News about Lawn Mowers
[14/05/2010] Cylinder mowers
The first lawn mower ever developed was a cylinder mower – it had assembly of blades, arranged around a cylinder and it was a push-style, cast iron mower. It was developed by the British engineer Edwin Beard Budding, who later partnered with yet another engineer, John Ferrabee, and together they started making mowers in a local factory. Needless to say, the cast iron mower was extremely heavy and impossible to operate by women or children, but still a great step ahead since until then lawns were kept tidy with the help of scythes, sickles and sheers. However, even men found them quite difficult to operate and later models were powered by animal power (using horses) or even by steam engines – none of these mowers were practical since the steam engines took a long time to start and the horses would often destroy every plant in the small house gardens.
A breakthrough in the human-pushed lawn mowers was made by the American Elwood McGuire, who designed a model that was truly lightweight and that model became an instant success. The first gasoline powered, commercially available, lawn mower was introduced in 1902 by Ransomes. Even though the first chain-driven models were made by Thomas Green in 1859, their popularity grew drastically after the World War I and the JP Engineering mowers were best-sellers. In the United States, the first gasoline-powered lawn mowers were manufactured by Clonel Edwin George in 1919.
It wasn’t until the end of World War II that the lawn mowers became extremely common and today they can be found in almost all backyards. The latest technology had made the lawn mowers even more efficient, easier to operate, safer, quieter and environmentally friendlier.
Other articles from this category:
[14/05/2010] What is lawn mower
[14/05/2010] Rotary mowers
[14/05/2010] Types of lawn mowers by rotation
[14/05/2010] Types of lawn mowers by energy source
[14/05/2010] Other types of lawn mowers
[14/05/2010] Safety issues
[14/05/2010] Environmental impact
