Clean Cut Across America (UPDATE)

While the actual 2,000-mile Clean Cut Across America trip may have ended on May 10 in Sacramento, Calif., the real mission has only just begun for Dixie Chopper and the LP3000 propane-powered mower.

National Sales Manager Matt Land may have completed his Indiana-to-California mission in a little less than three weeks, but the adventure continues and has taken on a life of its own.

Since Land has returned to Greencastle and Coatesville, he has been interviewed by USA Today and WISH-TV (the Indianapolis CBS affiliate), cooked brats with the grilling propane mower on Monument Circle in Indy, chatted on air with WIBC radio personalities Dave “The King” Wilson and Joe Staysniak for more than an hour, shared a microphone with Ryan Diem of the Indianapolis Colts and spoke to the Greencastle Kiwanis Club.


Matt being interview by WISH, Channel 8, Indianapolis (CBS affiliate)

The Indianapolis visit included a couple of pre-500 laps around Monument Circle as the propane mower drew curious looks from those downtown. Staysniak even took it for a lap while on the air in what Land smilingly referred to as “a Dixie Chopper informercial.”

Such opportunities are likely to continue to grow exponentially as the word spreads.

Sales of the propane mower also received an immediate boost. On May 29, four LP3000s were shipped to the city of Phoenix, Ariz., representing the first of several units ordered by that municipality. Other cities seeking eco-friendly options have also expressed interest in purchases since Land took the mower to their front yards.

“This is just the beginning,” Land said in his belief that the Clean Cut story continues to build momentum regardless of whether California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger paid attention or not.

He believes the perfect storm is swirling with gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon and politicians and environmentalists alike calling for the need for alternative fuels and equipment that operates on alternative fuels.

Say hello to the Dixie Chopper LP 3000, the only true propane-powered lawn mower in the industry. And just as the 150-hp Chinook helicopter engine of the Jet Mower once proved the strength and durability of the Dixie Chopper, the Clean Cut Across America venture has done the same for the propane mower.

How did the unit stack up under the stress of operating in rain and cold, sun and heat, and up and down mountains for almost 2,000 miles?

Let's say better than the operator and the service vehicles, thank you.

“We spent more time working on the support vehicles than the lawn mower,” Land laughed.

The only thing that was changed on the LP3000 between Coatesville, Ind., and Sacramento, Calif., was the break-in oil (standard operating procedure for a grass-mowing unit at 20 hours).

Once Land and his trusty mower made it through the Ozarks, Dixie Chopper President Art Evans suggested that the drive belt be changed. However, the support team apparently didn’t get the message and just tightened it.

By the time Land realized that the belt hadn’t been changed, the trip was half over. “So I said, ‘The heck with it, let’s just do the whole trip using only the original equipment.’”

And that he did.


Matt on his propane mower

Meanwhile, the support vehicles weren’t exactly trouble-free. The fuel line came off the Peterbago at one stop, and the Prevost bus blew a breaker and ran down its battery at another.

Land himself suffered chapped and blistered lips from the sun and wind, along with cramps too numerous to mention. He also shed 15 pounds along the way.

Despite those challenges, Land says he would do it all over again.

“Yeah, I would,” he said of the excursion that followed old Route 66 wherever and whenever possible. “The next time, though, I’d buy a darn GPS program for Route 66 because people steal the signs all the time. And one other thing -- I’d take my wife with me.”

To see the full story visit propanemower.com.