Norwegian Speed Factory, a team of top engineers that work in the world of motorsport, have created the fastest lawn mower in the world, with a record breaking top speed of 133.5 miles per hour. This new top speed smashed the previous record of just under 117 mph, which was set the year before.
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Working with lawn mower manufacturer Viking, Norwegian Speed Factory spent several months rebuilding the Viking T6, adding a roll cage and renovating the grass clippings collection box to make way for a bigger fuel tank and engine cooling system. The rebuild also involved putting in a 408 horsepower V8 engine, and putting race car tyres on to provide the slickness needed for the fastest lawnmower ever made.
The top speed, verified by Guinness World Records, was achieved on 5th November at Torp Sandefjord airport in Norway, although the land lawnmower speed record looked to be in jeopardy to begin with, as the weather conditions made the task almost impossible. The first run did not go as planned, as the engine filled up with water and the runway was too slippery to get a speed higher than the previous world record. However, after a short spell to dry out and another few attempts driver Pekka Lundefaret managed to reach the heady speed of 133.5 mph. In dry conditions it could have been possible to reach even higher speeds, but we will have to wait and see if they decided to recreate the record attempt in better weather.
The lawnmower that had held the title of “World’s Fastest” until this point was a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor, modified by Team Dynamics, who work with Honda to create their race vehicles for the British Touring Car Championships. The modifications to the outgoing champion of the fastest lawnmower in the world included adding the engine from a 1,000cc motorcycle, a six speed gearbox, bespoke suspension and quad bike tyres. Perhaps the slick racing tyres used by the Norwegian Speed Factory team made all the difference compared to the more knobbly quad bike tyres.
The Honda model was affectionately known as the “Mean Mower”, and was driven by Piers Ward, a motoring journalist, during the record setting IDIADA Proving Ground, Spain. Like the Viking T6, the Honda Mean Mower still functions as a lawn mower, as without the cutting deck in full working order the machine cannot be classed as a lawn mower, and therefore is ineligible to compete for the top lawnmower speed record.
The “Mean Mower” hit a top speed of 116.57 mph in 2014, beating the previous record time of 96.5 mph, set four years previously. In just five years, the world’s fastest lawnmower has gone from a top speed of under 100 mph to nearly 135 mph, 40 mph faster. Who knows what speeds we will be looking at in another five years?
Of course, the souped up Viking T6 is not for commercial sale; despite still having the mowing deck attached plus the option to reattach the grass clippings collection box, it is not designed for leaving a neat finish on the lawn. It would certainly get the job done quickly, although perhaps to the consternation of the neighbours; the engine is a lot louder than most petrol mowers and the speeds at which it would fly round the garden would make most people stay safely indoors. One can only hope that the technology being used to create these high-speed lawn mowers eventually makes it to the domestic models, or better yet, to the world of lawn mower racing.