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Do you have neighbors and/or are you in an area with lawns that need maintenance? Suburbs in the midwest are inundated with noise: lawnmowers, leaf blowers, tr

Do you have neighbors and/or are you in an area with lawns that need maintenance? Suburbs in the midwest are inundated with noise: lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and cars.

Waterluvian 7y ago
Our neighborhood is built into a protected maple forest. Beautiful 100foot maple trees. The side effect is that most back yards don't have grass. Mine is artificial. And front yards grow a shade grass that people cut irregularly. Leaf blowers just aren't a thing anywhere I've lived. Another random tidbit I thought about corded electric mower is not quiet but far quieter than my neighbours' mowers. They aren't bad!
- heymijo 7y ago
  That sounds very nice!
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    Up until a tree falls on us one day. :)
tempestn 7y ago
One nice thing is that battery electric versions of all of those are now quite good and are becoming more popular. They still make some noise of course, but far, far less than gas powered versions. The lack of maintenance is great too. I could have a conversation at a normal speaking volume beside my lawnmower if I wanted. (Of course I would probably shut it off, since it's only a pull of a switch to start it again!)
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  I was given a used battery mower. Really hated it. Super heavy and the torque would just die if I got to any particularly high grass area. Naturally the cable everywhere sucks but if you have a smaller lawn it's probably worth it. You eventually master the cable lasso rodeo.
  - tempestn 7y ago
    Do you remember what voltage it was? I've got a 56V Ego mower—at the time I got it that was the highest voltage available, although it may have ticked up in the past few years. Makes a big difference. It's close to indistinguishable from a gas mower as far as power, and doesn't feel particularly heavy either.
    - Waterluvian 7y ago
      40v. Good to know the better ones do actually work better. Thanks.
- lolsal 7y ago
  I find it interesting that you associate electric versions of lawn tools with less maintenance. It's been my experience that when they break, there's not much you can do (I guess that's where the less comes in) - fixing batteries and motors is harder or impossible compared to small engines for me. All of the other maintenance still applies: sharpening blades, replacing edging wire, oiling moving parts, etc.
  - tempestn 7y ago
    It's true that when it breaks there's often little you can do, and that is a downside. But gasoline engines do require maintenance, and you do save that effort with electric tools. Really the main effort saved is just refilling the gas though, especially when you forget you're out and end up halfway through the lawn having to go get more. Of course you still need to sharpen blades and change trimmer string and such; I didn't say no maintenance, just less.

Do you have neighbors and/or are you in an area with lawns that need maintenance? Suburbs in the midwest are inundated with noise: lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and cars.

Waterluvian 7y ago

Our neighborhood is built into a protected maple forest. Beautiful 100foot maple trees. The side effect is that most back yards don't have grass. Mine is artificial. And front yards grow a shade grass that people cut irregularly. Leaf blowers just aren't a thing anywhere I've lived. Another random tidbit I thought about corded electric mower is not quiet but far quieter than my neighbours' mowers. They aren't bad!

heymijo 7y ago
That sounds very nice!
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  Up until a tree falls on us one day. :)

tempestn 7y ago

One nice thing is that battery electric versions of all of those are now quite good and are becoming more popular. They still make some noise of course, but far, far less than gas powered versions. The lack of maintenance is great too. I could have a conversation at a normal speaking volume beside my lawnmower if I wanted. (Of course I would probably shut it off, since it's only a pull of a switch to start it again!)

Waterluvian 7y ago
I was given a used battery mower. Really hated it. Super heavy and the torque would just die if I got to any particularly high grass area. Naturally the cable everywhere sucks but if you have a smaller lawn it's probably worth it. You eventually master the cable lasso rodeo.
- tempestn 7y ago
  Do you remember what voltage it was? I've got a 56V Ego mower—at the time I got it that was the highest voltage available, although it may have ticked up in the past few years. Makes a big difference. It's close to indistinguishable from a gas mower as far as power, and doesn't feel particularly heavy either.
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    40v. Good to know the better ones do actually work better. Thanks.
lolsal 7y ago
I find it interesting that you associate electric versions of lawn tools with less maintenance. It's been my experience that when they break, there's not much you can do (I guess that's where the less comes in) - fixing batteries and motors is harder or impossible compared to small engines for me. All of the other maintenance still applies: sharpening blades, replacing edging wire, oiling moving parts, etc.
- tempestn 7y ago
  It's true that when it breaks there's often little you can do, and that is a downside. But gasoline engines do require maintenance, and you do save that effort with electric tools. Really the main effort saved is just refilling the gas though, especially when you forget you're out and end up halfway through the lawn having to go get more. Of course you still need to sharpen blades and change trimmer string and such; I didn't say no maintenance, just less.