News about Lawn Mowers
[14/05/2010] Types of lawn mowers by energy source
For a long time the lawn mowers were human-powered only; in the beginning of the last century the demand for engine powered lawn mowers grew rapidly and this led to the development of animal and steam powered mowers. Since they had only limited success, much better gasoline and, later on, electric models were introduced and became the most common ones.
Gasoline powered lawn mowers
The gasoline powered lawn mowers have one of two types of engines: two-stroke or four-stroke internal combustion engine. These engines usually have only one cylinder and their power ranges from 1.5 to 6.75 kW. The gasoline lawn mowers aren’t very environmentally friendly, which is why some models are powered by alternative fuel and the propane-powered ones in particular are becoming increasingly popular. They are not only greener and cleaner, but also less expensive to operate.
The main advantages of the gasoline powered lawn mowers are that they are very powerful and don’t need long cords as some of the electrical models; their main disadvantages are that they are noisy, not too environmentally friendly and usually pricier than the electric mowers.
Electric lawn mowers
The electric lawn mowers are powered by electricity, which gives them a number of advantages – they are inexpensive to operate, they don’t require engine tune-ups and oil changes, they are much quieter, cleaner and very easy to start; the electric lawn mowers are started with the push of a button. However, they are usually less powerful that the gasoline mowers and only meant for small to medium lawns. The electric lawn mowers are either corded or cordless.
Corded electric mowers
The corded electric mower’s main disadvantage is the fact that it needs a long power cord extension to run; there is also always the risk of accidentally running the mower over the cord, which can present danger to the person, operating the mower. Corded mowers also shouldn’t be used on wet grass and for safety reasons the usage of ground fault circuit interrupter is advisable.
Cordless electric mowers
The cordless electric mowers are powered by batteries, usually from one to four in number; the batteries are 12V rechargeable ones and the mower most commonly runs from half an hour to an hour between recharges. More batteries give more power, but they add to the total weight of the mower as well. The cordless electric mowers are usually more expensive than the corded ones and come in fewer models.
Other articles from this category:
[14/05/2010] What is lawn mower
[14/05/2010] Cylinder mowers
[14/05/2010] Rotary mowers
[14/05/2010] Types of lawn mowers by rotation
[14/05/2010] Other types of lawn mowers
[14/05/2010] Safety issues
[14/05/2010] Environmental impact
