Never before has 253 cubic inches looked more “overkill” than in this package. Yes, you’re looking at a Holden V8-powered John Deere riding mower. Created simply to burn off tires, this is well above and beyond that almost three thousand dollar contraption that the dork of the neighborhood bought in an effort to look cool. It doesn’t mow grass anymore, but the warmed over Holden motor will let him know who is really the boss when the clutch is engaged and the tires start spinning. While a stock engine would’ve been just fine, this one’s been treated to a Crane cam, Edelbrock intake and a four-barrel swap. There really isn’t a cooling system to speak of, though, so a good burnout is all of the running this Deere does at a time. Be honest: would you ride it any faster than a standard lawn mower? This isn’t the first one that Scott, the owner, has built, either…his first one could still cut grass. With all of the water from the snow, come summer we may need to borrow that one.
My co-worker was planning to do something similar with a Simplicity tractor and the 10,000rpm 283 Chevy out of his old mud truck. He told me he got thinking about U-joint spinning underneath his manhood and what would happen if it came apart and he decided to put the 283 back in the corner of the shop and sell the tractor off