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Old 09-16-2019, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
7,934 posts, read 7,280,404 times
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I was probably around 8-10. We had one of those whirligig push mowers and it weighed a ton. I still have it, so I know I'm not exaggerating when I say it weighed a ton. My dad finally bought a gas powered one sometime in the 1980's a year or two before I moved out!
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Old 09-16-2019, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Wisconsin
19,480 posts, read 24,954,964 times
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My nephew is almost 40 years old and his father (my 72 year old brother) still will not let him mow the lawn, even though my brother is in ill health and shouldn't be getting on and off the riding lawn mower. So my guess is his son will take over maybe at age 45 or 50 (or when dad passes away).
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Old 09-16-2019, 05:34 PM
 
17,380 posts, read 14,911,744 times
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I was 6 to 7 when they had me do it supervised (old Snapper riding mower) and 8 when I was told to get out and cut the grass.
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Old 09-16-2019, 05:45 PM
 
4,497 posts, read 4,994,096 times
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I was around 8 (1950) we had the old reel type push mower. I started a business mowing lawns for 50 cents and an extra 25 cents if you wanted hand trimming with a hand clipper around the house. I had a LOT of customers. In a couple of years I made enough to get the first gas powered mower in town. Then my business really took off. Now I have a 1/2 acre and use my 35 year old John Deere 318. Much easier.
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Old 09-16-2019, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,192,675 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nov3 View Post
12.

Loved it too! Got a sunny tan and a work out.

The worst part was having to pull the starter cord! It would slap back sometimes and leave a whipping scar on my leg.

No how no way would I let a kid use the riding mower. My BF was 17 when he did summers with a lawn service place. They had strict safety regulations so he knew what was expected and how to operate them properly.
At about 12 I started using the walk-behind mower to trim after my dad went through on the riding mower - we had 3/4 of an acre and quite a few trees. By the summer just before my 15th birthday I started using the riding mower myself and trimming too. We had a neighbor kid mow before I started in and my dad was ticked because he mowed in high gear to get done faster!

I don't recall any "safety measures" - it was a standard International Harvester (?) back in the late '70's. The only thing was that I had to wear tennis shoes- never sandals. My sister had a scary mishap when she was really young where she ran up to my dad while he was mowing and almost had all her toes cut off - only thing that saved her was the heavy rubber sole on her tennis shoes.
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Old 09-16-2019, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Erie, PA
3,696 posts, read 2,859,325 times
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I was 9 when I was taught how to mow the lawn.

Still wondering about these people who think it is a form of slavery or punishment to have kids help out by mowing ::
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Old 09-16-2019, 06:46 PM
ptt
 
497 posts, read 631,780 times
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I lived in a metro area didn’t have any lawn growing up. So, i am inexperienced. My child on other hand just started now at 12 with a push lawnmower.

Last edited by ptt; 09-16-2019 at 07:33 PM..
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Old 09-16-2019, 08:18 PM
 
18,481 posts, read 15,427,784 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marie Joseph View Post
I was 9 when I was taught how to mow the lawn.

Still wondering about these people who think it is a form of slavery or punishment to have kids help out by mowing ::
I will play a bit of devil's advocate here.

I'm going to assume that when you bought the house, you didn't ask the kids if they wanted a house with a yard or not. Since they had no input into your decision to have a lawn in the first place, maybe they shouldn't be forced to mow that lawn that they had no say in getting or not.
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Old 09-16-2019, 08:20 PM
 
4,039 posts, read 4,912,930 times
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My son was 9 when he started mowing the lawn. My husband takes care of the hills and the hard to get areas and my son does the rest. He gets paid.

My friend and I used to mow her lawn for her mom when we were about 15/16. We only did it a few times before she asked us not to do it anymore, lol.
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Old 09-16-2019, 09:13 PM
 
Location: STL area
2,125 posts, read 1,374,477 times
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I don’t remember and that was mostly my brothers job anyway but I doubt that the ages when people in the 1950s did things is a great gauge. Parents can be overprotective now for sure, but there are also some things that are just smarter than how we used to do it.

We don’t own a mower as our yard is 3 acres and we hire someone but my kids mow for their grandparents...the 12 and 14 year olds. My youngest pulls weeds and does other yard work for them.
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