In 1974 Australian inventor Gordon Withnall was enjoying an everyday round of golf. As his son Len remembers, Gordon took out his wood, let her rip and hit on an invention that would change sport forever. His ball landed in a puddle of water and being a bit of an inventor one of my father’s mates said – come on Gordon you’re an inventor, let’s invent a machine that can remove all these puddles. The Super Sopper was born, a mechanical mop that can dry anything from cricket pitches to tennis courts in minutes.
The concept is based around a revolutionary sponge design. As the machine goes over wet areas like puddles or something the foam down here is compressed at the bottom of the roller and as it springs back to shape it goes up to the top of the machine holding the water. Just like your sponge at home the wet foam then needs wringing out. And then the squeeze roller which is fitted here squeezes the water through the perforated metal into this internal water tank which is in that postiion.
Len’s larger Supper Soppers retail at over 25,000 pounds. This hefty price tag is down to a month long construction process. They begin with the frame, a 25 horse power petrol engine and hydraulic drive is installed that can push the Supper Sopper to a white knuckle 10km per hour. The problem is that all this steel and extra weight means that the finished machine tips the scales at 850 kilos. Drive that over a wet pitch on normal wheels and it would turn it into a mud bath.
The solution comes courtesy of the two water soaking rollers. These will spread the load over a large area. Next dooe Len’s apprentice is busy fabricating the 150mm diameter compression roller. This is fitted to the frame above the main drum where it will ring out the foam and squeeze water through the perforations into the holding tank.
Time to put Len’s claim to the test back in rainy old London. And after just half an hour’s work Michael Hunt has made the pitch perfectly playable.