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You have to maintain this piece of yard equipment, too.
You can't leave ANYTHING like this, for any extended period of time, and expect it to, magically, start up and work.
It's work.
I know that a mower needs maintenance, I'm just trying to get an idea of how much it would cost. At least with the battery powered mower I know it would only be to get the blade sharpened once a season and I can't see that costing more than $20 or $25, right?
I don't mean to be snippy or anything, honestly. I'm just trying to get a realistic comparison of initial cost and maintenance costs and level of physical labor for the two options (battery mower and gas mower).
The one thing I do know is that I can't afford to spend $1500 a year to have someone come to cut my lawn. That's just not possible on my budget.
To really get an answer to the maintance question you could call up a mower shop.
I think on a walk behind mower a tune up was something like $60 or so.
I think a blade sharpening if you just bring in the blade is like $8?
maintance on a gas mower isn't bad, if you're handy. I've never had a half acre so I don't know how hard it is to mow with a walk behind vs ride on.
My parents have a 1/4 acre and although it takes a bit of time, it wasn't terrible with a walk behind self propelled.
I like dealing with a mower place as opposed to a big box store as they have more knowledge, higher quality products etc.
I mow my lawn lawn almost every week during the spring/summer. 2 weeks and it looks rather ratty compared to houses near me, not saying I don't let that happen sometimes...
I have no idea how you get a ride on tuned up if you don't have a pickup to get it to a shop and don't do it yourself.
There is quite a bit more to lawn maintenance than cutting the grass. Doing the edges is the first thing that comes to mind because it requires an extra piece of equipment and its also dangerous to eyes and windows. You're also probably going to have a ton of leaves to rake (or suck up with the mower) and get out of the flowerbeds (major hassle with no blower, or with a weak blower they sell to home owners). Lawn companies take care of this stuff during spring and fall cleanups. Grass doesn't just grow and stay green on its own, there's also fertilizer, chemicals to control grubs and other pests, and seed to be put down every year and its vital that you do these at proper the time of the year. It doesn't sound to me like you're ready to do all of what needs to be done to keep your property looking how you will want it to look.
If you do get a mower, it will come with a manual outlining what you'll need to do as far as maintenance. Mostly, all you have to do is winterize the gas in the mower after you've cut the grass for the last time of the year, sharpen the blade occasionally and change the spark plug occasionally. There may be a belt or two, as well, nothing major. I'd go to a place that only sells and rents mowers, snow blowers and things like that. They generally push better quality products and will be there to service it when it breaks down (and it will).
Still, if i were you, i'd try to find a small company (one truck) to cut your lawn, they're generally cheaper then say, kevs, and will be willing to haggle with you a bit to get your business. Look in the penny saver or local paper or whatever. That or hire some kid from your block for $30 a week. Just remember that you get what you pay for. A big landscaping company is going to do a really great professional job and have all top notch equipment, chemicals and seeds. It will be done quickly and correctly by a team of workers. A smaller company may not do the greatest job and it will probably take longer for them to finish because they'll only have one or two people but they'll save you money and do your spring and fall cleanups too, maybe even snow removal.
Landscaping was one of my many glamorous jobs as a youth. For me, i'll be cutting my own lawn, and i really don't care how it looks as long as its not a forest of weeds. You sound like you want your yard to look perfect and i doubt you'll be able to do that yourself if you've never even used a lawnmower before. Just my .02
Thanks for your great reply, Green Guy! It covered a lot of ground, LOL!
About maintenance, I don't intend to use any chemicals in my yard. I'm really into organic and "green living". I look at all those golf course perfect looking yards and cringe at all the chemicals that must be dumped on them! No way am I going to do that.
On the other hand someone else suggested I could go weeks between cuts but I couldn't stand the yard looking that sloppy. I don't want Perfect but I don't want Sloppy either. Short and green is all I'm asking for really. I know it will turn brownish in July and August but I don't care about that as long as it isn't all overgrown and look like the place is abandoned or worse! I don't believe in wasting water on lawns either.
There are some planting beds here but I have no clue what's in them. The owner died and the house was sold by her kids who had moved away. Little by little I want to get rid of the lawn except for maybe one small area in the back yard that I could easily cut with one of those battery mowers. But doing that will take me years and years and in the meantime I'll have all this grass to keep cut.
The lawn is actually healthier if you let it grow between cutting it. We have 2/3 acre so we have someone do it for us ; it takes them about 20 mins and costs $40 (great deal, we know them for ages). It is worth every penny. i would rather them do it every other week, but its harder to get someone to schedule it every other week.
Remember the landscapers also have dumping fees that come out of their fee.
Long Island, is hewn from dirt, rock, and believe it or not, sand, in some parts...basically, what has been ONE, BIG, WOODED AREA, at one time, though it doesn't look like it now !
Home owners make it "homey", by putting top soil over this. Sometimes it "takes", but most of the time, Nature "wins".
It all looks "nice", but some home owners "get out of control", and want to tame their large piece of property, by mowing down the trees, little realizing that they have to take care of ALL of this property, someday.
What upkeep is required is so problematic, area to area, you have to figure it out yourself.
I think you need to keep shopping around looking for more reasonably priced lawn guys - keep looking in your neighborhood to see who everyone uses, and if you can get a deal where your place is mowed every 2 weeks that will cut your costs in half, obviously. Letting the mowing go two weeks at a time isn't just cost saving, but in the summer your lawn will be less likely to burn out.
And as far as putting down the dreaded fertilizer, take a look at the organic fertilizers they have out now. You may want to consider it - it's not filled with chemicals.
Are you serious? If i dont mow once a week, my lawn looks like a jungle.And no, i am not obsessive. Does anyone here mow once a month?????????????
I'm one of two people on my block who mow their own lawn . I have 1/2 acre, and certainly don't always have the time to mow every week; and yes, there've been times (in the back) where I've gone a month without mowing, but it does look overgrown, especially during prime growing season. I try not to let it happen too often though...
For the most part, I save the clippings for composting - they blend well with the leaves from my dozen oak trees LOL.
Personally, I can't see a riding mower for 1/2 acre; when I had two acres, it was another story - I head my headphones on and listened to music while I was driving around, mowing...
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. I have 1/2 acre, and certainly don't always have the time to mow every week; and yes, there've been times (in the back) where I've gone a month without mowing, but it does look overgrown, especially during prime growing season. I try not to let it happen too often though...
