1862-03-08 Gardeners Chronicle - Shanks Advertisement

SHANKS' NEW NEW PATENT

LAWN MOWING, ROLLING, COLLECTING, and DELIVERING MACHINE for 1862,

WITH SILENT MOTION IF SPECIALLY DESIRED.

J. B. BROWN AND CO. in introducing Shanks' NEW PATENT LAWN MOWERS for this season, do so with that confidence in their merits and superiority which the eminently successful result of the long and continued efforts of the Patentees to improve fully entitle them to have. The effect of the improvements of previous years have been so much appreciated by the practical Gardener that a very large and steady increase in the number of Machines sold has every year taken place, every one of which, so far as known, has given the greatest satisfaction. Further important improvements have been introduced into the Machines for this season.

The improvement whereby the noise occasioned by the working of the Wheels is entirely obviated, is this season made still more efficient. There is no method of imparting Motion to the working parts of almost any kind of Machinery at all to be compared to the Motion derived from Wheels; and the Patentees are gratified to state that they have not found it necessary to provide a substitute for this perfect method of imparting motion in introducing the silent movement into their Machine, The Cogs of the Wheels are made in the ordinary way, with ample bearing on each other, but so constructed and composed of Patent Material, as to be quite silent in working.

One of the most important considerations in making a Machine fit to be put into the hand of a labourer, to work without any difficulty, is simplicity of construction and arrangement, combined with strength and durability of the whole working parts, and J. B. BROWN & Co. have much pleasure in intimating that the efforts of the Patentees to attain this end have been completely successful. The Improved Machines for Horse and Pony Power, combining with these advantages the additional one of Delivering the Grass without stopping the Machine, make it peculiarly fit for all the purposes of Mowing, whether for Grass Walks, the Flower Garden, or the open Lawn. The style in which the work is executed cannot be surpassed-being very much neater than the Scythe, while at half the expense-and it is quite immaterial whether the Lawn be level or otherwise, or whether the Grass be wet or dry.

The peculiar advantages of Shanks' celebrated HORSE MACHINE may be thus described:-

1. The Cutter is so constructed that in Mowing the closest and finest Turf there is not the smallest appearance of ribbing.

2. The Drums are loose on the Shaft, and are made SELF-ACTING, so that in turning the Machine will Mow as well as when going in a straight line.

3. From the position of the Front Pulleys or Rollers the Machine will Mow on the most uneven Lawn, and the Plate at the same time is PREVENTED FROM INJURING THE TURF.

4. No Machine can turn quicker or more easily than this Machine. The two Front Pulleys swivel, and the Drums on the Shaft are loose, and yet kept in gear by Patent Spiral Springs, so that the Machine will turn into the most intricate windings of the Flower Garden, amongst Trees or Flower Beds, with perfect ease, and WITHOUT THE SMALLEST CHANCE OF INJURING THE SHRUBS OR FLOWERS.

5. The Wheels are all protected by Guards, which entirely prevent any particles of Cut Grass, Shrubs, or Flowers from getting into contact with the teeth. A Scraper is introduced to keep the Rollers clear of small stones or rubbish in crossing Gravel Walks, &c. The whole Machine is nicely balanced as regards equality of weight in front and back, and consequently is exceedingly STEADY IN WORKING. The Cutter works in Brass Bearings, and is now made so very strong that breakage is rarely heard of. Malleable Iron is always used for the Handles or Shafts, which are necessarily neater and much more durable than the usual Cast-iron ones.

6. One of the most valuable of the Patent Improvements the Patentees have effected in their Machine is in the method of emptying the Grass Box. The want of a speedy and efficient method for this purpose has been much felt for many years past. In the Spring more especially, when the Grass springs up rapidly, nothing is more annoying in working a Mowing Machine than the stopping and almost constant travel from the handles to the box, and vice versa, for the purpose of emptying the Grass. A great deal of time is thus lost, independent of the hard work to the man, not only in walking some hundreds of times the length of the Machine in a day, but more especially in the stooping posture which he has so often to endure. This great want in all Mowing Machines, whether past or present, is completely obviated in Shanks Patent Mowing, Rolling, Collecting, and Delivering Machine. The improvement consists in the introduction of a simple and efficient Apparatus for emptying the Box without the man being under the necessity of either leaving the handles or stopping the Machine. The immense advantages of this invention must be at once apparent to the practical Gardener. It will enable the Machine to do at least a third more work, while the labour and annoyance in working it, as compared with ordinary Machines, is three-fourths lessened. If a Lawn, which formerly took a Machine nine hours to Mow, can now be done in six hours, with three-fourths less labour to the man who works the Machine, nothing further is necessary to establish the utility and worth of the invention. The Grass is deposited on the Lawn in heaps ready for removal.

PRICES.

SHANKS' NEW PATENT HAND MACHINE for 1862, for Pushing or Drawing separately or together. 

Messrs. SHANKS have this year further improved their Hand Machine by the introduction of stiffer Malleable Iron Shafts or Handles, also by strengthening the Cutter, and by constructing the Axles so as to reduce the friction, and thus lessen the draught to the smallest possible amount, the effect of which improvements w unquestionably be to confirm the high character the Machine has gained in previous years, as the most complete, the cheapest, and most durable Lawn Mowing Machine extant. The Machines are fitted with the same care and precision as the Horse and Pony sizes, and like them possess the same advantages of ability to Mow on the Lawns without injuring the Turf, also of having loose Rollers for ease in turning, of having Wheels properly guarded, and so placed as to give an equal balance to either side of the Machine. A Scraper is introduced to keep the Rollers clear of small stones and rubbish in crossing Gravel Walks, &c.

The first practical Gardeners of the day, who have devoted their attention in examining all the different Lawn Mowers, do not hesitate in recommending Shanks Machine as the best Mower for general use. There is nothing in the Machine which is not of real practical worth.

Shanks' Patent Mowing and Rolling Machine is in successful operation in Her Majesty's Royal Gardens at Kew, Windsor, Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court, Osborne, and Balmoral; in the Gardens of His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia, His Excellency the Belgian Minister, The Right Hon. Lord Palmerston, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, and most of the principal Nobility and Gentry in the kingdom. The celebrated machines are also in operation in many of the Botanic, and in many hundreds of other gardens in the kingdom, as well as in almost every Country throughout the World, where their merits have been fully proved, and their success established.

The Machines are warranted to give ample satisfaction, and if not approved of they may be at once returned.

SOLE AGENTS FOR LONDON:

J. B. BROWN & CO., 18, CANNON STREET, CITY, LONDON, E.C.