There are many subcultures of the collecting hobby that don’t involve the current hot-button: 1970s muscle cars. One that a lot of people may not think of is vintage garden tractors and lawnmowers, as crazy as that sounds. This vintage (1950s/60s) Root Range Rider 26″ Power Mower is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and they’re asking $1,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Gary for the tip!
“Vintage garden tractors and lawnmowers?! Is there something wrong with you, boy?” Well, yes, there is, but you already knew that. I don’t have it in me to restore a car or truck, it’s just too much: too much work, too much time, too much money. As much as I like to tell myself that I do, I just don’t. Something smaller like a vintage garden tractor or riding mower, or even a vintage push mower, I think, is just a fun project. You can still do most of the same things, even upholstery on a rider, but on a much smaller, cheaper, quicker scale.
The flowing lines of this 360-pound vintage Root Range Rider Power Mower (we don’t know the year, and neither does the seller) seem to bring it back to the 1940s, but it may be as new as 1961. Here’s an old ad I found from 1961, and there isn’t a lot of information on these things on the internet, sadly. There is information on the great old TV western, The Range Rider. I have to wonder how trademark and copyright laws worked back then, that they could both be called Range Rider.
A huge industrial company called Fairbanks-Morse & Company was founded back even before I was born: 1823. They made a variety of things, and bought a Kansas company called Root Manufacturing for its lawn care equipment business. We saw a somewhat similar mower here on Barn Finds back in 2017, and it was badged as a Fairbanks-Morse. This brown example has decidedly car-looking features, such as the front and rear bumpers, but the loop steering… thing is a bit unusual. That doesn’t look too ergonomic to me.
The engine should be a 5.5 hp four-stroke single with either electric start (you can see the full-sized battery) or pull-start. With four speeds forward, reverse, and neutral, the seller says it runs, drives, and will mow as intended, but has been mostly on static display in their shop, so it should be gone over. Are any of you into restoring or collecting vintage tractors or lawnmowers?
Wheeeeee, well, whatever is wrong with you, is wrong with us, and we don’t want to be right. It’s amazing to see the transition, like the Champ pickup and the F350, this was the felines tush in ’55. It looks corny, but people were migrating to “Pressboard Estates”, and every one had a neatly trimmed lawn, and this was considered high class, when most were still using push mowers. I read, these cost about $350 new, when a rotary push mower was maybe $25? It clearly wasn’t for everyone. Not much on these, so ol’ SG did his homework, I read the smaller ones used Clinton motors, this appears to have the Tecumseh Chief on the housing. There were so many kinds, we had a corny looking rider, very similar to this for our lake cottage. Every weekend, we’d go, and it was my job to get the mower going and cut the grass. It was a big lot, and took me a couple hours.( in low gear) It also got me out of all the old mans piddly jobs my brother got stuck doing.
In case you can’t get FB, the Marketplace is inundated with oddball stuff, just waiting to be shown here. Thanks, SG!
Knew right away this was Scotty’s ride!!
This is really great Scotty!! Love it. I got kicked off mid comment so if I show up twice thats why. I’d love to restore something but don’t have the time for a car. But something like this would be right up my alley. And it would be relatively inexpensive compared to a restoring a car or truck. All I can say is….. Keep them coming!!! Great tip too Gary, thank you!!!
Great subject choice Gary, and great write-up, Scotty. You are hitting them out of the park.
What a stylish tractor, heck, this has more style than 90% of the new cars these days.
I’d fly in and drive it home….
I agree. The sheetmetal design definitely has that ’50’s Vibe to it. I am really liking the rootbeer brown too.
You guys are way too kind, thanks much! I don’t even know if I have it in me anymore to restore a toothbrush, let alone anything with an engine. I’m clearing house (house = storage unit) pretty soon, as I know I’ll never get to that stuff, and life is flying by. I don’t want to leave my wife with a bunch of stuff she has to deal with.
Aw, you’ll bury us all, but in case not, dibs on the D-50, the 750 Yam, the Twin 100, the Rokon, and the chrome bicycle, just kidding, whatever you do, don’t pull a “Howard” and get rid of everything when I thought my life was through. Who’d have thought I’d live another 3 decades, and actually miss that stuff today.
Looks like it was high-end, the most expensive item in your 1961 advert. Based on inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $419.95 in 1961 is equivalent in purchasing power to approximately $4,635–$4,640 in 2026.
Cool find SG. I didn’t realize until a few years ago that restored riding mowers were “a thing.” This was probably quite the machine in its day.