Going Greener (Electric Push Mower)

My gas-powered push lawn mower started to give me problems recently. I got it for free from my in-laws a while back and it's served me well (nice and light). The wheel adjustments were a BEAR though, sometimes requiring a hammer to adjust some of the wheels. The throttle seemed to have some issues as well, but it worked at any rate. Recently it ran out of gas, sputtering to a stop (normal) and I went to refill it. I accidentally over filled the gas tank by a little, and when I started it up, it was sputtering... almost identical to when it runs out of gas. My guess is something (dirt, whatever) was in the gas tank and got into the line or carb and is blocking the flow of gas. I tried slightly to see if I could track down the problem, but had no luck.

My wife and I have wanted to get away from a gas powered lawn mower for some time now, and even went as far as increasing the landscaping in our front lawn to minimize the use of the lawn mower. So I saw this as an opportunity to possibly go greener (I was also thinking of getting the gas powered mower fixed). I started to look around to see what a new mower might cost in case it was not much more to buy new instead of getting it fixed. I saw electric mowers for hundreds of dollars (like $350+) and kind of wished we could get one, but just couldn't see putting out that kind of money. Then, I happened upon this Task Force Electric Push Mower at Lowe's for only $208!! So, I asked my wife, "What would you be willing to pay to go to an electric mower?" She started off saying we couldn't afford it... it would be great, but we just couldn't afford it. So I repeated the question with, "What would be your top $ we could afford?" She said, "$200." I said, "SOLD!" She couldn't believe it, and I couldn't either. So I went and bought it, and I have to say it's pretty slick. The wheel height adjustment is the envy of all my neighbors because it is literally ONE lever and all four wheels adjust at the same time and VERY easily! It also goes all the way up to 3 3/4"!! I used that setting on the backyard where we don't spend much time and gets direct sunlight pretty much the ENTIRE day.

I was a little worried about electric cord management at first, but it turned out to be a non-issue as long as you pay attention to the way you cut the grass. The best thing I say on this is, cut laterally up hills and away from the cord. Doing this completely made it a non-issue. There was one hill that I was cutting parallel down a slight grade (still away from the cord though) and the cord tended to get into the outer edge of the uncut grass so I had to stop every so often and swing it out a bit. Even that wasn't terrible.

The quality of the mower itself is fair. It's certainly not the best, but I also wasn't expecting anything incredibly awesome for $208! I would say it's "good enough". The fact that it comes with a generous bag (holds more than I was expecting based on looks and my old bag), as well as a side spout AND mulching plug... I was impressed. The motor seemed quiet enough... honestly I think the noise comes mainly from the spinning blade... but it was similar in sound level to my gas powered mower (a bit quieter though). Startup was a TOTAL breeze, and it stops almost instantly. I also love the fact that there is no gas smell or pollution coming off it, and my shed now only smells of cut grass. I bought the 3 year replacement warranty for $40 thinking that would make up for any lack of quality in the unit.

To go greener, I was thinking about getting the exact same thing our next door neighbor/friends have which is a Task Force Reel Push Mower (at about $140), which is pretty much as green as it gets since it is based on human power. The problem with it that my wife doesn't like is that it doesn't do well with tall weeds, leaving them in place and requiring you to then come back around with some form of scythe. Not that it's impossible to get a good cut, but it certainly doesn't seem to look as good/clean as the gas-powered or electric push mowers where the blade is spinning much faster. I would guess that I could possibly produce a better cut than my neighbor, simply because he doesn't seem to care as much about having a nice even cut and just does it so the lawn isn't out of control.

Now that I bought and used the electric, I posed the question to my wife on whether or not she is interested in going as far as a reel push mower or not. I await her response. Of course, it will be that is doing all the physical work... but it's her aesthetic requirement that I am asking the question for. Also, where my 11 year old son couldn't use the electric mower for fear of him running over the extension cord and properly managing that, he could certainly use the Reel Push Mower. We'll see on this one... I may be posting again soon.

As far as my gas-powered mower, I put it up by the street behind our house. It didn't even last 5 minutes up there before someone snagged it. In fact, I'm not even sure if I had a chance to start up the electric mower to make sure it worked or not! ;-) I gave my almost full gas can to another neighbor and my move was complete. I STILL feel great about making the move... but now I am thinking I may even want to go as far as the Reel Push Mower.

Are YOU doing anything to be more green? Share other things we can all do to help out our planet!