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Mervyn Victor Richardson invented the first 'Victa' rotary lawnmower in the1950s. The design was like other mowers of the time. (Lawrence Hall, a boat engine builder, had invented a rotary blade lawn-mower in 1948. He called it the 'Mowhall' and he had mounted the blades onto a plough disc. A tin was used for a petrol tank, and he attached a boat motor, the blades, and the engine to a tubular steel frame)
Richardson's Victa mower had blades mounted in a cylinder. But it was a lighter and more powerful mower than those that existed at the time.
The mower was made for Mervyn
Richardson's son, Garry, who had started a lawn-mowing
business to make money during his university
holidays. The heavy mowers that he had to use made the job very
hard.
Later, Mervyn Richardson improved his design. He mounted the blades on a disc and fitted it to a light metal frame with four wheels. The machine was powered by a two-stroke petrol engine. It was the first rotary motor mower.
2 early model Victa mowers
Mervyn Victor Richardson made the mowers in the garage of his home near Sydney, Australia. People came to the house everyday to order a mower that Richardson had named the 'Victa'.
To find out more about the invention of the Victa Mower, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victa_lawn_mower
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/australia_innovates/?
behaviour=view_article&Section_id=1040&article_id=10057
See the patent http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/ex_victa.shtml
What is a patent? Click here to find out
Permission to use the images has been granted by The Arunta Group of Companies
If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. The Victa Mower [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2000)
Updated March 2011 ©kidcyber
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