The Push Lawn Mower
Then came the time I purchased my first home and my partner at the time complained I never did the following chores...pick up dog doo, wash the car or mow the grass. I knocked on my neighbors door and asked her 19 yr old son if I could borrow their lawn mower. He asked if I knew how to use it! Hmph! Of course I did...I mean how hard could it be? I plugged in the electric lawn mower and did three strips of grass before the thing blew up...caught on fire and burnt the grass. My OES, Shaggy was in the front yard with me and panicked at the sound of the explosion (she was tied at the time to the shutters) and ripped them off the house. I knocked on my neighbors door and the poor kid looked like he was going to faint as he explained his mom just bought the lawn mower the day before. I told him not to worry as I would handle it, taking the burnt out shell of the one I borrowed. Next I visited the store where it was purchased. (The store didn't want to take it back unless I had the original box!) I bought a new one..took it out...put the burnt one in the box and they agreed to give me back my money. I took the new one over to my neighbor and gave him that one. I didn't mow the lawn for a while after that experience. 2 years later, I mow the lawn with a gas mower and my son who was only 5 at the time just happened to come around the corner . A rock flew out and hit him in the groin. I rushed him to emergency all the while sobbing how stupid I had been to have neglected to put on the grass catcher. Thankfully no permanent damage was done to my son but I developed a fear of being around lawn mowers (especially those with no grass catcher). I never mowed the lawn again ....that is until I bought a push lawn mower. Now I mow 3/4 of an acre (1/2 acre at my new place) and 1/4 at the previous place with my trusty push lawn mower. Every few days I'm out there getting my excercise. Now to some this might seem like punishment but I just love it...my heart rate increases (no gym for me!) I meet tons of people who stop and comment on the lawn mower and how it brings back memories of their childhood and I get many landscapers stopping and giving me their cards. The truth is...I just love it and have refused offers of borrowing people's lawn mowers. I can mow really early in the morning or late at night. Best of all.....I don't freak out the bunnies, cats or dogs while I'm mowing the lawn. |
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| I purchased a Brill - a German made push lawn mower last year, I was fed up with having to untangle the cable for the electric and having to continually move the cable out of the way, my garden isn't big enough to justify a petrol mower.
It gives a lovely cut, and it takes less time than the electric one oddly enough. Oh and there is the exercise too! What an eco warrior    |
| What a great lawn mower story Marianne! |
| Good for you!
More people should be using the push mowers especially as lawn sizes decrease. A couple of years ago I maintained friend's yard as they had yet to move from Chicago to their new home. The push mower worked fine. Those old rusty steel mowers are gone replaced by these light weight affairs. Quality varies and they don't work equally well on all grasses, but for the majority of urban smaller lawns, they are ideal. |
| Those sound like my experiences with anything that has any kind of motor in it
I used to mow my parents' lawn with a push mower until they moved to suburbia. I can't say I miss it terribly as it didn't do the most wonderful job in the world, but I hate how noisy the motorized ones are. How often do you sharpen the blades? Kristine |
| I have a push mower too! I hate with the gas powered trying to start. Took forever! |
| There you are Marianne! I was thinking about you at work today and wondering how you are doing (I may have missed recent posts).
So, I have a silly question... do you have to rake up the grass afterwards? |
We had a push mower in Phoenix. But it didn't work very well for the type of grass we had and made me a little to tired. But it was cool. Instead we bought an electric mower which we loved! It was perfect for the amount of land we had. Then we moved to a place that has almost 5 acres and there is no way you can use an electric mower. So we had to go back to gas.  Maybe when we get everything fenced (and animals mowing) and the yard part smaller I can go back to electric. |
| Does it make nice lines in the lawn? I like the push ones too. But Husband got me a zero turn for my birthday because we have 4 acres now. I love mowing it is great |
| I forgot I was thinking of you too and how you were doing |
| ^^^Ditto That^^^ |
I haven't posted in a while (probably too busy mowing the lawn -  ).
My first post was a tad confusing (makes mental note not to post so late at night). When I brought back the burnt lawn mower to the store and they insisted I had to have the box to return it. I paid for a new mower...took it out of the box and replaced it with the malfunctioning one and got my money back for that one. Next I stopped at the neighbors and took back the $ I gave to the young man and gave him the new mower. I then replaced the $ in my back account. LOL! The whole thing was a bit confusing but in the end it didn't cost me anything. Haven't had to sharpen the blades as of yet on my push mower but only purchased this one last year. A Walmart special that cost aprox 100 dollars and works amazingly well. It even has a grass catcher but I never use it as I mow every couple of days and leave the clippings on the grass which are un-noticable. Yet it does cut so that it leaves the tell tale lines of a recently mowed lawn. You can adjust the blades and one thing that I love is you never have to worry about cutting too short and burning your lawn as my neighbor did with his gas mower. I forgot to mention that 2 years ago a neighbor insisted I borrow his electric one and after a 15 year hiatus from them, I decided to give it a try. I ran over the cord!!! OMG!!! Nope ...no more gas or electric ones for me...just happy with my push lawn mower. |
Are you talking about an old fashioned mower that has no motor? 
I didn't know they made those anymore. 
Around here, everyone has gas powered mowers, but then, we all have pretty big lawns, too. I don't think I've ever even seen an electric mower and I know I've never seen a push mower with no motor. Wow. |
| I would keel over mowing my lawn with the old style ones - the rotating blades with no motor. I have seen the old style ones for sale around here - they make them new around here too.
However, I do mow most of mine with the push mower (gas motor). I like the exercise, and I get motion sick on the rider....Todd uses that one. An electric one would be hopeless with our big yard! 5 extension cords later........ and I know I would mow it over for sure - and Todd definitely would! He has plowed over the one going to the barn in the winter - and he put it there!
What cracks me up is the fat guys (and gals) with big bellies riding around mowing their small yards in town - on a rider! gross... |
| I also forgot to mention you meet tons of people as everyone stops and comments as how those mowers bring back memories of their childhood. I've met many of my new neighbors who have stopped to chat...so at least they are good conversation starters too!
Dawn, I saw the very thing you are describing just yesterday..on a tiny plot of land...
Marianne |
| Can anyone out there tell me where I can get my little push mower blades sharpened. I live in Phoenix, AZ area! |
| Hi, I don't live there but this site seemed very helpful. Good luck! Any lawn mower repair shop will be able to sharpen the blades for you. Phoenix Lawn Mower Repair Shops PHOENIX, AZ 51 Phoenix Lawn Mower Repair Shops are on Angie's List 4 Phoenix Lawn Mower Repair Shops are TOP RATED Angie's List has trusted reviews on Phoenix Lawn Mower Repair Shops "... and was very good. he was very reasonable. i would use him again in the future if i could get him to do the work...." "... did the job quickly and neatly, and was reasonably priced. i'm very pleased....". |
| You can buy clip on sharpening tools, a few runs up and down the garden and the blades are as keen as ever. Well at least you can over here.. you should be able to there http://www.amazon.co.uk/Multi-sharp%C3% ... 607&sr=8-6 The land of the inch a day lawn - with the current rain levels we are getting |
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