Electric Lawn Mowers
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.25.05
Electric lawn mowers, either corded or cordless, are the sane choice if you have grass to cut (short of finding a way to replace it with native plants that don't need to be cut – something I've been interested in lately; anybody has tips?). They are not quite as eco-friendly as these, but certainly more practical, and more importantly, a lot less polluting than the gas-powered versions (not to mention less noisy). Because of the polluting nature of gas mowers ("A conventional mower produces as much pollution in one hour as 43 late model cars or driving 340 miles, say industry experts."), many exchange programs where you can get either a rebate or a new electric mower for your old gas one exist. Keep an eye open for those in your area.
I have a cheapo reel mower from a major home improvement chain and a small lawn and it's completely practical. For half an acre? No. For a couple thousand square feet? No problem. You can be green and nicely trimmed without dropping multi-hundreds of dollars on an over-the-top designer mower.
in florida with bahia or st. augustine grass these mowers just don't "cut it"
I've tried several eco-friendly mowers and am happy now with a 20 inch scotts manual push mower.
http://www.eco-gardening.com/docs/mowlawn_scottpush.shtml
I had a corded before this but hated dealing with the cord around trees. Then I tried a 200 dollar battery powered mower but it was so weak that it was basically unusable. I think more expensive battery mowers like the 450 dollar black and decker work pretty well, but are too expensive and the battery needs to be replaced every couple of years. My scotts manual is wide enough that I get the lawn done faster than with my corded black and decker and its really not that hard to push...though I haven't tried it with really long grass yet.
"They are not quite as eco-friendly as these, but certainly more practical"
Wev have a standard urban lot - 5000 sq ft - and our Brill Luxus does a beautiful job. Plus, it has an 8 year service interval, never needs fuel, and hangs up neatly on our garage wall, instead of taking up a lot of floor space.
There's no way a power mower can do better than that for us.
The Massachusett's government published an article online about designing a yard to cut down on maintenance and water usage by cutting down on grass square footage and using native plants. It's a PDF available at http://www.mass.gov/envir/mwrc/pdf/More_Than_Just_Yard.pdf
The Massachusett's government published an article online about designing a yard to cut down on maintenance and water usage by cutting down on grass square footage and using native plants. It's a PDF available at http://www.mass.gov/envir/mwrc/pdf/More_Than_Just_Yard.pdf
Gotta plug mine again.. I have an uneven yard with rocks and bark chips, and didn't want to risk a reel mower, not to mention that my lawn seems to grow about 6-8 inches each week and I didn't want to be stuck mowing it daily). Anyway, I picked up a battery-powered Neuton mower, and it's at *least* as powerful as my dad's 5hp honda gas mower. Even with the mulch kit on, I can go through 8" grass with no trouble, and the battery (a lead-acid marine cell with a 3-5 year life expectency, and easy recycling afterward) easily lasts 45 minutes or more.