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British engineer takes world's fastest lawnmower to 143.19 mph

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Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A British man broke a Guinness World Record when he built a riding lawn mower that reaches a speed of 143.19 mph.

Tony Edwards, a mechanical engineer from St. Martins, Shropshire, England, said he became interested in building the world's fastest lawnmower about two years ago.

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"I know that a guy from the U.K. had the record at one point, at 96 mph. Then I think Honda had it at 116mph, and then a team from Norway did it at 132 mph, and I thought I'd give it a try," he told the Shropshire Star.

Edwards said he built the lawnmower from scratch, enlisting the help of a welding expert to help with some of the chassis work.

The lawnmower is powered by a 1300cc unit from a Suzuki motorcycle. Edwards said Guinness also stipulated that the lawn mower had to be able to actually cut grass.

"I had to send videos to Guinness to prove that it was a lawnmower," he said.

Edwards' lawnmower reached a speed of 143.193 mph when he took it for a spin at Elvington Airfield in York, England.

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Edwards said he believes the lawnmower can go faster, but it becomes more dangerous because the front wheels leave the ground, making steering especially difficult.

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