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One Extraordinary Mower

Posted by: Posted date: July 04, 2009 In: General | comment : 3

As I told everyone last week, I was invited to talk about eco-friendly lawn mowers on Good Morning America. In case you missed the brief segment, here it is: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JustOneThing/story?id=7982173&page=1.

One of the companies, www.EcoMowers.com, told me I could bring their mower home with me for trials. Yesterday I put the Brill model to the test. Within two minutes I could see why this mower truly is a full evolutionary step ahead of the run-of-the-mill reel mower. It pushes more easily and cuts far better. I was totally impressed. Andy, the owner of www.EcoMowers.com, told me the German engineered machine never needs sharpening and is virtually maintenance free. He said he has tried some of the other models coming out of China and they just don’t work as well.

I also spent some time behind the scenes on the Good Morning America set with Paul Kirrane, a sales representative for the Boston Lawnmower Company, who as representing the Ariens electric riding mower known as AMP (I have brief rundowns of all the mowers on the www.SafeLawns.org home page). Paul said the Amp isn’t selling well yet in New England. He theorizes that folks are scared off by the $3,000 pricetag. A comparable gas model can be purchased for about half that much.

I hope to get my hands on an AMP soon so I can provide a first-hand review. If you do use a ride-on mower, I hope you’ll give this one a look, even with the price. It’s just way, way better for the planet. And with 75 minutes of charge time, it’s going to handle the majority of lawns.

About The Author

Paul Tukey

An international leader of the green movement, Mr. Tukey is a journalist, author, filmmaker, TV host, activist and award-winning public speaker, who is widely recognized as North America's leading advocate for landscape sustainability and toxic pesticide reduction strategies.

Number of Entries : 1023

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  • Scott Morgan

    Hi Paul,

    I did see the brief segment on GMA…too bad they rushed you out to get to the “Bachelor’s” big announcment!

    I just bought a Brill from EcoMowers this past week and was pleased to see you show it off on GMA. I agree it is a terrific mower and I’ve ben very pleased with the results. The only downside I can see is that it cuts just a bit below 2 inches at its highest, but the lightweight construction and non contact blades make it a great buy. I would recommend it to anyone.

    Thanks for the blog!

    Scott Morgan
    Fairport, NY

    • http://www.ECOMOWERS.com Andy

      Hey Scott,
      Thanks for your support – cheers!

      We have a lot of information regarding Height of Cut (HOC) in our resource center – you can take a look here if you haven’t already:

      http://www.learn.ecomowers.com

      Below are some tips for anyone considering a reel mower:
      - A shorter cut is healthy for most grass species, just ask any professional sports field manager. Please don’t be fooled that higher is better.
      - Light reel mowers (like the Brill) tend to “float” on the grass and rarely sink down to the soil level. This means that the cutting height can actually be over 2″+.
      - When cutting short with a reel mower, frequency is the most important factor. If you cut more then 1/3 of the grass height off you will stress it…So, if your grass is growing fast cut more often. Think of it as great exercise and not as a chore. Reel mowers (like the Brill) are easy to push – many of our customer are excited to mow and some mow every day, just for the fun of it!
      - When you cut short, and frequent, the results are outstanding.

      • Paul Kirrane

        The Ariens AMP is now priced very reasonably at around $2,000.00 and is selling well.

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