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A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

theatlantic.com

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Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#111

Post by richiebful1 »

ghaff wrote: post #95
showerst wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the sentiment but pragmatically I think we have to time bans to when replacements are really equivalent or better-- electric mowers in particular are still 4x the cost and get mixed reviews, and I don't think chainsaw usage is a huge civic problem here in DC, but I don't live next to any big parks. Maybe we could also go with making new ones illegal to sell, though we'd have to coordinate with MD and VA…

Battery-powered lawn equipment is definitely getting better. I find less runtime and a bit less performance a good tradeoff for my interchangeable head weedwhacker vs. a temperamental two-stroke engine that I use once a month or so. However, electric isn't going to do the job for a sit on top mower as far as I know and, in general, professionals who are using their equipment all day long are mostly not going to find…

I've used EGO's zero turn battery powered mower. It's great, but I agree that it wouldn't be sufficient for a professional.

Also ancecdotally, a friend has cub cadet's battery-powered sit on top mower. He loves it

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#112

Post by count »

rektide wrote: post #101
koheripbal wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue with the electric ones is that those lawn care companies have crews that run leaf blowers all day long from one house to another. This is no longer possible as they take hours to recharge after each use. It works if each home owner buys a leaf blower of his own, but that's way less efficient from a manufacturing/maintenance perspective. We're just increasing inefficiencies.

These folks can have multiple batteries. That's the real answer, imo. Greenwork's Pro backpack's runtime is 37 minutes at full power on their 60V 8Ah battery (~1/2kWh). Yeah, it's a $300 battery. But with a 4 year warranty, and much longer expected life-time, buying 3-6 for each blower you've got is scary upfront but a drop in the bucket over time. There's some other sub-optimal options, but hopefully we don't see th…

That green works pro battery doesn't take hours to charge either. It's about 30-40 minutes from empty to full again.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#113

Post by bombcar »

showerst wrote: post #78
rob74 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would really wish other cities followed suit. And I propose to extend this to a ban on all devices with noisy and smelly two-stroke engines: chainsaws, lawn mowers, motor scooters etc. The scooters may not be a problem in Washington, but anyone who has ever been to an Italian or Spanish city can probably relate...

I agree with the sentiment but pragmatically I think we have to time bans to when replacements are really equivalent or better-- electric mowers in particular are still 4x the cost and get mixed reviews, and I don't think chainsaw usage is a huge civic problem here in DC, but I don't live next to any big parks. Maybe we could also go with making new ones illegal to sell, though we'd have to coordinate with MD and VA…

The Milwaukee chainsaw and mower do what they're advertised to do, and you could use them "professionally" assuming you had enough batteries laying around.

California has already banned the sale of small gas motors and others will follow suit; but it will take years and years for the existing ones to die off.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#115

Post by throwaway0a5e »

soco wrote: post #73
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For a homeowner, a 2 or 4 stroke gas engine has no compelling benefit these days over a cordless electric string trimmer Cost. I would have gone electric if I could but seeing as I don't obsess over my lawn (i.e. I let it grow out enough before cutting it back that most HNers would be hand wringing if I were their neighbor) there's no amount of mental gymnastics that makes it a sane tradeoff. I'm not gonna double th…

If you have it already, I understand. But if you started from scratch, or if your existing mower died? It might be a slightly different decision. Electric costs more indeed but your own ears, nose and lungs are important as well.

I was starting from scratch at one point. Cheapo mower was $115 and weed whacker was $100. The greenworks combo that would have done the equivalent job was $~200 more for a smaller mower. This is comparing new vs new. I would up watching the internet classifieds and getting a free gas push mower making the cost discrepancy even more. I have yet to have starting issues with any of it and I don't do anything special other than do my last mow in October and first in April/May

I could do without the noise but I own fancy Bluetooth hearing protection for other reasons so that's really a non-issue. A little bit of exhaust every 3-5 weeks in the summer is just a non-issue in practice. I'm sure if I had some ideological reason to care a lot I'd find it more annoying but I don't so...

I have a friend who has the whole 40v kit. In retrospect I definitely made the right decision because his stuff doesn't have the requisite power/duty cycle for my "it's been a month and I have company this weekend, time to mow the lawn" use case and the noise of the gas stuff is less of an issue when it's a monthly thing and not a weekly thing.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#116

Post by Tyndale »

QuadmasterXLII wrote: post #41
oliveroak wrote: post #6

Quoted post unavailable.

Posting a political cliche that tangentially relates to the article title and has nothing to do with the article content is more of a reddit thing.

You know, those reddit things..

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#117

Post by richiebful1 »

michaelt wrote: post #103
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For a homeowner, a 2 or 4 stroke gas engine has no compelling benefit these days over a cordless electric string trimmer Cost. I would have gone electric if I could but seeing as I don't obsess over my lawn (i.e. I let it grow out enough before cutting it back that most HNers would be hand wringing if I were their neighbor) there's no amount of mental gymnastics that makes it a sane tradeoff. I'm not gonna double th…

Do y'all not have corded electric mowers in America? Here in the UK, an entry-level petrol mower is £150+ while an entry-level corded electric mower is only £50. They're also much lighter, which is great for ladies and kids. And they start really reliably, even if they've sat in a shed all winter.

We certainly have corded electric mowers. I cut about half an acre with one and it's great. I find it performs better than a gas mower in higher grass (I generally cut once every two weeks).

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#119

Post by bombcar »

hgazx wrote: post #85
showerst wrote: post #32

I live in DC, a few bits of info about why it makes sense here, and may not make sense in your home: 1. They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. My building has an electric Milwaukee that was 200 bucks and lasts all afternoon on a battery or two. 2. This isn't about people wanting to manicure their lawns out in the burbs at 7a…

Quoted post unavailable.

It's actually correct - leaf blowers are one of the first things that the electrics caught up on, because all you need to do is spin a fan really, really fast.

The problem with electric tools has always been the run-time, they've been functional but without recent battery technology, changing batteries every 10-15m was simply impractical.

Re: A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

#120

Post by ericd »

DoneWithAllThat wrote: post #63
donatj wrote: post #4

Outlaw as the author calls them “groomed lawns”. They’re a waste of time, energy and resources that could all be going towards something productive.

So are video games, alcohol, candy, pogo sticks, and about a million other things. I get that climate doomers are hyper fixated on lawns ruining the planet and leading us all into the apocalypse but you should just be honest about believing that rather than using lazy and trite arguments.

Those other things have a mainly personal cost, lawns have large negative externalities. Especially the people who regularly have their lawn sprayed with pesticide/herbicide. Never fun getting caught in a downwind cloud of that stuff on a walk through the neighborhood.
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