Subject: Re: 'Mowers: Electric or Gas?

From: [email-masked]
Date: 4 Apr 1995 18:00:21 +0100

Les Gainous ([email-masked]) writes:

>  What are the advantages/disadvantages with an electric mower?

Advantages: No oil and gasoline inventory (with its attendant smell and
mess), no spring tune-up maintenance (plug it in and go), lasts a life
time (the deck will eventually rust or wear out), easy to clean (flip it
on a side and hose it off), simple to store (on a wall, in-doors or out),
light weight (easy to push), less noise (neighbor friendly), easy to
sharpen (flip upside down), and negligible pollution (no local fumes).

Disadvantages: Must learn how to use (requires reading and comprehending
owners manual), necessitates planning (have to think AND think ahead),
inconvenient to use in the wilderness (portable generator must
accompany), and shouldn't be used during severe electrical storms
(emergency switch may fuse closed if operator is struck by lightening).

The most common reason people become dissatisfied with AC mowers is that
they do not read the manual and learn how to deal with the power cord.
Maybe I should say, "...they can't read..."  This may not apply outside
the US and is being addressed in the US, as are most issues requiring
instruction, by the use of video tapes.  (Now that text-to-audio is at
hand, can you imagine the imbeciles that will flood the net once voice
recognition is perfected?)  Many first-timers coil the cord around their
shoulders, tangle their feet in the cord, and trip AROUND the lawn for a
few weeks before giving up.

I have been using electric for 22 years.  That includes mowing an acre
using as many as six 100-foot extensions.  I know there is a voltage
drop but the only time it was a problem was while mowing a field I had
let go all summer.  Two foot tall fescue made the going a little slow.
But it out performs any gasoline mower of the same size.  They stall
when the going gets rough; with the electric I just back off a little
and keep going.  It has power right down to stall speed!

The fact that they are only two and one-half to three horsepower engines
must be considered, but that is plenty of power unless you have
a 48-inch deck and mow bamboo.  Many people beat the top of their grass
to shreds because they only sharpen the mower once or twice a year.
Keep the blade sharp and you can walk right through dense, six-inch
bluegrass!

I replaced my rusted out, twenty-year with a nearly new 18-inch B&D that
I bought at a Salvation Army thrift store for $29.29.  The previous
owner had put the blade on upside down (probably didn't come with above
video).  Apparently didn't like the way it cut.   ;-)

Bob Gray           [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Aileen)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 18:24:25 GMT

We are interested in a cordless mulching electric mower.

Black and Decker has one that (I think) just came out this year.
Ryobi's has been out longer.  

Any opinions out there?

Please send e-mail if you can.  

-Aileen

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From: [email-masked] (Aileen)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 18:24:25 GMT

Any opinions out there?

-Aileen