A daughter's love is cordless and rechargeable
5:41 PM Fri, Jul 18, 2008 | Permalink
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My mom loves few things more than her lawn. She loves me more. I think. She's a -- woman of mature years. That's as far as I'm willing to go with that, if I still want the occasional shirt ironed and cake baked. (And I do. She makes her own chocolate icing. But that's another blog.) So when she asked me to look into cordless electric lawnmowers for her, with my remarkable Internet research skills, I figured my cake and ironing markers were being called in. That's fair. Cordless electric lawnmowers have some advantages. They are less polluting and quieter than gas, much easier to start, and require less maintenance, as they don't require tuning or oil. She had been using an electric mower with a power cord, and though it was easy to start and emissions-free (at the tailpipe, as we say), she was getting tired of schlepping a heavy cord around the yard and making sure she didn't mow over it. And that long cord is heavy, and you have to keep plugging it into different outlets ... you get the idea. Then the darn thing died suddenly. So my research had to kick into overdrive. It's basically the job of an editor to see all the trouble looming on the horizon and avoid it. That makes us the "glass half empty tribe" around the buffet table, speculating how long the shrimp have been out at room temperature. So I had to tell her all the bad things up front. Cordless mowers are heavy, around 70-75 pounds, an issue for a mature woman. They are expensive, with the top contenders at $400 and up. And then there is the battery issue. The mower's strength is also its Achilles heel. A battery is a finite source of power. So the mowers are only recommended for people with lawns a quarter of an acre or smaller. Reviews also advised that they only cut well when the grass was dry and not very long. If you have a yard larger than about a third of an acre, this probably isn't going to work. You could in theory buy a second battery and swap it out, but in reality, the weight of the mower and the size of the yard will make most people choose a different style, such as a self-propelled or riding mower. Battery life is also an issue. And with replacement batteries (lead acid) at $100 or more, you want to get the most out of them. Storing a battery in an unheated garage where it will freeze will shorten its life, I'm told. So it's a good thing if you can remove the battery and store it at room temperature through the winter. So ease of removal is an issue. Mom was unswayed by the bad news. So I told her about 2 models. Both have a 19" cutting deck. Consumer Reports rates the Black & Decker CMM1200 the best of the cordless. At $400, you have to order it through their Web site blackanddecker.com, which directs you to Amazon.com or Lowes.com. (Don't be fooled by its seemingly small 24 hp -- horsepower is no way to choose a lawnmower these days.) But reviews said the battery was not easily removed. And at 76 pounds, it was a lot of mower for mom to heave around. And she wanted it before the grass got too long. The Neuton CE 6.2, from Neuton Power Equipment, a company in Vergennes, Vt., weighs 69 pounds. And the battery is easily removable -- it has a handle built into it and slides easily into the machine. A single prong charger snaps on it just like a cell phone. And, the dealmaker, the company offers a 6 month free trial. Specs at neutonpower.com. I was afraid mom, a child of the Great Depression, would balk at the $474 price tag, but she asked me to call the company and find out how to get one. The pleasant rep helped me find a retailer with stock (she said the closest is in Exeter, but it didn't have this model in stock). My parents drove to Needham Garden Center and picked up the Neuton on Thursday. They showed her how to use it, how to charge the battery and care for it. She says they were very nice. On Thursday night, after she cooked lasagne for me, my brother, her brother and my dad on 80+ degree heat, we all watched from the porch while she successfully mowed the lawn. (Yes, we are bad people. Really.) But we love her even more than she loves her lawn. 
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Does this really work on thick grass? I would love to get rid of my horrendously polluting gas mower, but I heard that electric mowers only work on wimpy lawns.
p.s. Bring back the garden blog link to the first page, isn't it at least as interesting as a fish blog?? Or lennon's blog?? For sure.
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Lovely. Thorough. And a wonderful tribute to mom, who flew in the face of the experts because she knew exactly what she needed and didn't balk at the price of getting it.
Paula, I'd love to have the benefit of your editorial research and mom's experience on every garden gadget out there. Cars, fridges, and very small boats, too.
Trudy, homepage placement favors frequently updated blogs. ("lennon's blog" has been posting nearly every day for more than six years.) The garden bloggers -- including lennon -- have been quiet this year, and it's a long time between Paula's Friday postings.
What's "interesting" -- I don't fish either, but I like the pictures -- is so personal that it probably describes us more than the things we like or dislike.
I could have put the giant tree coming down in my yard last night on this blog, but a lightning strike a few feet away from me belongs in the annals.
Maybe you'll think my blog more interesting now that there's a sideways tree and the tip of flattened irises pictured on it.
btw, I've had a corded electric mower for more than a decade, and it works great on that lawn, which leans toward long.
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Thanks for your kind words, Trudy!
Mom's lawn is REALLY thick. It's like a lawn commercial.
She only mowed it the once with the cordless, but had no complaints -- I'll give a fuller report later. She's had good cuts with the corded electric for years. She does favor long grass, as they recommend these days.
As for the blog's placement, I'm just an editor. There are so many new things on projo.com, they're always changing things around. Change is good.
(Glad to hear that tree missed everything important, Sheila. It does look epic!)
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Was that actually lightening? I would have expected to see scorching on the tree.
Hopefully the irises will come back.
Paula, why did your Mom choose the 6.2 instead of the 5.2, which seems noticeably lighter and cheaper?
Is the latter not up to a thick lawn? I probably have the thickest lawn on the planet (let's hear it for organic lawns, mine is still mostly green while my neighbor's conventional lawn is brown.)
I am slowly reducing the lawn area, but critters like bunnies like grass, so I can't see getting entirely rid of it. Plus, replacement stuff requires more maintenance and I'm not getting any younger.
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Trudy, I've quickly learned a lot about different kinds of lightning, and vastly different kinds of damage.
"The most serious tree injuries caused by lightning are from the acoustic wave (shock wave) radiating from the lightning path core (momentarily reaching approximately 500 to 1,500 psi of pressure)." Arborist News
That would do it.
Trees with no apparent damage frequently die from what happened down in the roots, too. I think this one has to come down.
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