Lawnmower blades

Lawnmower blades
$6 Million Mouse breaks Sobek's arm with its lawnmower blade
Weapon Category	Rotating weapons
Robots
Pioneer(s)	Pain Mower (1994 US competition) Victor (televised series)
Notable Robots	Dough Boy (1997 US competition) Conquering Clown 2, Little Fly (televised series)

Lawnmower blades were a common form of rotating weapon that were seen in earlier Robot Wars events, including the original televised UK and international series.

They initially appeared as early as the original 1994 US competition, with Pain Mower being the first to adopt one. However, uptake of lawnmower blades during this era was otherwise limited compared to other rotating weapons such as cutting discs and flails. Of the early US competitors to be fitted with them, 1997 entry Dough Boy achieved the biggest success, reaching the Semi-Finals of both the Featherweight Face-Off and Featherweight Melee tournaments.

The first robot in televised series to be equipped with lawnmower blades was Victor in Series 2, while the most successful was US competitor Conquering Clown 2, which reached the Grand Final in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors with this weapon.

Definition

The lawnmower blade of Little Fly

Lawnmower blades refer to thin spinning blades made out of plastic or metal, usually taken from a petrol/gas-powered lawnmower. They are lighter and usually more compact than the equivalent bar spinners, with the distinction that lawnmower blades are generally specialised to cut and scratch other robots rather than tear, gouge and concuss.

Because lawnmower blades can bend and warp fairly easily, they were usually mounted at an angle so that the bladed part did not directly strike opponents. Another common method to solidify the weapon was to mount two or more blades vertically and connect them on the ends of a shared axle, as demonstrated by the weapons of Run Away and the Series 5 version of Sabretooth.

It is important to note that some robots which are labeled as having lawnmower blades for weapons do not fall into this category. Robots equipped with blades taken from a push mower, such as Blade, are classified as drum-wielding robots.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Sparks fly as Conqeuring Clown 2's blade hits Unibite 2.0

• Lawnmower blades require less time and money to design and build than most other spinning weapons, and are usually lighter as well.
• Their simplistic design ensures that they are easy to repair or replace between battles.
• Depending on their size and power, lawnmower blades can deal a reasonable amount of damage to opponents' armour and chassis. The weapons of Little Fly, 6 Million Dollar Mouse, the Series 5 version of Sabretooth and Conquering Clown 2 were all able to inflict considerable damage during each robot's appearances.
  • If placed at an angle, a lawnmower blade can easily get at the opponent's underside, further increasing its damage potential.
• They can be compatible with invertible designs, as proven by Jabber and Not Perfect.

Disadvantages

Little Fly's blade had a tendency to jar upon contact with metal, and was unable to damage Mousetrap's weapon as a result

Since Jabber's weaponry was unable to hit Mantis, Mantis could easily pick it up

• Because lawnmower blades are usually very light and thin compared to bar spinners, they have a tendency to bend and break if they sustain too much damage after a certain amount of hits. The blade of Conquering Clown 2, for example, was bent out of shape following repeated attacks from Sir Force A Lot in US Season 2, while Darke Destroyer's weapon compressed on itself by the end of its Series 3 battle with Sgt. Meikle.
• They have a tendency to stop rotating upon making contact with metal, reducing their damage potential against well-armoured robots. Little Fly was especially susceptible to this issue in Series 4, where while it was able to immobilise Weld-Dor 2 and cause damage to Mousetrap's front, it was not able to cut through the latter's trap mechanism.
• Many lawnmower blades can have a small attack area and often leaves them exposed. This was best demonstrated in Jabber's melee, where Mantis was able to avoid the blade entirely to pick up and crush it.

List of Robots with Lawnmower Blades

Robots are listed in alphabetical order.

DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots from the original 1994-1997 US competitions are listed with a purple background.

Robot	Series Appearances with Lawnmower Blades	Notes	Image
6 Million Dollar Mouse	US Season 1	Themed around a mouse's 'nose'.
Araknia	Series 7	Blade supposedly had rare-earth magnets attached to its ends.
B.O.D.	Series 7
Conquering Clown 2	US Season 2	US Season 2 Grand Finalist. Blade was made from solid steel and claimed to spin at up to 10,000rpm according to the team.
Dough Boy	1997 US Championship	Featherweight; first robot built and entered by Tentoumushi's Lisa Winter. Large horizontal steel bar with belt drive and asymmetrically-angled ends, capable of striking and severely damaging opponents at varying heights. 1997 Featherweight Face-Off and Featherweight Melee Semi-Finalist.
Jabber	Series 7	Weapon weighed 4.5kg and spun up to 1,500rpm.
Little Fly	Series 4	Weapon spun at 1,000rpm. Series 4 Heat-Finalist.
Los Gringos Loco	1995 US Championship	Lightweight.
Medusa Oblongata	US Season 1
Nasty Warrior	Extreme 1	Achieved a shock victory over Hypno-Disc in the UK vs Germany battle.
Not Perfect	German Series	Was allowed to compete despite being one kilo overweight, as there were a shortage of German competitors. Finished fifth overall in German Robot Wars.
Pain Mower	1994 US Championship	Lightweight. Victorious in the 1994 Middleweight Escort event, competing as Omega Ex Machina.
Psycho Chicken	US Season 2	16-inch blades rotating at 3,900rpm.
Riptilion	Series 6-7, Extreme 2	Combined an active lawnmower blade with sit-and-spin tactics.
Run Away	US Season 1-2, Nickelodeon	US Season 1 Tag Team Terror runner-up, paired with General Chompsalot. Pair of 30-inch vertical 'sidewheeler' blades rotating at up to 1,000rpm, each mounted on either side of the robot.
Sabretooth	Series 5	Set of front shredding blades rotating at 2,400rpm.
Shrapnel	Series 3
The Darke Destroyer	Series 3	Four-bladed weapon mounted on the rear. Series 3 Heat-Finalist.
The Mulcher	1995 US Championship	An entire 'gas-powered' lawnmower placed at a 45-degree angle and concealed within a large Kevlar composite shell. Disqualified from the Heavyweight Face-Off due to the risk of the blade flinging shrapnel out of the arena.
Victor	Series 2	First UK robot to use a lawnmower blade as a weapon. Weapon was 21 inches long and powered by a motorcycle starter motor. Interchangeable with a flail.
Weld-Dor 3	Series 6, Extreme 2	Rear-mounted blade was 24 inches long.
Wheelosaurus	Series 4	Equipped with a three-bladed cutter in Series 4 only as part of a set of interchangeable spinning weapons.