Spring is here, and it’s time for yard work! Unfortunately, I was rather badly hurt some weeks back, including a broken wrist and multiple fractures to the leg. How was I going to do something like mow my lawn!?
Fortunately, my lawn tractor is actually pretty handi-capable!
To start with, the mower uses exclusively HAND controls! There’s no clutch pedal at all, and the tractor automatically brakes simply by reducing speed of the motor. The throttle is a hand-lever. Bracing myself against the tractor, I could climb on and drive away using just one hand and no legs!
Besides ease of use, the riding lawn mower is extremely low maintenance.
There’s no gasoline to fill, nor replacement of associated fuel filters, oil filters, air cleaners, spark plugs or anything else. The mower deck has no belts to replace. Each blade has a dedicated direct-drive electric motor, activated by just flipping a switch! To pull the tractor out of storage, all I did was check the voltage of the three 12V batteries, top off the charge, and then go ahead and mow the lawn!
Electric vehicles are also much cleaner (and quieter) than their gasoline counter parts. It’s especially true of small engines for lawn and garden equipment. They have been exempt from the pollution control standards we use for cars. Lawn mowers simply lack catalytic converters, charcoal canisters, and other equipment which reduce combustion emissions. Of course, if you have solar panels on your house or garage, solar-powered lawn equipment is about as green as you can get. I also like that the more the sun shines, the more I need to mow my lawn, but also the more solar power I make. Kinda fun to say “What Grows It, Mows It!”
While this tractor happens to be a 1970’s relic, there’s suddenly a huge surge in modern battery-powered electric push mowers. Just like my lawn tractor, they are quiet, low maintenance, and reliable. This new generation of electric mowers are powered by lightweight lithium batteries, the same type that power your cordless drill. In fact, tool manufacturers like Ryobi and Black and Decker are getting in on this market. Next time you are at a Home Depot, Lowes, or similar home improvement or hardware store, take a look at some of these mowers – that is, unless you LIKE spilling gasoline and adjusting spark plug gaps!
Electric tractors and mowers are quiet, powerful, and easy to use.
Finding out I can still mow my lawn, even while recovering from injury was just one more bonus!
Until next time, stay charged up!
-Ben
PS: Here’s a few battery-powered push mowers you might want to check out.
Greenworks electric push mower.
https://amzn.to/2HTAtY5
Ego Power
https://amzn.to/2jzfMC5
Ryobi
https://amzn.to/2HULSae
