emmline wrote:
In the interest of ecology, I'd go for an electric. I know there can be problems with running over the cord, and that sort of thing, but I'd look into it to see whether they've come up with solutions to that.
They have.It's called spectacles
Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
The problem I see with electric (besides what everyone else has mentioned) is that the back yard is pretty deep (though not very wide), so it'd have to be a pretty long cord, and knowing myself, I'm very apt to do something like run the darn thing over.
I would definitely like to have at least part of the lawn be more native. I plan on looking into that, but I do want a little bit of grass. I definitely don't need a pristine, golf-course lawn, and I really don't want to use chemicals on it. I don't mind weeds, and I actually think dandelions are pretty. As far as I know, there's no ordinance or association agreement or anything about the lawns, but most of the neighbors seem to keep them in pretty good shape. It's a little hard to tell this year as we had a major draught this summer so everyone's pretty dried up.
Wash your hands. Cough and sneeze in your sleeve. Stay home if you are sick. Stay informed. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu for more info.
If you do go for mains electric, always use a circuit-breaker (dunno what you call 'em over there - RCD here). The thing you plug into the wall socket then plug your mower into it. Any problem with the mower, or a cut cable, and the current is instantly cut off and you and your kids are safe. There's been many a death caused by picking up a live cut cable in the garden.
Steve
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
best mower I ever used was a 14 horsepower Ford garden tractor with a 48 inch, 3 blade cutting deck (hey - it was a 2 acre yard!!!).
If you get self propelled - make sure it's the FRONT wheels that are self propelled. Then you can just tip up the front to swing it around, etc. If you have the back be the drive wheels, you are constantly switching off the drive, and in my case, I usually let go of the wrong handle, so I cut the power off for the whole mower.
The BEST thing you can do is make sure you have the correct type of grass for your yard. Depending on where you live, and sun vs. shade, and use of yard, if you have the correct grass type, you won't have to "baby" it quite so much. We redid our front yard last year (took out a huge tree that had surface roots) - roto-tilled the entire thing, got a load of topsoil with "additives" such as pearlite for draining, tilled it again and again, then planted good grass seed. There's only one spot that needs a little more work, and that's probably because that's where the tree was and the pH of the soil is still a little bit "off" there.
SteveShaw wrote:dunno what you call 'em over there - RCD here
Over here they are called a Ground Fault Circuit Interupters (GFCI) but these are either built into the circuit breaker or into the receptacle itself. They are a good idea for any outdoor or indoor electrical circuit that is used anywhere near water.
djm
I'd rather be atop the foothills than beneath them.
rebl_rn wrote:So, what should I look for in a lawnmower? Any particular likes or dislikes, favorite brands, etc? I have a small front yard but a decent sized back yard.
If you have a rental store, talk to the mechanic who fixes all the rental mowers. If you have a small engine/lawnmower shop nearby, go with it. Stay away from the big box store stuff.
When I bought mine, that's what I did. I ended up with a Toro. They've been around for a long time, and that's what the rental shop recommended. I haven't been sorry.
Good advice above. A friend of mine swears that the Sears models are very unreliable over time. I have had one for two years (before she warned me) and it's poorly designed, but the engine has held out. They didn't use lock washers or loc-tite for some of the handle parts, so one handle fell off and got munched. The back splash thing that drags on the ground got similarly munched when I backed out of a tight spot. The bag fits poorly if you are not careful and spits out a stream of mulch at ya so it's a real pain.
I do hear that Toros end up being pretty widely recommended. But DO check out a lawnmower shop. And, if you don't want to buy new, they often have refurbed ones that are just fine.
You might also want to go to the library and check out Consumer Reports recommendations. They are pretty good at finding flaws.
DaleWisely wrote:I have a 10 year old Sears 22-inch mulcher. Shoot the little clippings right back down in the ground. No bagging. I love it. I'm told the clippings are bad for my lawn. But, you see, I regard the lawn as my enemy and so I'm ok with that.
Dale
Yeah-- mulching is terrific. Just don't let the grass get too long or it won't mulch up well. Ditto for mowing wet grass
We have a small lawn on our property which takes only about 40 min to mow (including doing the tiny front lawn of the elderly lady next door). I bought a cheapie big box store mower made by MTD (which makes mowers under a zillion other labels too). I think I paid about $175 for it and it works just fine. I have to push it, but on a small lawn that's no problem and I just consider it a bit of extra exercise. May not last as long as a Toro or Honda, but for the price even if I replace it every 6-7 years, it would be worth it. It has a B&S engine which starts first pull every time, except for the first startup in the spring.
I have a hands off approach to lawn care. No fertilizer of week killer. I used them one year and the stupid grass grew so fast I had to cut it every 4 days! The weeds are green too and some of them are actually quite pretty with bonus flowers from time to time. They're also more drought resistant than grass.
DaleWisely wrote:I have a 10 year old Sears 22-inch mulcher. Shoot the little clippings right back down in the ground. No bagging. I love it. I'm told the clippings are bad for my lawn. But, you see, I regard the lawn as my enemy and so I'm ok with that.
Dale
Yeah-- mulching is terrific. Just don't let the grass get too long or it won't mulch up well. Ditto for mowing wet grass
We have a small lawn on our property which takes only about 40 min to mow (including doing the tiny front lawn of the elderly lady next door). I bought a cheapie big box store mower made by MTD (which makes mowers under a zillion other labels too). I think I paid about $175 for it and it works just fine. I have to push it, but on a small lawn that's no problem and I just consider it a bit of extra exercise. May not last as long as a Toro or Honda, but for the price even if I replace it every 6-7 years, it would be worth it. It has a B&S engine which starts first pull every time, except for the first startup in the spring.
I have a hands off approach to lawn care. No fertilizer of week killer. I used them one year and the stupid grass grew so fast I had to cut it every 4 days! The weeds are green too and some of them are actually quite pretty with bonus flowers from time to time. They're also more drought resistant than grass.
Electric and hand mowers are fine for very small spaces and for people who always keep their lawns neat and trimmed. If the grass gets long (you skip mowing) or the area is large - say more than 2-3000 sq ft, you probably want a power mower. Consumer reports says anything over 1/2 acre and you should be riding it. That's about right. I've been walking behind my self-propelled Toro for 10 yrs. We cut about 1/2 acre. We need a new mower and the next one will have a place to sit down.
A contractor once told that lawn is the lowest maintainence yard (of things that live). We have lawns, gardens, and brush. The lawn is the easiest to care for. It also offers summer dormancy - a wonderful feature. I don't water it. If Mother Nature doesn't water it, it turns a nice dusty brown and goes to sleep. This year the lawn slept through July and August. The wet weather around Katrina woke it up. I cut tonight.
brewerpaul wrote: The weeds are green too and some of them are actually quite pretty with bonus flowers from time to time. They're also more drought resistant than grass.
Sure a Weed is only a flower growing in the wrong place
Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
If you're buying a standard gasoline push-mower, the options are fewer than they seem. Many of the brands available in north america are in fact substantially identical--most of the marques were bought up over the past decade or so and are all made by the same company. It is the illusion of choice.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
