Gas vs Push Mowers

[genchan]

Does anyone own a push mower. my mower died and I have to get a new one. I have no problem getting a push mower (our yard isn't that large) and I'm thinking of doing it for the environmental aspect as much as for the savings, but want to know how the cuts compare to each other. Anyone have experience here? Also, how often do the rotor blades need to be sharpened on a push mower? All opinions welcome.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Re: Gas vs Push Mowers

I have one. I love how quiet it is. It makes a pleasant soft sound. My hands are not numb after using it, as they are after using an internal combustion mower. I have had mine six years and have not had to sharpen it. The "blades" aren't truly sharp to start with. They are a clean, square edge. The grass cuts in a scissoring action rather than in a whacking action as with a flat decked mower. The scissor action makes your grass look greener, without that white haze that a dull flat deck gas mower gives. Though I haven't had to sharpen my blades, I do have to adjust them frequently. Far too frequently, if you ask me. I'm thinking that is a fault of the cheap (but American made) brand I bought. My lawn is tiny and I should not have to re-align the blades but once a summer, in my opinion.

My zoysia lawn cuts well, but I have to keep up with it, mowing about once every four days. If you have a faster growing grass, you might have to mow even more. If the grass gets too long, this people-powered mower can't cut it and I end up having to borrow a gas mower. Also, I'd prefer to keep my grass taller than most people, certainly taller than my mower allows. I looked into what I thought might be a better quality mower (ex: Brill, German made, I think), but they allow for only much shorter grass.

There are a few stray non-zoysia grasses in my yard and at one point in spring, that grass (I think it is rye) flowers. My mower won't cut those tough stalks, but only bends them. It looks raggedy and if I were too concerned about controlling my lawn, that could drive me nuts. I have to put up with these uncut stalks for about three weeks, then they turn yellow and disappear.

Oh, I also cannot cut as close to things as I can with a gas mower whose blades extend out the width of the wheel base.

If you use your mower for things like picking up leaves in the fall, or mulching leaves either into the lawn or for use as a mulch on beds, well, you aren't going to be able to do that. You can attach grass catchers, but the mower just will not process the leaves.

Before committing to one, I recommend borrowing one and giving it a try on your own lawn. On some grass, it would just be too hard for me. But, oh, these mowers are nothing like the old antique pushmowers that were so stinkin' hard to use, what with their heavy iron rollers.

[Broken Arrow]

Re: Gas vs Push Mowers

I don't know mowers as well I would like, but I have an electric mower and I love it. The only downside is having to wrangle with the power cord, but it does the job quite well for a smallish sized lawn.

As for how often to sharpen one, you'll know when your grass doesn't get clean cuts, but instead have the brown, thrashed look to it.

Finally, it may be worth checking to see if the mower can be fixed first. Sometimes, the fix may not even be that difficult at all. For example, before the electric mower, I had a gas-powered that at one point wouldn't start no matter how hard I tried. Then I realized that the air intake filter was completely clogged. A few dollars and a filter change later, it started up without any problems.

[Blogging Away Debt]

Re: Gas vs Push Mowers

We have a reel mower and we love it! I love the fact it is quiet and I love the fact that I don't mind my son pushing his little toy mower next to me (things don't shoot out of it at 100 miles an hour).

There are some drawbacks. As mentioned above, my mower doesn't like the taller weeds either. Sometimes I have to go over them a few times or the weed wacker comes out. If my son is in a helping mood, he will pull them out by hand behind me. It's best to keep up and mow regularly.

It also doesn't work that well on hilly sections. Those can be tricky to get done but again we bring out the weed wacker to complete edging and we get the "missed" areas as well.

[lrjohnson]

Re: Gas vs Push Mowers

We have a push mower. My Guy used to do landscape maintenance so he has a vice string trimmer that we wields, like Away does. We've never sharpened it. I love how quiet it is. We have a a smaller lawn.