For the princely sum of $17.15 I am now the proud owner of .....

[Stinky The Clown]

... a new tank of gas for my frikkin LAWN MOWER!

I have a small, 12 hp yard tractor/mower that dates to 1976. I keep it going with spit, baling wire, chewing gum, duct tape and prayer. It has a 5 gallon tank. The tanks lasts me maybe eight or ten mowings.

When will too high gas prices be seen as the symptom of all that's wrong with this bunch of Republicans? Now that a lawn mower costs as much to fill as my truck used to, you'd think people would be swearing off a steady diet of Republicans.

We'll see .......

[benburch]

1. Kudos on making it work so long!

My push mowers last only about ten years.

[skids]

2. Tear up the lawn, plant potatoes...

...at the rate this country is going you'll like the way they taste a lot better than the grass.

[Warpy]

3. You're making me glad I killed my lawn

although recent storms are making things look like I'll have to wander around with the weed whacker once or twice before winter sets in.

I think a lot of people are going to start buying reel mowers at these prices. The reel mowers work well, but people who live where there's adequate rain are gonna have to mow the sucker twice a week. You can't let it go if you have a push mower.

I sincerely hope more people out there make the connection between what it costs to fill a mower tank now with what it cost to fill the car back then and who is responsible for it, even if they aren't up to connecting the dots as to why he's responsible.

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. Hey!

You just described my mower :D . I have read its final rights so many times, that its not even funny anymore. And yes, I do agree with your post. I put $30 dollars of gas in my truck yesterday and it put it to 1/4 tank. Sheesh!

[Sherman A1]

7. 25 year old Snapper Self Propelled Mower

Still going strong! Take it in for service every year and it just keeps on tickin. Looks like H...., but whatever. Small 1/4 tank gets me through the lawn with a bit left for next time. Thankful for a small lawn that takes about 30 minutes to cut....

[Stinky The Clown]

14. Mine's a Gravely .... very simple design and built lie a beastly tank

It uses lots of no-frills off the shelf hardware parts. I can do all the service myself, except when it needed some transmission work. I've not spent very much on it at all, really.

It looks like this one

http://www.stevenchalmers.com.nyud.net:8090/Gravely/RS/RS_05_812.jpg

[jobycom]

4. America has been TRYING to swear off Republicans, but the cheating

bastards won't go away!

[serryjw]

6. Can you drive it to work??

I don't even have a baloney!

[tech3149]

8. How about this for an alternative?

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/reelmowers.html

I know with a lage lawn it may not be reel practical, but you could have it for free over the course of a few years. Not to mention they last practically forever.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I have almost an acre and part of it is a pretty steep hill ...

..... about a 15% grade. A push mower won't work.

Besides ........ I'm old.

And a push mower won't clear snow in the winter. This one has a plow attachment, too.

[aein]

9. just stop mowing your lawn n/t

[Minnesota Libra]

10. OMG, that is just plain horrible. Over $17 to fill a 5 gal tank, that....

.....is just terrible. Have you thought about taking out the grass and putting in cactus??

[WatchWhatISay]

11. I saw my neighbor using and electric one the other day. But

it looked like having to deal with the cord, keeping it from getting run over wasn't much fun.

Maybe a wireless remote one?

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

17. I have an electric and love it

You get used to moving the cord out of the way. I don't have to breath in fumes,run out of fuel half way through the job or fight with the ripcord to start the motor

[Stinky The Clown]

18. How big a lawn do you mow?

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

34. Back yard is 80x100

Less than 1/4 of an acre to mow

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. I liked mine too, until the dogs chewed through the cord!

Also there was the one time I tried to cut high grass with the thing set to low grass. It overloaded the motor and knocked off a circuit breaker to my house! Doh!

[undergroundpanther]

12. I HATE lawns

I wish people would just get OVER the golf course grass mentality.

Rich people are originally the only ones who bothered to mow lawns ,but that filtered down to poor people to condition us to be like rich people were ..So now we mow grass,it was once a way to look rich,now it's doing what everyone else does.I just HATE the whine of lawn mowers in the morning.It's so damn stupid everyone looks at their neighbors lawn and competes ohh mines hairy better chop it down like theirs lest I look like the bum on the block . I for one will be glad to NEVER hear a goddamn lawn mower again.I like the tall grass trees and a yard full of weeds,bushes animals and rabbits.If I had my way I'd make trails to get where I want to go in my yard,the rest a jungle turning into a woods.

[Catherine Vincent]

16. I don't hate lawns. I hate mowing them or paying someone to mow them.

I would like to cement my front lawn but I don't plan to live at the house I'm in now forever. That way, I would only have to worry about my back yard and I can mow it when I feel like it and not worry about letters from the homeowners association.

[klyon]

33. yes, why can't we have grass that grows to the correct height?

turf grass is better than crab grass

I mow as little as possible

Turf grass is better than dirt wash-outs

[noamnety]

35. That's what I'm slowly working towards

We have two acres. Each year we kill off a little more lawn and put in a little more meadow. It's one of the best, cheapest, and easiest things we could all do for the environment.

This is a (deceptive) view of our front lawn, we really have much more lawn still from all other angles, but you can see the idea.



All the neighbors have neatly trimmed lawns. No complaints about ours yet, though, and we've been doing this for 5 or 6 years now.

[catmother]

13. we had so much trouble with lawnmowers when we had our

last house. the thing was constantly in for service. when we were getting ready to sell the house, we hired a landscape company to take care of the lawn and trim the trees.

now we live in the middle of the desert. cleared out a little portion in the back and a small section in the front and just have some desert plants. but you know those damn weeds even come up in the desert.

good luck with your lawnmower. it being that old it was probably made better than the ones they make today.

[kineneb]

20. I solved the lawn problem

the lot we bought was unimproved. So we simply didn't put in a lawn. Once or twice a year I weed-whack down the tall weeds and let it go to its natural golden brown*. Water here is too expensive for lawns anyway; I prefer to spend my water dollars on perennials and the food garden. I don't own a mower and refuse to get one.

*the normal color of California hills in the summer

[Stinky The Clown]

21. We don't have that option

If it isn't a lawn, its a weed patch and a harbor for mosquitos.

I've never watered my lawn in the nearly 30 years I've lived here. Even in our 'droughts' the lawn only goes off color. Generally we're green from early March to early December.

[kineneb]

25. opposite problem

See, we don't get rain in the summer, so California is green in the winter. Come mid-May, the lower elevations all turn golden brown and stay that way until the rains start. So the option of forgoing a lawn here is simple- don't water the ground.

[ChipsAhoy]

23. **Yah, we solved it too.***

We keep a neighborhood man employed that way. He does a great job and supplies the gasoline for his own riding lawnmower. Also, he refuses to raise his price, so I tip him well.

Why cut the grass when someone else makes a living that way and does a damn good job?

[kineneb]

26. easy

We are on a limited income. If I don't do the gardening, it won't get done. We can't afford to pay someone else to do it.

[ChipsAhoy]

30. Then not so easy.

Whew, can't imagine being on a limited income. Well, when I was in college that was the case.

Sorry to hear about that.

[Paulie]

22. I have a small lot

and a reel mower works fine. Takes a solid hour to do the front and back with a 13" wide reel.

A co-worker of mine doesn't have a lawn, he just puts a foot of mulch on it every year. Takes him a couple hours a year to haul the dumped stuff from the front to the backyard. Interesting concept, don't think I could do it myself. :)

[ChipsAhoy]

24. True, less than an acre is simple to cut.

And a little bit of exercise too. I can't imagine using a riding lawnmower on such a small piece of property. But, different strokes and all ....

[Digit]

27. I have alittle less than half an acre, but am disabled

I have a small riding mower that looks more like a golf cart, but at least it allows me to do it myself.
I need a total knee replacement, so walking behind a mower is out of the question. In fact, just WALKING on uneven terrain is something I have learned is a huge NO NO.
First, I have to go and pick up all the sticks and pinecones before I mow, and I have to take pain pills before I do even that.
As a matter of fact, all the able bodied neighbors around me own even LARGER riding mowers with one owning a John Deere, so I don't feel so bad.

[ChipsAhoy]

31. The elderly and the disabled

Yes, they have a reason to use riding mowers on small pieces of land. It must give you/them a sense of satisfaction and independence too.

[rucky]

28. Look on the bright side...

if gas gets any higher, it'll be cheaper to hire a lawn crew.

[Vinca]

29. Finally . . . an excuse not to mow. Can't afford to. nt

[windbreeze]

32. I loved this thread....LOL

and have experienced everything talked about, from the price of gas to fill the equipment...to reel mowers....to electric mowers/weed eaters (LOVE THEM)....to burning up an elec weed eater with too tall grass/weeds..(I just did that to a brand new one)...to having knee problems...we have 1 1/4 acres to mow...pretty level...but currently being rototilled by the local mole society who have all decided our acreage is the best gathering place around....I just wish I could figure out where they find all that nice black dirt they throw out of the holes...when I dig, all I find are rocks...
great thread...thank you for a chuckle on this day when serious shit is happening around the world...
windbreeze

[ileus]

36. Yeah I'm trying to keep up with two yards now.

While I wait to sell my home, I've moved into a rental and it has about a 3 acre yard. The home I have has a 2 acre yard.....I've got two riders, and a push mower that travels, and two trimmers.
Our new home one of my first priorities is I be able to push mow and trim it in 30 minutes max. I easily wasted a month of my year to yard work with my old home I'm not willing to continue that any longer.