Aside from entering the house and depositing my bag of writing gear on a chair, one of the first things I did upon arriving home from work last night was mow the yard. A day and a half had passed without rain, leaving the backyard less squishy, just firm enough to run the reel mower through the thick green grass in the swamp that is the lower half of the property.
I really like the reel mower. (Groan all you like, I do not apologize for the pun.) When I was a kid, an old-fashioned motor-less mower with four or five blades was called a push mower, but now that term is reserved for gas-powered mowers that aren't riding mowers or tractors. Whatever. Reel mower sounds a little silly to me, though it's apt in describing the configuration of the blades.
Anyhoo. So, I hauled the mower out from the cubby under the house, and blitzed through the postage-stamp front yard, cut a swath along one side of the house (the other side of the yard is clay and tends to grow tree seedlings, but little else), and then hacked through the swampy jungle in the back. After all the branches the mower consumed, I might have to sharpen the blades next time. However, I kept to a steady and quick walk, finished mowing the property in an hour, and wasn't nearly as tired as I would have been had I tried to move so quickly with a gas-powered mower.
Reasons I like my reel mower:
1) It's lightweight, and easy to maneuver.
2) No gas.
3) No spark plug, choke, air filter, et cetera.
4) No spitting of rocks or branches at blinding, limb-severing speeds.
5) It's quiet; I can mow at dark-thirty, if I so desire.
6) My old shoulder / neck injury isn't an issue.
7) The mower's easy to store, and to maintain.
8) It starts every time.
9) It makes the neighbors scratch their heads.
10) It's just downright cool!
4 comments:
That is cool, and I'm all for things that run quiet. Kudos on the old school approach to lawn care.
Despite my opinion that one should not mistreat nature, I'm not a rabid environmentalist, so the mower wasn't purchased because it doesn't pollute -- though I'm not averse to breathing clean air! However, I do like the fact that I don't have to coax it to start, and that I don't rouse the neighbors' noisy and over-protective dogs every time I try to groom my own property.
I can appreciate the old school mowers! So long as its not rusted up...I once used one that was older and rusted. Oh man, what a bear that was to use! : )
Alex - Yeah, we used to have an old, faded red mower with splintery wooden handles. Hated those handles!
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