Sooo...last night I bought a cordless electric lawnmower

[Adsos Letter]

and that thing in HEAVY! And now I have no excuse not to tackle the lawns on this beautiful California day; low 80*s here... :D

Edit: spelling error while posting under the influence of extremely Spring-like weather. :dunce:

[itsrobert]

1. Did you plug it in

Because if you didn't that would be an excuse.


I got mind a couple years ago at the San Diego lawn mower exchange program. $100

[Adsos Letter]

6. I brought it in the house in its box...

As I was happily ensconced in my favorite chair, reading a good book, my wife walked by and casually said "I plugged the charger in for you...".

I have no excuse. :D

[hlthe2b]

2. How long do they run on charge?

Are they self-propelled (given the weight?)

[Adsos Letter]

Not self-propelled (haven't figured out the run-time yet).

But I suppose I'll be finding out shortly... :(

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. The Mow-The- Lawn-Years.

Verklempt.

[Adsos Letter]

9. I had a rather lengthy period when lawnmowing wasn't necessary

but then the daughters went off to college, and the availability of local volunteer suitor labor dried up. :D

[PoliticAverse]

4. Reel cordless lawn mower...

[Adsos Letter]

5. I had one of those, and it worked great!

Health issues require a bit of a mechanical assist these days. :(

[dionysus]

37. they work great if the grass is the right height and thickness. trying to mow a thin patch sucks.

[Adsos Letter]

39. Yeah; seems like it's hit-and-miss/uneven in the thin areas.

[dionysus]

42. and too t all. let it get too high, you're out of luck. i still use it from time to time when the

grass is just so.

[Adsos Letter]

44. The lawn was tall after several weeks of rain...

and I'd finally had it with coming in from mowing the tall grass with my body feeling like I'd just survived the Battle of Borodino Church.

[county worker]

7. I have an electric one too. I don't have cordless. I have to fix

my cord because I ran over it and cut it in half last week!

[Adsos Letter]

8. That's why I went with cordless; but I suspect the battery weight might be a drawback.

Hopefully I will just become stronger. :D

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. I have had the same one since 1995.

Hint: if it looks like you can fold the handlebar down over the mower for storage, DON"T.
turns out you end up bending the power cord too much, something broke in mine, had to replace cord.
Now we never fold the handlebar.

Another hint:
Make sure you adjust the level of the mower to the level of the grass correctly ( trail and error)
because mowing too high grass sucks the battery charge quickly. Better to make a high pass then a low pass. Grass should be cut to 3 inches here in the South.

It takes overnight to charge well.
I think we replaced battery once so far.

I love it. Not noisy. But, I never had a giant size lawn to deal with, and use it for mulching leaves also in fall.

[Adsos Letter]

20. Thanks dixiegrrrrl!!! Glad to hear your advice on the power cord/handle thing

I saw it mentioned in the manual, but I'll be sure to pay attention now. :hi:

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. Folding handle is supposed to be a feature, not a bug!!!

and maybe there is a way to actually fold it with no problem, we just have not found it....in all these years.

[Yavapai]

10. Rip out the lawn, put in a vegetable garden!

Use the water and space for something useful. The city's code enforcement won't be to enthusiastic, but
the neighbors will eat the fresh tomatoes you give them. After tasting the difference from the pretty
store bought crap their are used to, they might just have their own gardens.

But I have yet to see a rechargeable rototiller that would be practical.

[Adsos Letter]

12. Major garden space in the backyard, plus flowers and fruit trees.

The front lawn isn't terribly large, and I admit to enjoying the look we've got going there.

[jtuck004]

13. +1 And google "lasagna gardening". No Rototiller eom

[Adsos Letter]

19. You can grow lasagnas?

I knew it was possible with spaghetti... :D

[jtuck004]

48. Not only that, if you use a bacon press on the garden they don't have the frilly edges eom

[Peregrine Took]

23. Great post! My sentiments exactly. Lawns suck.

When we had our house we kept expanding the flower garden in the front til there was only a little strip of lawn. This was 20 years ago and in that neighborhood it was quite daring.

Our neighbor across the street was a fanatic about his lawn. Every year he had it dug up and a new Kentucky Blue lawn installed. Whenever a leaf fell on it he was out in a flash removing it.

[WhiteTara]

31. Better yet...Don't rip out the lawn... Cover it

with cardboard and layer of leaves and a few inches of soil...instant garden bed! Make them all over the lawn area and have lots of garden beds with little effort.

[apocalypsehow]

47. That's very bad advice you're dispensing: in most cities, the code enforcement won't just be

unenthusiastic, they'll give the homeowner so many days to lose the garden and restore the lawn before they start slapping liens on property deeds, and levying fines on further noncompliance.

What's more, many of us live in neighborhoods with legally enforceable covenants we have signed: in my case, the city's code enforcement wouldn't have the chance to get to me before my home-owner's association would - and that lawn would be restored, or I'd be paying big time.

Now, before you go and change the terms and try to say "I only meant an average sized garden" or "they can't force you to abide by that in your backyard," let me say: by "Rip out the lawn" I took it to mean the entire lawn, to be replaced by a vegetable garden (as that is precisely what you stated); and, two, yes they can.

[jtuck004]

11. Have you got a way to keep the blades sharp? eom

[Adsos Letter]

14. The blade is removable, and can be sharpened and balanced in a vice.

Or taken to a local saw sharpening place, I suppose.

[GoCubsGo]

15. I have a coreded electric mower.

Had I known when I bought my mower that my lawn is Bermuda grass, and does better with a reel mower, I would have gotten one of those. But, I love the electric mower, and don't mind the cord. It mulches, which the reel mower really doesn't do, which is great for shredding leaves. I love not having to mess with gasoline, and I love even more that all I have to do is flip the lever, and it starts. No yanking a cord endlessly to get it to turn over.

[Adsos Letter]

21. I like the no-gas part too! The ol' reel push mower works fine

and I still have it; but cutting the lawn down after a long period of solid rain and growth was just getting to be too much.

[Maine_Nurse]

17. Not criticizing at all, just curious...

why someone would get a non self-propelled battery-powered mower at all. I have a 60+ year-old reel-type mower that works great and is far less heavy to maneuver around. No pollutants made to produce the electricity, no toxic battery chemicals, and the cut is absolutely great, which is why most golf courses use tow-behind reel cutters. Also, I got mine for $15 at a yard sale about 15 years ago.

[Adsos Letter]

24. All of those things are true. I still have a very nice reel mower, and it leaves a beautiful cut

but when the lawn gets too long (especially after extended periods of rain) the reel mower is just too much work (my front lawn has a slope to it). I don't know; not paying the extra 50 bucks for a self-propelled model may prove to be a mistake; hopefully, I can incorporate it into my exercise routine. :D

[Maine_Nurse]

27. Good point...

hand reel mowers aren't worth crap on grass that is too long.

[dionysus]

38. i found with mine is if the grass is too tall or too thin, the grass has a hard time getting into

the blades.

[Adsos Letter]

40. Yup.

[AndyTiedye]

28. Do They Even Make Manual Lawnmowers Anymore?

I suppose somebody still makes them for the Amish, but I have never seen one for sale in a store.

My parents had one when I was really little, but switch to a gas mower almost immediately
because the push mower didn't work worth a damn unless it was completely dry.

Here I use a weed-whacker because it's steep and mostly just a few bits of grass between gardens.

[Adsos Letter]

32. Oh yeah; Home Depot carries one, and it's a pretty good model.

But when the grass gets too tall it is a real struggle.

[snooper2]

18. I'll stick with my gas powered....cutting a quarter acre

the battery would last a couple passes

[Adsos Letter]

25. lol! Indeed.

[dhpgetsit]

22. Tempted to get a couple woolly ones

For the back 1/2 acre.

[Adsos Letter]

26. I suggested that to the wife...

she remains unconvinced. :D Just about got the plans down for some hens, though. (fresh eggs :9 )

[AndyTiedye]

34. If We Went That Route, We'd Try to Get a Couple of These

[Adsos Letter]

41. Is that a North African type?

...serious question. :)

[AndyTiedye]

46. Barbados Blackbelly, Which is Partly Descended from African Sheep

Much leaner meat than American or New Zealand lamb.
All flavor and then some, less than half the fat!

Not sure how to get them here, but I know there are some in the US.

[elocs]

30. I have a Black & Decker cordless mower and it works just fine for me:

I live in a mobile home court with postage stamp sized yards and I can do 3 of them on one charge. There are lots of senior citizens living here on fixed incomes and I cut their yards for $10 when I found out the landscaping places would charge $20 a week and cut the yard whether it needed it or not. They get a good deal and I pick up a few extra bucks in the summer.

[Adsos Letter]

33. Yeah, that works! I purchased the Homelite cordless

Did a nice job on the front lawn, but heavy. I think I'll be getting some upper body strength back, since lawns grow quickly here in spring and summer.

[Adsos Letter]

35. Reporting back...electric cordless mower works GREAT!

It is a heavy bugger, though...

[Canuckistanian]

36. Alas, I have no such option

With over an acre to cut, I have to use one of these

[Adsos Letter]

43. !

:spray: Well...happy trails to you, sir. :D

[Canuckistanian]

45. I often wonder about an acre of grass

And whether I NEED an acre of grass. But we DO use it as an impromptu golf course and general play area.

But the lawn tractor is SO EFFICIENT, it's done in an hour. And I have SO many other uses for the tractor like clearing leaves, brush and soil around the property. I can hook up a trailer and haul garbage around, too.

I've recently give up about 1/2 acre so that our farmer neighbor can use it to increase his hay yield. Maybe I should give him more.