People at the cutting edge: lawnmower designers - Mr. Shanks and the pony

Mr. Shanks and the pony

This photograph show the soles of two different horseboots in the RHS Harlow Carr collection. Photograph copyright: Marilyn Elm and RHS Harlow Carr.One of the first notable examples of the larger machines was created by Alexander Shanks for his client Mr W. F. Carnegie of Arbroath in Scotland. With two and half acres of land, Carnegie had found his existing Budding machine insufficient for his needs and instructed Shanks (‘a very ingenious mechanic') to construct a similar machine with a 27-inch blade on it, which could be pulled by two men or a pony. (The saying ‘to go by Shanks's pony' is believed to derive from the use of these pony machines).  With this machine, it was possible for Mr Carnegie's gardener to cut the whole area, once a week, in eight hours. 

Mid-19th century advert for Shanks's lawnmowers, showing mowing at Balmoral Castle. Image courtesy of the Garden Museum.Shanks went on to develop a 42-inch machine with sufficient weight to also act as a roller. It was able to cut the area in two and a half hours. The machine was trialled at the royal estate at Balmoral. Queen Victoria was one of Shanks's first customers and he used the name of the estate to advertise his wares.  The machine was also sold to Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire in 1846, where it was claimed that it saved labour by up to 70 per cent. It was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and later in Paris, where Napoleon III ordered one. 

Silence is golden

Green's 'Silens Messor' lawnmower, designed around the mid-19th century. Photograph copyright: Marilyn Elm and RHS Harlow Carr. Around 1850, further technical advancement brought a shift from Budding's very noisy cogs and gears to lighter and quieter chain-driven machines, which promised not to scare the ponies. These were developed by several manufacturers, notably by Thomas Green and Son of Leeds. The company started out as an iron foundry, but soon established a world reputation as manufacturers of lawnmowers, with premises in London and Dublin.

‘Green's Patent Noiseless' was in constant use in royal gardens and so popular was the demand, that a painting was made of the Greens on the train taking the mowers to their destinations. Their ‘New Monarch' was used for tennis courts and Green's 18-inch ‘Silens Messor' (‘Silent Reaper') was another favourite.

Multum in Parvo lawnmower being demonstrated at RHS Harlow Carr. Photograph copyright: Marilyn Elm and RHS Harlow Carr.A variety of smaller machines were developed in the 1860s, partly for more specialised mowing needs in the large parks, but mainly for the suburban villa gardener. Ransomes introduced the ‘Anglo-Paris' mower for small gardens and for ladies, and in 1867 the successful ‘Automaton' with its steel ball bearings, sold over 1,000 in the first season. Ransomes developed the ‘Little Gem' in 6-inch and 8-inch widths, to rival Green's 6-inch ‘Multum in Parvo' (‘Much from little').

Other design advances were the American ‘Archimedean' (1869), which cut and scattered the grass, while two engineers in Manchester, Frederick Follow and John Bate, patented the first side-wheel machine, the ‘Climax' (1869) that was lightweight and cheap to produce.

In America, a Mr Worthington patented a horse-drawn ‘mower unit' in 1914 that linked three side-wheel machines together on a frame. This could cut large areas of grass, such as golf courses. In 1920, Ransomes obtained a licence to produce these units in Britain, where they became known as ‘gang mowers'.