garyd McCoy

I was reading the Colorado State University Extension Office article on lawn care and it says that 75% of lawn's nitrogen needs should be supplied in the fall and that fertilizer with 25-5-5 should be used. It also recommends using Urea fertilizer 46-0-0 at 2lbs per 1000 sq. ft. Or ammonium sulfate (18-0-0) at 5 lbs/1000 square feet.

I just got an old used butcher block with legs. Do I need to sand the top and then cure it with walnut oil or will just cleaning it with soap and water really good them disinfecting it with a diluted clorox solution be enough before oiling it? The top is smooth with no cut marks.

paul wheaton wrote:
Wow! 

The neuton i tried was a 14 inch.  I wonder if the whole cordless thing does a better job with a smaller blade.

Can you send pics of the "uneven" and grass clumps?

I don't think it matters what size it is since I had the 14 inch, 24 volt DR, Country Home mower 8 or 9 years ago which was the same mower as the current Neuton CE 5 and I had the same problems with mulching and uneven cutting. Like I said, I already "repaired" my lawn by mowing over it with my Honda but the uneven cutting was spots of lawn that looked like it was just pushed over instead of being cut which was probably caused by the blade being bogged down, which you could hear. I would expect this if I was mowing an extra long. wet lawn but not from a dry lawn and cutting an inch or less off the top.

Fortunately, I put the mower on Craigslist and sold it yesterday for $75 more than I paid for it. I may still look into the Fiskars reel mower.

paul wheaton wrote:
In what way was the mulching not working well.  Can you upload a pic?

I have since mowed with my Honda mower 2 times so I don't have any pictures. The way the mulching wasn't working well is, it was leaving clumps of cut grass about every 5 feet instead of mulching it down into the lawn. It is what you would see if you tried to mulch a lawn that was really long and wet. My lawn had only about an inch of growth (from 4" to 5") and it was dry so there shouldn't have been a problem with mulching.

Well, I've mowed with my Neuton CE 6 twice and it is the worst purchase I have ever made. This thing is a piece of junk! It is not very well built and it has a light blade that cuts very uneven. It is very hard to push and is actually noisier than my gas Honda mower. Also the mulching is terrible. I am cutting on the highest level and it was bogging down and leaving clumps of grass. The mowing time is shorter than advertised as well. It says that it will last 1 hour and I could only get 35 minutes when it started to slow down and lose cutting power. I've had to wait and recharge to battery and finish mowing the next day. The worst part is the customer service. The mower is supposed to have a 60 day satisfaction return policy but because I bought through a clean air program (which they sponsored ) the sale is final with no returns. When I called to find out about returning it, they instantly got very rude on the phone.

I bought a DR cordless mower through Country Home about 10 years ago that I didn't like because it had the same issues as the Neuton and I  realized that this is the same company and they just renamed it Neuton. There is nothing new about these Neuton mowers except the CE 6 is 19 inches instead of 14 inches and it is exactly like the mower I tried 10 years ago. If I knew it was the same company and mower, I would have never bought it.

Well, I bought the Neuton CE 6 today. Ozone Aware Colorado was having a special deal, selling the CE 6 for $250 with a gas lawn mower trade in or $275 for the mower alone. I couldn't pass it up for that price. I haven't used it yet.

paul wheaton wrote:
Did you buy it?

I think the main problem with push mowers is that they tend to push over taller weeds and not cut them.  Does this mower address that?

Here is another website that descibes how it works:

http://peoplepoweredmachines.com/fiskars/index.htm

This web page also sells a cordless electric reel mower that also looks interesting:

http://peoplepoweredmachines.com/brill/brill_razorcut_accu.htm

paul wheaton wrote:
How?  Maybe elves are involved?

Much longer than an inch?  Dude, I think you are mowing way too short.  The mulching stuff does not work well at all when you mow too short.

I was asking how well it mulches.

What I meant is an inch of growth. I've never mowed short. Before I first read your article a few years ago, I never mowed shorter than 2 1/2 inches. After reading your article, I've been mowing at the highest setting which is about 4 inches for about 5 years. When I tried the cordless electric, it didn't mulch very well on the highest setting if there was more than 1 inch of growth. It was a DR electric mower which looks like the Neuton. I think it is the same mower since they now sell the Neuton on the DR website.

paul wheaton wrote:
Did you buy it?

I think the main problem with push mowers is that they tend to push over taller weeds and not cut them.  Does this mower address that?

No I haven't bought it yet. I'm trying to decide between this and a cordless like the Neuton you are using. Does your Neuton mulch very good?

Just got back from Lowes and they have a new push reel mower that looks interesting. It's the Fiskars reel mower:

http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Reel-Mowers

It costs $199 and it cuts up to 4 inches high!!! It has a 18 inch cutting width and it is the easiest pushing reel lawnmower I have ever tried.
This thing is pretty incredible.