Case of The Mondays: Four Oil Drums + Riding Lawnmower = a Homebuilt Jet Ski?

Lawnmower-Drives-on-WATER

Wow, just wow! This is one of the most ridiculous contraptions we have seen, a lawnmower turned into possibly, the loosest use of the name “jet ski.” A YouTube video from Erik Moorhouse shows his contraption “built this from an old lawn mower using 55-gallon drums for the wheels.” Seated on the riding lawn mower surrounded by four big blue 55-gallon barrels at the axles, the machine sputters and coughs. It gives the video a sort of foreboding feel, like we know that the thing is going to eventually peter out, leaving Erik stranded.

And sure enough, that is exactly what happens. After Erik carefully backs the “ski” around using his steering wheel and one of his hands to guide the barrels so he can straighten out his riding machine,.he gets it moving very slowly for a few seconds and then finally bogs the engine in the middle of the pond. As Erik writes, “it worked pretty well until the welds broke on the barrels and the rear axle housing broke in half.”

In desperation, Erik can be heard asking, “Grab the toaster from my tool box and throw it to me!” No, not twine, not string, not even an extension cord. No, grab the toaster. The video is absolutely absurd. We guess creating fun toys are one of the many things that people in the country do when bored. At least Erik was innovative and the machine may have been successful if the he had his welds held together.

Ocean Priselac
Ocean Priselac
An avid mountain and bodyboarder who lives by "if you don't go, you'll never know," with an affinity for wildlife and animal rescue; surf forecasting is a huge part of Ocean's life and was a winner in Red Bull's Project Swell several years ago. The 2014 LB2CAT was her first jet ski competition and can't wait to do it again!

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