Apologies in advance to Walt Whitman and Ray Bradbury.  Today I mowed my lawn for the first time this season so I thought I’d take the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of electric lawn mowers.  This is an area where I have real street cred. My father bought an electric lawnmower from Sears back in 1965 when I was in second grade and I began cutting the lawn to earn my allowance shortly thereafter. I quickly became a master of the orange power cord, whipping it around like a rodeo cowboy twirls a lasso. Up one row, flip, down the next, flip, repeat. That lawn mower followed us to four different houses and was finally retired only after my father died because my mother no longer needed it. After 20+ years of service it was still going strong.

When I became a suburban homeowner in 1997 I once again went electric, this time with a cordless rechargeable.  For the most part, it was a perfectly serviceable mower however it had some annoying limitations that eventually led me to purchase a gas powered mower. I used that gas mower for five or six years until last year when something broke on it. Rather than pay to have it repaired, I decided that it was time to return to the future and purchased a corded electric mower. Now every time I mow my lawn I am also reliving my childhood. That’s a pretty good deal.

So why did I go back to the corded electric mower?  Let’s look at at a comparison chart:

The environmental impact of electric lawn mowers depends on the efficiency and fuel source of your local electric power company. You can assume that coal fired plants produce more environmentally harmful byproducts that those fueled by natural gas. But no matter what your source of electricity, use of either a cordless or corded electric lawnmower is better for the environment than a gas powered equivalent.

Electric mowers aren’t for everyone. If you have a yard with more than a half acre of lawn or if you are a lawncare professional, the limitations of both corded and cordless electric lawnmowers will make them impractical.

Finally, I’ve also owned a pushreel mower and would offer up some thoughts based on my experience. I used it a few times and then gave it away. They are simply not a very effective solution for the suburban homeowner with a quarter acre or more of lawn to care for. They only cut grass that is within a certain height range. If you let grass get too long it won’t slip under the mower’s front bar into the blade; the mower simply runs it flat whereupon it immediately springs back up. Given busy schedules and weather, it is nearly impossible to not let the grass grow at some point during the season. Once you do, you’re screwed. And of course pushreel mowers are useless for picking up and composting all those fall leaves which make excellent mulch.