:49am
no idea, but pretty cool.
jmma,
Jun 26, 6:00am
Yes, would look great next to your one flat_white, you do excellent work (o:
pollymay,
Jun 26, 6:28am
Flat white to the rescue!
That all helps, I'll look into all that stuff. I did intend to run it with an oil slick out the back haha. The reason I was asking about it was because I was thinking about selling it perhaps. But I'd like to see it run and have a play myself first. Plus I had no idea of worth or if it was something not worth bothering with, searching around I've not seen really any for sale to compare condition etc; not even knowing what it was didn't help. Just another quirky shed find.
I'm sure it could do skids though. Mount up some wheelbarrow wheels and tyres where the rotary hoe attachments go, start it up and hold on :P
dr.doolittle,
Jun 26, 7:41am
It's not a lawnmower. It's an early Ladyshave.
skin1235,
Jun 26, 7:59am
you're right, I recognise it now I went out with the daughter of the original owner, not bad for the legs but a bit brutal around the delicates
and as for the Ladyshave they shared. shudder
nairb47,
Jun 26, 9:04am
It is a Shay Rotogardener of the mid 50s,with the accessory mower,the engine cowl was yellow
ambo11,
Jun 26, 10:57am
Duh.didn't realise Flat White had put a link up.lol
Hell of a talking point these things, I've restored Iron Horse mowers etc from the 50's which look new now, but people always make a beeline to this County.will bring a hell of a smile to your face when you run it. Just be gentle pulling it apart to get to the points, have heard they are fairly weak in the castings and are easy to damage.maybe heat the screws under the flywheel first! Also the flywheel is a real finger eater.if its the same as mine, anyway.
flat_white_ltd,
Jun 26, 11:06am
G'day Mal .Your resto's are legend on the overseas forums .nice job, mate ! Kiwis have a growing rep. for restoring these things, it seems.
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