The Meal wrote:Wow, I almost piped up earlier today about getting a Neuton electric mower for the lawn care. It must be a sign, as they're on sale on woot right now: http://www.woot.com/" target="_blank
I'd recommend grabbing an extra battery (from the Neuton site) or two depending on the size of the lawn. Great mowers!
I second that, I got mine off of woot last year when I bought my new home. It does a great job, and this last week I just got my backyard done (well the grass and the bark area, trees and plants coming later) " target="_blank
Anyways, while it's a nice lawnmower, it's not great for big yards. The mowing lanes are small, and if you don't "overbite" you'll get the mohawk effect. I'd recommend a gas mower or if you can find/afford a bigger battery mower.
I was curious about that myself. Those are ice-breakers designed to prevent large sheets of ice from sliding loose from the slate shingles and crashing down.
rrmorton wrote:I was curious about that myself. Those are ice-breakers designed to prevent large sheets of ice from sliding loose from the slate shingles and crashing down.
Yep. Ice pachinko!
That's a lovely house, actually exactly the sort of house my wife wants. Therefore, I can never, ever show her this thread.
When the sun goes out, we'll have eight minutes to live.
Smoove_B wrote:That house is a real beaut. I always thought Tudor-style homes were secret nerd fortresses -- mostly because they remind me of Old Timey England, which of course means there are numerous secret passages and a dungeon. And what self respecting D&D nerd wouldn't like those?
This is so true and I thought I was the only one who thought that. When I was little, we used to go to my Grandmother's closest friends house. A very wealthy lady with a massive tudor style mansion. It had towers with crenelates, a large archway leading up to the door (no moat though) and the dark basement even had a full suit of armor in it! It was the ultimate nerd castle.
We move in next Wednesday. Right now we're absolutely drowning in our To Do list. It's totally insane but we're really excited to settle into our new home. We went to the walk-through a couple days ago and got a nice reminder about why we signed up for all this stress and turmoil in the first place. The house is wonderful. No cold feet, thankfully.
Henceforth, all my rants and witticisms will be transmitted to you via Verizon FIOS rather than Time Warner's Roadrunner. Hope y'all are cool with that.
Any advice on what kind of mower I should get? I'm still looking at the battery powered Neutons. Should I go for it?
My father-in-law bought a Toro and it's evidently guaranteed to start on the first pull for something like 5 years. Based on recent experience with my Ariens, I think next time I'll buy a Toro (though, granted, my Ariens is more than 5 years old. It has other issues that annoy me, however).
That's the only mower I've ever owned, however. I used to use my dad's mower quite a bit, which I believe was a Snapper, but that was 20+ years ago. I have no experience with alternative-fuel mowers, just gas.
I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.
Kraken wrote:Congrats on buying at the bottom of the market.
I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.
That's quite a coincidence. My BS engine has been running strong for 40 years now!
Kraken wrote:Congrats on buying at the bottom of the market.
I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.
That's quite a coincidence. My BS engine has been running strong for 40 years now!
The Murray's engine was still going strong when the rest of it wore out. I only ever had it tuned once.
If you do buy a gasoline mower, change the oil annually.
Any advice on what kind of mower I should get? I'm still looking at the battery powered Neutons. Should I go for it?
YES, they're great, just like I said before I think (it's been 3 months) they are not as wide as normal mowers so you'll be making extra trips across the yard. Other than that, great mower
I think I'm gonna take the plunge on a new CE6 Neuton. They happen to be $50 off right now so that helps. Ken, do you have the trimmer/edger attachment?
Last edited by rrmorton on Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks, Noah! No, the apartment hasn't sold yet which is turning into a pretty stressful situation. We do have one offer on the table and I really hope we'll reach an agreement soon. So far I haven't had to stoop to sexual favors, but I wouldn't rule it out. Unless it's with Kelric.
Meanwhile we're dealing with the added costs and stressful logistics of keeping the apartment attractively staged with furniture after we move. Aerobed to the rescue!
rrmorton wrote:I think I'm gonna take the plunge on a new CE6 Neuton. They happen to be $50 off right now so that helps. Ken, do you have the trimmer/edger attachment?
nope, but that's kinda cool. I think I have the CE5 newton, don't think I have a spot to add attachments. I'm not sure how effective that would be, you can't really angle or get to hard places. I'd probably just buy a $100 weedwacker at lowes/home depot instead.
Yeah, I decided to pass on it for now until I mow a few times and see what my exact needs will be. I can always pick one up later.
I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
We're taking the girls on a drive to see the new house in a few minutes. Amelia's only been once, the first time we saw it and Kate's never seen it before. We're gonna have a picnic on the living room floor, maybe kick a soccer ball around in the back yard for a while. Finally, the fun part.
rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
If you lived closer, you could come mow mine. I f'ing hate it with a white-hot passion. I've raised a trio of slaves who can take over for me eventually, but they're not ripe yet.
rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
If you lived closer, you could come mow mine. I f'ing hate it with a white-hot passion. I've raised a trio of slaves who can take over for me eventually, but they're not ripe yet.
I'm always relieved when it goes dormant in July. I haven't had to mow mine in over a month. I don't understand the neighbors who defy the watering ban so that they have to pay someone to come and cut it for them regularly.
I don't mind mowing my small yard once in a while. Now raking...raking is a different story. Every fall I eye our huge shade trees with murderous intent.
I will take the opposite tack on landscaping - I love it. I've got nearly 2000 sq ft of flower beds around my house, and I enjoy maintaining it. I've got some big plans for both the front and back of the house but they are currently stymied by the evil Captain Finance - curses!
Mulch and landscape stone is your friend. I spend about $2K for 13 tons of stone a few years back; moved it all by wheelbarrow (now that was backbreaking work!) but it really looks nice and keeps the weeds down to a minimum.
Good luck on the new digs!
Are you a prostitute Rip? Because you blow the margins more than a $5 hooker. -rshetts2
Much like bravery is acting in spite of fear, being a functioning adult is acting responsibly in the face of temptation. -Isg
Kelric wrote:I'll take raking over mowing any day.
Mowing the lawn takes 30-45 minutes every other week, with time off during July and August.
Raking takes at least two 8-hour days. Even after compacting the leaves with my lawnmower, I fill 15-20 bags. The actual raking isn't so onerous, it's the bagging that does you in.
rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
Not to jump your thread, but we bought our first single family home last month (we are waiting to move in next week, as we gave our contractor a month for renovations). I've been mowing the lawn (not a huge lawn, about 1/3 of an acre), every weekend, and I really find it relaxing.
Plus I have one of those Toro personal pace mowers (motorized, propelling itself only as fast as you push it..it's pretty slick), and that makes it simple.
My childhood has ruined me for mowing lawns. We lived on a farm with a huge lawn, probably an acre or two. Even with the ride-on mower, it took easily a full day with all the edging, and it took even longer if the ride-on wasn't running and you had to do it with the push mower.
I now hate mowing the lawn, even small lawns.
I can't imagine, even at my most inebriated, hearing a bouncer offering me an hour with a stripper for only $1,400 and thinking That sounds like a reasonable idea.-Two Sheds
Yeah, I despise mowing my lawn. It's about 1/3 acre, but it takes me a good 2 hrs start to finish, and that's just too much time out of my day to be wandering around my yard pushing a mower. Oh, and trimming takes me another 30-45 minutes, on the rare occasion that I bother to do it. Gah - hate it. I got my first MP3 player recently which makes it a tad more bearable, but I still hate it.
1/3 of a acre 2 hours? Good lord. I think Trent has close to 2 acres he mows in 2 hours. Then again..he is Trent Steel.
I have about an acre and it takes me an hour. If it looks unruly, I'll bust out the weed whacker for another 20 minutes ever few weeks.
For the most part, I look forward to that hour of iPod+Riding Tractor goodness. I guess after working as a landscaper for a few summers in college, anything less than 7 hours behind a mower is a short shift.
On Topic: Congrats on the house - don't forget to sage the corners to get rid of the prior owner's latent evil.
I have a small figure 8 lawn that still takes me 15 minutes to mow and rake. But that's with a push-mower though and a bad attitude. It'd take me a couple of days of mowing for 2 acres!!
But, otoh, I would have to spring for a riding mower with all the bells and whistles and that could be cool in itself. Or so it would seem.
Great house, I should add, looks beautiful. Well-done.
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