Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year old too haevy mower.
 

"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message
. ..


So, gas or electric?

If you're referring to the type that needs a cord plugged into 120 volts AC,
I'd suggest the following: Put a glass jar into a thick paper bag. Beat the
bag with a hammer until you have bits of glass the size of peas. Put half
the glass in your mouth and the rest in your shoes, and go for a walk.

That's a pretty good analogy for what it'll be like to mow a 90 foot stretch
while trying to manage an extension cord.

Get yourself a Snapper or Honda self-propelled gas mower. You'll find these
at independent lawn equipment shops, not big discount stores.

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year oldtoo haevy mower.
 

On Feb 17, 8:31*pm, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote:
* * Frankly I have done just that with an electric with cord and had no
problems at all. *My current home is not laid out in a way that would make
it easy, *but I am considering either a corded or battery model. *In fact I
just saw an add for a cord/cordlesss model. *I will have to look into that
one.

* * I like the relative quiet of electric. *No bother with gas etc. *I don't
like the prospect of buying new batteries, as I am about to do for my
trimmer, blower and hedge cutter. *Of the three original batteries (about 6
years old) two are almost dead. * Very handy.

* * While I personally like electric, I suspect that Joe would more happier
with a gas model.

--
Joseph Meehan

*Dia 's Muire duit

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message

...



"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message
...

So, gas or electric?

If you're referring to the type that needs a cord plugged into 120 volts
AC, I'd suggest the following: *Put a glass jar into a thick paper bag..
Beat the bag with a hammer until you have bits of glass the size of peas..
Put half the glass in your mouth and the rest in your shoes, and go for a
walk.

That's a pretty good analogy for what it'll be like to mow a 90 foot
stretch while trying to manage an extension cord.

Get yourself a Snapper or Honda self-propelled gas mower. You'll find
these at independent lawn equipment shops, not big discount stores.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I bought an electric Black and Decker back in 1998, and still have it,
still starts with the first pull of the trigger everytime! :-)

Yes, electrics are much quitier, no smoke, no oil to check/change, no
carrying a can of gas around in your car or storing it in the garage.

You just have to get used to having a cord. What I do is start out
even with the electrical outlet on the house and move Away from it as
you cut. Basically of the back of your house is on the North and the
electric outlet is in the middle of the back of the house. Start from
the house outlet walking North to the fence, spin 180 come right back
to the East side parallel to the one you just cut, get to the house,
spin 180 cut towards the east again, etc. Then come back to the middle
when you are done with the NorthEast side, and do the same for the
West woring away from the electric outlet.

The other option is to run parallel to the back of your house from
East to West starting directly next to your house and working Out
towards the fence.

This way the cord doesn't get in your way!

As far as the battery units go, I'm sure having No cord is nice, but
what is your experience with cordless drills, etc. How long do the
batteries last, after a year or three, they tend to hold a charge for
a shorter time than they did to begin with. I would expect that as you
start mowing, the battery would be fine, but at some point when the
battery discharges you will lose RPM and Torque to the blade, it won't
be dead yet, but it won't be full power like the corded model.

If you find a unit that has a battery AND runs off a cord that would
be nice. If you have an area where the cord wont reach, or you have to
get around something, disconnect the cord, cut that section, then
reconnect the cord.

That's my 50 cents (used to be 2 cents, but everything is going up!)
Good Luck,
Sam

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year old too haevy mower.
 

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Frankly I have done just that with an electric with cord and had no
problems at all. My current home is not laid out in a way that would make
it easy, but I am considering either a corded or battery model. In fact
I just saw an add for a cord/cordlesss model. I will have to look into
that one.

I like the relative quiet of electric. No bother with gas etc. I
don't like the prospect of buying new batteries, as I am about to do for
my trimmer, blower and hedge cutter. Of the three original batteries
(about 6 years old) two are almost dead. Very handy.

While I personally like electric, I suspect that Joe would more happier
with a gas model.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

Hearing the electric mowers around here, they are not any quieter than the
gas models. The pitch of the sound is different though.

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 yearold too haevy mower.
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message
. ..



So, gas or electric?


If you're referring to the type that needs a cord plugged into 120 volts AC,
I'd suggest the following: Put a glass jar into a thick paper bag. Beat the
bag with a hammer until you have bits of glass the size of peas. Put half
the glass in your mouth and the rest in your shoes, and go for a walk.

That's a pretty good analogy for what it'll be like to mow a 90 foot stretch
while trying to manage an extension cord.

Get yourself a Snapper or Honda self-propelled gas mower. You'll find these
at independent lawn equipment shops, not big discount stores.


Joe -

The string trimer / weed wacker is plug in electric, and hauling
extension cord
with that is no roblem.electric and

There are outlets at each corner of the back and front of the house, so
I'd never bemore than 40 - 50 feet from an oulet.

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 yearold too haevy mower.
 

jJim McLaughlin wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message
. ..



So, gas or electric?



If you're referring to the type that needs a cord plugged into 120
volts AC, I'd suggest the following: Put a glass jar into a thick
paper bag. Beat the bag with a hammer until you have bits of glass the
size of peas. Put half the glass in your mouth and the rest in your
shoes, and go for a walk.

That's a pretty good analogy for what it'll be like to mow a 90 foot
stretch while trying to manage an extension cord.

Get yourself a Snapper or Honda self-propelled gas mower. You'll find
these at independent lawn equipment shops, not big discount stores.

Joe -

The string trimer / weed wacker is plug in electric, and hauling
extension cord
with that is no roblem.electric and

There are outlets at each corner of the back and front of the house, so
I'd never bemore than 40 - 50 feet from an oulet.
Hmmm,
Are they powerful enough to do the tough job? For me frustration factor
was high when I tried electric mower and trimmer. It is not polluting
but until I can find one which can do the job properly, I am with gas
driven ones.

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year old too haevy mower.
 

"Worn out Retread" wrote in message
...
"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Frankly I have done just that with an electric with cord and had no
problems at all. My current home is not laid out in a way that would
make it easy, but I am considering either a corded or battery model. In
fact I just saw an add for a cord/cordlesss model. I will have to look
into that one.

I like the relative quiet of electric. No bother with gas etc. I
don't like the prospect of buying new batteries, as I am about to do for
my trimmer, blower and hedge cutter. Of the three original batteries
(about 6 years old) two are almost dead. Very handy.

Hearing the electric mowers around here, they are not any quieter than the
gas models. The pitch of the sound is different though.

I had a corded electric mower quite a few years ago and it sounded
some what like a vacuum cleaner. It lasted a good 10 years or so.

When it came time to replace it, I didn't see anything electric that I
liked, so went back to gas powered. Some electric mowers are
not real good at mowing heavy thick grass, so it can be trouble if
it gets a little bit long. Some/many of them just don't have the umph
that a gas powered one has. (At least they didn't a few years ago)

With corded electric models, there are two types of people: Those
who have cut the cord and those who have not yet cut the cord. It
took me 3 or 4 years to move from the second group into the first
group.

Jerry

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year old too haevy mower.
 

"Erdos2" wrote in message
...
"Worn out Retread" wrote in message
...
"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Frankly I have done just that with an electric with cord and had no
problems at all. My current home is not laid out in a way that would
make it easy, but I am considering either a corded or battery model.
In fact I just saw an add for a cord/cordlesss model. I will have to
look into that one.

I like the relative quiet of electric. No bother with gas etc. I
don't like the prospect of buying new batteries, as I am about to do for
my trimmer, blower and hedge cutter. Of the three original batteries
(about 6 years old) two are almost dead. Very handy.

Hearing the electric mowers around here, they are not any quieter than
the gas models. The pitch of the sound is different though.

I had a corded electric mower quite a few years ago and it sounded
some what like a vacuum cleaner. It lasted a good 10 years or so.

When it came time to replace it, I didn't see anything electric that I
liked, so went back to gas powered. Some electric mowers are
not real good at mowing heavy thick grass, so it can be trouble if
it gets a little bit long. Some/many of them just don't have the umph
that a gas powered one has. (At least they didn't a few years ago)

With corded electric models, there are two types of people: Those
who have cut the cord and those who have not yet cut the cord. It
took me 3 or 4 years to move from the second group into the first
group.

Jerry


Good light show when you cut the cord, or uneventful?

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year old too haevy mower.
 

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Erdos2" wrote in message
...
"Worn out Retread" wrote in message
...
"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Frankly I have done just that with an electric with cord and had no
problems at all. My current home is not laid out in a way that would
make it easy, but I am considering either a corded or battery model.
In fact I just saw an add for a cord/cordlesss model. I will have to
look into that one.

I like the relative quiet of electric. No bother with gas etc. I
don't like the prospect of buying new batteries, as I am about to do
for my trimmer, blower and hedge cutter. Of the three original
batteries (about 6 years old) two are almost dead. Very handy.

Hearing the electric mowers around here, they are not any quieter than
the gas models. The pitch of the sound is different though.

I had a corded electric mower quite a few years ago and it sounded
some what like a vacuum cleaner. It lasted a good 10 years or so.

When it came time to replace it, I didn't see anything electric that I
liked, so went back to gas powered. Some electric mowers are
not real good at mowing heavy thick grass, so it can be trouble if
it gets a little bit long. Some/many of them just don't have the umph
that a gas powered one has. (At least they didn't a few years ago)

With corded electric models, there are two types of people: Those
who have cut the cord and those who have not yet cut the cord. It
took me 3 or 4 years to move from the second group into the first
group.

Jerry


Good light show when you cut the cord, or uneventful?

If I remember correctly, there might have been a spark at most. That
outlet was a GFCI one anyway, so it didn't take long for it to be
dead from that or the circuit breaker. (I can't remember what was
tripped after that) At that point I knew why the main case parts
were molded plastic.

Jerry

Lawnmower Questions - Gas vs. Electric for Replacing 30 year oldtoo haevy mower.
 

I left my electric lawn mower out on the front lawn and someone
thankfully stole it!
I was actually happy.
Nothing works like gas!