I Want to be Green...but F--- this!

[Basquo]

I just finished mowing the lawn with the electric mower I bought 2 weeks ago. It really is lightweight and easy to maneuver, but dealing with that fucking cord just about drove me up one of my small trees. I liked the idea of no maintenance, gas, oil, etc....but it didn't cut that well either. And it took me almost two hours and that's without mowing the fenced part of the back yard which I mowed earlier in the week.

That mofo is going back to Lowe's and is getting replaced with a self-propelled gas mower. I have other gardening things I could be doing in that extra 1.25 hours. I don't mind the long cord for the weed whacker but for the mower...forget it! I want horsepower, and I'm sorry if that rains on anyone's little Earth parade. My back is killing me!

[Hellraiser]

I just finished mowing the lawn with the electric mower I bought 2 weeks ago. It really is lightweight and easy to maneuver, but dealing with that fucking cord just about drove me up one of my small trees. I liked the idea of no maintenance, gas, oil, etc....but it didn't cut that well either. And it took me almost two hours and that's without mowing the fenced part of the back yard which I mowed earlier in the week.

That mofo is going back to Lowe's and is getting replaced with a self-propelled gas mower. I have other gardening things I could be doing in that extra 1.25 hours. I don't mind the long cord for the weed whacker but for the mower...forget it! I want horsepower, and I'm sorry if that rains on anyone's little Earth parade. My back is killing me!

As a gay man with no children you are entitled to use up your own personal carbon footprint and the carbon footprint of any of your would have been descendants.  I'm personally driving a hummer without an O2 sensor and I leave it running all day long so that when I get into it after work it's nice and air conditioned (ripped scrubs joke).

[skeebo1969]

  I have one of those 6.5hp Toro self propelled mowers.  Things are damn near bullet proof and will handle your yard no problem.   If you have a small yard you can opt for a smaller hp engine if you want,  I've always had good luck with 6.5hp motors.

[leatherman]

my favorite mower was stolen from my old house during the time I was moving into my late partner's house. (along with the band saw, table saw, router, etc being stolen)

Although his mower was self-propelled, I hated it with a passion because it was a bitch to crank up. Without any hesitation, I felt no sadness when I had to give it away (with so many of my other possessions) when I was avoiding homelessness by moving to another state.

now I'm stuck with my Mom's 'lectric little piece of junk  It takes me two 150-ft extension cords to get all the yard mowed 

I miss my old mower so bad to this day and still hate those bastards that stole it.
I say go buy the mower you REALLY want!

[WillyWump]

Mowing with an electric mower is an art, somewhat like a dance, in time you get to the point when you can flip the cord over at the end of a row with one flick of the wrist. I love my orange Black and Decker Mower, but the honeymoon period was not easy, There are 3 different patch jobs on the cord where I ran over it. But in the end the mower and I became one and now watching me mow is a thing of beauty.

I wished you would reconsider your move to gas.

-Will

[Basquo]

Mowing with an electric mower is an art, somewhat like a dance, in time you get to the point when you can flip the cord over at the end of a row with one flick of the wrist. I love my orange Black and Decker Mower, but the honeymoon period was not easy, There are 3 different patch jobs on the cord where I ran over it. But in the end the mower and I became one and now watching me mow is a thing of beauty.

I wished you would reconsider your move to gas.

-Will

I started with an electric mower at age 8 and I had the art of flipping the cord down pat, but my current yard has more obstacles and I'm not willing to adapt. I had way fewer obstacles back then. That was 35 years ago and after what I went through today, my feeling is still F that S.

I'm glad you can do it.

[tednlou2]

My brother has a cordless mower.  They say it works well.  You just plug it in and charge it.  They use it for their front yard, but bought a John Deer riding mower for the back. 

[odyssey]

Hey Wumpers, you know you're probably the only guy in Texas with an electric, right? Everyone else grunts like a caveman and has a small hole in the ozone layer over their individual property from all their fossil fuel powered sh*t.

[GSOgymrat]

I got my first electric mower last year. It took some time to manage the cord but I'm happy with the performance. It is kind of like vacuuming your yard.

[mecch]

Get the mower you want. I'm sure you are already green enough.
Also, whats the difference if its electric or gas - its still using energy.
Wouldn't the only really green mower be one of those rolling mowers. I still see them every once and awhile but they are quite rare.  I used to mow my grandmothers and great-grandmothers gardens with those. They worked well enough and nothing a strong boy couldn't handle for effort.
I am surprised they dont make an electric mower that works on a rechargeable battery, however.

[Grasshopper]

I am surprised they dont make an electric mower that works on a rechargeable battery, however.

My brother has a cordless mower.  They say it works well.  You just plug it in and charge it.  They use it for their front yard, but bought a John Deer riding mower for the back. 

Perhaps you can invite them  over once in a while ? :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJYa8epIII&feature=related

[mecch]

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/reelmowers.html

[Grasshopper]

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/reelmowers.html

I just finished mowing the lawn with the electric mower I bought 2 weeks ago. ...... My back is killing me!

Do you think that's earier on his back ?
I have one of those too....used only twice. A definite No No if you don't have the stamina   

[Grasshopper]

This one is so cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m5mKL5fDHg&feature=related

[RapidRod]

Yards here are just to big for electric or battery operated mowers. John Deer and Bush Hog mowers here. Weed trimmers are even gas.

[mecch]

Maybe turn a part of it into a meadow, if neighbors and zoning allow this?

My first years in Switzerland I planted english style riotous gardens on my balconies. I got a letter every year from the landlord telling me to it was a bunch of weeds and I had to plant neat boxes of geraniums, etc.

[Basquo]

I imagine over the next few years it may not be exactly meadow-like but will have significant plantings that will result in less lawn to mow. I just have to be careful of letting grass get too long because I've already seen a few fleas. Until then, though, Grasshopper's got the right idea.

AHEM--Jan, I am taking custody of Cora. Please bring her to Las Vegas and I'll take over from there. No tears, now, you knew this day would come!

[GSOgymrat]

Just return the damn lawnmower, grab a cool drink, stretch out on the patio and hire this guy. Problem solved.

[skeebo1969]

Just return the damn lawnmower, grab a cool drink, stretch out on the patio and hire this guy. Problem solved.

  Betcha the meathead doesn't even know how to start one!!  If the dumbass wants to mow he needs to pull that top lever down so the mower will run.

[Nestor]

I think I was asleep for ten years and the world was transformed while I wasn't looking.  I'm only 36, but when I was a child lawn mowers were manual; you pushed it around on the lawn and cylanders with (usually quite rusty) blades revolved and cut the grass.  It was work, one had to push hard, and teenage boys--the same who shovelled snow in winter--often got paid to do it in summer.  Recently I saw someone sitting in what looked like a little toy car moving over a lawn, and I was shocked to realize it was a lawn mower!  I guess that happened at the same time that the thermometers of my childhood--glass tubes that you held in your mouth for something like five minutes and then had to shake and strain to see the mercury against the glass--became the five-second plastic digital affairs of today.  I suppose I didn't get my temperature taken at any point between age ten and age thirty, so the first time I saw one of the modern thermometers it was quite a surprise. 

[bear60]

Honey...you'll love this:
there is a "homeless" person in our neighborhood who has a "business"... mowing and cleanup.  One of my neighbors told me he was thinking of getting his Mom a new mower and would consider giving the old mower to the homeless guy.  I think he has a girlfriend he stays with. Anyway, I let it out of the bag and for several weeks had the homeless guy knocking on my door to find out if the mower was available yet.  Finally mr homeless (we dont know which of the three names he uses is his), actually talked to my neighbor about the mower.  Well, come to find out it was a PUSH mower.  Mr homeless said he didnt want that.

Wow.

[Queen Tokelove]

Man B, f*ck that. Do what is easier for you to handle. Folks talking that green sh*t prolly don't cut their own grass anyways!!!! I use to love cutting grass when I worked for the City of Miami Beach back in the day. I was the only female on the grass crew. I had no problem putting my back into it. Now I have a bad back and developed allergies to grass and pollen...Go figure.

[leatherman]

he needs to pull that top lever down so the mower will run.

ROFLMAO

[mecch]

Teenage boys (or girls?) don't mow the lawn in suburbs anymore???
America has gone to the dogs.

No more pool boys in resort towns either?, I am afraid to ask...

Hot young tennis and golf coaches - r.i.p.? Ski bums? Camp counselors? Cuties at the gas station?

[Basquo]

Well THAT is THAT. I drove into Austin for a couple of hours and the first stop was Lowe's. I now have a Troy-Built variable speed self-propelled mower with a 6.75 horsepower Honda engine. Had to shell out an extra $100 for the upgrade, then there was oil, and a gas can, diatomaceous earth for the fleas I noticed outside, a spreader for that...I'm going to have to put something in hock if I keep going to home improvement stores! Speaking of which, the light ficture in the dining area is really ugly...I may have to get something cheap from IKEA until I can afford something really gorgeous.

[newt]

Hmmm

Grow a meadow n cut it with a scythe (2 x year to make hay for you ass) and stop eating meat. Meat has a huge carbon footprint n lawns is a waste of time (the ass poo goes in the biomass elec generator to run the Christmas lights)

[mecch]

Speaking of which, the light ficture in the dining area is really ugly...I may have to get something cheap from IKEA until I can afford something really gorgeous.

Try ebay!
But yeah, all things in time, according to budget.
Hey bravo on the house, I'm envious!

[Basquo]

Hmmm

Grow a meadow n cut it with a scythe (2 x year to make hay for you ass) and stop eating meat. Meat has a huge carbon footprint n lawns is a waste of time (the ass poo goes in the biomass elec generator to run the Christmas lights)

I'm willing to put up with flies for Cora but not just any old dumb ass.

[RapidRod]

Basquo, you could have got yourself a Toro 5910. Has A/C and heat put in a stero and you're good to go and cuts a 16 foot swipe. 

[WillyWump]

Just get a cordless electric mower, they have them now. Although they probably suck if you have a big yard.
The argument about electric using the same energy as gas is true, however the "plus" about using an electric motor is that if you are in an area that has alot of "Ozone action days" (when you can see the air) then it would be better to use electric vs gas.

[tednlou2]

Just get a cordless electric mower, they have them now. Although they probably suck if you have a big yard.
The argument about electric using the same energy as gas is true, however the "plus" about using an electric motor is that if you are in an area that has alot of "Ozone action days" (when you can see the air) then it would be better to use electric vs gas.

It is true that gas mowers are soooo bad.  They may be making them better these days.  Many of us eat cow meat, no?  If we all stopped eating meat, we probably wouldn't need to worry about the cars and mowers. 

[Ann]

When my front lawn first needed mowing this year, my dislocated shoulder was still too sore to cope with it. Then we got a week or so of rain and it shot up into meadowrific proportions.

I like it - but evidently some neighbour or other complained. Think it was probably the guy around the corner who mows most of the lawns in my neighbourhood - who I told to get stuffed when he told me how much he charges and I saw what a crappy mess he leaves behind.

I've got a bit extra dosh this week, so I'm going to pay another neighbour to do it with her petrol mower. I've got an electric (not a hover mower though) but it just won't handle my meadow.

My daughter told me just this morning that our lawn embarrasses her - and I reminded her that I'd asked begged told demanded that she mow it back when it was still manageable - but I couldn't do it because of my shoulder - and it was always "tomorrow, mum, I'm too busy today". Kids!

[WillyWump]

If we all stopped eating meat, we probably wouldn't need to worry about the cars and mowers. 

Does this somehow tie into cow farts?


-will

[tednlou2]

Does this somehow tie into cow farts?


-will

Yeah.  When I first read about cow farts like 10 years ago, I was surprised how much affect they had on the Earth. 

[Hellraiser]

Yeah.  When I first read about cow farts like 10 years ago, I was surprised how much affect they had on the Earth. 

I wish I could stop laughing, because I know you're being serious.

[skeebo1969]

I wish I could stop laughing, because I know you're being serious.

LOL man if Teddy don't know somethin he's got a friend who does!!  You gotta love him though, he's a good guy.

[WillyWump]

read about cow farts like 10 years ago, I was surprised how much affect they had on the Earth. 

I had the unsettling experience of being within a few feet of a cow with a bad belly, when she blew it was like getting hit with a shower of hot cosmic ether.

However depleted ozone or not I will continue to gnaw on my TBones, and the environmentalists will have to pry them from my cold dead hands.

-Will

[tednlou2]

LOL man if Teddy don't know somethin he's got a friend who does!!  You gotta love him though, he's a good guy.

I am the person at get-togethers who recites all the news I've read and watched during the week.  I try to control it as I know most people don't find it interesting, but it is how I usually hear stories from others about their experiences.  I think they try to shut me up by telling me long stories about them. 

Why?  Does it always seem like I'm saying I know someone who did this or someone who did that? 

I love you too Skeebo.