Lawn tractor land speed record

So, I've been looking around on the internet and junk...and...

The honda boys cheating a little in my opinion. Not much left of a lawn mower any more except maybe some body work. Even though they claim the opposite. Apparently the guinness world record people think it's a big deal if it can still cut grass. I personally think that they should stick to records like longest time spent in a tree or most amount of marbles in someones mouth, that kind of thing.


But anyway, 116.575mph Impressive, but you could have left the motorcycle engine on the machine that it came with from the factory and probably went faster.




Actual lawn mower engine and transaxle which is pretty neat. And the wing for looks, uh...but they did take it off finally. 80.792mph




These guys. Don't know what kind of setup they've got, but it sounds like a mower engine in the video. 86.069mph


So basicly, anyone know anything else about the lawn mower speed record? How fast have you guys gone? I know fearless front's mini has gone 60mph or so if I remember correctly. Which doesn't make 80mph seem as neat. One of you guys had a video of a full size mower at 50 something too, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, what do you guys think?

stretch did like 60 video is on his tubes

mr.modified wrote:

How fast have you guys gone?

I think I was going about three times the speed of light, when I sped down that hill backwards and out of control!!!

i dont consider that the worlds fastest it have a vtwin from honda motor cycle sooooo they need to redue it use a regular honda "riding mower" engine and do it over in my book but of course when u have money like they eas giving anything is possible lol

MTD2fst4u wrote:

i dont consider that the worlds fastest it have a vtwin from honda motor cycle sooooo they need to redue it use a regular honda "riding mower" engine and do it over in my book but of course when u have money like they eas giving anything is possible lol

I agree.

That honda that is in the first video is not a riding mower. It is a racing cart with a deck hung off of it.

If you want to claim a speed record as a riding mower, then KEEP it riding mower!

Angchor wrote:

MTD2fst4u wrote:

i dont consider that the worlds fastest it have a vtwin from honda motor cycle sooooo they need to redue it use a regular honda "riding mower" engine and do it over in my book but of course when u have money like they eas giving anything is possible lol

I agree.

That honda that is in the first video is not a riding mower. It is a racing cart with a deck hung off of it.

If you want to claim a speed record as a riding mower, then KEEP it riding mower!

yeessss lol so true in my book!!

Moose wrote:

stretch did like 60 video is on his tubes

Ah yeah, that's what I was thinking of... So besides the guinness record of 116mph, Where can we find what the lawn mower speed record actually is at right now? I see the Southern California timing assosiation sanctions speed runs at bonneville, but I can't find anything lawn mower related so far. More research to do...

Mr.modified your 3rd video is bobby cleveland. He is the record land speed holder on a lawn mower ( that still cuts grass) at 96.529. Thats the real lawnmower speed record as far as i know. The honda in my eyes is not a lawn mower. Its a small car. 
Here is a link to Bobby Cleveland land speed run vid

Angchor wrote:

If you want to claim a speed record as a riding mower, then KEEP it riding mower!

True... But this raises a question:


Where do you draw the line? As you increase speed, you perform modifications to facilitate that speed. At exactly what point does it STOP becoming a riding mower?

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Angchor wrote:

If you want to claim a speed record as a riding mower, then KEEP it riding mower!

True... But this raises a question:


Where do you draw the line? As you increase speed, you perform modifications to facilitate that speed. At exactly what point does it STOP becoming a riding mower?

It IS a bit of a vicious circle.

And my experience has usually been that the only way out of a vicious circle, is, well.... Vicious.

Ok, I wrote a bunch of stuff, and then deleted all of it. Because it really does boil down to being vicious about getting out of that vicious circle. (This will probably get long again, anyway. It's not an easy question to answer.)

To directly answer the question... At what point does it stop being a riding mower? That should be obvious. At the point where you decide to put something on it that did not come as an option for that mower.

The moment you put on external brakes. The moment you swap in different axles, wheels off of an atv, etc.

If you are going to claim the record for a riding mower, then it should BE a riding mower. With all the restrictions that are naturally there. If the brakes you have will not let you safely go over 20MPH, then there is your speed record!

When you remove the restrictions, you are making it no longer a 'riding mower', and you now have a 'modified riding mower'.

If a riding mower will go 7MPH max, from the factory... And will go maybe twice that, if you keep everything stock, but adjust and grease, etc... Then the record for that riding mower is 14MPH.

The instant you swap pullies, put on better bearings, axles, brakes, etc, then you are driving a modified version of the riding mower.

Lets say your high school track team is going up for an event. Now let's say that the coach of the other high school track team brings in ringers. Olympic athletes.

When his team wins, should the win be labeled a win for a high school track team? No. Because it wasn't a high school track team that won. It was olympic athletes.

Even though that team was put on the track by that other high school... Calling it a win for that high school, would be ludicrous.

When you build a complete racing chassis, and slap a motor from a lawn tractor, and maybe the console, hood, seat, fenders, etc... on it... You are NOT driving a lawn tractor. You are driving a racing cart that is similar to a lawn tractor.

I personally think that you should have to start with a lawn tractor transaxle, engine block, and probably the chassis too. Although that's only because I want to see how fast you could go using a lawn tractor transaxle and engine. I don't see much difference in having the ability to mow grass or not. The mower deck is just an attachment really the way I see it. Like a plow or snow blower. That's why the things were/are called lawn tractors or garden tractors. Because people used to use them for plowing your garden and different things, not just mowing the grass like most are used for these days. Angchor has a point though, you can't really change too much and still call it a lawn mower/tractor. But at least most of these guys have something which is pretty close, that honda deal is almost completely scratch built. Too bad more people didn't get a kick out of it, then you could have different classes. The honda type thing would be in a sort of unlimited class, with rules just covering appearance and wheelbase/width. Then you could have a class for stuff made starting with mostly stock parts.

Agreed. I have no qualms about ditching the attachments.
And even getting rid of the associated hardware and safety switches.

And I have no problems with modifications. It makes sense to modify a bunch of things, as you get faster.

All I am saying is that once you start modifying, then don't call it a lawn tractor anymore. Make sure that "modified" gets into the title, if you are going for some kind of speed record.

Setting a speed record with a modified tractor and then claiming it is a speed record for a lawn tractor... is like not being "special", and running in the special olympics, then claiming that the victory means something.

I'm still looking around to see exactly what kind of rules these guys have to follow. All the cool stuff on the internet is hard to find.

i agree with all yall if it goes over 20mph then its not a lawn mower. in my eyes in order for it to stay a "mower" it musty have a vertical engine it must still have the transaxle and do below 20. if over that no its not a mower. people are putting horizontals in them and putting clutches in them and calling them mowers. just6 cause its on the chassis doesnt mean anything, but with my racer im putting a gearbox running to a 1in axle with disc brakes and chains and sprockets so i really cant say too much cause id be making fun of myself.

So the world fastes mower is?

CornShuck4CE wrote:

So the world fastes mower is?

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/6000/fastest-lawnmower

87 MPH.

Found a video. It is NOT a mower. Doesnt even look like one...

Need to read the other post lil buddy. Thats the fastest ulimited mower. 

The 104 octain mower still has a transaxel and a vertical motor.

I've seen Bobby's mower in real life. 820 with billet hubs/ aluminum rims with kart tires all the way around. High speed bearings. 8" rotor and hydro caliper. I don't think it has a jack shaft, might have a internal gear set. 20 hp vanguard I think. Has a front end similar to most racing mowers, abeam with flat stock and two heims for the king pins. Dimond plate wing. Looks like it was a dynamark. Has the stock Pam frame but maybe some bracing.

Pretty neat, where was that on display somewhere?

mr.modified wrote:

Pretty neat, where was that on display somewhere?

New York's Syracuse nationals. A crazy huge car show.

Mad Mudder wrote:

in my eyes in order for it to stay a "mower" it musty have a vertical engine it must still have the transaxle

That's great- except not all machines came factory with vertical shaft engines or transaxles!

Unless you go unlimited, you're limited...

WHAT?

Yes. There's only so much that can be done with "stock" parts, whatever stock may be. One example would be the engine. Let's take a Briggs Vanny twin, say... 18hp. Now- Bolt a bunch of speed parts on there. Is it still a mower/OPE engine? I don't think so! Hell- sooner or later, sometimes even the block itself gets to be an aftermarket part! So while the engine may somewhat resemble an OPE engine, it isn't.

So whaddya got? Well- Any stock-ish OPE engine, you're gonna get MAYBE 6000 RPM out of. That's a limiting factor. Road speed is a result of wheel RPM. Wheel RPM is a direct result of engine RPM.

And on, and on, and on.

In the strictest sense, Angchor is right. The word "Modified" should be used.

I also scoffed at that Honda "mower" when I saw it. It seemed to me to be so far past a "Mower" and more an exercise in a "Thing that goes fast with weed wacker to cut the grass as an after thought".

Then I chuckled, as I see Garage Mechanics, Rednecks, Country Boys, and everything other possibility; creating machines from ACTUAL tractors and mowers (Modified Tractors\Mowers for the sake of being accurate) and hitting 40-60+ mph with the original engine or a larger one off another mower\tractor.

I give it a year, two maybe, before someone in the USA takes a real Tractor\Mower and modifies it and beats the Honda.

I hope they find a way with a Vertical or Horizontal mower engine, even with the limitations Doc and others have mentioned. Who needs to spend that much money to make a machine that can cut grass too?

That's great- except not all machines came factory with vertical shaft engines or transaxles!

Unless you go unlimited, you're limited...

WHAT?

Yes. There's only so much that can be done with "stock" parts, whatever stock may be. One example would be the engine. Let's take a Briggs Vanny twin, say... 18hp. Now- Bolt a bunch of speed parts on there. Is it still a mower/OPE engine? I don't think so! Hell- sooner or later, sometimes even the block itself gets to be an aftermarket part! So while the engine may somewhat resemble an OPE engine, it isn't.

So whaddya got? Well- Any stock-ish OPE engine, you're gonna get MAYBE 6000 RPM out of. That's a limiting factor. Road speed is a result of wheel RPM. Wheel RPM is a direct result of engine RPM.

And on, and on, and on.
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if it came with a horizontal keep that engine but if it had a vertical keep it and modify it I just believe in keeping mower parts not putting racing gokart parts and all that stuff. But there are also thing on a stock mower that cannot handle the types of speed some people want out of them like brakes and tires and the steering I just believe in lawn mower parts most of the time but by all means its up to them

I think the mowrons have the right idea just gear up a 820 and maybe a couple other mods for stability at high speeds

Moose wrote:

I think the mowrons have the right idea just gear up a 820 and maybe a couple other mods for stability at high speeds

I agree. I just wish em gears wernt so high.