The History of the Lawn Mower
Lawn mower started its lawn and garden invasion in early 19th century when an English engineer named Edwin Budding. Budding was working on a textile factory when he observed the movement of the machine cutting the cloth. This served as the inspiration for creating the lawn mower.
When Budding’s lawn mower was made is was for sports grounds and expensive gardens as a replacement to the scythe. The lawn mower that he made was cylinder or reel-type mower. It almost looks like the classic reel, current, environmental friendly lawn mower that we have right now.
After 10 years, this simple machine finally was able to be worked with a horse or a donkey. And then it took another 60 years before a steam-powered lawn mower was built.
When lawn tennis, croquet, cricket, football and rugby started to became popular, the use of lawn mower also started to become popular. Using lawn mower became more efficient that using the scythe. This prompted people to start discovering ways to make lawn mowers efficient. The first steam-powered lawn mower was patented in 1893 by James Summer of Lancashire. There were also experiments to use petrol and gas to power the mowers.
During the 1870, Elwood McGuire of Richmond, Indiana designed a lawn mower which is lighter and easier to push. Because of this, by 1885, 50,000 lawnmowers were being manufactured every year and sent out to different parts of the globe. Mowers with multiple sets of blades was first made in the United States by a Mister Worthington.
At the end of the 19th century, in the same year when the multiple blades was built in the United States, they also made their first gasoline powered mowers. However, these discoveries on the lawn mower had to stop because of World War II. The United States economy experienced economic downfall that made people prioritize food other than equipment.
Prior to the war, many people have experimented with rotary blades, especially during the late 1920s and the early 1930s. A farmer in the Midwest region of the United States had a concept of using a toothed circular saw blade mounted horizontally on a vertical shaft. This would be suspended and would cut the grass in the lawn in the same height.
This man’s name is Stacy, although he did not patent his discoveries on the mower, he asserted and claimed that the rotary moving blades of the mower was his idea. As a matter of fact, his family still has the prints and illustrations which are authentically dated during this period. Stacy died in 1993.
After the World War II, the lawn mowers became such a demand. As a matter of fact, by the early 1960s, there were some people who would say that if all the lawn mowers would start at the same time, it could be heard worldwide.
Today, there are limitless possibilities for the lawn mower and other garden maintenance equipment. For gasoline-run lawn mowers, there are low emission gasoline engines. These engines lessen air pollution. Battery operated lawn mowers are also starting to be used by more and more people. Currently, you can also experience sitting and standing riding lawn mowers.
Lawn mowers are continually evolving. For some people, mowing your lawn not only reflects how healthy and how attractive your lawn could be. It also gives a feeling of order, and for some the smell of freshly cut grass is relaxing.
Possibly related posts:
