Magazine - It’s a mower Jim, but not as we know it!

See all:
Authors - Dates - Categories - Online Back Issues

RECENT COMMENTS

Going Dutch on Weed Control!
3 hours ago by: andy dixon

"What is the point when 97% of herbicides are used by private ..."

Build it and they will come... a report on the Isle of Man's first seminar for the industry
19 hours ago by: petermarkcraig

"Thank you for those very kind words Mike. I genuinely felt t ..."

Will it take hose pipe bans and Drought Orders to see legislative compliance?
2 days ago by: vid

"Hi Dave, this may be of help to well financed or municipal s ..."

Build it and they will come... a report on the Isle of Man's first seminar for the industry
4 days ago by: Pitchcare Peter

"Who's a fantastic tool? 'Genius' might be slightly overst ..."

Build it and they will come... a report on the Isle of Man's first seminar for the industry
4 days ago by: Cranfield

"A fantastic tool for promoting our wonderful industry and th ..."

By Peter Hampton in General News on 22nd Sep 2010 15:00

This article appeared in Pitchcare Magazine
Issue 32 - August / September 2010

During my visit to the Celtic Manor Resort workshops, when helping the team to sharpen and set-up the Toro mower fleet for The Wales Open Golf Tournament, I was able to complete the assembly and sharpening of a restored 1950s Ransomes Auto Certes Mk1 greens mower (the 2 stroke engine drives the cylinder only). This mower is owned by, and has been totally restored for, my friend Noel Broderick, CEO of Broderick's Grass Machinery, the Textron dealer based in Dublin and Belfast. It is to be displayed in their showroom.

When seeing me sharpening this quite rare mower, Jim McKenzie, Director of Golf at Celtic Manor, began telling me that, as a seventeen year old trainee at Haggs Castle Golf Club, in Glasgow, he was trained to use one of these mowers as his daily greens cutting machine, and that, during the early 1980s fuel crisis, he also used the original 16 inch hand push model Certes without an engine.

The 16 inch hand Certes was extremely hard to push when newly set, and Jim remembered an old time greenkeeper, Rab Robson, showing the younger lads how to place a match on the ground then, when the mower was pushed over it, this relieved the set and made the mower easier to push.

Jim was keen to have his photograph taken with the old Auto Certes mower, and so we took it up to the 18th green on the 2010 Ryder Cup Course. I really get a kick out of re-uniting people with their memories of using old machines.

I have, over the years, amassed and restored a large collection of old golf course machinery, mainly because it was being discarded to be scrapped.

Now, having recently been elected Chairman of The Old Lawnmower Club, I have a new task - to encourage the professional turfcare industry to preserve these old professional machines, and I encourage you to join us at www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk

For further details contact peter.hampton@blueyonder.co.uk

Read more articles in General News, by Peter Hampton or from September 2010.

Read more articles from Issue 32 - August / September 2010

There is 1 comment on this article

23 Sep 2010 by Mike

What a shame... we used to have the pedestrian certes exactly the same as the one pictured (even had the original operators manual in perfect condition). I even recall giving a final cut to a wicket for an MCC match in 2005 with it - I still maintain that it gave the finest cut that I have ever seen on any mower, although yes, it was like pushing a tank!!

We had been trying to sell it, or even giving it away for years (even posted a message about it on the message board), as it was just taking up space. We tried giving it to museaums, film crews to use as a prop etc, but there were no takers. Eventually, we had it scrapped as we couldn't find anyone to take it off our hands.

Incidentally, we also use a '62 certes as our backup wicket mower, and that also does a fantastic job.

Want to post a comment in response to this article?

Home - Magazine - Shop - Training - Jobs - Used Machinery - Buyer's Guide - Message Boards - UK Weather - International - GreenFields Artificial Turf - Sport Construction