We are on about 1.25 acres. I got rid of ALL the grass. What isn't occupied by the house and shop is either deck, or gravel. I used to have a ride-on mower, but bought the snow blower attachment and still use the tractor for that (we get a LOT of snow here in northern B.C.). Arranged on the gravel and decks are various cedar boxes that my wife grows vegetables and flowers in.
Ever since I was a kid I always thought a lawn was crazy (I also never saw the purpose in making a bed every darned day - perhaps 25 years in the Army made me dislike that ritual more than most folks). I will state that when my kids were little, a lawn was great for them to run around and play on without hurting themselves - but now that we're older and there are no kids around, zero (or at least minimal) maintenance is the way to go.
As far as making the bed goes - we now simply have a fitted sheet over the mattress, and a duvet on top - a single flick of the wrists in the morning, and you're done.
I love mankind. It's people I can't stand.
I don't think the 3.1 mph would translate easily into a time to completion because there are so many other factors involved. I used to have a house with a half acre yard and I push mowed it without having a self propelled mower. There were very few shrubs, trees and other obstacles to slow me down and it wasn't a great burden. Now, I mow about 1.5 acres using the combination of a zero turn radius mower, a push mower and a gas powered string trimmer. There are many landscape obstacles to go around. I am probably push mowing no more than a tenth acre of area but it takes me much longer to do that than it does to riding mow the rest. I am looking to move and one reason is I want less yard maintenance.
I used to have about 1/2 acre of grass and found it easier to use a self propelled 22" mower than a riding mower. It probably took around an hour. The lawn had a few trees and other obstacles that were no problem for the push mower, but really slow with a rider.
I had a small rider that I think only had about a 28" cut since I needed something to fit through the gate. A 48" mower might have tipped the scales towards a riding mower.
Another thing I would look for is a self propelled with a clutch that stops the blade when you need to empty the bag. It would be much easier than having to restart every time you take your hands off the handles.
Steve
I used to have a corner lot house, it was plenty to push mow. Current place is way too big, probably three times that. I'd say the average corner lot on a city block is about as big as I'd want to push.
Hiring a lawn service is a distinct possibility. My parents have about 2x what we are looking at and it costs them $35 each time.
As youngest son, the day before I left home for college, a delivery truck pulls up in front, and off comes a brand new riding mower, to replace the gas engine human-propelled version I had been using for years.
I turned and gave my Dad the Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot look.
Dad: "You don't actually think I am going to push a mower for 3 hours each weekend, do you?"
His philosophy was: Teen-aged sons are machines designed to convert room and board into mowed grass, raked leaves, and shoveled snow.
When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.
What is on the ground today, instead of grass?
I'm heading the same direction; we have two large pine trees in the
front yard (West side of the house) that cover 1/2 the lawn with needles.
Nothing grows where the needles fall.
Did you plant something else?
The yard in Kansas was a bit over half an acre to cut and proved very easy with a push mower, but Kansas doesn't have lots of hills in the southern part. There were also no obstacles to avoid.
This part of SE Michigan makes Kansas look hilly. Its all drained swamp land.
I have a 1/4 acre lot. It takes my about 1 hour to trim and mow. I use a Honda self-propelled mower that has a thumb operated throttle for the speed of travel and a blade clutch. Thus I can empty the bag without having to stop and restart the engine.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Trust me, I've plotted many angles. I'm a bit too far south to wait for my pond to ice over. Sometimes being able to work on small engines, weld, and do general mechanic fixes doesn't work in my favor. 2 more years and this mower will be fit for Frankenstein's Monster.
-Lud
I'll almost certainly buy a Husqvarna because that's what my favorite dealer carries. Its speed controls are on the handlebar grips, somewhat similar to bike brakes with better ergonomics. As I pointed out to my wife, I wouldn't be the only one using this.
The houses we are looking at are 1/3 +/- acre lots, then subtract the ~2k sqft houses, patios, garages, driveways, etc.
Last edited by Matt Meiser; 05-19-2014 at 7:30 AM.
This story sounds familiar to me!
As far as the yard size goes, we did have a rider, and an acre covered with trees, and all of it was on a grade. There were a couple of times that a rider was down and in the repair shop that we mowed the yard with a lawn boy push (not SP). It might not have been so bad if it was a level lot. All of the stuff (rider and all, and esp. leaf equipment that went with it) got an upgrade after I left.
I do a quarter with a SP mower now, but I'd do up to a half with a push. SP was the only used honda I could find cheap when I got my mower.
Last edited by David Weaver; 05-19-2014 at 7:32 AM.