Not A Jeep: 1970 Roof Palomino Lawn Mower

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This machine is a head-scratcher as there weren’t many produced in any of the models that Roof Manufacturing Company out of Pontiac, Illinois made sometime between the 1967 to 1970ish period. Some sources say fewer than 300 of this Palomino model were made. We’ve seen a few vintage lawnmowers and garden tractors here on Barn Finds over the years, I think they’re super interesting and a fun way for some folks to jump into a small restoration project for usually not a lot of money. Thanks to T.J. for this tip!

There isn’t a ton of information on this unique two-seat lawn mower and it’s not hard to guess why not many were sold given their original selling price or how much they bring today. I don’t quite understand why it looks like a small Jeep or why it has two seats, unless a person is entering a 24-hour team mowing competition and you can switch off halfway through with the person sitting next to you. Maybe one of you will have heard of this model and can shed some light on this company.

Roof Manufacturing made several models, from this top-end Palomino down to rear-engine riders and smaller mowers. They began making mowing equipment in 1945 and it appears that this example may have had rear wheel well flares added, probably to keep grass clippings from hitting the driver/rider in the back of the head. Those aren’t found on any of the photos online that I could see but are a great idea. Here’s a photo that the seller included for some scale.

Despite looking like a mini-Jeep, this mower is rear-wheel drive only, and look at that fancy woodgrain dashboard! These mowers cost somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 new, which is around $12,160 and $16,213 today! It’s no wonder the company didn’t find many buyers at that price, you could buy a small car for $2,000 in the late 60s. It appears that the parking brake lever is missing and there may be other concessions to what would have been original. For anyone interested, here’s a link to an owner’s manual, it’s very interesting to see the features.

There’s room for the whole family to ride along while you mow the back-40 and the seller has a video on their listing showing a mom and two kids riding in this one. Pretty cool. They have a 63″ mowing deck in the middle as you can see in some of the photos. The seller says this is one of the last 30 produced with a high/low hydrostatic transmission. It really looks like a fun machine to own.

There may have been different engines, but a lot of the information I found is that most of them had a Kohler two-cylinder with around 18 horsepower. We don’t know what this one is but it runs great, the headlights work, and this would be incredibly fun to own if you can afford such an expensive mower. It’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Bangor, Pennsylvania and they’re asking $8,000 or trade! Here is the original listing. Have any of you heard of this mower?

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Comments

  1. Troy

    To bad it’s almost 3,000 miles away I would definitely be negotiating to purchase

    Like 3
  2. John EderMember

    This happened to me the last time that I left my Jeep in the dryer too long.

    Like 39
    • Fox owner

      😆😆😆😆😆

      Like 4
  3. Todd J. Todd J.Member

    I put in my top bid on the ‘94 Wrangler posted earlier on BF and it wasn’t enough, so maybe as a consolation I should buy this, remove the mower, drive it downtown and wave at the folks, “Hey, I bought a Jeep! Dig those wheel covers!”

    Like 7
    • Howard A Howard A.Member

      Oh, don’t feel bad, Laddie, plenty more where that came from.

      Like 1
  4. Jeff

    I bet this thing chews / cuts up John Deers in a lawn cutting race. :-)

    It’s different but not at the asking price.

    Good luck.. with sale..

    FYI: Remember folks as Clint states…. “Get off my Lawn!”

    Like 7
  5. Bob_in_TN Bob_in_TNMember

    Very interesting piece of machinery. Never heard of them.

    Lawn mowing comment: why do many guys (me included) enjoy mowing grass? Perhaps because, they can get lots of ‘thinking’ done. And, because (usually) no one tells them how to do it. Want to go east/west this week, north-south next week? Fine, go for it.

    Like 27
    • Todd J. Todd J.Member

      Or really knock their socks off with the diagonal cut!

      Like 13
    • Mitchell Sigman

      Word has it the company headquarters burned down and folks in the vicinity were heard yelling, “THE ROOF, THE ROOF, THE ROOF IS ON FIYAH!!! WE DON’T NEED WATER, LET THE MOWER FACTORY BURN…!”

      (Sorry, couldn’t help myself)

      Like 13
    • Bunky

      As for why we like mowing: it’s a simple job, success being easily measured. As for no one telling me how to do it, “I can’t hear you!/ “Already put the mower away.”
      Reminds me of a guy who I used to work for. Very intelligent, formerly high up in Levi Strauss Co., CPA. Insisted on cleaning the restrooms himself; “It’s the one time in the day that I actually know what I’m doing-the goal is very clear.”
      Very cool little rig. Looks like a rich man’s toy- then and now. I don’t qualify.

      Like 5
    • Will

      My experience is that mow-time is zone-out time, no serious thinking and only enough synapses firing to follow the line of the prior cut. Sort of like using the cruise control with the car parked and in neutral.

      Like 2
      • 67Firebird_Cvt 67Firebird_CvtMember

        Try bush hogging.
        Even more fun and relaxing.

        Like 0
  6. nlpnt

    Interesting early example of an all-around grounds vehicle that presumably could be used for light cargo hauling, sort of a lawn tractor/side-by-side combo.

    Price probably wasn’t that far off a real Jeep, as noted above it cost as much as a small car (a VW Beetle listed at $1850 in 1968) so this was likely marketed more to parks departments and the like than to individual homeowners.

    Like 6
  7. oilngas

    My first thought was seeing this on an episode of cops being driven by a drunk in a low speed chase. Not that anything like that has ever happened to me.

    Like 6
    • flynndawg

      ever heard of ‘the opossum’… george jones… ;)

      Like 5
  8. Howard A Howard A.Member

    Not sure how the author finds this stuff, he won’t say, but certainly an eye for the unusual. He’s right, not a lot of info. One chap said his grandfather bought one in 1968 and paid $1600 bucks, a lot of money for a mower. A gentleman chimed in on this one forum, the company was started by Earl Roof, and was his uncle. He said he didn’t know the connection looking like a Jeep, except he modeled it after a toy Jeep. I believe just the body kits were available too. They could be had with an operators cab, and broom and a dozer blade. The motor is a “K482” Kohler twin, 18hp, an outstanding motor in its own right and some early units claimed to have a 2 speed rear axle, making for a top speed of 17 mph. Pretty fast for a lawn mower, and were popular with golf courses. These “ulitimate” mowers of today make the same claim. Pretty simple operation( on-off) and I always loved the smell of cut grass mixed with engine exhaust. Great find, SG!!

    Like 10
  9. Mark RuggieroMember

    I would drop the deck off, rig a bimini, and you’d have a killer neighhborhood cruiser or save the price of renting a golf cart at the race track. Price is steep, too steep I’m thinking, but at the rate of $600 per event per year you could get it back, oh, before you die probably!

    Like 4
  10. PairsNPaint PairsNPaintMember

    Paint it olive drab and mount a .50 cal on the back.

    Like 7
  11. FOG

    Some exclusive Jeep shop is going to want this displayed in their office window. Would certainly draw me in to look it over. Maybe around Badlands/Attica, Indiana?

    Like 1
    • FOG

      Reading all the comments on this Roof mower lends to the idea to put a Jeep body w/faux wheels on a wide zero turn.

      Like 0
  12. MarkO

    Skip the vertical /horizontal/ and even the diagonal cuts….
    I’d make my first cut of the day as an irregularly shaped “ROAD COURSE”.
    That would then be “the track”
    Subsequent laps would automaticly widen the track, due to
    DRIFTING around the corners ….at ever increasing speeds.
    Someone would ,of course, be timing the laps.Friends could come over to take their turn at trying to better your fastest time. Just think… all the while, they’d be mowing your lawn! The winner gets a cold spray from a well shaken can of Lager!
    I would certainly have removed the muffler… and maybe “taped the headlights”.
    Now, if I could talk my neighbor into getting one, we would be able to mow both lawns togetherThe course could expand to 2 lots!
    After the lanes got wide enough, both mowers could “share” the track…. a little PASSING action to liven things up!
    PS: There WILL be CONQUENCES for going “off course” and mowing down the wife’s PETUNIAS.
    Hey… this could even become a SERIES!
    (or maybe even an OLYMPIC event)

    Like 9
  13. jwaltb

    Nobody who buys this will be cutting grass. It’s just dumb, IMO.

    Like 0
  14. Mike's57

    Way back in High School (1978), I had a job working at the local junk yard in Plainfield, IL. “Speicher & Gaylord Auto Wreckers”. My job was to help wherever needed, and one task I had was to mow the grass around the used truck lot. They had a Roof “Jeep” mower just like this one (the only other one I’ve ever seen). It was fun to drive and actually did a great job of cutting. Don’t know what ever became of it, the yard is long gone now.

    Like 1
  15. Bad Brad

    Might have won the Vietnam war had they used this to cut threw the jungle.

    Like 0
  16. Marvin

    We own 6 landscaped acres with what used to be 42 Sugar Maple lined driveway. I cut the lawn with a 32 hp, dual exhaust, rear spoilered 60″ cut Bad Boy mower in about 2 hours and love it! If I had the extra money I would buy this and either modify the current motor or swap in a little more potent one and really have some fun!

    Like 1
  17. Ron from MnMember

    I’ve never heard of them, very cool, though.

    Like 1
  18. Scotty GilbertsonAuthor

    The listing was deleted, did one of you buy this thing?

    Like 0

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