The season is upon us when all the suburbanites migrate onto their lawns with loud polluting two stroke engines (ok maybe some have the four stroke models). Spewing toxic fumes into the pristine "beauty" of the cookie cutter landscape. To go along with this toxic cloud we have the noise. Oh my the noise.

We can stop all of this with the use of either electric or god forbid the old fashion reel lawnmowers.

Anyone else out there ditch the "convenience" of the power mower for something more ecologically conscious. I myself use a reel mower nowadays and I love it.

Do people really still use reel mowers. That is such an old out-dated technology.

I have switched to a plug-in electric mower. I am still worried that one of these days I will run over the cord, but for now, no issues. It has the power of a gas mower and no worries about gas, oil or tune-ups. I don't think I could ever go to the reel mower as I have hills and am just a touch on the lazy side.

I too went for the reel mower recently. I love that its so quiet. It doesn't handle unruly weeds very well, but that's when I pull out the electric string trimmer. What I truly love about a reel mower is the way the lawn looks when you are done. Its something about the way it cuts that looks so much nicer than any other type of mower.

I would switch to the reel mower if I wasn't so scared of that spinning blade. Don't you worry about cutting yourself with that blade so exposed?

Too much work to go with the reel mower. I use a corded electric and it suits me just fine. I want to upgrade to a self propelled model but just can't justify buying a new mower when this one works fine.

Very nostalgic. You don't see many people who are dedicated enough to go with the reel mower.

I pushed one of those things around when I was a kid. My dad was reluctant to get a gas mower and said it would be a good life lesson for me. I thought it was torture and still would if I had to use one today.

Its really not all that bad. I love the look of a lawn cut with a reel mower so much more, that its actually worth the extra effort.

I got one of these and I might have to get rid of it. It was hard enough getting my teenage boy to mow the lawn before. Now he just laughs at me. I have to make threats and then he's out reluctantly and somewhat haphadardly mowing the lawn. I have to go back over it every time. I do love the look and the lack of guilt, but it has become a hassle for me.

Teenager huh? Well I would just tell him that he can't have the car if he doesn't earn the carbon credits you will grant him for using the reel mower.

So the rain did come and come and come and come. I had to call the neighbor boy over with his dad's gas powered mower. I felt so guilty. I couldn't do it anymore with the reel mower. I tried to keep up and then work got busy and I left it for a week.

So there is that one downside to the reel mower, but I am sticking to my convictions and saying that this is the way to go.

You could just mow one a day or every other day in the rainy season. But wait... That seems really ridiculous. I get that the reel mower is the extreme on the ecological mowers, but couldn't you also reduce the use of turf and save yourself the back ache?

I don't think that xeriscaping is for everyone. Too many people want that lawn and if you don't have it, you really make a dent in your home's resale value. Until the market changes, reel lawn mowers are really the limit for how to approach a lawn.

Is there a snowblower equivalent to the reel lawnmower?

I know the obvious shovel, but I was wondering about something that might be a little easier on the back.

I say just go with a newer shovel. maybe get a model specifically designed to help with back strain. i haven't seen anything else, but I do know that many snowblowers are electric and therefore more efficient than anything gas powered.

I agree about the shovel. The shovel is the equivalent the reel mower. I did find an alternative, but it really doesn't seem to be much more than a creative use of technology.

http://govpro.com/products/public_works/snow/mechanical-snow-shovel-200903/

I don't have one, I use a shovel myself, but my guess is that there would be issues if you had heavy snowfall, ice or needed to throw snow off to the side.

shovel is the number one choice for me in the snow but when it gets heavy I will pull out the electric snowblower. Its not totally green but its not gas powered either.