COLOGNE, Germany – Sounding like something Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies would jump at the chance to use, a German company has developed a luxury lawnmower that uses a laser to cut grass. After all, laser beams can cut through metal, so why not through grass?
Wolf and Garden, a manufacturer of traditional lawnmowers, said its new lawnmower does away with old-fashioned blades or wires and slices grass by laser, cutting it so finely that the pieces can simply stay on the ground as fertilizer. The low-noise laser cutter is integrated on the front wing of the unit.
Pictured is Juergen Goos driving the "Zero" lawnmower, which is fashioned from a Mercedes Smart cabriolet car. According to the company, the two-seat convertible is powerful enough to be registered for road use – and would cost as much as a fine car: $30,000.
The company presented the machine at the "Gafa" international gardening and recreation fair held Sept. 3-5 in Cologne. If there's enough interest by dealers attending the fair, it will go into production with an anticipated release in 2002.
Photo by Frank Augstein (AP).