FormerHangie
En-Route
My 11 season old Troy Bilt broke the self propulsion cable last week. It smokes a little, the wheels groan like a teenager being asked to clean his room, and the grass catcher has holes in it. Only one of those things can be fixed by duct tape, so it's time for a new one, and posthaste. It's raining a lot, and the grass is going to get long quickly. I did use it one last time on Monday with a pair of vise grips on the self propulsion cable, but that's pretty inconvenient.
Our property is three quarters of an acre, but not much of it is grass. IIRC, the sod guys brought in 10 pallets to do the front and side yards, and we needed less than three to do the back yard, so that's no more than 8000 square feet. We live at the end of a cul de sac and our lot is long and skinny. The front yard is more or less triangular, and the back is fenced in an irregular shape. There's lots of edge relative to the surface. We're on a hillside, there's no flat area anywhere in the grass. The grass is one of those fine bladed Zoysia hybrid, and in the summer it gets thick, like Ashley Graham thicc.
So, I need a new mower. I don't need a large mower, I'm mowing lots of edges and irregular areas. I was looking at the battery electric ones, which appeal to me because they're lighter. Like I said, it's hilly and self propulsion is a must, plus I'm not getting any younger. I'd also want rear wheel drive. The first mower I had to use was an old Craftsman that my wife brought into the marriage, and it was front drive, which was not the greatest on the hills, especially as the bag filled up. I do bag my clippings, so bagging is important. The second mower I had was a rear drive Honda, which worked well for seven years and kind of poorly for the last two. Having rear drive was a boon going up hill, which for me is unavoidable.
I'm really thinking that a slightly smaller deck would be desirable. The last two mowers had 21 inch decks, so maybe a 19 or 20 inch deck would be better. There are no rear drive gas mowers with a deck less than 21 inches, but there are a number of 20 and 19 inch battery electrics to be had. I can get a basic Honda gas mower for $400, where an electric plus enough battery to mow the whole place will be more like $600. I would imagine I'd need new batteries somewhere in the mower's lifespan, so the electric would definitely have a higher TCO.
Opinions/experiences?
Our property is three quarters of an acre, but not much of it is grass. IIRC, the sod guys brought in 10 pallets to do the front and side yards, and we needed less than three to do the back yard, so that's no more than 8000 square feet. We live at the end of a cul de sac and our lot is long and skinny. The front yard is more or less triangular, and the back is fenced in an irregular shape. There's lots of edge relative to the surface. We're on a hillside, there's no flat area anywhere in the grass. The grass is one of those fine bladed Zoysia hybrid, and in the summer it gets thick, like Ashley Graham thicc.
So, I need a new mower. I don't need a large mower, I'm mowing lots of edges and irregular areas. I was looking at the battery electric ones, which appeal to me because they're lighter. Like I said, it's hilly and self propulsion is a must, plus I'm not getting any younger. I'd also want rear wheel drive. The first mower I had to use was an old Craftsman that my wife brought into the marriage, and it was front drive, which was not the greatest on the hills, especially as the bag filled up. I do bag my clippings, so bagging is important. The second mower I had was a rear drive Honda, which worked well for seven years and kind of poorly for the last two. Having rear drive was a boon going up hill, which for me is unavoidable.
I'm really thinking that a slightly smaller deck would be desirable. The last two mowers had 21 inch decks, so maybe a 19 or 20 inch deck would be better. There are no rear drive gas mowers with a deck less than 21 inches, but there are a number of 20 and 19 inch battery electrics to be had. I can get a basic Honda gas mower for $400, where an electric plus enough battery to mow the whole place will be more like $600. I would imagine I'd need new batteries somewhere in the mower's lifespan, so the electric would definitely have a higher TCO.
Opinions/experiences?
...I mean missed the topic.
