Lawn Mowers

On this page about lawnmowers we will be looking at the different types of mowing machines available, the motive power , ways of acheiving forward motion, and the history of the lawnmower. Additional lawnmower pages can be found below.

Lawnmowers

Cylinder

Ride On

Types

There are really two main ways a lawnmower cuts grass, scissor or scythe action

Cylinder (Reel) Mowers:
The first method we are looking at is a scissor action in which two blades are used. So called cylinder mowers have a fixed blade and a number of rotating spiral blades on a cylindrical arragement. The greater the number of blades the better is the quality of cut.

Rotary Mowers:
The second method is the scythe action in which only a single blade is used to cut the grass and this is found on rotary machines. The actual blade has two cutting edges, one on either side of the axis. The blade is now rotated at high speed which then cuts the grass. A slow rotation would only flatten the grass instead of cutting it.

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Motive Power

By motive power we are talking about what actual creates the power to cause the cylinder or rotary blade to turn. Hand push mowing machines are those which the cylinder (have yet to see a rotary hand prolled mower) turns through gearing connected to either the wheels or roller, thus when the mowing machine is pushed the cylinder turns at a speed proportional to the speed the mower is travelling.

Mains electricity is connected via a cable is connected to an electric motor that can be used to turn either the cylinder or rotary blade. The motor is either a brush motor or on better machines an induction motor. The motor speed is geared down on cylinder machines and on most rotary machines turns the blade directly.

Cordless mowing machines have a battery to supply the power to the rotary blade or cylinder.

Petrol engines of either two or four stroke operation are used on larger machines since invariably they will be operating away from a mains supply and the area to be cut will be too large for a battery operated machine. Two stroke petrol engines require that a mixture of petrol and oil is used, the ratio of which is set by the engine manufacturer. 4 stroke petrol engines on most modern machines will run on unleaded petrol but many older models were designed to run on so called 4 star or high octane petrol. Note that petrol is known as gasoline in the US.

The last method of generating motion is solar power in which the light from the sun is converted into electrical energy and used to power a robotic lawnmower.

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Forward Propulsion (or reverse)

The cheapest method of providing movement of a mowing machine is with the action of pushing while walking.

Self propelled mowing machines have a clutch arrangement and speed control that allows the engine or motor to turn the wheels or rear roller while the user walks with the machine but does not exert any energy in pushing the machine.

Ride-on lawnmowers and tractor mowing machines have a seat built in so the operator is sat while cutting the lawn.

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History

Timeline

1827 -- Edwin Beard Budding an English engineer invented the first mowing machine. (A horse drawn cylinder machine)
1830 -- 18 May, John Ferrabee and Edwin Budding signed an agreement that allowed Ferrabee to develop and market the machine.
1830 -- 25 October and Budding obtained a patent for his machine
1832 -- Ransomes of Ipswich gained licence to produce and wholesale the Budding machine.
1842 -- James Shanks patented a machine based on Buddings machine in Scotland.
1859 -- Thomas green built the first chain driven machine called the Silens Messer
1862 -- 8 different models were being made up to 90cm or 36 inch.
1863 -- Production Buddings machine stopped production after over 5000 were made.
1870 -- Elwood McGuire of Richmond, Indiana designed the first hand push mower, which being light weight proved to be a commercial success.
1893 -- First steam driven lawnmower patented by James Sumner of Leyland Lancashire with petrol/gasoline or parrafin/kerosene used to heat up the water.
1921 -- Atco Motor Mower with a 22inch cut was introduced by Charles H. Pugh Ltd. Priced at £75.
1930's Power Specialties Ltd of Slough, Berkshire introduced the first rotary machine, which was powered by a petrol/gasoline engine.
1960's -- Plastic introduced into mowing machine manufature.
1960's -- Flymo introduced the hover mowing machines.