MOWER OF THE MONTH
Number Sixty Eight
FARMFITTERS RAPIER
The Rapier was an unusual rotary mower manufactured by the
Farmfitters company of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire in the 1950s and 60s.
At this time the rotary design pioneered by Power Specialities
before the Second World War with their Rotoscythe was still relatively unusual.
However, a number of companies experiemtned with rotary designs in the mid to
late 1950s with varying degrees of success.
Farmfitters made a range of rotary mowers during this
period. Their early models were powered by small Vincent engines made by
the same company that produced the famous motorcycles of that name. Later models had Clinton
and Briggs & Stratton engines.
The Rapier was unusual in having a cast aluminium body onto
which was mounted the engine and four wheels. The use of aluminium for this type
of machinery was unusual at the time although is more widely used now. The
blade, like many early rotary mowers, was made from a metal disc onto which were
mounted three small triangular blades. Later rotaries generally have a long thin
blade that looks more like an aeroplane propellor.
In 1956 the Rapier retailed for £42.10.0d. None of the models
produced by Farmfitters appears to have been a great success and examples are
consequently hard to find today.
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