by Clif Bolton

Recently, while on vacation in eastern Tennessee  I came across this old riding mower at a LaFollette flea market. I traded the purveyor of used goods even-up a slightly rusty 410 single shot that I bought at a yard sale on my way down and had tucked behind the seat of my motor home.

I strapped the old mower to the spare tire of the Winnebago and hauled it home. After doing some research I discovered that this is quite possibly one of a limited edition distributed throughout eastern Tennessee by a major lawn mower manufacturer during the mid 50's

This one has the shock absorbing beer can holder and rare banana seat and since it was in good overall condition I decided to give it a total restoration although I haven't been able to locate the original type coon tail streamers for the handle bar grips.  I considered substituting squirrel tails since I have a vast supply of squirrels in my back yard that have become peanut beggars. But, I just couldn't bring myself to do it although I thought it might be fun to watch them try to balance on electrical lines without tails. 

Actually, it's something that I conjured up in my mind and created in my workshop on a rainy day. I bought the old, junky 3 wheel bicycle at the local auction house and endured the snickering from my packrat piers as I loaded it into my mini-van. I knew at first sight it was a perfect candidate for my visionary creation. Hopefully, I can sell the no longer needed front wheel at my next yard sale and re-coop some of my investment.
   
It actually works although steering is a bit tricky.