Lawnmower: electric or gas?

I'm sure we have discussed it before, so why not again? A friend is shopping for a new push-behind mower. The less maintenance, the better.

Does she want electric or gas?

Thanks.

How big is the lawn? If mine was small enough to go with a rechargeable electic, I'd do it.

I would think that electric would be less maintenance for a "she." The first time a gas won't start by the third pull, there's going to be problems. And, yeah, lawn size would factor into that as well.

If the yard is small, a reel mower is quite easy to deal with.

I loved using a reel mower until I became unable to push a mower. Swmbo is using an electric this year. I wanted to get one of the automatic Roomba type mowers but she wouldn't allow it

For electric or reel mowers if there is a hiccup in mowing schedule, the mower may not be up to the task once the lawn gets beyond a certain point. But otherwise I third the reel mower idea. My Mom had and electric and then a reel when she lived in a townhome and the reel mower was less hassle.

I have a riding gas for our primary house, and a corded electric for our mountain cabin.

I enjoy the electric a lot. Even with the stupid cord. And I have used it to hack through grass that was 2 feet tall.

But it is COMPLETELY about the size. If the lot is small enough to walk (with a very narrow width of cut), then the electric would be much lower maintenance and cost.

I'd say 1/4 acre would be the limit.

At the time, all of the reel mowers available from the big box stores had the same flaw in the handle. The tubing was flattened where it met the reel unit. Any move, such as a hole, or incautious turn would bend the metal. After that, it was an unpleasant and short spiral to metal fatigue. I returned the second unit to fail, and picked up a Honda gas push mower. The newer reel mowers have more robust handle designs. When this mower gives up, I'll probably get the nicest reel mower I can find.

They're quiet, and neither vibrate nor blow hot exhaust on you. They're totally non-frightening around bumps and rocks. I miss it.

The biggest functional weakness was that my reel mower seemed to struggle with weeds that had a round stalk, unlike the grass with its flat blades. Getting behind didn't make it much harder to push, but it did make it miss more weeds.

I used to use a reel mower, and I hate cutting grass. Which was a problem, because as noted they don't let you skip a week. I had to occasionally borrow a gas mower to get it back down to a manageable level. It wasn't as much of a problem in Canada when I was growing up. When the grass is at a cuttable level, they're actually really pleasant to use.

Now, I use a guy. A bunch of them. A local organization for mentally disabled adults has a lawn mowing service. They descend upon my lawn and take care of that hairy grass. They're not exactly professionals, but I'm okay with a little extra character. They have paying jobs, I get my weekend back and I never have to maintain lawn equipment. Everybody wins.

For yards that aren't quite big enough for a riding mower, I love Li-Ion battery powered mowers.

I'd say they nicely split the difference between a reel mower and a gasoline powered push mower. They're light enough that nearly anyone can easily mow, but can power through the stuff that may give a reel mower pause.

If you have range anxiety, it's easy enough to buy another battery pack so you always have enough juice on hand to finish the job without waiting to charge a battery. Bonus points for buying into the same line of line of products and having something like a trimmer or leafblower that use the same batteries.

I helped our elderly neighbors pick out a Greenworks mower with a 20" deck, and have used it on a few occasions, it's awesome. It's so light and easy to push that his wife will even occasionally mow the yard if its nice out.

I've got a family member who works for Stihl, and am supposed to get a demo electric mower and trimmer if we end up buying a place this summer.

a thought... if you have allergies, would a reel throw less pollen into the air?

A few years ago, I found an intact Flymo in the scrap pile at the dump. To this day, I kick myself for not tossing it in the back of the truck. I even knew at the time that I would regret it, but I'm pretty sure that my day wasn't going all that well at that point.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

That is a fantastic idea!

In reply to Mike:

My dad had one of these for mowing inside the fence around his pool. It was really light and cut beautifully. I'm not sure I'd want to mow a quarter acre with it, but for a really small area, they can't be beat. They're not terribly expensive either.

http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/lawn-mowers/64/

I love my electric mower.

Had a gas one for years, but when the starter cord broke, I took the chance.

My B&D mower is great, as it has no problem mowing up my fall leaves. With how often I trim, I need to replace it sometime, too.

Will stick with gas snow blower and chipper.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I like that idea.

How are their rates?

I had a battery-powered weedeater that I loved until I didn't. Battery died weeks after the warranty expired. Bought a used Echo and never looked back. And my used Lawnboy starts on the first or second pull every_time, even after it's been sitting over the winter.

I vote used gas mower. Small engine repair places always have them CHEAP. My $30 Craftsman lasted for almost ten years with zero maintenance.

Buy cheap. Do zero maintenance. Rinse. Repeat. Bonus points if you can find one with a pre-China Tecumseh motor.

Mike wrote: If the yard is small, a reel mower is quite easy to deal with.

Looks familiar haha. Link

I'm not exactly the greenest guy in the world, but for my fairly small yard (once the Honda dies) I'm going to get a cordless electric and a solar panel for charging it.

I once pushed a reel mower. It was old and heavy, and I quickly learned to hate it. I presume there are better ones out there.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: I like that idea. How are their rates?

I suspect that there is regional variation for this sort of thing, but they're quite reasonable. It's either $20 every visit (every two weeks for us) or $20/week, I forget. It would probably cost me more to have a high school kid do the work with my own mower.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Damn, that's cheap! It's almost $100 a week around here. Do these guys travel?

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm not exactly the greenest guy in the world, but for my fairly small yard (once the Honda dies) I'm going to get a cordless electric and a solar panel for charging it. I once pushed a reel mower. It was old and heavy, and I quickly learned to hate it. I presume there are better ones out there.

The one I had was very light. The weight advantage made up for the increased rolling resistance. I don't remember it being particularly hard to push unless I was hurrying through an overgrown section.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm not exactly the greenest guy in the world, but for my fairly small yard (once the Honda dies) I'm going to get a cordless electric and a solar panel for charging it. I once pushed a reel mower. It was old and heavy, and I quickly learned to hate it. I presume there are better ones out there.

The one pictured (the one I own) has a flywheel that stores energy. When you hit thick grass you don't even notice it. It pushes in grass easier than my uncle's older, but still modern, push mower does on concrete. It's amazing.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm not exactly the greenest guy in the world, but for my fairly small yard (once the Honda dies) I'm going to get a cordless electric

If you have one of those Honda HR21 mowers, it will never die. I bought mine in 1994 and it is still going strong. The first 10 years it was our only mower so it got regular service every year.

Then we got a riding mower and the Honda became the back-up. It had been sitting for 2 years when I got it out last week. Hasn't had the oil changed in 3 years, gas was 2 years old, but it still started on the second pull.

I have a Honda. It is amazing. Easy to start, easy on gas, and easy to maintain. I compared it to the Toro, Snapper, Gravely, Husquavarna and ExMark. It really came down to the Gravely and the Honda. Same dealer here, but I liked the Honda more.

For electric, I'd be looking at the Stihl.