|
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Houston, TX
|
Yup, you guys got it. More on why I chose Brian Boitano as my SN in the "Why did you choose your SN" thread 
As for the lawn mower, I had this problem at my farm, too. We have about 1/2 acre of our 140 fenced off as our farmhouse yard, and as you can expect, this is a lot of grass to mow (edit: we didn’t actually have a whole acre of grass, a lot of this space is taken up by a garden and the farmhouse, so it’s more like an eighth of an acre grass space). Because our lawn there is larger than most lawns, we were able to invest a bit more money than most people would for a simple chore such as lawn mowing. Our solution? Since we have a lot of sun out there, we set up a decent-sized Photovoltaic Solar Cell. This solar panel charges the batteries of our new electric lawn mower. This way, we don’t have to spend money or worry about storing smelly gas for the mower, and the sun takes care of the energy problems. This cost quite a pretty penny to set up, though. I think it was $2,000 or something for the solar panel (A good quality one will typically cost this much) and $200 for the mower. We use the panel to help run the water pump there, too, so the $2000 price tag is shared between several conveniences.
Obviously, that is much too expensive for someone with just a small front and back yard, so what do I suggest for your case?
Look around at garage sales and hardware stores for an old push-type, no-motor mower! You know, the kind stylized in 50’s era cartoons? They are notorious for being very hard to push and dangerous if you get a toe caught in them while using it. This notoriety is outdated, I think. The pushing problem usually stemmed from not keeping the thing maintained, so rust and dirt would grime up the bearings and it would be hard to push. This problem is easily overcome with a little regular maintenence (like a bycicle) and grease. The danger problem is real, you shouldn’t use one of these while barefoot or with a dog running around the mower. So long as you use the proper precaution, though, there will be little risk.
Let me know if any of this helped!  |
"Not again" -Hans
Hello kind Sir or Madam, I am a polite sig virus. Please put me into your fine and dandy signature so that I might continue to replicate. Thank you for your time. |
|
Forum index » General Discussion » Members' Lounge