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good non-gas mowers | (Read 1695 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4525
missoula montana
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July 20, 2009, 10:46:18 AM |
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I've already covered in my lawn care article that gas mowers suck. Loud, stinky, require stinky gas, hard to start, and require maintenance.
After a period of not using my manual mower, I gave it to a friend on the condition that he only use it at the highest setting. He, of course, is having great results.
And then I found myself in a position where another friend needed a new mower and ... well ... a weird set of circumstances. He said he wanted a gas mower. He didn't want a manual mower and he didn't want the cord of an electric. He'll be away from his lawn for a few months and asked me to step in and help him out. I refuse to purchase a gas mower. Fortunately, a quick trip on craigslist scored me a cordless electric mower!
The guy I bought it from said he was selling it because he was upgrading to the newer mower.
Let's see .... here is a link to the cordless electric mower
It is very light! Maybe lighter than the manual mower! Very quiet! I have mown the lawn twice now and I haven't even plugged in the charger yet.
It mows at 3.5 inches! Wow!
No gas. No oil. No pull-cord. No tune-up. Instant on.
I cannot imagine why anybody would use a gas mower.
I remember hearing something about how a mower creates far more pollution than a bunch of cars. A friend sent this link: http://www.peoplepoweredmachines.com/faq-environment.htm
The thing I don't like about the article is stupid statements like "a traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles. " Is that for one mow of a huge yard? Is that for 20 years of mowing a large yard?
Granted, a new car with a catalytic converter generates very few emissions while a gas mower has no catalytic converter .... okay - I'm getting all nutty about the details .... the important thing is that gas mowers have a really high suck factor.
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Paulie
Posts: 29
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July 20, 2009, 05:13:07 PM |
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I have one, for a couple years now. They have a newer model with a 19" width, vs my 13". I don't mind though, just more walking. Come spring, the only thing to do is sharpen the blade, put in a battery (I leave them on the charger over the winter), and away you go. I also have the weed wacker attachment, a bit bulky but does the sidewalks and the edging pretty well. 
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4525
missoula montana
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July 21, 2009, 03:07:21 PM |
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I am surprised at how light they are.
Here is a link to the bigger one.
I'm wanting the grass to hurry up and grow so I can mow again. It was bizarre how quickly I was done. And how it took almost no time.
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Kip
Posts: 8
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July 25, 2009, 12:05:07 PM |
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I love my Scott's reel mower. It is nice and quiet, and it is light enough that I can pick it up to make turns. I am sure my whole neighborhood thinks that I am crazy, but I finish my yard faster than they do with their stinky noise-makers.
One negative is that it doesn't successfully cut the tall stalks of rye grass, so even after I mow, my lawn looks a bit like a wheat field if you look at it from the correct angle. It has had the problem since day one, so I am not sure if sharpening the blades will resolve the problem.
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Paulie
Posts: 29
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July 25, 2009, 12:33:06 PM |
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Best part with the battery rotaries, when you get to a stick, there is no quick stop + stomach trauma.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4525
missoula montana
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July 26, 2009, 11:00:11 AM |
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The one down side with the reel mowers, even the really good reel mowers, is that if stuff is too tall, it sorta push it over and the reel cannot pull it to the blade. So, with a reel mower, you either have to come by later with a tool to hand wack the tall stuff or you just gotta make sure you mow often enough that nothing gets too tall.
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buddy110
Posts: 64
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July 30, 2009, 06:57:45 PM |
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Anybody want to come m mow my 2.5 acres with that thing? 
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4525
missoula montana
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August 02, 2009, 12:01:12 PM |
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If I had 2.5 acres of grass, I would probably convert 2.3 acres to food crops.
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garyd
Posts: 16
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August 05, 2009, 03:18:12 AM |
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According to Consumer Reports, the Black and Decker is rated the best cordless electric lawn mower.
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Kathleen Sanderson
Posts: 356
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August 06, 2009, 11:52:17 AM |
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I can do our yard with the scythe and it comes out almost as nice as if it was mowed with a mower. (We don't water the grass, so we don't really have a lawn, we have a hay-field that I get one or two cuttings from.)
The ground is too rough in our yard for a wheeled mower, anyway.
Kathleen
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lynn crow
Posts: 6
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August 06, 2009, 08:29:54 PM |
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I still prefer my reel mower over an electric mower. It has simple moving parts on it that I can understand and fix if I would need to . My reel mower is now 14 years old and it will probably last another 60 years and outlive me.Most of my tiny yard is planted with vegetables ,herbs and flowers so I don't have much grass to mow anyway.
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Kip
Posts: 8
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August 07, 2009, 02:50:56 PM |
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Of course, after bragging about my Scott's Classic 20" reel mower, it broke! The metal handle snapped clean in half! Fortunately, the folks at Scott's were very gracious about it, and they are sending out a new handle. They said that it is a known issue, so if you have one, be forewarned!
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lynn crow
Posts: 6
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August 09, 2009, 05:37:02 PM |
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Please forgive me at I push in my obnoxious opinion.
The highest setting on that mower is not high enough.
It is my opinion that any mower that cannot cut 3 inches high or higher is useless and should be immediately ditched.
That extra 3/4 of an inch will enable you to mow less often, water less and have a thicker, healthier turf.
That extra 3/4 of an inch will do more for your lawn than fertilizer and proper pH combined.
not to beat a dead horse to death , but I feel I must clarify. I never,never, never fertilize or water my grass. My yard is 75% garden,25%grass. In what remains of my grass I would like to be able to find plantain.chickory.dandelion,purslane,etc. etc. For those that prefer the suburban look than go for the better models.
For those of us who think of grass as somthing to hold the soil in place or prevent our shoes from getting too muddy as we tend to our gardens then the old standbys will do.
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Kip
Posts: 8
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August 14, 2009, 11:50:57 AM |
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My replacement handle arrived from Scotts, and my mower is back in business!
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Jennifer Smith "listenstohorses"
Posts: 514
Zone 5 South West Missouri
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August 15, 2009, 06:34:24 AM |
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My mowers have 4 hoovs and a tail to swat flies. I have no mower nor weed trimmer and it worked fine at our last place. Took 2 years but it now has a great yard. I have been in this house for 1 month. They yard is very unlevel (due to plumbing nightmare as of yet unresolved) and over grown in most places but bare where they had junk. I seeded the mud pits knowing that we will tear it up but I am not a fan of mud and would rather "wate money on grass seed" than live in it.
We fenced in the front yard first thing. I graze it and pull weeds, not to kill them but to manage them as I do NOT want to kill off the plantain and such. My pasture, on the other hand, I would love to get mowed. The pervious owners had horses and did no pasture management that I can tell. I have resorted to some chemical warfare out there. I need to get it enough under controll that maybe we can get in there and mow with the neighbors tractor.
I pick up the manure and put it in the cart each evening, soak in water over night, mix well to break up lumps, water flowers some with the tea and then pour the slop over a bare or rocky spot.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 4525
missoula montana
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August 17, 2009, 09:18:39 AM |
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My aunt and uncle lived in Kenya for a while. They hired a local boy to mow their lawn. The boy was confused - that's really nice grass and you want to feed it to a machine? Why not bring in a goat?
My aunt and uncle finally convinced the boy to just do it. So they got the mower started and the boy started to mow the lawn.
My aunt and uncle came back a little later to see how things were going.
Well .... as americans we just assume that folks will mow in an optimal pattern. The boy was mowing in a zig zaggy crazy random pattern. I suppose the same pattern that a goat would use.
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Jennifer Smith "listenstohorses"
Posts: 514
Zone 5 South West Missouri
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August 17, 2009, 11:09:14 AM |
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Lol, I like to keep goats in my pastures, but sadly no goat fence here...yet
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kcsummer
Posts: 12
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September 09, 2009, 06:35:01 PM |
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I had terrible luck with gas mowers even though I take better care of them than most. If it wasn't the motors it was the gas line leaking big time or else the wheels falling off and stuff. Plus some were hard to start and some the pull cord was loose and got run over by the mower leaving it too short, etc.
I finally bought a Nueton electric mower, the kind you recharge and I've had really good luck with it. it was a little expensive but not much considering it still works where the others would have been junk. I've used it for 3 seasons and its still working quite well and I highly recommend it. Also, they have live customer service if you have problems and don't leave you hanging with no where to go.
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kcsummer
Posts: 12
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September 09, 2009, 06:38:14 PM |
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Oh, I just saw that is the kind of mower you provided the link to on Amazon. I'm very happy with mine and my son installs sprinkler/irrigation systems to some of the more wealthy people in our area and has met several people who have them and they report good results also.
i never had any luck with the reel mower as they become dull fast and then you have to push pull to get going and it becomes very annoying and I think you are pulling the grass out as opposed to cutting sometimes.
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