Going green on the greens - the Mow Cycle pedal-powered riding mower

18:58 March 12, 2010

The Mow Cycle human-powered riding mower (Photo: Justin Steiner, Dirt Rag magazine)

If the stereotype is to be believed, guys who use gas lawn mowers would love to someday own a riding mower - after all, few things could be more macho than doing circuits of your lawn sitting on a miniature tractor with spinning blades on the bottom. But what about suburbanites who use non-polluting push mowers? What bigger and better type of lawn mower can they fantasize about? Until recently, that would have been a hard question to answer, but now the solution is here... yes, it’s the human-powered Mow Cycle riding mower.

The Mow Cycle is essentially a heavy-duty recumbent tricycle with a reel mower on the bottom. So far, only one exists. It was created by New Hampshire bicycle-builder Ted Wojcik and his son Cody, a mechanical engineer. Wojcik told us that it was inspired by a request from a client who claimed to have “the world’s greatest talent for blowing up gasoline-powered lawn mowers.”

This client had been using a reel mower towed behind an old mountain bike, but contacted Ted about upgrading. The Mow Cycle was the result. It has apparently been successfully mowing lawns since last August.

In February, the Mow Cycle was displayed at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Virginia. “It has created an overwhelming amount of interest since the showing,” said Wojcik, “It would be almost impossible to ignore the potential.”

To that end, Ted and Cody are now trying to raise capital to go into production. The current trike has an internally-geared five-speed rear hub with a coaster brake, which helps keep the fiddly bits from getting clogged with grass clippings. Wojcik plans to used a fixed gear rear hub on future models, so they can be pedaled backwards when needed.

If you’ve got a lot of grass to cut, a desire to stay in shape, and a reluctance to pollute, the Mow Cycle could be for you. It’ll also make the other guys on your block green with envy.

Via Dirt Rag