Saturday, October 20, 2018

Lawn Mowing Economics And Donald Trump

We brought home our EGO 56 Volt Rechargeable lawn mower and our ECHO 58 Volt trimmer yesterday, giving our bank balance a $1,300 hit. Our friend Rae pointed out that we were paying our lawn mowing service just under $50 per hour for doing it this summer. This was emphasized yesterday evening when two of them showed to give it the last mowing of the season. I started timing when I heard the mower and trimmer start and they were done in a record eight minutes! The bill for this will be $52 after taxes. Two guys for eight minutes is sixteen minutes work which amounts to almost $200 per hour! Enough is enough, I could probably hire a lawyer for that!

The best move would have been to buy the equipment next April when we need it rather than now as that would have started the warranty period six months later. The woman who sold us the equipment explained that as there is no lawn mowing equipment manufactured in Canada, they have to buy from the USA and Trump had just put tariffs on this. If we waited until after the new year it would cost us at least 10% more.

I think buying our own equipment and hiring a $20 per hour guy is a better deal in the long run. Who knows, I might even push the mower around myself the odd time (it is self propelled so it might pull me around). I will not tackle the steep bank though, I have already fallen down it a couple of times.

I am also hoping the simplicity of the heavy duty rechargeable electric will pay off. No hassle with gas, oil, tune ups, etc. Plus the mower can be folded up and hung on the wall. 

Image result for ego electric lawn mower

Image result for echo 56 volt trimmer

The ECHO trimmer comes apart so a hedge trimmer or a blower can be added. Those items may be Christmas gifts for each other.

16 comments:

  1. $400 an hour for a lawyer last time I used their services. Maybe one of your Yard workers is trying to put his kid through Law School though.

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  2. You might consider getting extra batteries for both. Under Ideal Conditions they will last so long but your $20. an hour guy might not move that fast.
    Be Safe (stay off the bank) and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  3. Most thrifty people I know wait until the end of the lawn season to buy replacements of their lawn equipment, as generally that is when the biggest sales are. Yes, you crunched the numbers and came up with the right decision. Just wouldn't worry about the warranty issue; most warranties only cover manufacturer's defects anyway; most companies' quality control wants to make sure the warranty doesn't come back to bite them on the butt; it's expensive. Regarding the Trump tariffs, this too shall pass, we hope, after November 6, and we will clean up our mess and go forward.

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    1. What's going to happen after November 6 Dee? Even if the Dims take the house I don't think they will be able to change the tariffs.

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  4. Looks like some nice yard working equipment you have there hope it works out for you.

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  5. Change is always positive. Looks like you have worked this out and sounds like a good decision.

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  6. Yes you are paying $200 an hour but you have to remember you getting The equivalent of eight guys ( six professional lawn care service providers we're off that day )to cut it four times for that 200$ money

    So technically Pedro an Manuel and his six buddies are helping you with the foreign economy you're getting an award winning landscaping job done. So let's face it where else can you hire eight professionals for 200 bucks an hour,,, I think that's worth at least to Jack Daniels by the pool and you never worked up a sweat
    And now you want to rock the boat
    Think of all the people that you've displaced put out of work and possibly in the unemployment social service To say nothing of the federal economy decline because you want to do it yourself 💰

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    1. 0 An now you're going out and buying a electric lawn mower and that you have to plug-in an use the nations precious electrical resources and drive up the carbon O-Zone level and make the power plant work overtime
      And to add insult to injury you're going to buy a Weedwhacker/ blower that's battery operated driving their carbon footprint up even higher
      We sure could see your not a tree hugger 🤡

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    2. Right, well at least we have gotten away from the smoke belching gas equipment. :) We are in Canada so our lawn services are all home grown Canadians (or maybe the odd American refugee - they all look the same). And I will take a dram of single malt instead of Jack Daniels if it is all the same, it's more of a Canadian thing. And we have so much electricity up here that we sell our surplus to the US. Thanks for signing on Mr ed, it is a whole new (Trump-free) world up here!

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  7. Did you get some shaking last night Croft? I read that Vancouver Island had a 6.5 or so. Hope you guys rode it out okay.

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    1. This is the first I have heard of it Don! I will have to do some checking because I slept like a baby! :)

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    2. There were three separate earthquakes about 200 KM in the ocean off of Port Hardy. No damage reported.

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    3. When I checked the map I saw they were a ways off the island but still pretty large quakes.

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  8. When we were in Spain I saw a self-driving mower, like an iRobot Roomba vacuum for the lawn. I'm not sure how good a job it managed but it sure was fun to watch!

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