Welcome
June 23rd, 2008I live in a small city, in a small house, on a small lot. I have a small lawn. Most of my neighbors live in small houses on small lots too. They also have small lawns. About five years ago, as I stood beside my old gas-powered rotary mower, pulling on the rope for what seemed like the hundredth time and swearing at it because once again it wouldn’t start, I thought to myself, “There must be a better way.” The old heap of junk was noisy, heavy, hard to push, cranky, smelly, dangerous, polluting, and a few other things I can’t remember.
The next day I was passing by the local hardware store on my way to the market when I saw it. Sitting there in front of the store was an approximation of the reel mower my father had used back in the fifties and sixties. I remember having to push the thing across our little lawn and hating it. It was heavy, hard to push, and seemed to make an unpleasant job even more unpleasant. But this new push mower was different. It was made of lightweight materials instead of hardwood and heavy steel and was very light. I asked the clerk if this thing could actually cut grass and he laughed and said yes, in fact it could cut grass very well.
I guess I was pretty motivated, given the state of my gas mower, and the price of this new push mower was under $100, so I decided right there and then to take the plunge and buy it. I took it home, carried it to the back yard, set it down and started pushing it across the lawn. Amazing! It glided effortlessly over the lawn, all the while making a nice whirring sound. I was actually enjoying the experience of cutting my grass! I wanted to run all over the neighborhood and cut everybody’s grass and show them my new toy. I felt like I’d discovered the new world!
Five years later, I’m still using my original Great States mower. It’s getting a little old and cranky itself, but it still does a decent job of cutting my little lawn and I’m not quite ready to look at a new one like the Brill Razorcut Mower. I’ve had it sharpened a few times over the years, but most recently I did it myself using a technique I found on the internet that uses valve grinding compound. Worked like a charm! Here’s a video about a guy who loves his orange push reel mower.
I started this website because I want to spread the word and hopefully convince as many people as possible to switch to non-power mowing. Saturdays in my town are incredibly noisy as every other resident is out pushing their big powerful gas and electric mowers over little tiny patches of grass. I don’t think most people have ever given it a second thought. They probably believe, as I did five years ago, that push mowers are hard to operate and not really an option except for masochists and purists. Well I’m here to tell you it ain’t like that. Modern push mowers are light and efficient and easy to use. They don’t pollute, they give you exercise, they are quiet, and they are actually fun to operate. Honest!
Anyway, thanks for visiting my site. I’ve set it up as a blog so that you can comment on what’s here, give your opinions, and make suggestions if you have them. I’ll try to make more posts when I have something to say.
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