If you have a lawn...

[noisebeam]

Do you use a manual push mower?

An article in NYT about pollution from mowers and resistance/politics to putting some pollution controls (catalyctic converter) got me thinking - I think I read that as part of agreement for CA to have them, that no other state can ?

I use a push mower (a nice one with grass catcher) and it gives some of the same pleasures as motor free transport - no pollution, no noise, exercise, can do it anytime (even late weeknight or 5am on sunday morning), neighbors walking by house stop and chat instead of walking quickly by to get away from noise.

Of course a 'lawn' (not a field) is generally environmentally bad (summer water use, chemicals, fertilizers) in most parts of the US - I am slowly getting rid of mine that came with house and am chem free.

Al

[freediver]

I had one of those but it never did a very good job of cutting my lawn. I REALLY wanted it to work because I hate the noise of a gas mower but my grass ended up looking more like it had been ripped instead of cut- and even then it was uneven. I even went out and bought a new, sharp, mower thinking that my old pushmower had died on me- it was bolted, and taped, together and was in pretty bad shape. The new mower still didn't help things.

In the end I bought an electric mower- the kind with the power cord. It was half the price as the battery operated one and much lighter- which is important to me since I have a highly sloped front yard. My backyard is all trees so no worries about that- Did I mention that I love trees and hate cutting grass? ;)

It took a little getting used to the power cord on the mower, but if you've ever vaccumed a house I think you'll figure it out pretty quickly.

Jon

[noisebeam]

I use this one:
http://www.composters.com/gr/mclane.jpg
It works far better than any other manual mower I've tried - it has a plastic bin grass catcher that hangs off the front.
It has a street price of ~$160 plus $50 extra for the catcher (gulp), but I got a barely used one at the hardware store for $50 complete. These things show up like used bikes do when folks clean out their garages.
The key is to mow often, so its an easy stroll to push it around.
Al

[Derailed]

I switched to a manual reel mower last summer, and haven't looked back. My yard is in pretty good shape and isn't very large (~2000 sq. feet). Not only is it quiet (mowing with an iPod is nice!), but it is much easier on my allergies due to the much decreased dust blowing around.

You'd think that mowers wouldn't be much of a pollution problem given how little fuel they use (compared to driving), but as you mentioned, the lack of a catalytic converter and particulate emissions make them a significant pollution source in semi-urban areas.

One thing I've heard, however, is that with the manual mowers it becomes more important that you keep your yard in fairly good shape: sticks, tall weeds and other debris make the reel mowers not work well.

Although I wouldn't want to use the reel mower for a large lawn (over 5000' sq. feet), I find that for my lawn the comparison to commuting by bicycle is apt. It is peaceful, better for you, better for the environment and cheaper. When I see my neighbors (with similarly small lawns) using loud polluting gas mowers, it is much like when I see people using a car for short distance commuting.... if only they knew!!

-D

[PatrickMcCabe]

I used a manual mower for years, cut the lawn twice each time, never with good results, I think the brand name was Scott. I bought a electric mower 3 years ago and it does a much better job.....but I add two stoke oil for the smoke and smell cause I like it!

[genericbikedude]

http://home.online.no/~krevne/images/Goat%2019.06.2005.JPG

[Eriol]

are they hard to push or is the labor basically the same as a gas mower.

[gwd]

are they hard to push or is the labor basically the same as a gas mower.
If you can pedal a bike you can push a reel mower. The lack of noise and fumes pays for the push mower the first time you use it.

I used two different push mower models in several yards. There are many variables, like the hardness of soil and type of grass. If you keep at the grass and the underlying soil is right it seems like less hassle than a power mower. One that I used was very old but still worked. If I let the grass get too long I cut it back with a swing blade first then trimmed it even with the push reel mower. With my mindset I was always expanding the fruit trees and garden and continually reducing the size of the yard. I took the process to an extreme and now live in a co-op. If I get into a gardening mood I can put pots on the deck or walk a block to the community garden plots in my neighborhood or volunteer at a number of park projects.

Although yards are wasteful, it seemed to me that letting it go to prairie or meadow stage increased the mosquitoe population. After mowing there seemed to be far fewer mosquitoes. Or was that just a coincidence?

My suburban friend tells me that where he lives you are a nobody if you don't have this huge riding power mower and you had better not call it that, you have to call it a "yard tractor". It goes along with the SUV mentality. Apparently, even people with smallish yards that could be served by a push mower ride around on these things. Its some sort of status display.

[Jerseysbest]

I believe most small engines are two stroke, which produces more power per cubic inch compared to 4 stroke but also produce more pollution. If its a 4 stroke engine, like some riding mowers, it probably doesn't produce much pollution.

[Lamplight]

My friend had one and I tried it and really liked it, but everyone keeps telling me the blades have to be sharpened very often. Anyone have that problem?

P.S. A few years ago you could get electric mowers with rechargeable batteries, like cordless power tools. Not sure if those are still on the market or if they're even any good. Expensive, too!

[PurpleK]

I use a push mower. I can't imagine why I didn't start using it before I did. The whishing sound instead of the roar of powered mowers alone makes it worthwhile. Like noisebeam said, the neighbors stop to chat now when I'm mowing near the sidewalk. The topic of conversation is often the mower. Mower blades don't need sharpening as much as some believe..in fact, I have yet to sharpen mine after two years of use.

[freediver]

I found the push mower very easy to use- especially on the steep hill that is my front yard. The fact that it had no motor on it made it very light for pushing up and down the incline. I loved everything about it excpet the way my grass looked when finished- and I am NOT picky about my grass.

I used to have one of those battery operated ones, but when It died I went to the pushmower, and then to the electric with the cord. The batteries make the whole thing very heavy, again the steep hill that I cut, and also pretty expensive. The cord one, that I now have, is light and quite. I never saw one like the McClain before, but I would be willing to give it a shot if my current mower ever dies.

jon

[Gus Riley]

Do you use a manual push mower?...


Hel no! It takes me almost four hours to cut the lawn with a riding lawn mower! Right now its growing so fast that I have to be out there every four days. Hey, I'm a member of the 50 and over thread, you want me to have a heart attack?! :o

[cooker]

I have both. I use the manual one mainly, but occasionally I have to use the gas one because I let the grass get too long. I don't use a grass catcher with either...I just let the clippings feed back into the lawn.

[manual_overide]

I have both. I use the manual one mainly, but occasionally I have to use the gas one because I let the grass get too long. I don't use a grass catcher with either...I just let the clippings feed back into the lawn.

you could start to get a thatch problem if you aren't careful.

[AverageCommuter]

I use a push reel mower on my ~10000 sq.ft. lawn and love it. You just have to mow frequently enough, but you should do that anyway. You never want to cut more than a third of the length of the blade off during any mowing. Doing so causes the plant to stop root production (which is necessary for a healthy lawn) and divert all of its energy to blade production.


you could start to get a thatch problem if you aren't careful.

A common misconception. Thatch is usually caused by over-fertilizing.

"It is assumed that the return of grass clippings to the lawn will increase thatch. This is not true. Grass clippings are about 75 to 85 percent water and decompose readily. Thatch is formed from grass parts more resistant to decay like roots, stems, nodes, crowns, etc." -Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet

Check out http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1191.html

[thelung]

I use a manual at my mom's place. Trying to convince her to get rid of the lawn completely, and just leave the wooded area wild and have beds, shrubs/bushes and our (food) garden with foot paths in between. Once I move and can't mow for her it would be much easier for her to maintain a garden than a lawn. Plus lawns just plain suck imo.

[Bike_UK]

Yes, i use one.
Only got a small grass area as most of the garden has been dug up for vegetable production, so the manual one is enough. Only problem is it jamming when i've left it too long between cuttings (interesting info there about ceasing root production, averagecommuter)

[sentinel4675]

I love mowing my yard with my Toro self propelled mower. It does a great job. After I fertilized 2 weeks ago, it had grown like crazy and is green.

[Az B]

My lawn is about the size of a postage stamp, so I don't really get too worried about using a gas mower.

My next mower will probably be one of those rechargeable electric mowers though. It would more convenient not to have to fool with gas since I use so little over the course of a year.

Az

[CommuterRun]

I use a 6.75 HP, 22" cut, big wheeled, push mower, but I'm not mowing a lawn either. I hate lawns. To me, they equate to environmental poison. My yard is a lot of dirt, sand and weeds, the grass grows where it will, and it all gets mowed about every two weeks. Many years ago, way before I had this yard, I tried a reel type push mower and didn't get good results in operation or in the finished job. Another thing I didn't like about it, is it simply wouldn't cut anything that was too tall. I did like how quiet it was, though, and the fact that it used no fuel. If my yard ever grows into a real lawn I will probably get another one. The one Noisebeam posted the picture looks like a much better one than the one I had.

The things I don't like about my current mower are that I have to buy gas for it and the amount of noise it makes. Some of the things I like about it are it will bag, side discharge or mulch, at my option, and I can mow anything smaller in diameter than my thumb. This makes it strong enough for light brush clearing, all I have to do is keep gas in it, the airfilter clean and the blade sharp. The weakest link on this mower seems to be the blade. The engine's still running strong, even after I bent the last blade into an "L".:D

I also take a perverse delight in pulling up to the gas pumps on a bicycle with a gas can on the utility trailer in tow.:D

[schiavonec]

I sold my last home and left it with the new owners. they moved from a condo and didn't have any yard tools. My suburban neighbors used to think I was either 'Zen like' or nuts using the push mower. I had the scotts model too, and it wasn't great, but once you get the hang of how to use it effectively, it is fine. (2 passes at a minimum, and don't let the grass get too long or it is a real pita.) Our new home has -0- grass and is all zeriscaped (shrubs, perrenials) other than the commonly maintaind fronts (HOA).

My parents had a corded electric mower that I used for years growing up. It worked fine as well and never broke.

There isn't much reason for gas powered lawn tools unless you have a huge yard, or large trees to cut with a chain saw, etc. That 2-stroke crap should be banned. Espeically the blowers. Gee, take your mess and blow it into your neighbors yard and make a bunch of noise and noxious pollution in the process.

[cooker]

you could start to get a thatch problem if you aren't careful. The gas mower mulches, and with the manual one I try to cut often to get small pieces, so usually I'm OK. Any thatch gets raked up with the leaves in the falll.

[cooker]

I suppose if this were P&R we could debate the whole concept of having a lawn. They're great for kids to gambol upon, or if you want to have an outdoor party or play catch or badminton, and they show off your house well; but the maintenance is high, there's a continuing temptation to treat them chemically for cosmetic reasons (which ain't too good for the kids) or fertilize them (which harms the watershed) and they suck up a lot of water. It's great that there's been an increasing trend to replace them with other landscape ideas.
Having said all that, I have a lawn. :rolleyes:

[adgrant]

Although yards are wasteful, it seemed to me that letting it go to prairie or meadow stage increased the mosquitoe population. After mowing there seemed to be far fewer mosquitoes. Or was that just a coincidence?

My suburban friend tells me that where he lives you are a nobody if you don't have this huge riding power mower and you had better not call it that, you have to call it a "yard tractor". It goes along with the SUV mentality. Apparently, even people with smallish yards that could be served by a push mower ride around on these things. Its some sort of status display.

In the North East there is also the problem of deer ticks. Nobody wants Lyme Disease.

In the suburb I used to live in, almost nobody had yard tractor or any mower at all, they paid someone else to cut their lawn.

[noisebeam]

Wow, interesting response. I figured on a car free forum there would be more interest in gas free mower and there is some.
As to quality of cut... I previously tried the kind where the blade is attached to the wheels driectly (vs. the chain drive one I pictured above) and while they are lighter, they seem to bounce on the lawn and create an uneven cut - the picture one also lets you adjust front and rear wheels to get just the right cut angle - after mowing one can't see any pattern. My 'lawn' does have patches of dirt, debris, rocks, sticks and I plow thru them, sometime the blade gets stuck and I need to pull out a stick or rock. I haven't sharpened the blade in years, except to smooth out nicks, its overdue, but just makes for a slightly harder time pushing (which is fine with me) My next door neighbor has the exact same mower, but the powered version and they cut the same.
Al

[cooker]

In the North East there is also the problem of deer ticks. Nobody wants Lyme Disease.

Don't get your point - how does it relate to lawns?

[smurfy]

I got a manual push mower, too, as some of my neighbors. Of course my lawn is the size of a postage stamp, which I prefer since large lawns are time/energy consuming and wasteful. I do need to sharpen the blades, though. It's getting harder to push and it just seems to run over top of the grass at times. Some of our other neighbors have electric mowers which they really like. One neighbor I talked to says she doesn't have to buy and store gas, afraid the garage will catch on fire!

I have eliminated half of the grass in my back yard by planting lots of shade trees and a vegetable garden, strawberry patch, cement table and benchs, some landscaping and a pond. My goal is to totally eliminate all the grass (except for some uncut grass behind the pond for critters to hide) and have ground cover in it's place.

[adgrant]

Don't get your point - how does it relate to lawns?

Hard to pick up a Deer Tick walking on a lawn. Very easy with trees or long grass. One of the recommend tick control measures is a well cut lawn surrounding the house (I guess concrete would work too).

[Roody]

I vote for get rid of the grass. Just have a small grassy area and mow it with a hand mower. For taller grass and weeds, use a scythe or sickle. They are fast, relaxing and fun to use--just like a bike.

Really, try to reduce you usage of gasoline in all areas, not just transportation. Like Al said, it surprises me that so many on this forum would extoll gas mowers, which do pollute more than cars, even the small ones.:mad: :mad:

[kf5nd]

7500 sq. ft., manual would kill me in the Texas heat.

[noisebeam]

7500 sq. ft., manual would kill me in the Texas heat.
I really don't find it any harder or only slightly harder than pushing a gas mower. Its just exercise, a walk.
The nice thing is you can mow your lawn at 9pm (or 5am) when its cooler and not annoy anyone.
Mine used to be 6k sq.ft. (I've sinced reduced) and I found no problem mowing in 110deg shade. (8pm temp in summer)

Al

[silent1]

The thing that I don't understand is why people have such large yards. It's not anyone here that has posted, but the people around here have huge yards that never get touched except by the mower. These people down the road have a huge commercial mover with like a 72" deck and it still takes 3 hours to mow it all down. I don't understand why they just wouldn't let it grow up or plant some prairie grass in the yard that way they don't have to mow and the yard looks really good once it blooms.

[San Rensho]

I have gone to a prairie lawn. I am letting everything grow out and I will keep just the native species. Already, there are native flowers taking over, attracting butterflies, and the non-natives, like grass, are going away.

I haven't watered or fertilized this year and its surprising how many plants grow.

My neighbors, who all have very landscaped yards, with a crew of yard people coming by every week for hours, making sure every blade of grass is in its place, think I'm crazy.

[sentinel4675]

My crew of landscapers consists of1-ME. I have a small yard and enjoy my Toro power mower. I enjoy being in the yard and mowing and edging the sidewalk. I like how nice a manicured lawn looks and the smell of fresh cut grass.

[adgrant]

The thing that I don't understand is why people have such large yards. It's not anyone here that has posted, but the people around here have huge yards that never get touched except by the mower. These people down the road have a huge commercial mover with like a 72" deck and it still takes 3 hours to mow it all down. I don't understand why they just wouldn't let it grow up or plant some prairie grass in the yard that way they don't have to mow and the yard looks really good once it blooms.

Why have a yard or house at all. An apartment would be much more energy efficient and could be closer to shops work etc.

I had a house with a large yard. I got tired of all the maintainance including paying someone to cut the lawn (which needed to stay cut because of tenants and to keep the deer ticks at bay). Also you don't want a lot of vegetation around wooden buildings. It promotes rot.

Now I have an apartment.

[noisebeam]

I have gone to a prairie lawn. I am letting everything grow out and I will keep just the native species. Already, there are native flowers taking over, attracting butterflies, and the non-natives, like grass, are going away.

That's fantastic!

Al

[patc]

We have an old (15+ years) electric mower. Since our yard is smaller than our living room, and I only bother mowing it twice a year, I see no point in replacing the electric mower.

[Bikemiker]

Maybe one of these?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/Bikemiker/HPmower2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/Bikemiker/HP_Mower.jpg

[PaulH]

I've got the traditional, manual reel type. Looks like a Segway. It is actually easier to push than a motorized mower. However, it sometimes requires multiple passes to cut all the grass. This is mostly a problem when the grass is high.

Paul

[I-Like-To-Bike]

Maybe one of these?
Or this?

[noisebeam]

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0522-30.htm

[atman]

I know two people who are missing big toes from lawnmower mishaps. I will never employ a powered mower to cut grass; my personal choice, from knowing these people. Patches of lawn can be a satisfying thing, especially with kids; I wouldn't want any more than I could cut with nice rotary.

I think most people have more lawn than they use, but if someone likes tossing a baseball with his daughter, that's going to take a lot of lawn, and it's lawn worth having in my book. Fruit-bearing bushes would be the first thing I'd put in if I had access to anything but concrete in my urban jungle: they look smart with a mulch underneath, they produce fruit in season, and one needn't mow. There are.

If we really want to talk about bad lawns, we're talking about golf courses, which are responsible for serious water depletion in many communities and can't be said to do the environment a favor with the amount of herbicide and fertilizer they eat up. The gas burnt by riding mowers cutting them is a drop in the bucket.

[unbent]

If you can pedal a bike you can push a reel mower.

Actually if you can pedal a bike you can pull a reel mower. I don't remember where I saw it but there is a reel mower that is made to attach to the back of a bike (for larger yards I'm sure) so that you can mow while riding. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Andy
www.myvemma.com/unbent

[bhc]

My yard is rock, cactus and cement. My gardening amounts to, every few weeks picking out that rare weed that gets in there. Leaves a whole lot of time to be on the bicycle rather than pushing or riding a lawn mower. :)

[plantluvver]

I have a manual push mower, and also a corded electric mower. A few years ago, I looked for someone to sharpen my mower, without sucess. I did find instructions somewhere to use the stuff you polish car valves with to sharpen the blades.

My biggest problem is with uneven surfaces in my lawn. How do you get rid of bumps in the lawn, so the mower works smoothly? Also, when it is muddy out (I live in Portland Oregon) in spring, I cannot mow without leaving skid marks. I know it is bad too mow when it is wet, but here, it is sometimes necessary.

I replaced the blade on my electric mower once, a month later it looked just as bad as the old one. It is a really chintzy blade. My electric mower is from the 70's or so. It is very difficult to get blades, since the manufacturer likes to insist that model doesn't exist. I traded my gas mower for it.
The electric is much lighter in weight, si easier to push. It is a hassle cutting the grass at the side of the house.

Someday, I will get around to planting my yard in trees and groundcovers, and a vegetable garden. Without kids, what do I need a lawn for? I guess it is nice for pitching my tent in summer. Would thyme be a good substitute, I wonder?

Mary

[cooker]

Someday, I will get around to planting my yard in trees and groundcovers, and a vegetable garden. Without kids, what do I need a lawn for? I guess it is nice for pitching my tent in summer. Would thyme be a good substitute, I wonder?

Mary

You could build a small tent platform, like a deck, in the middle of your wild lawn, and use it as a seating area when the tent is stored.

Also, for areas where it is currently hard to mow, like the side of the house. you should put ground cover or flower beds right now.

[etowns!]

...look into the neuton mower. its a cordless electric mower, and lasts about 1hr on a charge, and half as quiet as a gas mower. i used to use a push mowere, but screw that, unless of course you WANT the workout, which isnt such a bad idea. personally, i hate it. this neuton mower is really great, and before you buy, check with your city. i was fortunate enough to have the city give me a rebate for changing from gas to electric (similar to energy star rebates). literally cut the price of the mower in half !(pasadena).

[edit]: forgot the link .... http://www.countryhomeproducts.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=cemsellgroup&BC=0:Home|1:Catalog|2:Lawn|3:LawnCare&LinkType=3&src=IP00059

side note: im waitng on a hack that would allow the mower to accept solar cells to charge-as-you-mow. your in the sun, it would be perfect, and would extend the charge time.

now if i could just find an electric leaf blower.....i hate those things!

[khuon]

Do you use a manual push mower?

I have a 12,000 sq. ft. lawn. I also have a rotary manual push-mower as well as a gas push-mower. I generally use the manual push-mower but it doesn't always hit the weeds. There's a field right next to me and the weeds are pervasive. So every once in a while I'll use the gas mower. They both take me the same amount of time to mow the lawn. My next solution is to do some massive landscaping and turn my yard from a lawnn into more of a garden so that there's actually less grass to mow, less places for weeds to infest and more interesting things such as a pond/waterfall, walkways, gazebos, shade-covered sitting areas, etc.

[CommuterRun]

Speaking of bugs, I don't have any standing water in the yard, but I have found that regular mowing definately reduces the mosquitoes and sand-gnats.

If I don't mow, you can't stay out on the porch in shorts in the evening.