lawnmower

History was made last weekend when American Bobby Cleveland won back his record for the world's fastest lawn mower, restoring order to the natural world. Cleveland's former record of 80.833 mph was broken by British driver Don Wales, who swiped it right from under Cleveland's nose with a 87.833 mph record at the Pendine Sands in Wales last May.

But we Yankees practically invented the sport of riding lawn mowers, and if American men are ever going to be able to justify spending $2K on a new John Deere riding mower, the country needed that … Read more

Outdoorsy types are sure to love mobile solar chargers, but what about those who rarely see sunlight? (No, we're not referring to "Twilight.")

Easy Energy will launch the YoGen, a mobile charger that solely relies on hand power. The pocket-size charger lets you generates energy by repeatedly pulling a ripcord, similar to the way a lawnmower is started.

The Las Vegas-based company created this product as a part of its mission to "satisfy the enormous worldwide demand for practical, compact, 'green energy producing' manpowered chargers." Easy Energy is also in the process of launching YoGen … Read more

What's green, weighs 650 pounds, goes 3.5 mph, and costs more than $25,000?

Not something you or I will ever buy, but a gadget golf course superintendents may go gaga over.

The RG3 (Robotic Greens Mower 3) from Precise Path debuted a few weeks ago at the 2009 Golf Industry Show in New Orleans. It's a robot lawnmower that uses two lead acid batteries to run its 24-volt DC motor, and one to run its computer, offering about three hours of mowing before needing to be recharged.

"Our robot could provide the human precision necessary to upkeep, actually better than a human is capable of, and not costing the large amount in intensive labor costs," Precise Path co-founder, president, and CTO Doug Traster told CNET News in a phone interview.

The founders of the company decided to craft a robot lawnmower for the golf industry because they saw a need that could be filled with a bot, and an industry that would not scoff at a hefty price tag for high-tech maintenance equipment. While the company hopes to continue to develop the tech to bring the price down, right now the RG3 has a suggested retail price of $29,500.

In addition to mowing golf greens, the company is developing add-ons for the device that would allow golf course superintendents to use the robots to also mow fairways, rake sand traps, and spot treat with pesticides and fertilizers.… Read more

With yet another autonomous lawnmower rolling out this year, manual mowing looks to be going the way of the antique gershunters coupling hook and iron dibber (warning: photos of old farming tools contained in this link may give you nightmares).

The latest entrant to the field of mowers that let you read a novel while your lawn tidies itself up is the SmartMow by RoboLabs. A kind of Roomba for lawns, the robo-mower moves in a circular pattern within an installed perimeter wire to cut the grass. As an anti-theft measure, you need to activate the device with a security … Read more

Husqvarna plans to show off a solar-powered version of its robotic lawnmower this weekend at the Green Industry and Equipment Expo 2008.

The Stockholm, Sweden-based company originally announced the robot last spring in Europe. This will be its U.S. debut. And what better place to tout a new robotic lawnmower than at a green expo in Kentucky, a state famous for its grass?

Like its original robotic lawnmower, Husqvarna's Automower Solar Hybrid is capable of autonomously maintaining a property of up to a half acre and runs on a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery.

The 22-pound robot works … Read more

If BattleBots were mashed up with Roombas and rumbled in the backyard, it might resemble the hotly competitive landscape of today's robotic lawnmowers. Robo-mowers like the LawnBott and Auto Mower are always searching for new gimmicks to distinguish themselves, such as going hybrid with solar energy.

But the "Robomow" is taking a different tack altogether, introducing a limited edition that celebrates England's St. George's Day. The custom mower, which bears the St. George's Day cross on its hull, has been named "Sir Cut Alot, Mower of the Roundtable," according to U.K.… Read more

Special report: Are we getting iPhones soon? http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9886460-1.html

Taser party! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19353066

Ford Fiesta! It’s back! http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9887525-1.html

You cook, Readybot cleans http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9887236-1.html

Robo-lawnmower goes hybrid http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9887567-1.html

Rotating Sphere Lounger http://dvice.com/archives/2008/03/claustrophobia.php

Toy for children who want to grow up to work at the TSA http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/ toy_for_children_who_want_to_grow_up_to_work_at_the_tsa_9059.asp

A propos (of) nothing (Oh, my god edition) Squeezebox Duet http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/ logitech-squeezebox-duet/4505-6739_7-32815168.html… Read more

Sure, your neighbor may have already put in his order for the next year's hybrid coupe, but what's he using to mow the lawn? Now you can scoff at his old pollution machine while you roll out your shiny new solar-powered model--and best of all, you can watch it do its thing while sipping a martini on the deck.

Not only does the "Automower Solar Hybrid" combine solar energy and electricity while navigating itself around the perimeter, according to Sweden's Husqvarna, but it's also 90 percent recyclable and has no exhaust emissions. The company … Read more

Now this the kind of competition we like to see, resulting in technology that's truly useful--like lawnmowers.

First we saw the "Lawnbott," then the "Auto Mower," and now we have the "GOAT" from Evatech. This mowing monster is strong enough "to pull a fertilizer spreader, climb 45-degree inclines, or even operate as a snowplow," Gizmag says.

But what truly distinguishes the GOAT--which stands for "Go All Terrain"--is its power source: a hybrid motor that runs on both gasoline and electricity. (We also like the remote, which looks just … Read more