Alan - Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

Rare Hoes and Thinners?

November 7, 2025November 1, 2025 by Alan

Occasionally, a long-forgotten machine may turn up in a book reference or a magazine article, and if we are lucky, an actual example may appear in the tinwork. But sadly, it seems, some of these machines are nothing but a… Continue Reading

Video: Malvern Autumn Show 2025

October 3, 2025 by Alan

On the 26th-28th September 2025 the VHGMC put on a show stand at the Autumn Show at the Three Counties Showground at Malvern. A good range of machines were exhibited with hand tools, walk-behind and ride-on machines, rotavators, and mowers.… Continue Reading

When Mountfield Plugged In

August 30, 2025August 29, 2025 by Alan

A while ago, this blog looked at Vertex engines. These were two-stroke engines which made their way onto Mountfield mowers in the mid-1970s. It was not a success. Around the same time, Mountfield experimented with adding electric motors to their… Continue Reading

Compost – A little bit of history

April 1, 2025April 1, 2025 by Alan

Gardening requires patience, persistence, and a certain amount of hard work. Thankfully, we have a huge range of machinery to help with the work element. There are secateurs for pruning, spades for digging, mowers for grass cutting, tillers for the… Continue Reading

Aspera & Tecumseh Engines

March 15, 2025March 11, 2025 by Alan

Tecumseh is one of the main engine brands we see on many vintage machines, including mowers, rotavators, wood chippers, and even mini bikes. In the USA, Tecumseh bought the small engine manufacturer Lauson in 1955, and in 1956 the company… Continue Reading

Mowers and Bicycles

February 16, 2025February 16, 2025 by Alan

It is often overlooked, but many of the manufacturers of vintage horticultural machinery were also involved in manufacturing an array of other items. Just because we know them for horticultural items doesn’t mean they didn’t have interests (or beginnings) in… Continue Reading

Quiz 2024 – Locations and Countries

January 4, 2025December 11, 2024 by Alan

Here are twelve questions for a short quiz. Usually, the questions are quite random but this time they have a theme! How good is your machinery/manufacturer/geography knowledge as the questions and answers all relate to places around the UK and… Continue Reading

Quiz: Guess the company…#3

September 18, 2024September 18, 2024 by Alan

This is the third in a series of ‘Guess the company’ quizzes – and is more difficult than the first two and the clues are not in date order. Can you determine which single company the clues refer to? The… Continue Reading

Vertex Engine

August 27, 2024August 26, 2024 by Alan

Earlier this year there was a discussion on the forum about how many different manufacturers (or brands) had produced engines that were fitted to horticultural machines. The list became long and would have been longer if I hadn’t stopped adding… Continue Reading

The Invention of the Nylon Line Strimmer.

July 24, 2024July 22, 2024 by Alan

Let’s see a show of hands for everyone who has owned or used a domestic garden strimmer. This tool has become essential in many gardens, selling in large quantities over the years. But just how long has the garden strimmer,… Continue Reading