My Beer-Powered Lawn Mower

Wherever you go these days, you hear all kinds of ideas on how to save gas with your car. While I'd love to trade in my 97 Saab for a brand new Prius, that's just not an option for me right now. The recent demise of my lawnmower did, however, gave an opportunity to cut back on gas in other ways. I am now the proud owner of a beer-powered lawn mower.

Yes, you read that correctly. Unlike most mowers, which run on a combination of gasoline for the mower and beer for the operator, my new mower does away with the gasoline entirely, and does not replace it with any other energy source. As of last week, I am mowing on beer-power alone.

What is this technological marvel?

It's an 18-inch Push-Reel Mower from the American Lawn Mower Company.

When I first saw this thing, I assumed that mowing my yard with it would be a royal pain in the ass. After I gave it a little push, though, I realized that because it's so light, this thing actually pushes easier than the old gas-powered mower I was using, and it's much more maneuverable than power driven ones. It's super quiet - my wife and I were actually talking in normal conversational tones while I was mowing. The lack of noise also makes the process very relaxing - mowing my grass is now a good way to unwind. It's not going to throw a rock that will take out my 2-year-old son's eye, so he can play in the yard while I'm mowing.

The maintenance seems to be pretty straightforward. I'm told you have to sharpen the blades regularly, but based on the users' manual, that will take about 5 minutes and absolutely no mechanical skills. You also have to adjust the position of the fixed blade occasionally. The manual says it's a precise adjustment, but it only involves turning a couple of screws, not exactly rocket science.

There are a couple of potential disadvantages. Although it's easier to push around, you do have to take it slow if you want an even cut. It takes me about an extra 10 or 15 minutes or so to mow my .2 acre lot, but like I said, it's relaxing so I don't really mind. If you're taking care of 5 acres or so, you're going to need something else.

If you're the kind of person who has environmental groups petitioning to have your lawn classified as a protected wilderness by the time you get around to mowing, you might want to look elsewhere as well. When I first used my reel mower, some of the the grass was a little long on account of the old lawnmower being broken, and it took a couple of passes to get it looking good. You also need to actually pick up the sticks first instead of just running them over, as they can get stuck in the reels, which stops you in your tracks. I was doing that anyway, I didn't want to send a twig flying and impale the neighbor's cat, but a lot of people just chop the sticks up.

When it comes to just about anything we buy, phones, cars, whatever, everyone always seems to be clambering for the newest, most advanced, most twenty-first century thing around, But when it comes to lawnmowers, this bit of 19th century technology works just great for me.