Huge Push Lawn Mower Powered By Gas Pump Engine

Huge Push Lawn Mower Powered By Gas Pump Engine AG WORLD Robert Foster of Eden Prairie Minn recently sent us photos taken in 1913 of an unusual push lawn mower powered by a Singer gas pump engine It was equipped with 2 flywheels The engine chain-drove a shaft on front that operated the mower blades “I’ve never seen another machine like this anywhere ” says Foster “I don’t know anything about it other than what you can see in the photo There’s nothing to indicate the mower brand The mower has small caster wheels on front and large handlebars on back so maybe it was designed to be horse-drawn “The photos belonged to my partner Dorothy Rockne whose family were early settlers in the area We were going through some of her old photos when this one jumped out It shows Henry Vollhardt standing in front of the Blooming Prairie Minn school at which he was employed as the custodian “We have another photo of my partner’s mother with the same mower so we were able to date the machine back to 1913 “It was an awfully heavy machine and looks like it was custom made It would have required a lot of effort to operate ” says Foster “The pump engine alone weighed 150 to 200 lbs It wasn’t self-propelled and rode on small wheels so I’m sure it was hard to push around The engine probably produced 1 1/2 to 2 hp “I was born in 1932 and remember as a child seeing a somewhat similar mower on our farm It was put together by a neighbor who mounted a water pump on a plywood platform that was used to belt-drive sickle sections riveted onto a horizontal disc blade It would cut weeds like you wouldn’t believe but was dangerous to use ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Robert Foster 6760 Tartan Curve Eden Prairie Minn 55346 ph 952 934-9483

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