Suburban Mower Up & Goes Green

This isn't exactly breaking news per se, but I thought I'd share the incredible short-but-true story of how we made the switch from gas to electric/rotary mowers. The "we" is a bit of stretch, actually. In this household, I do the bulk of the mowing since I'm the one who is not allergic to grass. (In fairness, I refuse to use the weed eater because the fool thing scares me silly.)

All that said, I grew up using a riding mower on my parent's sizeable lot and quite enjoyed it, especially in the days before I could drive a real car. Minus the accidental shredding of one box turtle and a couple of dog toys, my memories consist primarily of sunscreen, a numb bum at the end of the mow and ringing ears for a couple of hours after I'd switched the machine off.

Flash forward a few years...skipping dorm (excuse me..."residence life") and apartment dwelling...until our first house. We purchased a very spiffy new mower with a fancy "instant start" feature. Yeah, right. I can't imagine what the "difficult start" musta been like. The fool thing felt like it would rip off my arm. We had it for several years...even moved with it to another state. But it was awful. Perfectly awful. We shoulda chunked it.

Somewhere along the way, we picked up an American reel mower (see below). And I have to say, for small bits of yard--like our teeny front one, it ain't half bad. You do have to watch out for mulch and rocks that can get caught in it, but its practically silent and, for me, conjures terrific images of watching Wally and the Beav use a similar contraption at the Cleaver place (I saw this in re-runs, mind you...I'm not that old...yet).

When we set up housekeeping again in Central Texas a couple of years ago, we opted to toss the evil, gas-suckin' arm-twister for an electric mower (we still use the reel mower out front). This was a surprisingly brilliant move, although it did require some adjustments. First, gone forever is the "but I can't mow now, we're out of gas" excuse. Pfffftt... Second, there's the cord. Now, for some folks, the cord is the "uh-uh, no way" deal breaker when considering an electric mower. And since the cordless variety costs over $100 more than the one with the cord...some people fold up right there in the conversion and stick with the gas kind.

But give me a moment to persuade you to reconsider. 

The corded one isn't all that bad. If you have a yard of any real size, then, yup, you do need a really, really long cord...or a couple of them. And you need easy access to an exterior plug. After that, its an issue of mindset...you can't think of mowing in the traditional up-and-down rows so easily. You have to think of it like you would a vacuum and drag that cord around with you. If you've got a hay-uge backyard like ours, it can take a couple of times to feel comfortable with the mower/cord combo. But the relative quiet, the lack of vibration, and the do-gooder "I'm not wasting gas" feeling can help block out any lingering anxiety about the cord if you let it. 

In fact, having made the switch to an electric mower I almost cannot imagine going back.

Some other tips: be sure to keep your hand tilted in such a way that it doesn't cause the front of the electric mower to tip up. That causes for some funny-looking patches that might make Mr. Cleaver insist you go back and do it over again. Just sayin'.