FOCUS: GARDENING TECHNOLOGY
FOCUS: GARDENING TECHNOLOGY
L derived
awns
have
been
the centre piece of British gardens for a long time and the fashion for closely cropped grass
emerged in England in the 17th century at the homes of wealthy landowners. The first lawnmowers had four legs and went ‘baa’, but large numbers of staff wielding scythes slowly took over the role in these stately homes. One of the earliest references to a British domestic lawn is a ledger entry confirming the purchase of turf for the London home of the Earl of Gloucester in the 13th century. The world’s
first mechanical
lawnmower appeared in Britain in 1830, invented by Edward Beard Budding. Ransomes, Simms and Jefferies of Ipswich began larger scale mower production in 1832. The phrase ‘Shanks’ Pony’ is from the
horse-drawn
lawnmower produced by Alexander Shanks in Arbroath in the 1840s. It was not until 1902 that Ransomes introduced the first commercially available lawnmower powered by gasoline.
Prime Minister David Lloyd
George triggered the first new home building boom with his ‘Home fit for Heroes’ campaign, announced on the day after the First World War Armistice. His, in turn, increased the number of gardens and lawns. Although it has to be said that the vast majority of lawnmowers used in this period were hand-push machines.
“Did you know that grass stops growing when night temperatures fall below 44.6 F or 7C?”
Petrol power Petrol-powered lawnmowers were given a boost in 1921 when Charles H Pugh launched his ATCO (Atlas Chain Company) Standard machine. From an initial production run of just 900 machines costing £75 each, it increased to tens of thousands within five years. All these machines were cylinder mowers that has a cutting action similar to scissors and this, combined with the rear roller, created the quintessentially British lawn stripes. The next significant innovation
28 DIY WEEK JUNE 2022
Briggs & Stratton 475iSi Integrated InStart with Mow N’Stow
A QUIET
BRITAIN’S GARDENS
REVOLUTION IN
A quiet revolution is rolling out across the 20 million domestic lawns in Britain’s gardens as lithium ion batteries increasingly take over the role of powering our lawnmowers and other garden equipment from petrol, according to gardening industry expert, Graham Paskett.
was in the early 1960s with the launch of the hover rotary lawnmower – the Flymo. Produced in both petrol and mains electric, it took the market by storm and led to the ‘Hover wars’.
Cleaner and greener
Early attempts to build battery powered lawnmowers were not a huge success as technology made them unreliable with very limited running times and recharges taking several hours. A numbers of factors helped
drive forward their popularity but perhaps the most powerful has been the awakening of environmental considerations. Petrol powered machines are regarded as being bad for the environment; emitting exhaust fumes to atmosphere, being noisy to operate and often with poor fuel economy. Battery, on the other hand,
does not create such difficulties. STIGA UK is one of the UK battery
Graham Whitney - Gary Whitney, Managing Director of STIGA UK
Ian Small - Sales and Marketing Manager, Briggs & Stratton
capable of mowing 8,000sqm on a single charge. We believe more consumers will switch to battery mowers and garden equipment as they look for cleaner and greener alternatives in the future.” But during Covid, sales
of
brand leaders and has the largest range of battery powered ride on lawnmowers. Gary Whitney, managing director of STIGA UK, says: “Batteries are, without doubt, the future of UK powered garden machinery. They tick all the environmental boxes. Our European designed and produced battery technology is at the forefront of the industry and tested for real life working conditions. We have powered
battery ride-on lawnmowers
petrol-powered garden machinery increased and Briggs & Stratton, a major brand leader for many years, has invested heavily in recent years to reduce the environmental impact of its engines used in garden products. “Both petrol and battery have their ‘raison d’etre’- reason for existence,” says Ian Small, sales and marketing manager for Briggs & Stratton UK. “They fulfil different needs. If you need more power because you want to cut through thick and wet grass, or if you have a big lawn, you will need a petrol-powered machine as batteries will not be able to perform in such harsh conditions. This is why we think petrol will always play a role in the market.”
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