Today’s post is by guest Lisa who writes at Privilege.
Lawn mowers might be one of the most passionately discussed topics in the United States. First and second place may go to politics and religion, but try bringing up the subject of mowers at your next gathering. You may have to step back and let the sparks fly.
Some people love ride-on gas models. Sort of like the vintage car aficionados appreciation for the power of a ‘56 Thunderbird. Others argue for the minimalist push mower. But I tell you, in the pantheon of good design, there’s nothing, nothing, like a cordless electric lawn mower with a removable battery.
Pictured above is my battery powered lawn mower, poetically named the Black and Decker CM1936. I love it. I bought my cordless lawn mower from Amazon.com, where folks give it great reviews. Impassioned, almost. The only other home goods I love as much as this mower are beautiful and impractical. I’m thinking granite counter-tops, slate tile, and antique Federalist hall mirrors.
Let me show you what it does. This is my lawn before mowing.
This is my lawn after cutting with my cordless lawn mower.
One might almost think that the sun came out and flowers bloomed as a result of my lawn grooming. I admit, that’s just an accident of Northern California morning fog.
So, should you be a sensible person who is only convinced by real data, herewith the Top Eleven Reasons To Buy A Cordless Electric Lawn Mower Like Mine.
- There’s a recession on. Few of us have extra money to hire gardeners.
- Gas mowers? There’s a limit to what the earth can sustain. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, emissions produced by gasoline powered motors are responsible for about 5 percent of the nation’s air pollution yearly.* The Department of the Interior’s Green Seal Program estimates that electric mowers emit 3,300 times fewer hydrocarbons, 5,000 times less carbon monoxide, one-fifth as much nitrogen oxide, and less than half the carbon dioxide as gas engines.**
- Push mowers? There’s a limit to what aging bodies can do. I used to have a push mower. But I can’t push the darn thing up the little slope of my lawn any more.
- This Black and Decker mower is on sale on Amazon for $398.54 down from $399. OK, so that’s not really a good reason. But compared to using a gardener, you can pay this purchase off in a matter of months. Compared to a gas mower, it might take a year.*** But it’ll be a nice year.
- Electric mowers with cords may be even more environmentally sound, but you will find the cord to be So. Annoying. that you will never use yours. That’s truly environmentally unsound.
- You can store the battery for this baby in the garage, plugged in, and then just carry it over to your mower when you’re ready to mow. Not too heavy, even for us midlife types.
- The mower handle adjusts easily for comfort.
- Stanley Black & Decker is a well-run American company with years of tradition on its side. I can’t guarantee that buying this lawn mower will help the US remain competitive, but you never know.
- The wheel height adjusts easily so you can have exactly the lawn height you want. If that matters to you.
- Electric mowers are quiet. Electric mowers do not smell bad. That’s two reasons for the price of one.
- Because of reasons 5, 6, 8 & 9 you will mow your lawn more frequently, thereby ceasing to annoy your neighbors with unruly herbiage. Once I got a ticket for having weeds of a “downy and noxious habit” in my front lawn. No, I am not kidding.
I wish you all happy, quiet, environmentally-sound, economical-over-the-long-haul mowing. And the joy of owning something useful, aesthetically pleasing, and green.
*Via Garden Guides.
**Via Sea Coast Online.
***”Financially speaking, an electric mower makes common sense. They generally cost about half the price of a gas mower. Cordless models can run a bit more, but have an added advantage of no cord to watch over. The savings continue. An electric mower costs around $3 to $5 dollars to power for a year of use. Filling the gas tank just once on a traditional mower can easily cost that much. Over the expected lifetime of the mower, the savings become significant.” Via Helium.
Lisa writes the blog, Privilege, about style, some anxiety, the raptures of living and, sometimes, gardening. Visit Lisa’s most recent gardening post on cottage gardens.
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Excellent suggestion, if I had a lawn of any size now, I would buy one of these.
When I was growing up, because my dad was a quirky, techie kind of guy, we had the ONLY electric lawnmower in our neighborhood. The extremely long, bright yellow extension cord worked for our entire corner lot with its huge expanse of lawn. How is that possible? (It must have been a very long cord indeed.)
When I lived in Palo Alto, most of my yard was roses and lavender, so I had a beautiful little push mower from Smith and Hawken. In San Francisco, I have no lawn. I walk to city parks whose lawns are taken care of by others, and I am grateful for this.
Electric lawn mowers were (maybe are) standard gardening equipment in Scotland. With just a small lawn, the chord was never a problem, but here in Eastern Kansas an electric chord was just a pain (I used to have one). That’s why Lisa’s mower sounds really great. Of course you have to remember to charge it!
Sounds great, when I was young and living at home i had to mow the lawn with an electric corded mower and I agree, they are a complete pain, how I avoided electrocution I shall never know, I suspect my mum took a pragmatic survival of the fittest approach..Bx
LPC-
I was happy to do the lawn mowing at our home once I was old enough. My dad relinquished those duties easily. He continued the edging. I would do the raking and bagging.
My grandparents had the corded electric mower, and like Blighty, I somehow survived electrocution. But I thought it to be fancy.
Is your orange mower a nod to your Princeton lineage? Nice.
Best,
Dana
http://dana-in-wonderland.blogspot.com/
Dana´s last blog ..Would This Be Considered A Ponzi Scheme
Oh, man. This is really tempting. I’m sick of the noise, sick of the weight of a gas push mower and I’d like to get away from gasoline. I see it has a grass back clipped onto the back. That’s a major plus, too. I’m going to go check out the reviews. God, I would love to get rid of our gas beast!
Kathy´s last blog ..It’s Hard Being Me
Kathy, do come back and let us all know what you decide. Thanks for stopping by.
For the past several years my husband has been known on the block as the mad scientist who mows his entire property with a reel mower and has had a following among small boys in the neighborhood whose fathers wouldn’t let them push their gas mowers (or don’t even own a mower–the yard service comes in and does it). It would take him two hours, and while he enjoyed the time in the sun and the upper-body exercise, he wasn’t all that pleased with the look–the reel blades just don’t catch everything, no matter how many passes one makes. If he were away for a few weeks, as he often is in the summertime, I would borrow a neighbor’s gas mower, because I have better things to do with two hours than mow the lawn.
About a month ago, after mulling it over, he gave in and bought an Earthwise 20-inch cordless mower. (They also get very good reviews while being somewhat cheaper than the Black and Deckers ($240-$260), although harder to come by–we found ours at our local farm supply store.) It does just as good a job as the gas mowers and isn’t any heavier to push around. It is definitely quieter, and the strange thing I’ve noticed, if I stand close to the mower as he goes by with it, is that the air that comes out of the clippings chute is actually cool, rather than hot. There are no fumes.
So we’re slightly less earth-friendly now…but the grass looks better and can go for slightly longer between mowings. And I no longer wince when comparing our organically fertilized, no-pesticide front yard with the neighbors’ lush, neatly manicured, perfectly landscaped lawns that have been pumped full of chemicals.
Thanks Staircase Witch for the referral to an alternative mower and for sharing your experiences. I’d love to have a reel mower, but it would never do for my current lawn, which is just too large and too steep. Someday…
I no longer need to take care of my lawn. When I did though, I loved it. And because I think LPC is one of the coolest people on earth, I wanted to leave a comment here.
ADG
Alison, thank you so much for letting me write about my beloved lawn mower:). And to everyone who stopped by and commented, thank you very much.
Lisa
LPC´s last blog ..LPC is at Loving Natures Garden Today
Lisa, you are SO welcome. I really enjoyed learning about your mower. I even got some green garden envy!
Nice to see that you are faithful to your school colors.
You almost make me want to get rid of my gardener, ahem, lawn service, but I’m terrified of the responsibility – that grass grows so fast! Can I keep up? How long, precisely, does it take you to mow the lawn? And what kind of acreage are we talking about here?
Gourmetmom – I have mini-lawns at my California ranch. But they say it mows 1/3 acre with one charge. And it’s fast when charged.
Abbie – I didn’t even think of it as school colors, in truth:). But now I see what you mean and it’s an extra benefit…
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