Suddenly my leaf blower looks inadequate.
It’s finally a nice sunny day here, and I’m in the middle of a few chores that have been staring at me for some time. I’m realizing very quickly that there are a lot of chores that are a whole lot more fun than others. Specifically, any chore that gets a gadget. As we’re unpacking boxes, I’m finding more and more toys that we’ve bought over the years, and in a lot of cases, I’m kind of looking forward to using them. We have leaf blowers, car washers, polishers, weed whackers, you name it. All sorts of tools that magically take an uninteresting, mundane task and make it actually interesting. They’re rather remarkable gadgets in that sense. I have little to no interest in gardening, but put a gasoline engine and a piece of plastic string, spinning at high speed, and all of a sudden I’m a gardener.
What machines or gadgets most make you enjoy your household chores?
The gas powered weed trimmer is a good one. I wear some ear muff style headphones while doing yard work. Sometimes I keep time to the music with the engine on the trimmer. Not sure what the neighbors think.
Another fun one is the wood chipper I bought. It is a 5HP model that will do about 2"x2" limbs. Destruction is fun, and loud.
I recently purchased my first house. I ended up buying a rechargeable model, and while it does the job fine, it's not the same as its gas-powered brethren.
Wait, what? Why isn't my house rechargeable? Or, hell, why isn't my house gas-powered?
I've been wanting one, but I don't have enough trees to justify a big expensive one, and my trees are too substantially-sized for the fallen limbs to fit into a smaller one.
I should mention that I have found the local pawn shop to be a great source for lawn equipment. That's where I got my wood chipper. Retail was about $600, I got it for $175. I also got some professional quality pole hedge trimmers there for $80, about $500 retail.
Someone who worked at a pawn shop told me they were trained to size up a customer the moment he walked through the door, and put him into one of two categories.
The first category included people who inherited their grandmother's silverware but had no use for it, people who upgraded their entertainment systems but didn't want to deal with garage sales/craigslist for the old stuff, and sticky-fingered crackheads. These people came to the store looking for cash and had no intention of redeeming the items later. The strategy for dealing with these customers was to offer them next to nothing for their possessions, and the store would make its profits on the resale.
The second category of customers included people who were in a bind. They would offer up whatever they owned to get some needed cash, even if it meant losing immediate access to the tools of their trade. The pawn shop's strategy for those people was to offer very close to resale value for their possessions. The shop knew these people would be back to redeem their items, and the profits were made on the pawn fees, which were based on a percentage of the assigned value.
I guess the pawn shops around me cater to the category 2 people. I never see any good deals there.
It is hard to find a good one. I have seen used stuff for sale at over retail at pawn shops. Also, all prices at a pawn shop are negotiable. If they aren't you are in the wrong place. I usually consider the sticker price a starting point and get it for 15-30% off that price. It helps if you are a semi-frequent customer too.
1/2 acre + Craftsman 21" walk-behind = four hours of torture.
1/2 acre + Gravely ZT1640 = 90 minutes of fun.
<img src="http://cdn-3.psndealer.com/e2/dealersite/images/NewVehicles/nv34681_1_400.jpg">
Yup, I do about 2 acres on my John Deere and it is the only time I get some peace and quiet. I can think about stuff and get something done. Plus Beer.
Our yard is small enough that I'm considering getting one of the old push-mower style. I've used them before, and they do such a beautiful job, I'm almost willing to spend the extra 15 minutes or so fighting with it. But I'm not 100% decided yet.
<img src="http://www.reelmowerguide.com/wp-content/themes/thesis%201.4.2/rotator/retro-reel-mower.jpg">
If you're going to go with one of those, Fiskars makes a nice one. It is chain overdriven for higher reel speeds. With considerable effort, I have managed to mow 6" tall St Augustine grass with mine.
I've got that Fiskars mower too. Even letting my grass go for a few weeks, it still gets the job done. No fussing with gas/oil, no noise, and no extension cord. It's a great machine. It even gives me a workout!
I want to find a vintage gas powered reel mower like my dad and our next door neighbor had when I was a boy. His was a Jacobsen, ours was a Craftsman.
<img src="http://www.mytractorforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23277" width="500">
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/for/3157343702.h…
The modern ones with the rollers in front of the reel are just too…safe.
I wanted to add a sickle bar to the front of one to knock high grass down to a cuttable height. Added doom and danger FTW!
Now i can't help but imagine a mower with a motorised sickle swinging furiously in front of it. This totatally sounds like a great idea!
Edit: You have invented the Motor-Sickle! oh no wait..
When I was in the wheelchair, my son was old enough to mow the lawn, but he didn't yet have the strength to pull the rope fast enough to start the mower. My wife bought a reel mower so he could keep the yard presentable.
Now that I'm on my feet again, I've tried it on occasion. It does okay if there's just grass, but it jams on even the smallest twigs. If your yard is indeed small and relatively free of obstacles, you'll probably be OK, though.
Our yard is almost small enough that I could probably mow it with scissors. Almost.We used up most of the lot on the garage.
I had one of the Great States units to do my old yard. I liked the cut, but wished I had sprung for a nicer unit. Currently I've got one of the snapper riding jobs that does okay and is generally always interesting to ride. I'm fantasizing how to gang up three reels and cut wider on the silly thing.
Gas powered reel mower… chocolate covered awesome.
also http://yhst-17784691453247.stores.yahoo.net/27ree…
and http://www.mowersdirect.com/ProMow-PRO101/p2805.h… damn you google!
My blender. And not just for frozen drinks. Every now and then I get the urge to make hummus. It's really easy.
My chain saw got stolen last year, and when I was about to replace it, I realized that most of the time I used my old one when standing on a ladder. Hello, pole saw.
<img src="http://www.greengardentools.com/product_images/uploaded_images/Black_&_Decker_Cordless_Pole_Saw_NPP2018_61YM48K9DML._SS400_.jpg">
My Mosquito Magnet doesn't really do anything you can watch, but it's always nice to go out to it a week after a good rain and clear a thousand mosquito carcasses out of the screen.
<img src="http://www.hotfrog.com.au/companies/Mosquito-Magnet/images/0000293/Mosquito-Magnet_17133_image.jpg">
I have never seen one of those mosquito magnets. How much? We just built on a small flood-control pond — about 200m x 400m — and thanks to the enormous amounts of rain this year, the skeeters have been insane. This is probably a worthwhile investment.
EDIT: Found them, and there's a company that makes them only an hour and a half drive from me. Might just have to go get one!
I have the half-acre model, which is the smaller one. If you back up to a mosquito breeding ground, you might consider the bigger one.
Consumables are somewhat expensive. Bait needs to be refreshed every 21 days, at a cost of $10-15. A tank of propane lasts about the same time, so I re-bait whenever the tank runs dry. You're supposed to run a CO2 cartridge through the system every second tank to keep things from clogging–I sometimes use a tire chuck and my air compressor for free, but the store-bought cartridges offer higher pressure and seem to do a better job. I've seen reviews online that the heating element in the head doesn't last very long, but mine is 3 or 4 seasons old now (only used during mosquito season, but kept outdoors year-round) and no issues I couldn't fix with the CO2 cartridge.
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Bucket_wheel_excavator_in_Ferropolis.jpg" width="400" border="2" style="border:2px solid black;" alt=" " />
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow
<img src="http://lhsvirtualzoo.wikispaces.com/file/view/41318338_gal_birds_puff.jpg/209159942/41318338_gal_birds_puff.jpg"> Neat, that bouncing bird is the Superb Bird of Paradise native to Papua New Guinea. That is it's courting display, it makes a very low rhythmic thumping sound as well which is quite distinctive.
The pic shows guys blowing the leaves onto some other property,and the other peoples lawn care professionals will blow them back.Not to mention all that damn racket.Get off my lawn.
Yeah, that lede photo reminded me of one of my pet peeves regarding landscape/lawn care companies. I see all of them blowing the grass clippings off the sidewalk/driveway and into the street…where they inevitably find their way into the storm drain, eventually clogging the drainage system and costing me more tax dollars. They're already using mulching mowers on the lawns. Why don't they just blow the clippings back into the lawn?
I've got a small Snapper that is a silly thing to ride to mow the lawn, but it moves a lot faser than I do. I've got a string trimmer I currently hate, I can't seem to get it to run well/consistantly/at all.
I think it's time for a rebuild or an electric trimmer.