No more petrol (gas) lawnmowers in California from 2024

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muttly

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No gas powered lawn mowers in California. Are there electric mowers that will do the job
or is everyone stuck with getting a goat.
 
Electric mowers work fine and don't damage your hearing. I had one in the late 90s and I didn't have to keep gas in the garage. Batteries are so much better now and electric mowers and power tools are just as strong as gas without the noise and mess.

The noise aspect is a big deal. You only get one set of ears and a lifetime of accumulated noise damage causes permanent hearing loss and tinnitus that makes those golden years much less fun. BTY, the number one military disability is hearing loss.
 
I've got an electric that runs on a cord, but I don't have a very big yard (only 3/4 of an hour to do). The electric cord is inconvenient but at least it doesn't go flat.

There are a lot of lithium-ion battery ones available now but they don't seem to be much good if you're mowing long or wet grass. Neighbour only got about halfway through his the other day when his died. Had to borrow another neighbour's to finish the job.

You can always concrete it and paint it green.
 
jeffb said:
You can always concrete it and paint it green.
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Another suggestion: get a hybrid. Electric motor powered by an on-board generator. The generator should be driven by a steam engine. Perhaps it burns lawn clippings, but failing that coal burns good and produces nice fluffy clouds of color.
 
Just think. It is a nice quiet evening and all those lawnmowers being charged along with all those electric cars plus who knows what else and you want air conditioning in July or August. My friends that work and worked in the power business don't think all that renewable energy will come close to providing sufficient power. Nuclear and natural gas seem to work well.
 
I had one as a teenager (2000s) that ran on an extension cord I really liked. You have to watch the cord and you have to take tall grass a little slow but it’s super easy to start up and never stalls. My yard was a third of an acre.
 
I miss Utah. My yard was small, only five acres, but far more than I wanted to mow. You know how I dealt with the issue of mowing the yard? I *didn't.* I lived in the desert. Way I figured it, if I didn't mow the lawn, and didn't water the lawn, then anything that grew there was *meant* to grow there. And it worked: typically had about three feet of alfalfa. While my neighbors spent Odin knows how much time, energy and resources on hosing down their alkaline yards and spreading seeds and then chopping it down when it had the temerity to grow. Insanity.

Anyobdy brags about their electric lawnmower being better for the environment, point out that better still would be to not use the energy at all for such a pointless exercise, and that more plant life equals more carbon dioxide being sucked out of the air. Shame them. Make them cry and run away if at all possible. It's heartwarming.
 
Orionblamblam said:
I miss Utah. My yard was small, only five acres, but far more than I wanted to mow. You know how I dealt with the issue of mowing the yard? I *didn't.* I lived in the desert. Way I figured it, if I didn't mow the lawn, and didn't water the lawn, then anything that grew there was *meant* to grow there. And it worked: typically had about three feet of alfalfa. While my neighbors spent Odin knows how much time, energy and resources on hosing down their alkaline yards and spreading seeds and then chopping it down when it had the temerity to grow. Insanity.

Anyobdy brags about their electric lawnmower being better for the environment, point out that better still would be to not use the energy at all for such a pointless exercise, and that more plant life equals more carbon dioxide being sucked out of the air. Shame them. Make them cry and run away if at all possible. It's heartwarming.
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I have some sympathy for this idea but living in Auckland (lots of sun + pretty adequate rain) I would probably struggle to find my house.
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
I have some sympathy for this idea but living in Auckland (lots of sun + pretty adequate rain) I would probably struggle to find my house.
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You seem to be suggesting that a cabin in the forest would be a *bad* thing. Honestly: which would you rather, some horrid city-bound apartment, a sterile suburb with incessant needless upkeep of invasive plant species, or something like this:

Deep-Forest-Cabins-Exterior.jpg


With satellite communications and internet, home-sized nuclear powerplants, personal self-piloting VTOL aircraft and package delivery drones, there is no good reason to dense-pack humanity into thermonuclear target-cities. Doing so leaves you prone to political conflict, what with city and county governments, not to mention HOA's, thinking they have the right to order you what color your house can be and how long - and what kind - your lawn grass is.
 
jeffb said:
Orionblamblam said:
muttly said:
No gas powered lawn mowers in California. Are there electric mowers that will do the job
or is everyone stuck with getting a goat.
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Use a flamethrower. Or Agent Orange. I hear good things about its ability to keep foliage in check.
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Scott mows the lawn...
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Or you could just hide Chuck Norris. With only a single menacing glare of him, the grass would run away or just cut itself short.
 
Archibald said:
Or you could just hide Chuck Norris. With only a single menacing glare of him, the grass would run away or just cut itself short.
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Chuck is rarely available. Gotta take care of things yourself. And if a flame thrower will work on snow, it'll probably work on grass. Plus, it's environmentally friendly! it converts nasty, evil fossil fuels into nice water and carbon dioxide, food for our friends the plants!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R0gDq-3vhA


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPWMluZdB4M
 
Robotic mowers are where it's at these days. Even less noise than an electric push mower, and no need to spend hours walking across your lawn.
 
We live in California's Southern Orange County, and we have a desert growth front yard mostly consisting of dirt and some hardy desert plants (strictly complying to local homeowner membership association rules - sieg heil! - gotta love those pesky first world problems! - see
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A
as well as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(The_X-Files)) and a back yard composed mostly of a concrete pool and lounge and hosting areas and more desert growth patches, but we have neighbors with plastic lawns (don't even get me started). So lawn mowing actually really is not a first world problem around here. The prevalent issue in these parts are gasoline powered leaf blowers, both in terms of noise, airborne dirt, and exhaust emissions.
 
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Hobbes said:
Robotic mowers are where it's at these days. Even less noise than an electric push mower, and no need to spend hours walking across your lawn.
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They do generally require something resembling a stable power grid to stay operational though.
 
Went all electric for mower/snow blower/weed eater, etc. Not for "green" but for convenience. THAT'S how you go green. Make electric devices cost and performance competitive and people will run, not walk, to them. And they're getting better all the time. (EGO brand stuff is the bomb but I wish the US would get it together when it comes to manufacturing.)
 
Electric has a place and your points are right on the money. I never had a petrol mower ever. My problem is when one tech gets more influence than others for no good reason. We can do more faster if we just think it through rationally. Having said that, the expectation that rational thought go into this probably leaves me open to an invitation to a simply developed hotel with very comfortable wallpaper.......
 
muttly said:
No gas powered lawn mowers in California. Are there electric mowers that will do the job
or is everyone stuck with getting a goat.
Click to expand...
Have you not tried a Ryobi? They are ridiculously quiet and powerful. I finally got tired of getting gas and putting oil in my old lawnmower and tried a friends. You can chuck it in the garage when done. I have never done any maintenance with mine.

1643988945155.png
 
muttly said:
No gas powered lawn mowers in California. Are there electric mowers that will do the job
or is everyone stuck with getting a goat.
Click to expand...
I bought an electric (battery not cord) for my parents awhile back because I was wanted something with less maintenance headaches for them. I later bought one for myself because I don't want those headaches myself. No headaches from fumes or exhaust gasses, don't have to worry about winterizing fuel lines, no hearing loss, and it does the job just fine.
 
Wish they would ban my idiot neighbors building and rebuilding their home non stop for the past 5 years. Chainsaws, drills and other loud shit every other day at 8 AM.
 
I quite like broad beans, if they're fresh. The potato-y(?) thing - could be anything between perfectly horrible and very nice, depending on the cook. I would try eating the guinea pig, if its former owner isn't attending the meal.
 

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