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electric lawnmower

post #1 of 21
8/16/09 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
I got one yesterday.

It's like, um, vacuuming my yard; same noise, ya know? 

Works like gangbusters.

Figured I'd tell y'all about it.

Carry on.


MC
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post #2 of 21
8/16/09 at 6:47pm
Corded or battery?  The cord ends up being less hassle since the batteries weigh a ton and make the mower more difficult to manouver.

I had a corded electric for decades - since maybe 1983.  In San Jose the lawn wasn't too big and it also didn't grow fast.  Water is dear in California (and expensive) so slow-growing varieties were the norm.  The electric mower was OK for these circumstances.  Once I moved to Boise it was another matter.  The use of free irrigation water meant that faster-growing grass varieties were used and the electric mower didn't have the horsepower to mow through it.  I'd have to make many narrow passes to keep the blade speed up to where it would cut evenly.  I finally threw in the towel and bought a gas mower, which does have the HP to power through anything.
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post #3 of 21
8/16/09 at 7:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micah Cohen View Post

Works like gangbusters.

Figured I'd tell y'all about it.

Carry on.


MC

 

Yeah, but you told us very little.  What's the brand and model and like the  previous poster, corded or cordless.  How thick is your yard?  If your grass is as thin as the hair on my head, than your mower isn't doing much.  Details are required.
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post #4 of 21
8/16/09 at 10:27pm
As a child of the eighties who grew up on a five-acre property, I guess I'm just shocked than anyone was still using anything but an electric lawnmower.
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post #5 of 21
8/17/09 at 8:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt View Post

As a child of the eighties who grew up on a five-acre property, I guess I'm just shocked than anyone was still using anything but an electric lawnmower.
 

You mean you all mowed 5 acres with an electric mower? I grew up on a farm as a child and I have never seen anyone use an electric mower for anything but really small yards. Is this not the norm??
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post #6 of 21
8/17/09 at 8:21am
back in the 80's my brother and I used to mow my grandmothers yard with an electric mower. What a PITA!!! One of us would have to mow while the other would maneuver the extension cord (so we wouldn't run over it). It never made any sense to me.
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post #7 of 21
8/17/09 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Hey, Mark, we have the same nifty image on our posts! Hooray for moderators who did this. It's cool. I should find a pic of a Polk speaker to replace it, tho, I guess. Be loyal to "my" company...

Anyway, I got the Lowe's Task Force 20" corded electric. I mow a lawn that is maybe a quarter acre or a little more, front and back. Nothing's more than 60' from the outlet, and if you keep the outlet to your back when you mow you never have an issue with the cord.

I was worried that build quality would be crappy, but the thing is solid and fairly heavy duty. I explored the battery ones, the Neutons and Black & Deckers, and even tho my town has some sort of agreement with Neuton to give a discount on them, I found them to be sort of cheap (but very expensive, even with the discount) and the batteries got bad reviews as too expensive and too difficult to keep charged. The lower end B&D corded ones seemed like toys, more like my B&D weed whacker than a real mower. And the 20" blade of the Task Force really helps.

Powers thru some thick grass, too, with no apparent problem. Like I said, it's very much like "vacuuming" my yard.

I'm actually giddy about it, and wish the grass would hurry up and grow so I can mow again! (Be careful what you wish for!) 

MC
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post #8 of 21
8/17/09 at 12:10pm

I've used one for almost 10 years on my little postage stamp property.  It's a Black and Decker corded.  The best thing is no gas, no oil, it starts right up the first day I use it in the spring, and I don't have to winterize it either.

The big drawback is if you hit a rock or stump or other immovable object, you can ruin it because it can break the large magnet inside, or throw the motor off alignment.

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post #9 of 21
8/17/09 at 1:15pm
I've been using a Black & Decker corded for about 4 years now for my 1/4 acre yard and I love it. I'd use it for a bigger yard.  No oil change no gas can in the garage no tune up no spark plug no carbeurator - you see where I'm going here.  I have enough internal combustion engines.  Anyway, it takes a few mowings, but you can come up with a strategy to minimize cord finegaling.  The cord gets in the way sometimes, but it's not too bad.  Love it.
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post #10 of 21
8/17/09 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt^Brown View Post

You mean you all mowed 5 acres with an electric mower? I grew up on a farm as a child and I have never seen anyone use an electric mower for anything but really small yards. Is this not the norm??

For the hills. We had a tractor for the flat areas, and later a ride-on mower.
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post #11 of 21
8/18/09 at 8:58am
I should have added that I was barely a teenager in the 80's, so I'm sure most of the PITA mowing had nothing to do with the mower being electric ;)
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post #12 of 21
8/19/09 at 5:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micah Cohen View Post

I'm actually giddy about it, and wish the grass would hurry up and grow so I can mow again! (Be careful what you wish for!) 

MC
 


Pretty sure this feeling will pass soon...
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post #13 of 21
8/19/09 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
I dunno, man.

I was sitting outside yesterday, and my wife asked, "What are you doing?" 

And I said -- no foolin -- I'm... watching the grass grow! 

I can't wait to mow again! I'm nuts! 

MC
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post #14 of 21
8/19/09 at 7:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt View Post

As a child of the eighties who grew up on a five-acre property, I guess I'm just shocked than anyone was still using anything but an electric lawnmower.
Nobody used electric mowers in the 80s, especially for 5-acre lots. And nobody uses them today. (Well, except for Micah and also my dad, who recently switched.)

I used a corded electric mower at a rental house while in grad school. Didn't like it: the anxiety of mowing the cord made it an unpleasant experience.

I've got a corded electric trimmer and I'm thinking of replacing it with gas powered. Cords are inefficient and batteries are inadequate.
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post #15 of 21
8/19/09 at 9:00am
Interestingly, I found an article that estimates 300,000 push-reel mowers are still sold each year!  Who the heck is buying those?

The same article also states that about 300,000 electric mowers are sold annually too.  And 6 million gas-powered mowers.

http://www.wfaa.com/projectgreen/tips-home/stories/green080620_ph_mowingoptions.20ce4c4f.html
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post #16 of 21
8/19/09 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob McLaughlin View Post

Interestingly, I found an article that estimates 300,000 push-reel mowers are still sold each year!  Who the heck is buying those?

The same article also states that about 300,000 electric mowers are sold annually too.  And 6 million gas-powered mowers.

http://www.wfaa.com/projectgreen/tips-home/stories/green080620_ph_mowingoptions.20ce4c4f.html

I was going to buy one but found out that they are not good for this homeowner who sometimes lets his grass grow to "Jungle status". they are good if you have a small lawn and like to mow (Maybe good for Micah!).  They aren't good for tall grass mowing, in other words..

Jay
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post #17 of 21
8/19/09 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob McLaughlin View Post

Interestingly, I found an article that estimates 300,000 push-reel mowers are still sold each year!  Who the heck is buying those?

I've decided a new goal in life is to get a house with a teeny yard so I can get a reel mower. What I can't reconcile is how to keep the neighbors a big-yard's distance away?
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post #18 of 21
8/19/09 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
I have never ever had a gas mower! 

I always had a reel-mower. It was like having a lawn mower AND a workout machine. I didn't have to join a gym! But then we got a bigger yard and I let it get too long and the reel mower was just not... the right tool. It was funny to be huffing and puffing this reel mower, clattering along, thru the grass I allowed to grow too high, while my neighbors were driving by in Lexuses (Lexii?) and their "yard people" were driving by with their big trucks stocked with ride-on mowers and all sorts of equipment. And I looked like an olde timey farmer!

That's why I got an electric! Now I'm selling my reel mower cheap on craigslist. But... no hits so far.

If you keep the cord of the electric mower on the outlet side, between you and the outlet, it's really no problem at all (I've found).
 
MC
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post #19 of 21
8/21/09 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveF View Post

Nobody used electric mowers in the 80s, especially for 5-acre lots. And nobody uses them today. (Well, except for Micah and also my dad, who recently switched.)

I'm digging up this post because I just saw an ad for an electric mower. Having never saw such a thing, I thought Micah was talking about going from a manual/reel mower to a gas-powered mower. Now that I understand what an electric mower is, all of my prior posts can pretty much be discarded.
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post #20 of 21
8/21/09 at 4:25pm


Of course, mowing a 5-acre lot with a reel mower only raises more questions!
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post #21 of 21
8/21/09 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveF View Post



Of course, mowing a 5-acre lot with a reel mower only raises more questions!

Thus why I was so shocked in my first post in this thread!
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