Want to Be the next James Dyson ?

[Hysteresis]

I have a fairly new Honda Petrol Lawn mower.
I cut my Lawns every week during the early summer.
I worked out the distance I walk behind this machine and estimate I get about 3-4 miles per gallon out of it. It has the standard, I think, Briggs and Stratton engine, no silencer or other exhaust restrictions so very very basic. But 3-4 miles to a gallon seems ridiculously excessive. A 40 ton Lorry get around 12 to the gallon and look what they are dragging around. I have a 3 litre car and can get 40 miles to the gallon out of it. OK it has engine management systems around it but it also has air con etc to power and of course air resistance to overcome but get 10 times more mpg than that of a silly little petrol mower.
Surely there is a market there for someone to make a killing producing at least a reasonably efficient lawn mower engine.
James Dyson sorted out the complacent Vacuum Cleaner market out, so there is another market to sort out in Lawn mowers, maybe not as big a market as the 'Hoover' market, but surely a lucrative market to sort out.
I haven't the skill, Knowledge, finances or capability to address it but as they say, this is not rocket science.
So come on you mechanical engineering geniuses out there, make yourself a Millionaire, and don't forget me when you do it. The likes of Honda, Toro, Hayter, Qualcast, etc. etc. would love to hear from you.

 

[longdogs]

Maybe a 3ltr sit on mower. Whoooooooooooooaah!

I have never owned a petrol mower but have always been under the impression that they used very little fuel so I am shocked at how few miles per gallon they achieve.

I'm not sure Dyson is a good example though as there appear to be more dysons at the rubbish tip than there are in the shops.

 

[Jackrae]

You seem to be overlooking the fact that a lawnmower is not designed as a transport vehicle - it's designed to mow lawns - the power is consumed in spinning the cutter system. It may have a self-propelled drive, but that is a secondary function.
You cannot compare the two systems and expect to get a meaningful result.

 

[Norcon]

A Honda petrol mower won't have a Briggs and Stratton fitted.

Keeping your blade razor sharp will reduce fuel consumption.

I made a lawnmower once from a car wheel rim with a 240v electric motor mounted in the middle.

It didn't use any petrol.

 

[JBR]

I have never owned a petrol mower but have always been under the impression that they used very little fuel so I am shocked at how few miles per gallon they achieve.

I found those estimated figures hard to believe too. I wonder whether the OP made an error somewhere down the line.

I'm not sure Dyson is a good example though as there appear to be more dysons at the rubbish tip than there are in the shops.

We've had Dysons for years and have found them to be very reliable, if a little on the expensive side. In any event, James Dyson's ideas must have been very sound as so many other manufacturers have 'stolen' his ideas for use in their own products. So much for our patents system!

 

[collisioni]

They don't use much, can't 'alf cause trouble. Leaving unwanted gas in the tank over winters and always topping up without draining will result in blockages and resin build up. Treat the thing like any combustion engine, namely your car. Problem people are generally bone idle, so if you don't service your car don't buy a petrol mower.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Your car won't do 40mpg up and down the lawn.

 

[enyam]

They don't use much, can't 'alf cause trouble. Leaving unwanted gas in the tank over winters and always topping up without draining will result in blockages and resin build up. Treat the thing like any combustion engine, namely your car. Problem people are generally bone idle, so if you don't service your car don't buy a petrol mower.

I've got a 12 yr old mountfieled with a briggs and stratton engine never been serviced starts first pull after the winter after never draining the petrol out,now I've said that the blighter will pack up now.Its had a remodelled body though.

 

[collisioni]

there's always one. Go ask any auto technician of repute.

 

[enyam]

When I left school a long long time ago,went and worked on a farm where there was a lister elevator with a briggs engine,do you think the farmer bothered to have any maintenance on it,did he hell as like and the blooming thing would start every time,might have taken a few hundred pulls but it worked.

 

[collisioni]

Car manufacturers as with other machines have servicing routines, This is to ensure the machine works as it should for a long time as if it was new. A machine is meant to save humans from effort. Pull a rope 100 times in the winter or rain is exactly why routine servicing is the proper thing, it also prevents pulling muscles or joints.

 

[Hysteresis]

Someone questioned my mpg estimate. Well it is really very simple My Lawn is 30 yards long and after mowing I scounted the stripe, there were 45 stripes, equating to 1350 yards equaling approx 0.76 miles. That took one filling of the Mower petrol tank of 1.1 litres equals 0.2 Gallons, that works out to 3.8 mpg.
Not very difficult to estimate.

I of course understand that a mower is designed for cutting grass and not powering a car, but the point is being missed. The engine is a Prime Mover of a mechanical machine. As such a comparison to a Car is valid. A litre of fuel produces a turning moment which is used to move a piece mechanical equipment. A lawn mower cuts the gras and moves a machine and that is all. The work done is comparatively small compared the the work done by a car engine powering a Ton of metal on Rubber tyres and also having to power the Air Con and the electrics of the vehicle and has to over come the power absorbed by the Catalytic Convertor and Silencers and of course wind resistance. A car has to lift the car up banks etc and still I manage 40 mpg.
My point is that the Mower engine appears to be very very inefficient and has been from new. It is serviced annually and the cutter blades are sharp.
So in conclusion, the work done per litre of fuel is astounding less that the work done by my car engine.
Surely some smart engine designer can determine why this is the case.
My comparison to Dyson has nothing to do with the quality of the Vacuum cleaner and is only a parallel drawn to to highlight that James Dyson challenged the accepted design of an established machine, won, and made Millions in the process.

 

[enyam]

I wonder if we were to get the woman folk to mow the grass whether there would be interest.

 

[LastMagicBean]

Just walk faster.

 

[Hysteresis]

Just walk faster.

Time was never mentioned or matters.