Forbes has a couple of the country's fastest mowers.
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Yep, you read that right.
Forbes locals have ranked third and fifth in this year's Australian Ride On Lawn Mower Racing titles in Shepparton.
Craig Bratton claimed third in A Grade at the national titles on his ride-on, which has a fuel-injected CBR 300 engine in it.
David Teale was not far behind in fifth on his modified Greenfield 30 inch cut, with a two-stroke 250cc motor.
Bratton, Teale and Craig Bourke have been racing together for a couple of years now, they heard about the sport and joined the Australian Ride-On Lawn Mower Racing Association.
Bratton started working to modify their mowers for racing, and "we've been racing as much as we can ever since".
Racing takes place on track about 400m long, the mowers reaching estimated speeds of 90km/hr.
"It's a lot of fun, great people," Teale says.
"It's a very cheap motor sport to get into, and very family oriented."
Their trip to Shepparton was their second tilt at the titles.
The larger competitions, Teale says, draw competitors of all ages.
Now they're bringing mower racing to this district, with a series across the district's shows.
The series got underway at the Parkes shire shows, the locals have been racing at Parkes for two years now, and continued with a demonstration at Bedgerabong Show.
Craig Bourke took out the Bedgerabong leg of the series, which will conclude at Cowra Show in October.
They're hoping to get some more competition for the Forbes leg of the series.
You don't have to have a fully modified mower to be part of the fun: Tullamore had a race for people who had simply removed the blades for safety reasons.
"We had about seven in it, it was great fun," Hall said.
They would be keen to do the same at Forbes Show if people would like to give it a go, contact Forbes Show secretary Jan on 6852 1311 or forbesshow@gmail.com to enter.
Competition continues at Eugowra on September 14: email secretary@eugowrashow.com.au or phone Sarah on 0428 797 247.
Full modified mowers in a separate class of racing have a more powerful motor.
There's $2000 in prize money up for grabs for the brand new Central West series, which wraps up in Cowra in October.
If you're interested in lawn mower racing competition, you can find specifications and rules for racing on the Australian Lawn Mower Racing Association website www.arolmra.net/ or Facebook page
You can also talk to the local competitors and check out their mowers at the Forbes or Eugowra shows.
