Need opinions on this idea.

[chaska]

I'm considering starting an environmentally oriented lawncare business. I would use all electric equipment. I think this is a much needed service; I don't think I need to tell ya'll that gas powered lawn equipment is a major pollution source.

I would urge you all to consider this idea for your own areas, if you find yourself available for another line of work.

So anyway, I'm wondering how practical this idea is.

Problems and questions:

I don't think they make electric riding mowers, and I couldn't afford one anyway, so I would have to use a push mower. This will necessarily be slow compared to these $3000 riding mowers with the 5-6 ft. cutting path. I'm not sure I could make enough money that way to make a decent wage. I'm not looking to get rich, just to survive outside of "the system", but still you have to make enough to make it worth the while.

To those of you who use such services or who have knowledge of such matters, how much do you pay to have your lawn mowed? I have heard a range of from $30 to $100 for this area.

I'm concerned about the ruggedness of electric mowers. Does anyone have anything to relate there?

Any other thoughts on this subject? Help me to brainstorm this, will ya?

Thanks in advance.

edit: typos

[jilln]

1. I have an electric mower. Used to have a push mower.

Have had no problems with the electric one, but I wish I'd gotten a cordless one. The push mower was fine if I kept the yard up. When I didn't and it got long, it was near impossible to mow it with the push mower.

i have recently seen electric cordless mowers on TV, like an infomercial. I can't remember the name of the product but it looked pretty good. It seemed like it had a big battery in it so you could probably get an extra and never worry about losing power.

I think if you got a good electric mower you should do fine, sticking to residential size yards. And it sounds like a great idea to me.

[chaska]

3. Yeah, I'm going to war on those dinosaurs...

I hate conventional lawnmowers. I hate the pollution, the noise AND the culture. Yes, the culture of the lawnmower. I'm even thinking I'll name my next band Larry and the Lawnmower Cult (my name is not Larry, incidentally - I don't know any Larrys).

I have heard good things about the current generation of electric mowers, but I'm a little concerned because I once tried to run a firewood business with an electric chainsaw. It lasted less than a week and it was back to the angry gas powered beast.

I'm out to save the world ... one lawn at a time.

[jilln]

5. I found a link

to the infomercial one. It might not be right for you because it mentions "small lawns" a lot on the site:

<http://www.drpower.com>

Mine is a Black & Decker and the service center has been great (ran over a chunk of cement and they replaced the blade for free). You should probably get a brand that has a service center near you.

Even if the electric ones aren't as sturdy as the gas (and I don't know if that's true or not), maybe it shouldn't be such a concern. Even at the low price of $30 a yard, you pay the machine off after 10 yards or less, so what's that - a day or so of work?

[chaska]

8. 10 yards a day?!?!?!

I suppose it's possible. Just shocked me when I thought about my yard, which takes 2.5 hours to mow with a push mower. It's freakin' huge.

Thanks for the link.

I've heard good things about the B&D.

[jilln]

10. 2.5 hours?!?!?

Mine takes 30 minutes tops! But the going price around here is around $30... I'm assuming you'd charge more for a yard that takes 2.5 hours!

[chaska]

12. Without a doubt...

Yep, 2.5 hours of steady gettin' it too. I mean hard at it! And no breaks!

[jilln]

16. That's not a lawn!

It's a hobby!

[chaska]

21. You're right, that's not a lawn. It's soon to be a huge ass garden.

[jilln]

28. And just like that, I've gone from relieved it's not mine...

to enormously jealous.

Then again, I'm terrible with plants so I'd just kill the garden anyway.

[Clark2008]

4. I have to ask WHY these things are so expensive?

$200 for metal and blades?

http://www.nextag.com/reel-lawn-mower/search-html

After reading your post, I thought I'd go look at them because it sounded like a good idea. I was :wow: at the prices!

Looks like they would only cost, at most $50.

[jilln]

9. I was shocked too!

But I did a lot of research and ended up buying one at an ACE hardware store and it was only about $100. Maybe that's why it wasn't great on high grass! In any case it was my first lawnmower and my main concern was not having to learn how to deal with the gas ;-)

<http://www.acehardware.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=reel%20mower&origkw=reel%20mower&sr=1>

That said, you could probably get one cheap on Craig's List or maybe even free on Freecycle... I ended up "freecycling" mine so someone got a great deal on it!

[lazer47]

2. I wish you luck

However most of the people that will want your service don't care how you do it,,Just GIT ER DONE, I fear you will starve to death in the process, but good luck to you

[chaska]

6. Well, I'm hoping that between those with enviro-sympathies and...

retirees (and other homebounds) that will appreciate the quiet of an electric mower, I may be able to get enough business to stay alive.

[treestar]

25. Specific marketing to people who will pay more to have it done

with less damage to the environment - could be possible in a large enough market, with a lot of rich liberals, say Southern California.

[Individualist]

7. You may be interested in a Brill reel mower

They're more lightweight and easier to push than the old-fashioned reel mowers were.

www.peoplepoweredmachines.com/brill_luxus.htm

[chaska]

11. Yeah, I looked into those last summer....

for my own yard. And haven't ruled it out. But the thing about manual mowers is that you have to keep the grass fairly low or it won't cut it.

And you know how people are, they call precisely because it's too high for them to tackle it themselves.

[gravity]

13. I don't think an electric mower would work for a lawn business

They are just not practical for large jobs. You would either have to lug around a cord, or a battery which isn't as powerful as a gas engine and is limited in range.

I would just focus on getting a clean 4 stroke gas lawn mower.

For the other tools you can get electric, but you would still have to find an outlet for them to make them work. Batteries are too heavy and do not have the power for many jobs. Also using outlets, you are using energy too, which requires fossil fuels anyways.

[chaska]

17. Thanks for the opinion....

You sound like you have some experience with these. Have you tried any of the more recent electrics? I'm hearing that the B&D is a pretty rugged machine.

I am concerned about the cord and battery thing. Having to use a cord everywhere could be a deal killer with houses that have no outside outlets. I have figured a not impossible way around that, but still, it's far from ideal.

The battery option might work if I could just change out batteries.

I really want to figure out a way to make this idea fly.

[gravity]

23. Electric engines has its drawbacks

I haven't used an electric mowers, but I have used other electric equipement. They work good for around the house, but lugging around the cord isn't too practical and you are limited in range. I think these limitations would make even more difficult in larger operations, making your operation less effecient compared to conventional lawncare.

The problem with batteries is that they don't have the energy to weight ratio compared to gas. I think you need 400 lbs of batteries to get the same energy as a pound of gas. Thats the biggest drawback for electric engines over gasoline engines, which makes it deifficult for electric cars and other electric machines, to compete with combustion engines.

I don't know how the reliable of the electric equipment compared to gas, so I can't give you an opinion there.

I would just get an effecient lawn mower with low emissions. I think honda makes some clean ones, but unfortunately having gas lawn mowers is not going to help the environmentally friendly image that much.

Some people might pay extra for an environmentally friendly lawn care, and have the outlets to supply you. I just don't think that it could compete with other lawncare businesses.

[jilln]

18. No fossil fuel required when you have electricity from wind

or other sources...

[chaska]

20. Really, compared to a gas engine....

an electrically powered mower is nearly pollution free.

[gravity]

24. You are still using energy

Even If the source comes from wind, you are denying someone else from using the wind power, so they would have to use fossil fuels instead.

[jilln]

29. Wow

I'm also creating more demand for wind power so they will make more wind farms, which will bring wind power to more people.

If your point is that the push mowers are the most environmentally friendly, that's obvious. It's just not practical for everyone.

[The Straight Story]

14. Buy some goats, turn em lose :) (nt - and a kick)

[chaska]

19. Okay, let's see...

@ 3 goats per yard per week, and assuming I would need let's say 20 yards per week, that's 60 goats.

Of course, they'd have to be female goats. Male goats smell horrible in the summertime. So then I could also consider the milk angle.

...Hmm, it just might work.





....NAAAAAAH. ;)

[TreasonousBastard]

15. Around here, most people...

contract annually with the services, and it includes leaf pickup, some general gardening, gutter cleaning, whatever. I could check what stuff costs, but it would probably be much different in your area. Competition and immigrant labor around here make such costing crazy.

The sneaky way to get costs in your area is just to call a bunch of lawn outfits and ask them. They'll want to see the place, so if you don't want them to come to your house, use a friend. And, they will be pissed if they figure out they're being played, but so what... Oh, and they might underbid to get the job and add something later.

I've thought about electric lawnmowers and leaf blowers, and did have an electric chain saw which worked great in the back yard. At least within reach of an outlet.

Here's one cordless mower that might work, but it does have limitations:
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lawns/gr/mulching_mowers.htm

And a cordless leaf blower:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/lawn_and_garden/leaf-blowers/index.html

Cordless leaf blowers are a problem because they don't come with very big batteries, but you can probably figure out how to charge them from the truck you use, or people who hate the usual noise might be perfectly happy to let you plug a corded one in.

[chaska]

22. Thanks, TB. I'll check those out.

[IDemo]

26. My "Epinions" review of the Neuton cordless mower

http://www.epinions.com/content_187044171396

[chaska]

27. Anybody else like to take a crack at this?