Lawn mower options for 0.75 acres?

[Xist]

These kids put a HF engine in a Mazda Protegé: https://autoweek.com/article/wait-th...ht-engine-swap

Do you know what is a better idea?

Me doing my homework!

[Ecky]

Maybe I can build a mower around my old Insight engine...

[freebeard]

I was thinking about using a 20hp Buick LaCrosse altermotor in my table saw. It might cost less than a new AC induction motor, and have VFD speed control.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Ecky

I'm closing on a house next month and will have around 0.75 acres of cleared land to mow for 6-7 months of the year. It's been years since I've needed to mow a lawn and a lot seems to have changed.

Looked at battery-powered mowers and unsurprisingly they have narrow tracks and look like Fisher Price toys. I doubt there are any which would be appropriate for a lawn as large as this.

Looked at corded. Some inexpensive models are as wide as 18-20". I could deal with a cord so long as the mower is reliable, but reviews on them tend to be pretty bad. Really, how do you mess up an electric mower?

I could do what people have been doing for decades - a small gasoline 2 stroke, mix oil and maintain. This isn't an attractive idea to me but the technology is solid.

Oooor I could get a couple of goats.

Anyone tried and have any recommendations for electric models? Is there an option I've missed?

I’d convert ACTUAL lawn size to square foot.

I HAVE had to cut .75-acre lawns as a teen. The lot was far larger. In Texas behind a 24” YAZOO that was 4-6/hours every week. (Our lawns are more like hedges than what anyone farther north would think of as “grass”).

Recommend you do a take-off of the property. The wrong mower size (capacity) is a penalty I wouldn’t risk.

Longevity is what matters in lawn equipment. Dry storage is mandatory.



.

[JSH]

Have you though of reducing the size of the yard? Are you actually going to use that .75 acre?

My first house in TN was on a 1 acre lot with about .75 acre to mow. I never tried it with a push mower but even with riding mower it too way to much time out of my life. I don't see myself having that large of a yard ever again. (My current yard is 4000 sq ft or 0.092 acres.)

I look at cutting grass as farming hay and then throwing the hay away.

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by JSH

Have you though of reducing the size of the yard? Are you actually going to use that .75 acre?

My first house in TN was on a 1 acre lot with about .75 acre to mow. I never tried it with a push mower but even with riding mower it too way to much time out of my life. I don't see myself having that large of a yard ever again. (My current yard is 4000 sq ft or 0.092 acres.)

I look at cutting grass as farming hay and then throwing the hay away.

This is the best response in this thread. Mow less, let something else grow. Plant a bunch of trees, let it become a forested lot with time and just mow the area immediately around your house?

I hate grass.

... the English lawn was a symbol of status of the aristocracy and gentry; it showed that the owner could afford to keep land that was not being used for a building, or for food production.

Meh. My lawn is almost exactly 0.01 acres or 435ft^2. The minimum I'm allowed to mow by my HOA.

[freebeard]

The English manor house (less the out-buildings) was reduced to suburban McMansions cheek-by-jowl. Now it's tiny houses, but the same detailing, with no sense of proportion.

I've got a gravel drive in front, a 12ft square concrete 'patio*' in back, and I'm responsible for a patch of grass about 15x20.

These are silent.

*It was actually a laundry room in the 1940s.

[Ecky]

A smaller lawn is an idea. The other half acre of land is all sugar maple, which is presently tapped by the neighbor - need to ask the owner at closing what his arrangement is. I'm a bit wary of just letting a major part of it grow wild as there are issues with to ticks in the area, plus foxes/coyotes, and I keep chickens. Plus, the "obvious" areas to let go contain a spring fed well, septic and leach field. I might be able to downsize it a little but it's never going to be a quarter acre, and probably not even a half.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by Ecky

A smaller lawn is an idea. The other half acre of land is all sugar maple, which is presently tapped by the neighbor - need to ask the owner at closing what his arrangement is. I'm a bit wary of just letting a major part of it grow wild as there are issues with to ticks in the area, plus foxes/coyotes, and I keep chickens. Plus, the "obvious" areas to let go contain a spring fed well, septic and leach field. I might be able to downsize it a little but it's never going to be a quarter acre, and probably not even a half.

Plus consider this, if/when you sell it, a well cared for lawn will make the property more desirable.

[redpoint5]

I'd say grass powered goat or petrol powered rider then. Bonus if you like goat milk.

EDIT: Check this out. Apparently good for 3 acres. No maintenance other than blade sharpening sounds nice.