Neighbor Gave Us A Bit Of A Scare Today

[Jim Frye]

I just happened to look out a window today and watched a neighbor roll his 700 pound electric riding mower over on himself. Same mower that I have. He was trying to mow around a deeply sunken storm water drain set deeply in the lawn and accidentally backed into a large, abandoned and defunct telecommunications pedestal, knocking the cover completely off and knocking the electronics cabinet inside over. The collision caused him to react incorrectly and the mower went over. Our subdivision has storm water runoff swales at the back of the properties which drain to drain grates every three lots that lead to a retention pond at the rear of the subdivision. I went tearing out and was joined by another neighbor who was watering her garden at the time. The victim is a great guy in his early 70s and was able to crawl free of the machine by the time we got to him. Fortunately, he wasn't badly hurt, only his shoulder where it hit the turf in the fall. After he walked the crash incident off, the three of us righted the beast with no damage to it and he resumed mowing. Interesting enough, it wasn't even his own lawn he was mowing. It was his Son's who was on vacation. The area he was trying to mow usually gets done with a walk behind mower. They aren't kidding when they say to be very aware of your surroundings when mowing.

[twistsol]

Your neighbor was lucky. I can't imagine being under one of these is much fun. Do these units shut down the blades if you come off the seat? I know that is a feature of some consumer equipment, but it doesn't apply to agricultural equipment.

Back in high school we had a unit on farm equipment safety complete with the gross photos of amputations when people thought it would be faster to clear a jam without shutting down the machine. I got to put into practice decades later what to do in a tractor rollover. I was plowing snow and hit an ice patch and it threw my tractor into a steep ditch. Since my tractor had a rollover protection bar and a seatbelt, I just tucked arms and legs in as close to my body as possible and rode it out and was able to shut it down while hanging upside down. The tractor weighs about 2800 pounds without the plow and traction weights. The worst damage was a face and coat full of snow and a cracked taillight. It took my neighbor and me and two bobcats to get the tractor back upright and out of the ditch.

[Jim Frye]

Yeah, there is a seat switch that shuts the entire system down when less than 40 pounds are on the seat and the back up beeper sounds off until the key switch is turned OFF. The machine has a complex safety circuitry that prevents the machine from starting if the charger is connected and won't charge if the key switch is in the ON position. Each blade has its own brushless motor and its own processor/controller and if one gets jammed so badly that increased power won't let the blade spin, the system shuts down.

[leehljp]

Not intending to push any buttons at all, but my preference is a gas powered riding mower with a good electrical system and electric powered blades. I have seen that a couple of times 4 or 5 years ago, I think. I don't remember who made those.

I pushed one corded electric mower years and years ago and was impressed with its power even back then. I dismissed that extension corded mower because of the cord, but have always remembered the smoothness of the electric motor cuts.

My recent problems with belted blades - using the correct size belts and then changing them out to about 2" shorter belts than recommended - has me aggravated. The shorter belts cut so much more smoother, but over time they will stretch and vibrate. That will not happen with electric powered blades.

[capncarl]

The ditch in front of my house has 1 spot where an under the road culvert empties the ditch toward a small creek. The sides of the ditch at the culvert way exceeds the safe angle of a riding mower, typical in several areas throughout the subdivision. I would really like to see if my new zero turn , which has a very wide stance and really wide drive tires, would navigate mowing parallel to the ditch. I usually mow the steep area up and down the ditch, and the front tires of the mower are doing a bit of a wheel stand at the top. It’s a pucker factor if you aren’t use to it! I’ve seen the culvert flip over several mowers that drop a tire in the culvert. That would be bad. Agricultural equipment is very dangerous.

[Jim Frye]

Not intending to push any buttons at all, but my preference is a gas powered riding mower with a good electrical system and electric powered blades. I have seen that a couple of times 4 or 5 years ago, I think. I don't remember who made those.

I pushed one corded electric mower years and years ago and was impressed with its power even back then. I dismissed that extension corded mower because of the cord, but have always remembered the smoothness of the electric motor cuts.

My recent problems with belted blades - using the correct size belts and then changing them out to about 2" shorter belts than recommended - has me aggravated. The shorter belts cut so much more smoother, but over time they will stretch and vibrate. That will not happen with electric powered blades.

Back in 1974, I bought a B&D corded, twin blade, twin motor, 19" rear discharge electric walk behind mower (model 8035) for our first home. It looked sort of like an old Kirby vacuum, except it was white and orange. It was a fantastic mower with great pickup. I once ran over the cord and it severed the extension cord so quickly, the GFI didn't even trip. It developed a bad bearing in one of the motors and I sold it in a garage sale. I now wish I had kept it and just fixed the bearing. B&D even had a battery version of it later on.

[capncarl]

15+ years ago a neighbor friend rode his tractor to his death. He had just retired and he and his wife moved to a mountain home to be close to his kids. His new home had some acres so he purchased an estate size tractor. Supposedly he hopped on the roll over protected tractor to move it to the shed and drove it under some low hanging limbs which snagged the roll bar and caused the tractor rare up and spin around. He fell off and was crushed under the tractor when it fell on him. Using his seat belt would likely saved his life.



did the batteries fall out of the lawnmower when it rolled over?

[Jim Frye]

did the batteries fall out of the lawnmower when it rolled over?

Nope. The batteries sit in a slide out tray that is bolted in place and the batteries are held in place on the tray by a frame that is bolted to the tray. The batteries are Sealed Lead Acid/Absorbent Glass Mat technology, so no leaks. These batteries can even be installed on their sides in other applications, according to the manufacturer.

[Jim Frye]

As a side note, after 7 seasons of use, my mower costs $0.18/hour in electricity to run. The neighbor behind me (same sized lots) has a Toro Timecutter 42" mower and it burns a gallon of 87E10/hour. Then there's the cost of routine maintenance. The electric mower only requires oiling the front steering spindles every 25 hours and sharpening the blades once a year.

[pearson]

Scary stuff. I’m really glad he’s okay. Honestly, I get scared pretty easily myself—it used to be a real issue for me. I even talked to my doctor about it because it was affecting my daily life. After that, I started taking some medications and supplements from Canada Pharmacy Partner , and it’s made a noticeable difference. Having that support helps me manage the anxiety and face things with a bit more calm. It’s not always easy, but knowing there are options out there really helps.