Jari Mowers

This is just like the old coffee shop, which was like the old coffee shop down the street. Pull up a chair, sit down and enjoy some good discussions. Please, no political, religious or racial posts.
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MapleCub
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:55 am
First and Last Name: Ben Carlson
Location: St. Joseph, MN

Jari Mowers

Post by MapleCub »

Finally finished one of my long term projects (7+ years taken apart in the shop): my 1950's Jari Jr. walk-behind sickle mower. Actually, I rebuilt the engine as a high school shop class project, so I've been working on it for closer to 13 years now. My uncle bought this machine in the 70's, then I inherited it (along with my '47 Farmall Cub) from my grandparents. I also have an interchangeable tiller attachment that can be used in place of the sickle. I've seen snowblowers, sprayers, and reel mower attachments for these as well. I can tell that the sickle bar and engine were replaced sometime in the 80's, but otherwise it appears to be all original. I repainted the frame and sickle bar but left the tiller and hood alone, as they were still in decent shape. The closest color I could match was PPG Omni "Mineral", but even that is a little more grey than the original blue. Oh well, still looks nice and shiny.
Jari Mower
Jari Mower
IMG_0302.JPG (253.15 KiB) Viewed 2701 times
Jari Mower
Jari Mower
IMG_0305.JPG (268.57 KiB) Viewed 2701 times
Here is the tiller:
Jari Tiller
Jari Tiller
IMG_0299.JPG (203.73 KiB) Viewed 2701 times
Original decal left intact:
Jari Jr. Decal
Jari Jr. Decal
IMG_0308.JPG (122.56 KiB) Viewed 2701 times
A little more history: Jari mowers were manufactured in Minneapolis beginning in the 1940's. I have acquired three of these 1940's models with non-running Lauson engines, which look pretty neat. Over the years, other models were added, with the Monarch and Chief being the most popular and longest lasting models. At some point, the Jari brand was made by Year-A-Round Cab Company in Mankato, MN, then was spun off as an independent company for a while, before finally closing down just a couple of years ago! It appears that the brand has been bought by a company from California, so it may be resurrected again in the future.

Does anybody else have one of these things? If so, I would love to see them! I've been trying to cross reference a list of serial numbers & models to years produced using engine data, so if you have these numbers, feel free to send them my way as well.
1450, 149 (for parts)
44" deck, snowthrower, rear blade, #2 trailer, Cyclone spreader
Also 1947 & 1948 Farmall Cubs w/ sickle, cultivator, 2 plows & several larger Farmalls

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Tom Scott
Chief Moderator
Posts: 1762
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:11 pm
First and Last Name: Tom Scott
Location: Bentley Springs, Maryland

Re: Jari Mowers

Post by Tom Scott »

Ben - Very cool, thanks for sharing! The hood is reminiscent of an orchard tractor, to deflect the branches, gives it a very unique look.
:beer:
1872, 46", 50C decks, Haban dozer blade, 450 snow blower
2182-1, Kwik-Way Loader, 3-pt & rear pto, 442 tiller
2182-2, 54" deck, 551 snow blower
Past tractors:  1541, 2135
<><

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dag1450
Posts: 2356
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:16 pm
First and Last Name: Dave Gibson
Location: Chalfont, Pa

Re: Jari Mowers

Post by dag1450 »

Great job Ben! Definitely a unique looking machine. Dont feel bad...i think alot of us have some long term projects :oops:
127, 1650, 1572, 1872, 2072 . A mower, blower and blade for each.

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