Cutting the lawn with electric power

[57fritzers]

I have an old reel mower that you push - no gas, no elecricity.

About 15 years ago, a very young lady walking on the sidewalk saw me mowing the front yard, "What are you doing?" she asked.

She'd never seen a manually operated lawnmower. I still use it; it's my only mower.

Good exercise too!

 

[el caminero]

Good exercise too!

I Was quite happy to lay out and continue to redeploy 100 feet of heavy cable for a relatively quiet mow. Less allergy problems vs exertion of pushing, let alone airborne grass AND exhaust. Its the why I prefer to only mow when the wind is blowing.

 

[Joe Reilly]

I have an old reel mower that you push - no gas, no elecricity.

About 15 years ago, a very young lady walking on the sidewalk saw me mowing the front yard, "What are you doing?" she asked.

She'd never seen a manually operated lawnmower. I still use it; it's my only mower.

What did you tell her?

 

[Pál_K]

What did you tell her?

Being surprised at her ignorance, I wasn't feeling very creative, so I simply said, "mowing the lawn."

Maybe I should've told her I was planting palm tree seeds.

 

[Don Lovel]

Tulsa University had lawn roombas electric mowers on several campus grass areas last summer

 

[xtratoy]

Lets go "green" and buy a lawn tractor. It is a wee bit pricey.

EVO - MEAN GREEN MOWERS

The EVO is the flagship mower of the new "evolution" series mowers by Mean Green Mowers! Contact your local dealer for a demo!

meangreenproducts.com

I couldn't see a mention of the weight. If in a soft or boggy area is there a AAA service for stuck lawnmowers?

 

[RSIno1]

I want one - Sorry dear I can't mow the lawn right now the mower is charging. No more of this 10 minute trip to the gas station because she didn't buy the spare gas can was empty.

 

[settup6]

I read an article about the weight of a electric car compared to the same size gas powered vehicle, with the battery ones upwards of 3000 lbs heavier and pickups even more, making a crash with one a bit one-sided.

 

[Mike J]

A guy at work said he had bought a battery powered zero turn mower. I believe it was much cheaper than what you have linked. IIRC he said he bought it at Home Depot & loved it until it quit working. He can't find anyone that knows enough about it to get it working again. I guess he has a $3,000 large paperweight.

 

[bykerhd]

I'll stay with my John Deere gas powered riding mower, thank you very much.
Replacing even a self propelled mower's battery is VERY expensive.
Replacing an electric zero-turn mower's battery, if that really IS the issue will likely be half the cost of the mower.
No thank you !
I use a few gallons of gasoline a year and the cost of an oil & filter change(which I do myself) in the John Deere.

 

[hedrok]

Bought a battery powered line trimmer a few years ago…then the hand held blower of the same brand…then the chain saw…all using the same batteries. This past year, bought a used walk behind (not self propelled) trimming mower of the same brand. Not the biggest, fastest or strongest equipment on the block but all work well with light to medium use for what they were designed for. I'll never go back to gas powered for the smaller tools.

 

[CHEVYINLINE6]

The battery in your electric yard tractor won't recharge anymore you say. I am sorry sir, but that model is 3 years old and they don't make a replacement battery for it anymore. We will be happy to sell you a new Wizbang model for 3 times what you paid for your older model and there will be a $800.00 fee to dispose of your older model. Sir, your face is the same shade of red as the paint on your soon to be new tractor.

CHEVYINLINE6.

 

[el caminero]

My oldest has a robotic, self operating battery operated lawn mower that does it for him. Kinda like those auto vacuum cleaners. He enjoys it,, and says it does pretty good on his grass as long as it doesn't run into anything that stops it,, like a big tree limb or a high centering something.

I own a lot of battery operated tools that are wonderful. Makes my jobs a LOT easier for an old guy.

But,, when you look at the big picture,, and truly educate yourself on all this "go green & get rid of gasoline & oil operated machines,, I can't help but question several things.
EV's. Our current power grid,, can't handle it. Period. And we do not have the charging stations all over the country that could keep up with the demands of travel. Then there is the down time of charging. A gas engine operated vehicle can be refueled in a few minutes, and continue on it's travels quickly. Electric,, I've studied how it can add several hours to a longer road trip.
And what happens when a power grid area is overloaded & they have to shut it down. Now you have stranded people in that grid.
And the power grid system. What kind of system is used to generate power for the grid? Coal? Gas? Nuclear? Solar?

Then there's the actual batteries. The impact upon the environment to manufacture them from all I can find is huge. Plus,, what happens when they are dead & need disposal? Once again, an environmental impact that will affect things.

Let's go a bit further. What about all the farm tractors that need diesel or gas to work? Or the big heavy tractor trailers that haul all our goods daily all over? Battery operated machines like that will need HUGE batteries to even consider moving.


I'm all for doing things to make the world a bit better. But be realistic about it. There are MANY things we can do to reduce emissions, and cut out a lot of pollution. We've done a lot of good in the last several decades with recycling, or other things. But when you develop one kind of power,, look at HOW it has to be built, and what is the waste or excess, and especially the efficiency.

I know that battery powered items are here to stay. But the entire world,, not just the USA has to truly look at the overall effects of everything.

Popular science magazine, may 1953, v162 #5, pp126-7; "robots roam lawn to cut grass", and includes another; "two push buttons steer this radio mower".

 

[Mega Twin]

Sounds like you should keep your electric cars in the sunny south

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dead-cars-surround-chargers-teslas-222959512.html

 

[SuperDave]

I have one of their smaller snowblowers.
It works OK on light snow.
Not as well on heavy or wet snow. It is light weight though.
We normally get very little snow in Southern Idaho.

I am happy using power transmitted all the way from Wyoming.
Their air is dirtier but mine is clean.

Dave

 

[daveag.]

40 years ago, my grandfather gave me an electric WeedEater brand. And a long cord. Started everytime! His yard was small, so it was perfect for him. It cut strong and I didn't mind dragging cord.

 

[Mobuck]

First attempt REDACTED due to poor taste
Try again: This EV thing has gone way too far. It may be an option for a few places but just as EV vehicles are a niche use option, so are all the other EV upstarts.
As vito said, give someone a chance to pay his bills and save big bucks for yourself in the deal.
I (we) can only hope that these 'eco-freak' planet friendly ideas melt away like snow in the sun. NOTHING and I really mean nothing the US does is going to have a big effect on global CO2 emissions(or whatever the current theme of eco-terrorists is these days) when there are third world countries cutting and burning huge jungle or timbered areas for farmland. I could go into the debacle of 'slash and burn' agriculture but it is far more technical than is necessary for this discussion.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Should we mention all the EV's sitting at charging stations in the Chicago (and other frigid locations) trying to recharge because they more than 28 % to 46% LESS distance in frigid weather, NOT TO MENTION the battery drain running the heater !!

 

[RugerForMe]

Guy across the street from me here in Milwaukee had to charge his electric snow blower 3 times to clear the heavy wet stuff we got last weekend. He has a small driveway 25' x 15' ish and no sidewalk

 

[Captain America]

Should we mention all the EV's sitting at charging stations in the Chicago (and other frigid locations) trying to recharge because they more than 28 % to 46% LESS distance in frigid weather, NOT TO MENTION the battery drain running the heater !!

But that battery drain while heating the battery is called preconditioning...so it's awesome Chicago is a great example of how it's virtually impossible(at the very least inconvenient and possibly dangerous) to own a BEV if you don't have a heated garage with a level 2 charger.