Mid-Century lawncare for a Mid-Century house- my 1959 Porter-Cable Mark 26 and 1952 Lawn-Boy Iron Horse
The other day, I decided it was time to dig my grounds crew out of mothballs. The Mark 26 riding mower needed some minor adjustments to the speed control reeves drive, but the Iron Horse push mower fired up on the first pull.
Offered for several years , the Iron Horse was the first true Lawn-Boy, featuring a light, cast deck, and under deck exhaust, and the peculiar staggered wheel that gives it excellent trim mowing properties. When my wife and I were first married and had no money, we needed a lawnmower. That same week, a man rolled this Lawn-Boy into the repair shop where I worked as a power tool repairman, asking us to scrap it.
" What's wrong with it?", I inquired.
" Nothing", he replied. " I'm just sick of looking at this goddamn lawnmower".
Needless to say, I tuned it up, took it home, and have mowed with it once a week for over twenty years. I did a restoration many years ago; at the end of this season, I'll freshen up the paint so it looks it's best for the seventy-fifth mowing season. Truman was president when this mower was made, and it stills works just fine.
The Mark 26 was found in an outbuilding on the property of a highschool friend's grandparents when their estate was being settled. I dug it out from under a collapsed pile of scaffolding, restored it, and waited eleven years to have a yard big enough to use it. Part of Porter-Cable's short-lived outdoor power equipment line, this mower was only made for two years. The Mark 26 is a bizarre design, with tiller steering, a left hand mower deck, fender skirts, and an exhaust that exits from the rear like an automobile. Nevertheless, the Mark 26 is a credible machine, being both quick and extremely nimble.