The lawn mowers are back and ready to race

Lawn mower racing - grassroots racing at its best. Photo/John Borren

Lawn mower racing is one of the most enjoyed and action-packed events at The Central District Field Days.

If only I had known, I could have modified my old ride-on and been part of the action.

If you are keen to watch some exciting action, make sure you make your way to The Central District Field Days from March 14 to 16 at Manfield, in Feilding.

A group of enthusiasts will be bringing their homebuilt and modified mowers, and will be ready to race.

They don’t just race along a paddock, they race on a specially-made track close to the agricultural pavilion.

So, bring your most comfy chair and settle in to watch some great racing. These little monsters can reach speeds of up to 60km/h.

This is what I would call grassroots racing, nothing flash, just a bunch of enthusiastic people who love building and racing lawnmowers. It is also affordable. Well, look at me, I have an old ride-on mower in my garage... who doesn’t?

It is great fun for a couple of backyard mechanics who love to tinker, and it is great fun for any budding mechanic in the family.

While we are talking lawn mowers, there is a serious side to this, and there are rules and regulations set down by a national body, New Zealand Lawn Motor Racing. Racing classes are determined by motor size, and all mowers must run on 98-octane fuel only. Safety and sportsmanship are paramount in a sport where Kiwi no 8 wire ingenuity is a must - as is a good sense of humour.

Exciting, and a ton of fun to watch... you will want to be there to watch all of this action.

You may even want to check out if there is a club in your area because I am sure once you have watched this lawn mower racing you are going to scour the website and papers looking for an old ride-on lawn mower so you can be part of the action - sorry, mine is already spoken for.