My New Push-Propelled Mower

Just got a basically free push-propelled mower! Well, my dad may have paid $5 or something for it, but he didn't charge me. It is pretty cool, and I have tried it out on one of my lawns.

One of the things that surprised me about the mower was how much easier a time I had going up hills with it. While with my other relatively light gas mower (no self-propulsion, but I have tried it out and I consider a light gas mower as easy to push up a hill as an almost definitely heavier self-propelled mower, more on that issue here)I have to bend over and put all my weight into pushing it up and down the hill, the reel mower is relatively easy to use going up hills. This is definitely a positive.

Although one might guess that a reel mower is tough to move compared to a gas one, it is actually about the same pushing power needed to maneuver the reel mower on the lawn. So using a reel mower takes just as much energy to push as a gas one.

Another positive is that one can mow any time of day without bothering the neighbors. If you need to do something in the afternoon but can mow in the morning, this can be a definite plus.

However, I had problems with it as well. One of my big issues with it was that I couldn't pull it backwards to get that small section of grass; the mower must be pushed forward every time the grass is cut. Although this may not seem like a big deal, in a lawn with many plants and trees to maneuver around, it gets very annoying.

Another problem I had with it was that since the blade wasn't really sharp, the cut wasn't as clean as it would have been with my gas mower. You basically have to go over the lawn twice if you want a good cut, and this is definitely necessary, seeing as people are paying you to mow their lawn.

But, as we all know, there is one thing that will make us look beyond all the negatives: more money. Although I haven't tried it yet, and probably won't be able to until next season, I am pretty sure that you can charge a heck of a lot more to mow someone's lawn with a reel mower. It's environmentally friendly, and most commercial lawn services probably don't offer it. So instead of making the usual twenty dollars a pop, you might be able to make, oh, fifty dollars a pop. As Borat would say in a Kazakhstani accent, "very nice."

Reel mowers have their pluses and negatives, and can occasionally be preferable to a gas mower, although they can sometimes be a BIG pain in the ass. But, the bottom line is, it can add a fresh element to your business, which can attract more customers and potentially more money. And isn't that the reason we made this business in the first place?

Labels: Equipment, Spring/Summer