Mowed Over Gasoline Mower

[jebatty]

I was a little surprised when my wife eagerly agreed to replace our gasoline engine push mower with an Ego self-propelled electric mower, which arrived by delivery truck a few days ago and made its first cut on our lawn yesterday. She has fully endorsed our mission to end fossil carbon in our household. The Ego now joins the Bolt in being fully powered by our PV system. One more gasoline engine eliminated. The Ego did a very good mowing job, and since my wife normally does the mowing, this mower will be her baby.

 

[begreen]

I'll be curious about how well the batteries perform over time. It looks like this is lithium ion powered. That should be a lot better than the sealed lead acid units. Pricey little fellow though.

 

[Dobish]

Nice. I have a reel push mower, and a corded electric mower that i use for the front. The back gets either the gas walk behind string trimmer or the machette...

 

[jebatty]

It was a bit pricey. The battery is Li-ion, 56V, 7.5 AH. CR gave the Ego a very good performance rating. I think both my wife and I are passed the stage of life when we look for the least expensive option, although I do price shop once I find what I want to get. Home Depot had this for the 21" mower at $499 + sales tax, and free delivery to our door. This was the least expensive I could find for the mower, battery, charger package. I found a lower price on the same mower but with a lower capacity battery.

 

[Cast Iron]

....and the power for charging comes from where ?
....and the materials and manufacturing energy come from ?????

 

[begreen]

....and the power for charging comes from where ?

Not from a gasoline engine. In Jim's case - the sun!

....and the materials and manufacturing energy come from ?????

Similar places as the gasoline motor it replaced, though with less parts. As for the energy at the factory that would depend on where it is made. The point being that the new mower is no longer consuming fossil fuels and spewing out smog forming emissions at 40x a modern car's exhaust.
http://cleanairyardcare.ca/sustainability/environmental-facts/

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Actually looks like theres a gas engine on it from a distance. More and more of my landscaping tools are battery operated. Including chain saws.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Not from a gasoline engine. In Jim's case - the sun!

Similar places as the gasoline motor it replaced, though with less parts. As for the energy at the factory that would depend on where it is made. The point being that the new mower is no longer consuming fossil fuels and spewing out smog forming emissions at 40x a modern car's exhaust.
http://cleanairyardcare.ca/sustainability/environmental-facts/

Comparing a lawn mower (infrequently used, small displacement, cheap) to a car (frequent use, large displacement, 30x the cost) is a bit silly.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Comparing a lawn mower (infrequently used, small displacement, cheap) to a car (frequent use, large displacement, 30x the cost) is a bit silly.

But it is true that mowers are many times more polluting than cars so perhaps it is a a good comparison with that. I can see a mower polluting just as much as a car thats used infrequently. Plus the mower went electric for some of the same reasons the car did.

 

[begreen]

Comparing a lawn mower (infrequently used, small displacement, cheap) to a car (frequent use, large displacement, 30x the cost) is a bit silly.

That's the old argument that one person doesn't make a big difference. However, lawn mowers and yard equipment are significant polluters. With a city's worth of them and it adds up to some serious pollution.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I didn't know people had lawns in cities. If they do, they are usually a postage stamp.

 

[Dobish]

I didn't know people had lawns in cities. If they do, they are usually a postage stamp.

depends on the city. In detroit, they were issuing deer hunting permits
https://www.freep.com/story/news/lo...chigan-deer-hunting-season-archery/947792001/

 

[Seasoned Oak]

depends on the city. In detroit, they were issuing deer hunting permits

Detroit is a bit unique as its turning back into wilderness due to economics. Perhaps some favorable trade deals will reverse that course. Imagine how many jobs are in 3/4 of a $trillion of trade deficits ,a lot of which are auto jobs.

 

[bholler]

Detroit is a bit unique as its turning back into wilderness due to economics. Perhaps some favorable trade deals will reverse that course. Imagine how many jobs are in 3/4 of a $trillion of trade deficits ,a lot of which are auto jobs.

Philly has lots of yards. They also issue deer hunting permits. In fact most cities have many yards the need mowed.

 

[Dobish]

Philly has lots of yards. They also issue deer hunting permits. In fact most cities have many yards the need mowed.

Denver also has a lot of yards... Boston does too... LA.... San Diego

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Even yards on rooftops!

 

[Dobish]

Even yards on rooftops!

man, getting a lawnmower up there must be a pain.

 

[bholler]

Denver also has a lot of yards... Boston does too... LA.... San Diego

Yes people tend to only think about the down town center city section but the vast majority of cities contain large areas of residential neighborhoods with yards that are much like many suburban neighborhoods.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

man, getting a lawnmower up there must be a pain.

Electric im sure.

 

[begreen]

I didn't know people had lawns in cities. If they do, they are usually a postage stamp.

Most major cities have large suburban extensions. Come to the Seattle area. There are lots of residential neighborhoods. Same in Syracuse when I lived there many years ago. Have they all been paved over?

 

[sportbikerider78]

Yeah...those are the burbs and not very densely populated. Why would there be a big benefit in cities?

I'd think the potential emissions savings would be much much larger in a country area. People who mow 3 acres with a large displacement riding mower....like my 18HP Kawi twin John Deere....not a postage stamp. Still, I can mow my lawn about 3 times on 3 gallons. Pretty efficient mower.

 

[begreen]

Seattle has a lot of large lots left and on the outskirts of the city (still in city limits) there are many >.25 acre properties.

Still, I can mow my lawn about 3 times on 3 gallons. Pretty efficient mower.

That's very good. Our riding mower has a Kohler single. I can only mow about 1 acre on a gallon, though the areas are not contiguous and most are hilly.

Still, mower motors, even the best are inefficient and unclean.

A conventional lawn mower pollutes as much in an hour as 40 late model cars for an hour. Source: EPA statistics for Replacing Gas Power Lawn Mowers Assuming that a typical car travels 18,000 km per year, 33 gasoline lawn mowers would produce as much pollution a car produces all year.
http://cleanairyardcare.ca/sustainability/environmental-facts/ Emissions from small gas motors make up about 20% of a city's pollution. That's why Calif. started cracking down on them.

So if an electric mower works for one's year, it is definitely a benefit. For this reason, many cities have buyback programs to replace gas mowers with electric. And we haven't discussed noise pollution. There it's no contest.

 

[bholler]

Yeah...those are the burbs and not very densely populated. Why would there be a big benefit in cities?

I'd think the potential emissions savings would be much much larger in a country area. People who mow 3 acres with a large displacement riding mower....like my 18HP Kawi twin John Deere....not a postage stamp. Still, I can mow my lawn about 3 times on 3 gallons. Pretty efficient mower.

Lots of those "burbs" are within city limits and are clearly part of the city. And in most cities more people live in those areas than in the city center. And fuel efficent doesnt nessecarily mean clean burning at all.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Yeah...those are the burbs and not very densely populated. Why would there be a big benefit in cities?

I'd think the potential emissions savings would be much much larger in a country area. People who mow 3 acres with a large displacement riding mower....like my 18HP Kawi twin John Deere....not a postage stamp. Still, I can mow my lawn about 3 times on 3 gallons. Pretty efficient mower.

You have good taste in mowers. I have the same machine. 1 month old 3hrs on the clock. Heading out to mow now before the heat wave hits.

 

[bholler]

The fact is there is benifit in reducing emissions and consumption no matter where you live.