pyesetz | Gardening report #2 (Reply)

Behind a cut, since it has nothing to do with Cricket -- or Furry.

Today I used my new mower, a Black&Decker 18-inch "Lawn Hog". The mulching mode works very well -- the grass clippings just disappear! The manual warns that mulching very tall grass leads to clumping, but I got less clumping from this mulcher than I had from my old mower's discharge chute. I did the south side of the property in about ten minutes. Then one of the mower's wheels fell off. I spent some time looking around in the grass for the star washer that was supposed to hold it on, but couldn't find it. The mower was defective--those washers never come off, even when you want them to!

I took the mower to a different Home Depot and got a refund. They also carried 18-inch Lawn Hogs, but no bags. This store's Seasonal department was also staffed by an older woman (no tattoos, though), who told me they don't stock bags for that model and that mail-ordering it from the manufacturer would cost me as much as just buying the 19-inch Lawn Hog that comes with a bag. So I brought home the 19-inch Lawn Hog for $30 more, which is much more sturdily built as well as including a bag.

The 19-inch model is a rear-bagger, rather than the side-bagging 18-inch model. While this keeps the unit narrower for edging, overall the unit is much much longer. I have to mow three crosswise rows to make room for turning around, rather than just one for my old mower. The handle does not flip over--you just let the electric cord trail between your legs. Even after an hour, I was still planning my row-ends as if I were going to flip the handle--old habits die hard! Nothing obvious happens when the bag is full; the mower just starts mulching instead. There is a slight change in pitch for the air going into the bag, but it's not sudden and is hard to notice.

Here are some rules from the manual that I did not obey:

Do not go barefoot or wear sandals.
Pre-inspect the area to be mowed and remove sticks and stones that could be thrown by the blade.
Unplug mower before removing grass-catcher bag.
Unplug mower before cleaning caked-on grass from bottom of mower.
Unplug mower before putting hands or feet near rotating parts.
Make sure that other persons and pets are at least 100 feet away.
Increase cutting height when your lawn is overgrown.
Set cutting height to remove only the top ¹/₃ of the grass blades.
Wear a dust mask to avoid breathing chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, such as fertilizers, insecticides, lead, and the arsenic and chromium from pressure-treated wood.

Here are some rules I have disobeyed with previous mowers:

Do not use mower in the rain.
Do not operate mower when you are tired, ill, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Have repairs performed at an authorized service center.
Mow across the face of slopes, never up and down.
Keep blades sharp.
Avoid cutting wet grass. Mow your lawn in the afternoon.
Change cutting pattern from week to week. Mow north to south one week, east to west the next.
After striking a foreign object, thoroughly inspect the mower for damage and have it repaired before continuing to mow.

And they all lived happily, ever after.