The Lawn. (again…)

I feel like I’m getting awfully repetitive here. Probably indicative of our future efforts…

The lawn. Again. I hate having to admit this, but my best friend Liz may have been a teeny bit right about the lawn. I caved in and bought an electric push mower. Not because the lawn was so big, but because the reel mower didn’t really cut the stalky parts of the grass – the parts that more resemble hay (or bamboo) than grass.

After a bit of research, I settled on the Kobalt 40v push mower from Lowes.* The reviews were pretty good, and the July 4th sale price was even better. The review comments that said it would only work on a small lawn due to its 40 volt 5.0 Ah battery was a challenge I was eager to accept.

We also got the Kobalt weed whacker, which came with a second battery (but only 2.5 Ah), and I spent the next three 90 degree days mowing along and almost finished (the top section of) the lawn.
A few notes about the mower:

• It is not self-propelled, but it is so easy to use that I don’t even know what self-propelled would mean.
• The 5.0 Ah battery lasts approximately 40 minutes (though often more), even cutting through 3′ high grass. The 2.5 Ah battery doesn’t last as long, but having both allows for well over an hour of mowing.
• It cuts really well!
• Try not to accidentally hit a chimney brick with the mower. But if you do, don’t worry – it still works great (dented blade and all)!
• The batteries take about 30 minutes to charge, but they will not charge if they are physically hot (and they get pretty hot cutting 3′ high grass in 90+ degree sunlight). It’s annoying, but not debilitating – just let the battery cool down to avoid a cell fire/battery failure.

We worked out a pretty good routine while Sergiu was trapped in the attic: I mowed while Westley kept a dutiful eye on his brother, every 45+ minutes or so we would take a break and eat ice cream or work on the mailbox.

Our neighbor was thoroughly impressed with the results, and couldn’t believe the mower was electric. Likewise, a town official stopped by and was thrilled to see we had (finally) mowed – Sergiu explained it is hard to mow when you aren’t actually on-site. Town official also couldn’t believe we’d used an electric mower.**

So, as much as I hate to admit it, Liz was right – the reel mower just couldn’t cut it.*** But the low-powered push seems to be doing a great job, and really toning up my muscles in the process!

• 

• 

• 

*We’ve shifted from Home Depot to Lowes after reading Dawn Ennis‘s expose on hypocritical corporate spending
**Or that we would be there full-time in less than a month 😉
***No apologies for the pun! Long live the pun!