Thursday, April 24, 2008

Lawn Mower Shopping

I need to buy a lawn mower. I know, that's an ugly thing to think about. But, I do. I have one I got at a yard sale, but I can't start the thing on my own so it's really of no use to me. I'm going to set it out by the curb with a "free" sign on it and watch it disappear.

I want to get an electric lawn mower. It's more environmentally friendly AND I don't have to put gas in the thing, which means I don't have to carry gas from the station, which happens to be something I absolutely despise doing. So, electric is the way to go.

I have my choices narrowed down to:
Homelite UT13122, which is cordless, and sells for $317 at my local Home Depot store
or
Black and Decker MM875, which is corded, and sells for $229 on Amazon

Now, before you tell me how I should buy local, let me tell you that I can't in this case. Our Lowes store, which sells this product around the country, has decided locally they're not carrying this. As the woman told me last year when I was looking for an electric mower, "Oh, we don't carry those things. Nobody wants them." OK, well, guess what, someone does. Me. So, don't complain when I spend money online to get what I want that you refuse to carry.

I really wanted a cordless mower, but Consumer Reports tells me that cordless ones do not do as good a job as corded ones on thick or taller grass. And, the mower I'm looking at, which is their pick in that category, runs for 40 minutes and then has to charge for 17 hours. I don't think I can mow my lawn in 40 minutes. Maybe if I were running, but what's the likelihood of that? Pretty slim, I can tell you. So, that will mean that mowing will turn into a multiple day job, which is not something I like the idea of.

Of course, lets be realistic, when it's 100 plus degrees I'm not going to mow my lawn anyway, I'm going to hire it done. But, I wouldn't mind mowing it at the beginning and end of the season. And I will pay for that lawn mower pretty quickly, regardless of which one I get.

I'm not very coordinated with those cords, but maybe I'd get better if I were using one all the time.

I'm open to suggestions. If you have thoughts to share I'd love to hear them. I know I'm getting an electric one but beyond that I'm still deciding.