MOWER OF THE MONTH
Number Fifty Three
FOLBATE J2
The Folbate J2 is a typical example of the sort of lawn mower that was
popular during the 1950s and 1960s. It was a low-cost machine that was designed
for use on small lawns by the "weekend" gardener. It was available
with 10" and 12" cutting widths.
Follows & Bate was the first company to manufacture a side wheel lawn
mower, the Climax, in 1869. The company became very successful and for many
years it produced a wide range of hand sidewheel and roller mowers. These were
manufactured under its own name and for other companies to sell as their own
brands through shops or mail order catalogues.
As far as is known, many of the mowers sold as "British Made" or
"Made In England" during the first part of the 20th century were in
fact made by Follows & Bate.
The company was taken over by Qualcast in 1938. The new owner recognised that
the Follows & Bate name still had a loyal following among customers. In the
post-1945 period it began to produce mowers with the "Folbate" (from Follows & Bate) name.
The Folbate J2 is a typical sidewheel mower of the 1950s and 1960s. It is manufactured
from a combination of cast iron, pressed steel and machined components. One of
the advantages of the sidewheel design is that relatively few parts are required
compared to roller mowers with the same cutting width. This kept the weight and
price down, both of which appealed to a certain part of the market.
Mowers like the Folbate J2 were aimed directly at the mass market and the type of gardener
who wanted a simple, low cost mower to cut a small area of lawn once or twice a
week. These people did not want the finesse offered by more expensive models and
simply wanted a cheap and easy way of cutting their lawn with the least amount
of fuss. Many
manufacturers offered similar models during the same period.
Qualcast continued to manufacture a number of models under the "Folbate"
name until 1966. Some of the models were then sold under the Suffolk name for a
few more years. The Folbate J2 was a highly popular machine during the
1950s and many examples
have survived to the present day. It is not particularly rare
but the model is of interest to collectors because of the connection with
the company that invented the sidewheel mower.
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