Son of Frankenmower

Allow me to digress a moment, if I may.  There is a section of lawn at the farm which is fenced in.  The area is right in front of the house, and it’s not accessible to a big lawnmower.  Frankly I don’t get to cut the grass often enough, so it gets kind of thick.  Finding a good mower has been harder than you would think.

Modern lawnmower designs seem tailored to mulch or bag.  All I want to do is cut the grass and blow it out the side.  I haven’t been able to find one yet which does this well in heavy grass.  They all have small discharges and restrictive safety guards.  Enter Frankenmower.

My Dad bought Frankenmower in the 1960’s for his dad.  He claims the salesman told him, “This is the last mower you will ever need to buy,” and it seems to be true.  It has a great cast aluminum deck, a huge side discharge, and virtually no safety features.  I traded my sister another mower for it a couple of years ago, and it works great.

Last year the 40+ year old B&S motor on Frankemower finally gave up.  I grafted in a modern B&S motor from a Home Depot special, and Son of Frankenmower was born.  I’ve added one safety feature, a deadman clutch.

This thing cuts like no mower you’ve ever seen!  It roars; it shakes; it requires safety glasses, long pants, and heavy boots; but it works great.

Of course you couldn’t pair such a machine with a modern plastic enviro-weenie gas can.  Note the genuine NATO-surplus gerry can, properly marked for unleaded gasoline.