Enthusiasm for push mowers bolsters inner city livability

Last month we reminded readers that running their gas powered lawn mower for one hour puts the equivalent emissions into the air as taking a 350-mile car trip. And, suspecting a large contingent of push mower users, we asked readers to write in about their use of push mowers. The response (which came in envelopes, handwritten on pretty cards or typed, hand delivered or through the mail … one had the Rachel Carson 17-cent stamp on it … and by e-mail) has been pretty exciting, although we still don't know how many of them are out there. If you figure that out of every 20 push mower users, one would take the time to write in to the newspaper, then there are 260. If you figure that one out of 50 would write something, there are 650. Well, I can only guess. (Maybe we should try the 100th-push-mower-user-caller-gets-a-free-T-shirt approach.)

Anyway, regardless of their proliferation, our correspondents tell us push mowers have much more to offer than mere pollution reduction and environmental friendliness. Read on.

Mary Ellen Kaluza exclaimed, "I've been in my Phillips home for 25 years now (wait a minute - I was going to be so old when I finally paid off the 30-year mortgage - that's only five years away!). And maybe I don't feel ‘so old’ because I've used the same push lawn mower, a gift from my brother, all these years. (Admittedly, though, I have borrowed power mowers at times when the lawn just got too tall.)

I love my push mower because it always starts. There's no messing with gas, oil, spark plugs. No swearing while yanking on the pull cord for the billionth time. The only hassle is hauling it into Welna'a every couple of years to get the blades sharpened.

Except when the grass and weeds get too tall, a push mower is no more work than a power mower. And it is blessedly quiet! It's a great way to meet new people, too. No one stops to talk when you are behind a noisy, dangerous power mower.
And, of course, there is the great feeling of moral superiority for using a push lawn mower!"

Wendy Johnson expressed similar sentiments and also pointed out a safety fact. "In all 25 years that we have lived in South Minneapolis we have always used a push mower. We were given an ‘experienced model’ and never considered using anything else on our small city lot. We enjoy the opportunity to exercise, make less noise, and keep the smell of gas out of the air. We also know it is safer to push because hidden objects in the grass merely jam the blades instead of throwing the objects into the air at a high speed that could hurt someone nearby. It is very convenient to pull the mower out of the garage and go without messing with gas cans or electric cords. Sure it takes a little longer to cut the grass but we get the added bonus of being able to talk to neighbors passing by while doing the job. Try doing that with a power machine!"

C. Mulder wrote that even a tiny disadvantage is outweighed by the many advantages. "When my gas mower died about four years ago, I bought a push mower from the hardware store on 38th and Nicollet. It was a good deal. The clippings regenerate my lawn rather than chemicals. I get a good workout and tone my arms. It is also quiet. It may not cut as well as the gas mower, yet I don't have to deal with gassing it up or pulling on the crank. I love my push mower."

Heidi Uppgaard got the mower first and THEN the house. "Odd as it may seem, one reason we bought our current house was the ‘postage stamp’ yard - we wanted to have no excuse not to use our push mower."

Viva Beck graphically described what many people dislike about gas mowers. "I almost pulled my arm out of the socket - trying to get our gas mower started - so I saw a push mower at my next door garage sale - tried it on my boulevard - and totally loved it.

I have been using the push mower for over three years - it is great exercise AND GREAT FOR THE LAWN. The grass clippings are the best fertilizer!"

Mary Alice Supple provided a charming history and a succinct list of the push mower's good qualities. "… When I moved into my Aunt Agnes' home 30 years ago, I inherited an electric Sunbeam lawn mower. Unfortunately, it cut the grass too short for me, and when I accidentally mowed over the cord and cut it into two sections, I decided to look for an alternative.

Several older women in the neighborhood were using push mowers. I then purchased a ‘used’ mower for $5 and began a 30-year trial run. Here are the advantages I have found with this mower:

1. It is less complicated
2. It is quieter
3. It is economical (it needs to be sharpened every other season, however)
4. It provides exercise
5. It keeps the fat on my upper arms tighter

Always keep a push mower in your garage for emergency situations. It is so handy.”

Irene Mahoney also gave an interesting history. "I think we may be one of the few home owners who has never used a gas powered lawn mower.

I'm still using the very same push mower we bought at the old Sears store on Lake Street in 1956 when we purchased our home. So, I guess you could say we have been protecting our atmosphere for 47 years.

I don't know if we convinced anyone to do as we have, but I do notice we have several in our neighborhood who are now using the push mower.

It may well be one of the outside activities that keeps me in shape at near 80 years of age."

Cindy Adams actually wrote a rhyming endorsement. If there were a T-shirt prize, she should get it.

"I couldn't take it anymore, I bought myself a push lawn mower.

No more greasy cans of gas. All my mower eats is grass.

No more stains upon the floor, my mower hangs behind the door.

It doesn't choke or smoke or die. It's quiet as a butterfly.

I love my mower, won't go back. Life's better on the slower track.

Simple, easy, has no sound, quite the best hand tool around."

When this little discussion of push mowers began, I wasn't even thinking of other alternatives to gas powered mowers. But there is one. Read on.

Irene Raun wrote, "In reponse to the article ‘Write a paragraph about your push mower’ (Vol. XIV, Issue 6), I am pointing out an oversight. Elaine Klaassen neglected to mention another alternative to gas-powered lawn mowers - the electric lawn mower.

My husband and I have been using electric lawn mowers, first battery-operated and then corded, on our South Minneapolis yard for the past seven years. These machines are readily available at Menards and other home improvement stores, produce no carbon dioxide emissions, and are less physically taxing than push lawn mowers.

Please let your readers know that there is a third alternative for mowing their lawns." So there you go.

Three others also mentioned the electric mower. Steve Glover commented, "My wife and I moved into the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood six years ago. We found our neighbor using a rechargeable electric mower and became envious. We bought an electric mower with a cord but didn't like running over the wire. I gave that mower away and now my neighbor and I have a mower share arrangement: We both get to use their rechargeable electric mower."

Mother and daughter Sheila and Leigh Hanemleslen use electric for a large yard, but find the push mower perfect for a small area. "My daughter and I bought a duplex together eight years ago. (She's up, I'm down.) We immediately bought our push mower to mow our smaller lawn. (We were in Edina before this.) I had read how much pollution a gas powered mower made. It is discouraging , though, as it costs $40 to get it sharpened. We only paid $69 for the mower at Sears. My daughter cuts my mother's lawn in Hopkins so we eventually bought an electric lawn mower. We still use the push mower at our house."

Beth Bell pointed out a disadvantage of electric mowers, as she responded to the suggested questions. "I use a push mower because I don't want to maintain a gas engine or store gas or oil. It is cheaper to run than electric and no charging required. I've been using my push mower since I bought my house one year ago. I bought it online. I have not convinced anyone else to use one. "

Not only was I informed by readers, I also found out about the electric option in my neighborhood; my neighbor Barbara, who actually has a beautiful, shiny push mower in her garage, uses an electric mower.

While I do think electric mowers are also an environmentally friendly way of cutting grass, I’m not sure my interest in push mowers is only about the environment. It actually has to do with a couple of other things. One, a carefully crafted tool (or a musical instrument) with moving parts is very aesthetic. And, two, the use of human physical power, as opposed to gas or electric power, to accomplish a necessary task is very satisfying. Progress isn't always improvement.

When my other neighbor Gloria saw Barbara's push mower and heard my statistic about the gas mower emissions, she declared herself an instant convert, borrowed it straight away and mowed her yard (not a small yard, either) immediately. (But she did put her dog inside to keep his tail out of the shiny blades).

So, where are these conservationist, relationship-oriented, slow-lane push mower owners located? Is there a critical mass? Most of the responders gave their addresses, which I pinpointed on a map of South Minneapolis, kind of like the crime reports, to see if there were any concentrated areas. The remotest resemblance to a concentration was in Powderhorn, one on 11th and one on 12th Avenue.

A concentrated area would suggest a neighborhood ripe to create a little urban utopia, overgrown with lush vegetation and filled with yard gardens producing sustainable amounts of organic brown rice, potatoes, amaranth, other grains, corn, fruit trees, cabbage and watermelons, etc., a place where people travel only by bicycle and electric trains, clip their tiny patches of lawn with quiet, mechanical push mowers, and raise a few chickens, goats and cows, whose manure , along with solar panels and fuel cells, produces a minimal amount of electricity - for the few necessary electrically powered items in the neighborhood … Hmmm. Am I taking this too far?

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to write in.