Don’t even begin to question the necessity of a jet-powered lawn tractor. Football fields, trimmed in an instant! Lawn tractor pulls, won with ease! A coveted spot—truly—in the Vista, California’s Tractor Museum! All this awaits modder Bruce McDonald.
McDonald’s pet project of outfitting this 1966 Cub Cadet with a Garrett GTP 30-67 gas turbine took him three years and 150 manhours to complete, according to PopSci:
Bruce adapted the guts of a large generator to take 8,000 RPM off the turbine, and with the help of a multi-groove belt, reduced the RPM down to 3,600 on the input side of his original hydrostat drive. He had to make or design many parts including his custom exhaust.
The whole project set him back $8,000, but moved human civilization forward an incalculable amount. [PopSci]
