Best Green Mowers

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One of my first purchases when I moved into this house was a manual reel mower. My father had one of these for a few years when I was a child and I had always admired it's simplicity. While a gas-powered mower makes a thunderous sound that drowns out bird song for the entire neighborhood, the reel mower has a satisfying click-click-click-click-click. It is not loud enough to disturb anyone, so it was possible for me to get up at sunrise and cut my grass in the cool of the morning, at six o'clock.

This mower is completely human powered, and does not rely on any other energy source for operation. It works best if you can use it at least weekly, twice weekly during the middle of summer when grass grows quickly. It takes a lot of work to push it through tall grass. It is also less effective on tall grass. The grass will have a tendency to bend over and the blades can miss them.

You cannot cut by pulling this mower. It will only cut on the push action, so pushing it in one direction and then pulling it behind you coming back will not work. You must walk behind it and push it forward. This results in mowing taking longer if you mow in rows. This problem can be solved by mowing around the perimeter of your yard and then inward with each successive lap. If you like making stripes or diamonds in your lawn, this may not be the mower for you.

This mower will not mulch fallen leaves or grass. The blades cut grass like a scissors, and do nothing to grind anything up. If your grass is tall, you will probably want to rake it up. If you cut it when short, the trimmings can stay on the lawn.

I like this mower a lot. Take care of it, keep the blade sharp and it will work for you for many years. After all, there are no engine parts to break down.




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After I had been mowing with my reel mower for a while I realized I needed something with a little more power for those times when I could not mow the grass for a while and it got tall. As the mother of young children, and with a disability myself, sometimes things would get away from me.

I decided to buy an electric mower. I bought a Black and Decker model and I liked it a lot. This mower burnt out when someone I had helping me with yard work did not keep the under carriage cleared of grass build up. Grass cutting accumulated inside the mower over time, and eventually burned out the motor. This area must be kept clear of debris for the mower to function properly.

I ended up buying another Black and Decker mower when the first one died. This mower is affordable and does a good job. There are electric mowers with more features that I would love to have. But, for a single mom on a budget, this mower does the job and has served me well for several years.

You will need a long heavy-duty extension cord to plug this mower into. Be sure to get one long enough to cover your entire yard.

The cord presents a new obstacle when mowing with an electric mower. Be careful not to run over the power cord, which could result in injury. The easiest way to deal with the cord is to start mowing near your outlet and then mow away from the outlet, so that the cord can lay on the grass that has already been cut. Generally this means that you start mowing in the middle of your house and go to one side, then go back to the center and mow to the other side. Otherwise you will constantly need to move the cord out of the way and this does take time and is a pain to have to deal with.

The fastest way I have found to mow with this mower is to go in rows, pushing the mower in one direction and then pulling it back the other way. Turning the mower around while dealing with the power cord is something of an ordeal.

A corded electric mower will work best on a small yard.