2 of 2

Write now Article Tools

My thoughts, versus gas and electric are coming from a person that have used and sold gas and electric lawn equipment. I managed my own landscaping business and from the stand point of gas versus electric, gas is far more powerful then electric but much of a maintenance nightmare. It is more expensive to run a gas lawn mower and less economical in the respect that the price of fuel is much more expensive and is getting higher every day. In fact, it might be a lot harder to find fuel in the future with resources as they are in the world. Fuel in the future will probably be refined to the point where you will need an additive to get the octane for you lawn equipment, as well as your vehicles used to travel. Each year after the mowing season you most generally have to prepare your gas mowers for the winter months by draining the fuel tanks or you will have difficulty starting your mowers in the spring. New spark plugs most generally need to be cleaned or replaced, with the event of so many different brands of mowers, weed eaters, blowers on the market today, and it is hard to find the proper plugs, and equipment to maintain the gas mowers. I know this because I work in a hardware store and I see customers come in with spark plugs that are not always easy to find. Plugs a various sizes and require different gap settings, and maintenance requirements. Gas mowers are usually bulkier and harder to work on and require many more refined tools. Some mowers are 2 cycle and some are 4 cycle. The 2 cycle requires you to add oil to the fuel and most additives do not give you a real good measuring system to go by. The 4 cycle engine require engine oil and filters, and fuel lines that need to be replaced due to years and wear to the fuel lines. Also, fuel itself causes your fuel lines to break down due to the chemicals in the fuel. Although, electric lawn equipment is cumbersome due to dragging of an electric cord around they are a lot cleaner then gas, due to cleanup and the elimination of vapors and pollution in the air, they can be a pain in the neck. Electric is a lot easier to store and much handier. As far as battery powered equipment they require chargers and are generally are not very powerful and don't last as long as an electric or gas lawn equipment.

They all have their drawbacks, pluses and minuses. I think electric will be used much more in the future, but our electricity will also be impacted in the very near future. I just read where the electric company is asking for a 38% rate hike, and will just get worse, and people will have to start limiting their electric devices. So, is their a good answer, who knows? It will all be bad in the future, if we do not find new resources and answers for the current resources. I have grown up to be a senior in my life and I have seen push mowers and electric, gas and battery operated equipment, and my guess is we will be going backwards instead of forwards and will be going back to manual operated equipment, to save on resources. Push mowers are going to be more popular and a lot more zeroscape at our homes and in our neighborhoods, to accommodate for the loss of resources that affect our water and energy. So, think more manual and more economically. We need to think this way for our children and our grandchildren, I think we have been fortunate and I don't think they will be as lucky with the modern devices we have been honored to have.

Learn more about this author, Melvin Barella.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Deciding between a gas or electric lawn mower?
We want to hear your view. Write now!