Allen Scythe
The Allen Scythe, sometimes referred to as Allen Power Scythe, is a petrol-powered finger-bar mower. It was made from 1935 until 1973 by John Allen and Sons in Cowley, Oxfordshire. The company was formerly the Eddison and Nodding Company, was bought by John Allen in 1897 who renamed it the Oxford Steam Plough Company, and then renamed it again to John Allen and Sons.
The Allen Scythe does not resemble a hand scythe but serves the same purpose. The engine drives a 2- or 3-foot-wide toothed blade sliding back and forth horizontally across stationary teeth to produce a scissor action, and also drives two large wheels for forward travel. There are handles to allow the machine to be controlled by an operator walking behind it, controls comprise throttle and clutch. Separate ratchets allow either one or both wheels to be driven. In normal use only one is engaged so that turning is easier. The machines are extremely robust and many from the 1950s are still in regular use. They can be dangerous, as the clutch system only disengages the wheel drive from the engine: the blades cut all the time the engine runs.
Later models were available with different attachments, including rotating brushes that replaced the cutting head, air or water pumps and saws or hedge trimmers that drove from the starting pulley side of the engine.
Engine
John Allen and Sons used a number of engine types, the most common being a Villiers two-stroke with magneto ignition and rope start. The engines may fail to start because of ignition problems. The spark should occur when the piston is 3/16 of an inch before top dead centre (TDC) on all Villiers engines except for the Villiers Mk. 11c which should spark 5/32″ before TDC.
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Auger
An auger is a drilling device, or drill bit, that usually includes a rotating helical screw blade called a “flighting” to act as a screw conveyor to remove the drilled out material. The rotation of the blade causes the material to move out of the hole being drilled.
An auger used for digging post holes is called an earth auger, soil auger, or mechanized post hole digger. This kind of auger can be a manually turned, handheld device, or powered by an electric motor or internal-combustion engine, possibly attached to a tractor (being provided with power by the tractor engine’s power take-off as shown). Handheld augers can also be used for making holes for garden planting.
Wood augers have a screw to pull them into the wood, as a gimlet has, and a cutting lip that slices out the bottom of the hole. The auger bit, meant to be used in a brace, also has cutting spurs to cut a clean circle deeper than where the lips scrape out the wood.
In construction, augers are used for special drilling rigs to dig holes for deep foundation piles. Another use is for piles forming a piling retaining wall, which can be constructed in the same way as foundation piles.
Augers are also used by ice fishermen to drill holes to fish through. These can be either gas- or hand-powered.
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