Lawn mower history

Given how crazy the English are about lawns, it should come as no surprise to discover that the idea of a machine to cut grass was the brainchild of a Gloucestershire based freelance Engineer Edwin Beard Budding. It is a little surprising to know that he thought up the potential of a lawn mower as long ago as 1830! It seems he may have been inspired by watching a wool cloth having its nap removed by a machine in a textile mill and his patent of 25 October, 1830 described "a new combination and application of machinery for the purpose of cropping or shearing the vegetable surfaces of lawns, grass-plats and pleasure grounds." It goes on to suggest that, "country gentlemen may find in using my machine themselves, an amusing, useful and healthy exercise." One of the first Budding machines was used in Regent's Park, Zoological Gardens England, in 1831.

Manufacture of domestic lawn mowers began in the 1850s. JP Engineering of Leicester, founded after World War One, produced a range of popular chain driven mowers. At this time, an operator would ride behind animals that pulled the large mowing machines, so in a sense these were the first riding mowers.

Lawn mowers swiftly became a more efficient alternative to simply relying on gardeners and local boys wielding scythes which resulted in an uneven cut or putting up with bare patches where domesticated animals grazed the grass to the ground.

Numerous manufacturers entered the field with gasoline driven mowers after the turn of the century, but Rotary mowers were not developed until engines were small and powerful enough to run the blades at a high speed

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