Current Events > apparently gas powered lawn mowers are "too noisy"

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/states-and-towns-consider-banning-gas-powered-leaf-blowers-and-lawn-mowers-155805411.html

damn government and other people in Washington DC and New Jersey complaining that gas powered lawn mowers are too noisy for the neighborhoods and bad for the environment.

Theyre thinking about using electric powered mowers. Seriously?

I got an electric powered lawn mower a few years ago when I moved into my current. I will NEVER fool with a gas powered lawn mower again.

TIL there are gas-powered lawnmowers

Good, can't stand noise pollution.

I have to flatly disagree with this. Its like banning trains because they are too noisy.

Lawn mowers have become a classic spring and summer sound.

no shit.

I recall your tilling game being apparently legendary.

Damn_Underscore posted...

I have to flatly disagree with this. Its like banning trains because they are too noisy.

No, it is nothing like that.

Choco posted...

TIL there are gas-powered lawnmowers

How old are you? I'm 34 and I've never used an electric lawnmower in my life.

I mean, they are loud, but they don't need to be banned. It just needs to be illegal to run them before 10am on weekends.

The sound of a gas mower is like a howl, but for suburban dudes. The first one starts and the next thing you know, you hear them all around you. It's bizarre.

Oh boy I used to live in this apartment complex and those bastards were out there every single day with blowers, mowers, trimmers, anything loud and obnoxious enough so that I couldn't keep my window open to the nice socal weather while I tried to work.

I have an electric push mower and I really like it because it's just less things I have to worry about with it for the most part

Pepys_Monster posted...

How old are you? I'm 34 and I've never used an electric lawnmower in my life.

28

Sir_Will posted...

No, it is nothing like that.

There are freight trains pass by where I live mostly at night or close to dawn. And I assume thats because the nearest tracks are a few miles away but still clearly audible

People that think gas powered lawn mowers are too noisy for their precious ears then theyre just big babies who cant handle "loud" noise

Probably the same type of people who go to a frikkin music concert where it gets loud there.

They can then go buy a frikkin goat. I dont care. Big babies that they are in Washington DC and New Jersey

honestly they are kinda too noisy, and also very excessive in any area urban enough that the noise would annoy other people

Damn_Underscore posted...

I have to flatly disagree with this. Its like banning trains because they are too noisy.

This is a dumb post

Jupiter posted...

I got an electric powered lawn mower a few years ago when I moved into my current. I will NEVER fool with a gas powered lawn mower again.

Same.

Between mowing the lawn as a kid, and then at my own house, I used gas powered mower for 30 years.

Got a battery powered one 2 summers ago.

Never going back.

LOL, youre kidding right?

a frikkin lawn mower isnt that damn noisy for cripes sake.

You want noisy where its bad for your ears? go stand behind a plane jet engine. That and a music concert is louder than a lawn mower

honestly they are kinda too noisy, and also very excessive in any area urban enough that the noise would annoy other people

I kiiinda get it. All things considered, I wouldn't be opposed to phasing them out, but in a "don't sell any new ones but let people keep their existing ones until they break down" way.

weird melty

WizardofHoth posted...

LOL, youre kidding right?

a frikkin lawn mower isnt that damn noisy for cripes sake.

You want noisy where its bad for your ears? go stand behind a plane jet engine. That and a music concert is louder than a lawn mower

Yeah, I'm sure the people who work overnight shifts love coming home to lawnmowers running at 9 AM.

Get the fudge out with your stupid fancy electric mower.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Irony posted...

This is a dumb post

It's not a dumb post. Trains make a lot of noise, you could use the exact same logic to want to get rid of trains. You could also add planes, cars, and a lot of other things to that list. I just thought of trains for the reason said above.

As someone who likes lawnmower noises (and train noises), I disagree with this viewpoint. Just because you can hear something does not make it bad, and like I said gas lawnmowers have become classic spring and summer sounds

Well thats just too damn bad. Ive always use gas powered lawn mowers ever since i was a teenager. Loved using them.

Old school all the way

SocialistGamer posted...

Yeah, I'm sure the people who work overnight shifts love coming home to lawnmowers running at 9 AM.

What electric mower do people itt use? I tried one before and it flat out could not cut the St. Augustine in one of the yards I regularly cut. It kept dying and the battery was zapped half-way through the not very large yard. The cheap gas mower I have just blitzes through everything.

An electric mower couldn't handle the size of my lawn.

The whole article is basically a rich NJ town bitching about their landscapers bothering them during WFH over covid, so they transformed that into a push for "sustainable practices" for the state because they knew nobody would take them seriously otherwise. Meanwhile, landscaping companies are saying this will basically force them out of the state due to the huge added cost of having to buy a new fleet of mowers AND batteries (because a 1 hour charge doesn't work for an 8 hour work day) just to keep running.

Damn_Underscore posted...

It's not a dumb post. Trains make a lot of noise, you could use the exact same logic to want to get rid of trains. You could also add planes, cars, and a lot of other things to that list. I just thought of trains for the reason said above.

As someone who likes lawnmower noises (and train noises), I disagree with this viewpoint. Just because you can hear something does not make it bad, and like I said gas lawnmowers have become classic spring and summer sounds

This is also a dumb post. Trains transport goods to quite a few people. You mowing your lawn barely contributes to your trailer park plot.

I agree.

Besides me using regular gas powered lawn mowers for a very long time for years i also enjoyed hearing other people's lawn mowers whether they were using push mowers or riding lawn mowers plus smelling cut grass was a normal thing.

im glad i dont live in Washington DC or damn New jersey.

Damn_Underscore posted...

It's not a dumb post. Trains make a lot of noise, you could use the exact same logic to want to get rid of trains. You could also add planes, cars, and a lot of other things to that list. I just thought of trains for the reason said above.

As someone who likes lawnmower noises (and train noises), I disagree with this viewpoint. Just because you can hear something does not make it bad, and like I said gas lawnmowers have become classic spring and summer sounds

WizardofHoth posted...

Get the fudge out with your stupid fancy electric mower.

My poor as fuck family was able to afford an electric mower back in the 80s. Stop acting like a clown

Irony posted...

This is also a dumb post. Trains transport goods to quite a few people. You mowing your lawn barely contributes to your trailer park plot.

Ok so you are adding a completely new variable to this. I'm glad you got to call my post dumb, I feel so proud.

And lol at the very thinly-veiled trailer park insult

yes, gas mowers are noisy and after a few years they leak

if electric mowers are up to par for tackling the notorious springtime weed-ridden southern lawn, i'm all for them

but it should not be a matter of public policy

agree.

Id like to see someone try to use an electric mower where my old house used to be. backyard was frikkin huge along with one long ditch that went out to the highway.

chitown82 posted...

An electric mower couldn't handle the size of my lawn.

LOL whatever

TheMikh posted...

yes, gas mowers are noisy and after a few years they leak

if electric mowers are up to par for tackling the notorious springtime weed-ridden southern lawn, i'm all for them

but it should not be a matter of public policy

Gas-powered is way better if you have a lot to cut.

Are electric mowers battery powered or do you need to plug in? How efficient is it for a big lawn?

TheLiarParadox posted...

What electric mower do people itt use? I tried one before and it flat out could not cut the St. Augustine in one of the yards I regularly cut. It kept dying and the battery was zapped half-way through the not very large yard. The cheap gas mower I have just blitzes through everything.

The one I use is a Kobalt from Lowes. I can't remember which exact model, but the price was somewhere between $300 and $500. I think closer to the $500 side. The only time I had issue cutting through the grass was when I got really lazy and the grass had gotten really tall and thick. Had to go over it slowly. Other than that one time, I never had any issues. I can usually do my front yard and back yard off a single charge.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Are electric mowers battery powered or do you need to plug in? How efficient is it for a big lawn?

From the article:

The average electric lawn mower lasts for just an hour before needing to be recharged.That may be plenty of time for the typical homeowner tending to their own lawn but not for a company that mows constantly throughout an eight-hour workday. One can purchase extra batteries and swap them in throughout the day, but landscapers say thats a costly requirement.

A contractor would have to purchase a battery charger and nine batteries to get through peak leaf season, Woolcott said. Lawn mower batteries typically cost between $100 and $300 and last three to five years.

So for each mower they have to replace, they also have to spend about $1800, per mower, on batteries to keep them running the full work day, unless they hook a charger up to their car and end up running the engine anyway to charge them between lawns.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Are electric mowers battery powered or do you need to plug in? How efficient is it for a big lawn?

battery. its less feasible for big lawns, you're probably going to have to stop halfway and charge for awhile

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Are electric mowers battery powered or do you need to plug in? How efficient is it for a big lawn?

Mine is battery powered. Probably wouldn't be that efficient for a big lawn. Unless it can fit a higher capacity after market battery (or maybe just keep a spare battery charged).

Did most people not read the article and just thought it was all about noise only? It's a bit about noise, but money and environmental concerns along with how efficient using electric is vs gas in terms of workload.

There are some salient points made.

Gas blowers run from 80 to 90 decibels, versus 59 to 70 decibels for electric blowers, according to the website LeafScore.

But tbh I don't care about the sound, but this part is a bit worrisome.

The environmental benefits of going electric are substantial. Since gas-powered lawn tools lack catalytic converters, which lower emissions and are used in cars and trucks, using a gas-powered lawn mower for an hour creates as much climate pollution as driving 300 miles in an average car, according to the California Air Resources Board. And because leaf blowers typically use especially fuel-hungry two-stroke engines, running a gas leaf blower for an hour is equal to an 1,100-mile drive.

That's a bit intense. I thought it was some made up stat, that maybe this california air resources board is one of those sham statistics places. But no, it's "real" as far as I can follow it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/5/AABn_6AAEZF7.png
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/topics/lawn-garden-landscape-equipment
Sourced from here.

Honestly the emissions IS concerning and the switch to electric WOULD be better but then we have these other good points made AGAINST going electric.

Its not that hard to see [switching to electric] in weed whackers, edge trimmers and possibly chain saws. You can use it in a chain saw for trimming, but if youre cutting up large logs, youre not going to get as far with battery-powered equipment with where were at right now. And the same goes with leaf blowers.

So basically in terms of landscapers this switch will hurt them. Which makes sense, but if every consumer took care of their own land scaping maybe going electric isn't so bad. Being electric and doing land scaping for ten houses will suck ass I will admit that. And this is also another point built in. Using an electric chainsaw for trimming IS easy, but using it for a log? Much less MULTIPLE logs will suck ass. I give it to them here for these points.

Some also raise questions about the environmental, labor and human rights implications of mining for minerals used in batteries such as cobalt.

This is also another good point. What's the end goal, short or long term environmental damage vs ethics of mining cobalt. I can't really say much. I would like to believe in the long term benefits of electric however.

Some environmental experts counter that the savings on gasoline will more than even out the cost of switching to electric. The Smart Energy Design Assistance Center calculates that in 600 hours of use and with gasoline at $4.50 per gallon, a gas mower will use $3,200 worth of gasoline, whereas using an electric mower for 600 hours at 12 cents per kilowatt hour will cost $108.

A contractor would have to purchase a battery charger and nine batteries to get through peak leaf season, Woolcott said. Lawn mower batteries typically cost between $100 and $300 and last three to five years.

This is another solid point in terms of savings for the long run. However these batteries may not do so well when you're trying to cut down tons of logs like explained above.

Woolcott said her landscapers' organization supports the long-term switch to electric equipment. Its just a question of phasing it in more gradually, she said, so owners of gas equipment can wait until the end of its natural lifespan to buy electric replacements. She also wants to see some of the environmental concerns around batteries addressed the risk of fire from overheating, and the fact that New Jersey has no program for recycling batteries before a mandate kicks in.
At some point, it would be made up for by the gas savings, but not upfront, Woolcott said.

Even the owner of a landscaping organization sees potential in electric. I'd say doing the phasing out while landscapers get kickbacks possibly for going electric is the best way to go about all of this.

Outside of all this, this was a surprisingly well researched article. I'm shocked, usually articles are half assed but this one kind of goes over both sides and explains both perspectives.

tl;dr but I appreciate that someone went through an article in detail like that for the first time in gamefaqs history

I got all electric lawn care tools and I'm glad I did.

If lawn mower and leaf blower noise is such an issue, why not ban grass and trees instead? It's a conspiracy by Big Electric! Wake up, sheeple!

You would think they would ban loud exhaust systems too. A 35mph road in LA sounds like an F1 race next to a shooting range.

I don't have anything against people using electric, it's just not feasible for how much I have to mow. If I still lived in my old house I would use one too.