Posts Tagged ‘lawnmower’
Fans of EcoMowers.com tell us they love their new Momentum reel mower, and to top that, Consumer Reports gives Fiskars the best ratings! Consumer Reports selected the Momentum reel mower over the Scotts Classic and EASUN Classic HD reel mowers. A well deserved congratulations is in order for the entire Fiskars team who diligently worked on this fantastic green machine – way to go!
 Consumer Reports 2010 Eco-Friendly Mower Reviews The three mowers tested are best suited for longer, thicker grasses (we still have a place in our heart for the Brill and EASUN Ideal mowers for a shorter professional look). According to Consumer Reports, the Momentum mower was selected for its single-lever height adjustment and the front-throw cutting design (we also like the new 4″ cutting height). If you can afford $250 – this is a great mower!
Consumer Reports reviewed 3 of the top reel mowers (Fiskars being their pick), so let’s take a quick look at the Scotts Classic and the EASUN Classic as both are good mowers with different price points. The Scotts Classic is generally $150 or less and is a push mower you can trust. It cuts most grasses well and will last for years (pending annual sharpening). The EASUN Classic is just over $200 and uses modern “contact-free” cutting technology which both eliminates sharpening and makes pushing easier.
EcoMowers.com Special Prices:
Fiskars Momentum $245.99 + Free Shipping
Easun Classic HD $219 + Free Shipping
Scotts Classic $129 + $18 Shipping
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast) 
Get a reel mower! I have a Reel Mower! These mowers Reely work! Reel men push mow!
The list is long for these clever and popular puns. Huh? What is a “reel” mower anyway? For many green industry “professionals”, namely landscape contractors, golf course superintendents, turfgrass managers, etc., the term “reel mower” is common. But your average everyday American has absolutely no idea.
Let me explain (in brief):
 Reel Mower Concept Reel mowers have curved blades that produce a cutting action alongside a stationary steel plate (like a can of Pringles chips rolling across a table). The blades form a spiral around the reel axis, and as they spin, the spiral of blades forces grass past the stationary plate. Reel mowers leave behind clean-cut grass, as if the grass had been cut with sharp scissors.
New reel mower technology has advanced since the days of Grandpa’s old clunker. Unlike the cutting action of scissors, it is not necessary for the blades of the spinning reel to contact the stationary plate. A clean cut is possible if the gap between the blades and the plate is less than the thickness of the grass. This modern reel mower technology is referred to as “contact-free”, “non-contact”, “silent-cut”, and many other terms. The benefit is a mower that is easier to push, and a mower that does not require sharpening. What, no sharpening? Nope. Think about it, there is no metal-on-metal contact to cause the reel blades to become dull. The blades only come in contact with grass, wood, and the occasional pebble or two – non of which will cause the blades to lose its edge.
There is a ton to talk about so feel free search around our learning center and read more more about reel mower technology, and how your lawn may benefit by using a reel mower.
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 9.2/10 (14 votes cast)
 Fiskars Momentum The new Fiskars Momentum reel mowers are now ready for your purchasing pleasure. We are gearing up for the summer 2010 mowing season, which means our stocking supply of momentum mowers will be here in just few weeks. We have partnered with Fiskars to make online ordering easy – you can even order your mower before our supply arrives!
The new Momentum mower has similar characteristics to the Scotts, Brill, Sunlawn, and EASUN mowers – however, it aims to target these reel mower ‘pain’ points, mainly bogging down in tall grass and clogging on small twigs. The Momentum® Reel Mower combines patent-pending technologies and Fiskars expertise in ergonomics to dramatically improve ease-of-use and cutting performance.
These new technologies include:
- InertiaDrive™ Technology: A large diameter cutting reel and heavy blades store energy much like a flywheel, so the Momentum® delivers twice the power to cut through small twigs, weeds or dense grass that clog other reel mowers. The mower also requires 30 percent less push force than standard reel mowers when cutting long grass.
- StaySharp™ Cutting System: Precision engineering allows grass to be cut without the blades touching – greatly reducing friction & blade wear. By eliminating the steel-on-steel contact that dulls standard reel mowers, peak performance can be maintained without annual sharpening.
- VersaCut™ Design: The Momentum® delivers the greatest cut range of any reel mower with cut height settings ranging from 1 to 4 inches. In addition, it edges three times closer than other reel mowers, and never leaves uncut strips under the wheels.
- Fiskars Ergonomics: The Momentum® incorporates a number of best in class convenience features to enhance the mowing experience – including an ergonomic height adjustable handle with a padded grip, a quick and easy one-touch cut height adjustment system, and a grass discharge chute that directs messy clippings forward, away from the user’s feet.
The Momentum® comes with a 4-year warranty – the longest available warranty for any reel mower on the market.
Why not put this new reel mower to the test today!
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 5.8/10 (58 votes cast)
Reel lawn mowers used to be very very popular – remember? For many of you and especially those of you ages 12 to 40, you may know manual push reel mowers as, “that old mower my grandfather used have”. We recently discovered a fantastic and informative old magazine advertisement for The Genuine “PHILADELPHIA” Lawn Mowers. You can tell by reading the ad that reel lawn mowers once had a passionate following.
The advertisement reads:
Lawns or Links – Sun or Shade
That Grass thrives best which receives the best care and no factor plays a greater part in the development of fine lawns than does the Lawn Mower. Now, to the casual observer, all Lawn Mowers look pretty much alike. Paint and varnish, gilt lettering and fancy designs cover a multitude of Lawn Mower sins. That is why it pays to buy Mowers of known reputation. That is the reason why experienced buyers ask for The Genuine “PHILADELPHIA” Lawn Mowers.
They stand for fifty-five years of undivided efforts in one field. We originated, developed and improved, until to-day every “PHILADELPHIA” Mower is sold under the unqualified guarantee that they are of the highest standards in workmanship and materials.
Progressive Dealers the world over will show you any models. There are twenty-five styles all told, in Hand-Horse- and Motor-Mowers.
The Philadelphia Lawn Mower Company
31st and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A.
 1924 Philadelphia Lawn Mower Advertisement VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
So, you’re ready to purchase a new ecomower but you still have your old gasoline powered rotary mower sitting in your garage, the shed, your basement, or yard. What in the world should you do with it? Do you sell it? Should you give it away? Maybe you should take it to the dump or the transfer station? Letting your old lawn mower take the long journey to a landfill – or for that matter allowing it to be shipped overseas to some other landfill is a BAD idea. You’re buying an ecomower to help the environment, right? Why would you throw your old one away? If your gasoline powered lawn mower is ready to die and you can’t donate it, sell it, or give it to a friend, why not just recycle it!!
Recycling old lawn mowers is not an easy task and it can be difficult to find a local recycling center. For this reason, we have teamed up with Earth911.com to provide you with an extensive database of lawn mower recycling centers across the United States. Simply use the widget below and it will point you towards your nearest lawn mower recycling center. It is that easy!!
Lawn Mower Recycling Tool:
More About Earth911.com
Earth911 delivers actionable local information on recycling and product stewardship that empowers consumers to act locally, live responsibly and contribute to sustainability.
Reduce
Waste reduction is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced and ultimately disposed. Waste reduction or waste minimization, also known as source reduction, is simply reducing waste at its source. In the waste management hierarchy the most effective policies and processes are mentioned first. Waste minimization is also strongly related to efforts to minimize resource and energy use. The fewer materials used for the same production output means that less waste is produced. Waste minimization may require knowledge of the production process, product life cycle analysis (the tracking of products and their environmental impact from material extraction to their return to earth) and detailed knowledge of the composition of the waste stream. In waste management, product life cycle analysis is often referred to as a cradle-to-grave analysis.
The main sources of waste vary from country to country. Household waste constitutes a relatively small proportion of all waste in any country.
Reuse
When you use an item more than once, it is called reuse. Conventional reuse is where an item is used again for the same function, like when you refill a coffee cup instead of throwing it in the trash. It is also reuse when an item is reused for a different purpose, like when you use a 2-liter soda bottle as a seed-starter greenhouse.
Reuse helps the planet, but it also saves money. In many countries, this savings was not considered beneficial enough to forego the convenience of disposable products. Today’s consumer is becoming more aware of environmental concerns and this awareness is gradually changing business and government policies, and consumer attitudes about what the convenience of a disposable society is really costing us.
Recycle
Recycling is the processing of making used items into new raw material. Recycling conserves our natural raw material resources, and typically uses much less energy. Saving energy means that smokestack emissions of greenhouse gas and other pollutants like mercury are reduced at the power plant, and our energy sources are not depleted as quickly. Recycling is critical to today’s waste management programs.
Recyclable materials can be generated anywhere, and nearly anything is recyclable. They include paper, aluminum, glass, road surfaces, scrap metals, and all forms of plastics. Even food and lawn waste can be recycled. Fryer oil can be made into bio-diesel fuel, some plant products can be fermented into ethanol fuels, and some can be composted into fertilizer, or reduced in size to be used as mulch.
Recyclables need to be sorted and separated into material types before processing into new raw materials. Contamination with other materials affects the value and usefulness of the material to be recycled. This sorting can be performed either by the waste generator or the recycling facility.
The same is true of household recycling programs, and these can be broken down into two basic groups. 1) Curbside collection: where consumers leave recycling containers they place outside their property to be collected by a recycling vehicle. The materials can be either “source-separated” by the consumer into separate containers or commingled in one container to be separated at a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and 2) A “drop-off” program, where the consumer takes the recyclable materials to facilities where they are separated based on material type for further processing.
React
The “Three R’s” above outline what you can do to help preserve natural resources and protect the environment. With climate change and going green in the news daily, the list of steps everyone of us can take to help our planet is continually growing. React, obviously, is the next step. Conscientious Earth citizens have the ability to learn about the right things to do. After you learn, get out of your chair and actually do something about it: React! Make today the day YOU start to do something about it.
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast)
Tags: engine, gas, landfill, lawnmower, mower information, oil, old, pollution, recycle, rotary mower, waste
Lawn mowers produce several types of pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ozone precursors, and carbon dioxide.
One type of pollutant emitted by lawn mowers is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are classified as probable carcinogens by the CDC. Testing found that operating a typical gasoline mower with a four-cycle engine produced as much PAH as driving a modern car about 150 km or about 95 miles. This means that unless you drive more than 95 mph, your mower actually produces more pollution per hour than your car!
Another source claims that operating a gas mower for one hour will produce the same pollution as driving a car 1300 miles.
Yet another source claims the figure is about 3400 miles of car travel per hour of mower use.
In an hour’s mowing, twenty-six different PAHs were found in the exhaust of the mowers, including 100microgrammes of benzo[a]pyrenes, which have been mentioned as a carcinogen in cigarette smoke. Other chemicals emitted include half a kilogram of carbon monoxide and several grams of methane, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide and smoke particles.
Another pollutant caused disproportionately by gas-powered lawn equipment is ozone. Hydrocarbons from mowers react with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight to produce ozone. Since lawn mowing occurs during the summer months, it exacerbates the already high levels of ground-level ozone present in the summer. Ozone irritates the lining of the lungs and agravates athsma and other respiratory conditions. Ozone is the principal pollutant that causes “Red Alert” warnings about air quality in the summer.
An EPA study found that approximately 9 percent of some types of air pollutants nationwide come from lawn and garden equipment small engines. In metropolitan areas, the concentration of lawns causes this percentage to increase, in some instances to 33%.
The author of one pollution study had this to say: “Using a catalyst would help prevent most emissions from small engines. Of course, people could also use an electrical powered lawn mower instead.”
In Britain, more than 70% of lawn mowers sold are electric.
The concern about toxic pollutants emitted by gas mowers is heightened due to the concentrations experienced by the operator.
Government programs offering deep discounts on electric mowers in exchange for the “surrender” of a gas mower are springing up all over the country.
Source: “Types of pollution emitted by gas lawn mowers,” Lawn Mower Pollution: http://greengrasscutters.com/id7.html [accessed on May 9, 2008].
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
The practice of mechanical mowing is less than 200 years old; before our modern era, grassy areas were maintained by grazing animals (in fact, sheep, in particular, are still used across the globe for this purpose). Turf was also maintained in earlier times with hand-held scythes for cutting and brooms for sweeping.
An English engineer named Edwin Budding invented the first mechanical mower in 1827. His prototype lawn mower was inspired by a carpet-trimming machine in a textile factory. The basic principle used in his mower is still found today in reel mowers: curved blades produce a cutting action alongside a stationary steel plate. The first machines, designed by Budding, were so heavy that they required three people to operate. Draft animals were also used to pull the first lawn mowers.
Manufacture of lawn mowers for general use began in the 1860s. By 1862, John Ferrabee (who bought the rights to manufacture lawn mowers from Edwin Budding) was making eight models in various roller sizes up to 36 inches. His company manufactured over five thousand machines until production ceased in 1863. Gasoline-powered mowers finally became available to a wide market in the 1920s when Colonel Edwin George popularized Moto-Mowers, built in a Detroit factory.
This information is summarized from Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management, by Nick Christians: Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea, Michigan: 1998, (chapter 8) and Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnmower.
VN:F [1.3.4_676] Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
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