# Lawnmowers
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawnmowers/507047
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 20, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawnmowers/507047 "2009-08-20T07:10:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lord\_byrus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lord_byrus)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawnmowers/507047/1 "2009-08-20T07:10:47Z")
Is the lawnmower in any way inspired by a design for a scythe-equipped chariot by Leonardo da Vinci? I heard this on the nets and doubt its authenticity, although I believe Leonardo’s design is authentic.
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawnmowers/507047/2 "2009-08-20T08:50:09Z")
I was pretty sure the first mowers were the reel (AKA cylinder) style ones, the old school push mower, and not rotary blade style ones that are far more common these days,
> [@](#):
>
> Edwin Beard Budding (1795 – 1846), an engineer from Stroud, England, was the English inventor of the lawnmower (1830) and adjustable spanner.
>
> Budding got the idea of the lawnmower after seeing a machine in a local cloth mill which used a cutting cylinder (or bladed reel) mounted on a bench to trim the irregular nap from the surface of woollen cloth and give a smooth finish.[[1](http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/nonflash_georgianregency4.shtml)]
>
> He realised that a similar device could be used to cut grass if the mechanism was mounted in a wheeled frame to make the blades rotate close to the lawn’s surface. …[RIGHT][CITE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Beard_Budding)[/RIGHT]
and I was right! 🙂
So now the question is, was the wool cloth nap trimmer in any way inspired by a design for a scythe-equipped chariot by Leonardo da Vinci? 😃
CMC fnord!