It does 0-60 in less than five seconds; it’s capable of reaching 100mph and has spent years being developed by engineers in a wind tunnel. No it’s not a car, or even a bike, it’s the world’s fastest lawnmower. Don Wales captained ‘Project Runningblade’, a team attempting to smash the world record for the fastest lawnmower in the world.
Malcolm Campbell set the land speed record of 146.16mph back in 1924 with ‘Bluebird’ and now his grandson, Don Wales, is on a mission to beat the record set by Bob Cleveland in 2006. Cleveland hit just over 80.792mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah and Wales has been on a mission ever since. In May, the team hit 87.833mph on Pendine Sands, UK, an official new world record.
The team had sponsorship from a variety of places, namely lawnmower manufacturer Countax; they also raised money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Wales currently holds world land speed records for steam and electric powered cars but admitted the lawnmower attempt was is most daunting.
They used an off the peg model from Countax and made a few minor modifications, Guinness states that it is required to prove it could cut grass immediately before the record attempt for it to be valid. The team was worried the blades might catch in the ground at high speed so they were removed, and a roll cage was fitted.
The mowers has no gears and only ‘go’ and ‘stop’ pedals, mowers are too heavy and the complete opposite of aerodynamic so reaching high speeds is extremely difficult. Above 50mph it shook violently and there were concerns over the brakes which were only designed to stop it at speeds of 6pmh.
Officially, the fastest production lawnmower for sale is an industrial model called the ‘Dixie Chopper Xtreme’, designed to cut sports fields and large areas it has a 33hp engine and a top speed of 15mph. It can cut an entire football field in 10 minutes, but by comparison the Runningblade could do it in less than two minutes. It’s unlikely to go into production though as there is not much demand for high speed grass cutting.
It might be the fastest lawnmower in the world but it doesn’t have the ability to deal with lawn moss, for that you will need some decent lawn advice.
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