Electric lawn mowers may reduce costs

Tag : Electric Extension

Mel Harrison said he has had to mow his lawn twice a week withrecent rains.
Although he uses a gas mower, he has considered electric mowers tosave on the price of gasoline.
His only complaint: the cord.
"Anything you use with an extension cord is kind of a problem," hesaid. "That's why they went to batteries on the electric powertools. If you had a big lot to mow, it might take a huge cord."
Harrison, 71, a retired supervisor from Oklahoma Interpak, wishesmore people would keep their lawns mowed, especially near roadswhere visitors enter Muskogee.
Even with the small tank on his mower, he has noticed the pricecreeping steadily upward.
"It's awful expensive," he said. "I use a two and one-half gallongas can for my mower, and it costs me $6 to $7 dollars to fill mycan up. My yard is about 50 feet by 80 feet, so it's a pretty goodchore."
Could the price of gas ever get so high that he would consider anelectric mower? Harrison thinks so.
"I guess you'd have to," he said. "Between the lawn mower and thecar, it takes a lot to keep them going."
Although gas mowers still dominate the market, Lowe's HomeImprovement Warehouse offers three types of electric mower.
Lynetta Jackson, department manager in Outdoor Power Equipment,said simplicity is one of the strongest selling points.
"The main attraction is that all you have to do is plug it up," shesaid. "With the cordless electric you don't even have to do thatunless you are charging up the batteries. I sell the most to women;a lot of them tell me they don't want to have to mix the gas, or bebothered with filters and oil."
Jackson said the typical homeowner could easily buy a cord to meettheir needs.
"With the corded models you buy your extension cord separately, andyou could put it on a reel to manage it," she said. "The cord canbe 50 feet or 100 feet; whatever you need."
Lowe's most economical model is the 12-amp Task Force with a 20inch blade. All four wheels are adjustable, and it offers thechoice of a mulch bag in the back or a standard side discharge.
The other two models are both Black & Decker. The first is a12-amp with a 19 inch blade and a rear mulch bag.
The cordless Black & Decker looks almost identical to thecorded, but Jackson said it is heavier because of an internal24-volt battery.
"The cordless will cover one-third of an acre on a single charge,"she said.
Choosing an electric mower seems to be a balance between ease ofuse and the size of the owner's yard.
"The main interest in the electric mowers is the fact that there isnothing mechanical like the gas mowers," Jackson said. "I sell afew of the cordless electrics but some customers are worried abouthow long the charge will last. They don't want to do half theiryard and have it die and need to be recharged."
Jackson said her customers haven't mentioned gas prices.
"As far as people saying they're looking at electric mowers becauseof the cost of gas; not yet," she said. "But if gas keeps going up,it may happen. A couple of our customers have said the electricswork great. No one is bringing them back; so that's a good sign."
Reach Keith Purtell at 918-684-2925 or Click Here to Send Email
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