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[Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>]

on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 05:26:10PM -0400, Magnus wrote:
> Hey INW,
> 
> With rising fuel costs and the apparent likelihood that we've already 
> reached a peak oil state, I'm looking at ways I can cut back on my use 
> of combustion engines.  I've already started telecommuting a couple of 
> days a week for the last few months.  Now I'm looking at my lawn mower.
> 
> Anyone have experience with something like this?
> http://www.amazon.com/Scotts-20-Inch-Push-Mower-2000-20/dp/B00004RA3E/
> 
> I have about 0.66 acres but with all the big oaks the amount of lawn I 
> need to mow is quite a bit less than that.  I'm probably going to pull 
> the trigger and buy that mower next paycheck.

We got one from Sears when we first moved into our house; it works great
but is highly dependent on having the right kind of grass, and can often
require that it get "up to speed" before it really starts cutting well.
It ends up looking kinda like you've mowed your lawn with a few lazy
machete chops if the rollers aren't really spinning well throughout, and
this means you have to make multiple passes through from different
directions, which depending on your lawn, may or may not be possible. It
is exceedingly difficult, for example, to get up speed from within a
hedge or under a porch in order to mow the lawn directly in front of it.

We have zoysia, which stays brown for half the year and in our case the
hand mower didn't work well due to the geometry. You might want to see
if you can borrow one (heck, I'll even sell you mine) and mow with it
for a bit to see if it's going to work out.

All in all, though, a goat might work better. :)

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