Talk of The Villages Florida

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-   The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)
-   -   Should Lawn Mowers and Leaf Blowers be Battery Operated in The Villages? (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/should-lawn-mowers-leaf-blowers-battery-operated-villages-325637/)

JMintzer 10-27-2021 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermilion Villager (Post 2022098)
Yes...because you know...we all operate our lawn trimmer, and weed blower for 8 to 10 hours a day. Suggest you re-think you name!!! :ohdear:

I do believe he was referring to the "commercial" landscapers, who most certainly work 8-10 hrs a day...

Plus, there is a difference between a "Tinker" and a "Thinker"...

Maybe new glasses are in order?

deanjohnson 10-27-2021 08:23 AM

We shouldn’t follow CA, the economic impact would be horrendous, most of the people working here are barely getting by with the current inflation and requirements to change would put the out of business, not mention a huge increase in HOA to transition. Technology will change things as as cost decreases and effectiveness increases. This how we transitioned from horses to cars and electric lights from kerosene.

Vermilion Villager 10-27-2021 08:27 AM

Teaching new technology to some Villagers yields the same results as teaching an old dog new tricks:ohdear:

biker1 10-27-2021 08:33 AM

There is no HOA. There is a CDD maintenance fee, that shows up on your Nov property tax bill, for the maintenance of the common areas. Yes, a move to electric landscaping equipment would almost certainly increase costs. Would the increase be "huge"? I have no idea since I don't know how big "huge" is. I don't see this happening anytime soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deanjohnson (Post 2022103)
We shouldn’t follow CA, the economic impact would be horrendous, most of the people working here are barely getting by with the current inflation and requirements to change would put the out of business, not mention a huge increase in HOA to transition. Technology will change things as as cost decreases and effectiveness increases. This how we transitioned from horses to cars and electric lights from kerosene.


G.R.I.T.S. 10-27-2021 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2021670)
I read this morning that in a half hour, the pollutants spewed by the average two-cycle engine in a leaf blower equals the pollution from a Ford F-150 pickup—over a 3,600 mile drive! California has recently banned gas-powered leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, lawnmowers, etc. use by lawn care companies because the pollution they put out is equal to the pollution from ALL the cars in California. It seems that battery-powered equipment, recharged at night, has reached the level where by having multiple batteries, crews can work all day without recharging. (All of my power tools are now battery-powered, including my Sawsall and my full-size circular saw and my big drill.) Battery-powered tools are also much quieter. For homeowners in The Villages with lawns, an electric mower with a cord may make more sense.

Should the appropriate governing units here follow the lead in California and require lawn crews to use battery-powered tools?

It makes more since for one to move to California.

wisbad1 10-27-2021 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2021670)
I read this morning that in a half hour, the pollutants spewed by the average two-cycle engine in a leaf blower equals the pollution from a Ford F-150 pickup—over a 3,600 mile drive! California has recently banned gas-powered leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, lawnmowers, etc. use by lawn care companies because the pollution they put out is equal to the pollution from ALL the cars in California. It seems that battery-powered equipment, recharged at night, has reached the level where by having multiple batteries, crews can work all day without recharging. (All of my power tools are now battery-powered, including my Sawsall and my full-size circular saw and my big drill.) Battery-powered tools are also much quieter. For homeowners in The Villages with lawns, an electric mower with a cord may make more sense.

Should the appropriate governing units here follow the lead in California and require lawn crews to use battery-powered tools?

Move to California then.

GypsyRN 10-27-2021 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pairadocs (Post 2021769)
I think we should have all the actual stats on the negatives of battery operated vehicles and tools also. We need to think these things ALL the way through. What is the downsize to batteries; what cost to make, how long useful, what chemicals involved (those could also be considered "pollution", what is the cost analysis of a battery powered lawn mower and a gas powered ? What is the life expectancy of each, same with golf carts, same with automobiles... perhaps CHOICE is the best answer, depends on the situation of the consumer. What could be helpful to our neighborhoods, might be restricting certain days for lawn services in various villages. In many subdivisions, commercial lawn work has restricted days and even hours. It works well. Mowing services still have full time work, just that homeowners in a particular area must have work done on, say Tuesdays or Wednesdays. What this prevents is 7 day a week, even Sundays like here, non stop noise of gas engines at a different house every day. It works, no one is denied work, just different areas on different days, and, peace and quiet on the weekends. Might do as much as forcing everyone, home owners and lawn services to purchase all battery operated equipment ? Maybe the real answer is the natural law.... if most of us find we prefer an electric tool after trying it, people will buy more of them and the gas mowers, etc. will sit on the shelves and lots.... and gradually the superior product will prevail... build a better mouse trap and they will come.. Oh, no, that was Field of Dreams, build a better mouse trap and they will BUY. Time will tell which people will prefer, or like golf carts, an endless 50-50 split with fans of each having many legitimate points ! :):popcorn:

Geez...could we PLEASE reply with several sentence paragraph form, instead of one LONG and rambling paragraph. Advil time!!

Joe C. 10-27-2021 08:54 AM

Pass a law like California ?????? ARE YOU CRAZY????
You do know that California is the land of fruits and nuts, don't you?

All this BS about going green is too far left for me.
I'm quite proud of my "carbon footprint".

If it wasn't for carbon, the nothing would exist.

GypsyRN 10-27-2021 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDLNB (Post 2022009)
At least "nerds" probably know how to spell "their" or use spell check. I've never heard of HD owners being called "nerds" before, but one learns something new every single day.:coolsmiley:

Or maybe they could use the correct word: "they're".

GypsyRN 10-27-2021 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael G. (Post 2021799)
You worry about the noise from lawn equipment etc, but NOTHING is mention about the Harley motorcycles
and old cars with loud exhaust pipes.

Would you 55+ people with loud pipes please grow up.

We have friends that live near the gate in TV, and when those loud vehicle's stop at the gate and take off, their windows rattle,
with no respect to people.

There is water pollution, air pollution, and noise pollution.

If you'll provide me your address, I'll graciously come over and idle my Harley outside your home!! Geez...get over it!!:boxing2:

LateBoomer 10-27-2021 09:21 AM

here's a thought: Let's not be California. the place is a mess and people and businesses are fleeing the State. I like my Florida, and my TV, just as it is, thanks. If you're really wrapped up in environmental issues, so-called, suggest that Florida may not be the place for you.

biker1 10-27-2021 09:21 AM

I used one for 15 years on Bermuda and Centipede grass. For those grasses it works great, with very little effort. They are not workable with Zoysia and St. Augustine grasses, unless your yard is the size of a postage stamp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2022029)
I used a lawnmower without an engine like this for years when I was a boy. Properly adjusted and sharpened and with a flat lawn, they worked great and were no harder to use than a heavy gas mower that has to be manhandled around corners. They weren’t great on edges near gardens. I still remember the pleasant SHHHH sound they made and the wonderful smell of the just-cut grass.


OhioBuckeye 10-27-2021 09:49 AM

Ohiobuckeye
 
I say it’s up to the individual or who can talk the consumer into what they can sell. Everything I have is battery. The only thing I have that’s gas operated is lawn mower. I say if you go to everything battery use one brand other wise you have 10 to 15 different kinds of batteries sitting around & 3 or 4 different kinds of chargers. Yes I like battery operated things, except cars, but that’s another subject!

ThirdOfFive 10-27-2021 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580 (Post 2021775)
Thank you for bringing that up. I plan on getting a jacket from Amazon that will say it is my support goat. Think that will work?

Dunno. It didn't work with Spike (my support monitor lizard). But then again, some airlines just don't understand...

ThirdOfFive 10-27-2021 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2022017)
But this would directly affect the air quality and noise pollution on your street, despite whatever China does. So many people complain about the noise. Dropping from 110 decibels (that will cause hearing loss for users without protection) to 80 decibels (normal speaking volume) is a huge difference. Yes, the crews would need many batteries over the course of the day and would need to recharge them at night.

My lawn guy died, and thinking both of my waistline and the money paid out for lawn maintenance I decided I'd to it myself. I considered battery powered stuff but a trip to Lowe's ended in buying a weed whacker, hedge trimmer, and mower--all 110 volt. Also a 100' extension cord. All items work wonderfully and at a noise level much less than gas-operated, though the mower sounds like my wife's Cuisinart on steroids.

Total for all three plus the cord: about $350.00. And the waistline is looking better too.

valuemkt 10-27-2021 10:19 AM

Best to relocate to California where there are plenty of environmental rules and taxes to ruin the quality of life. Keep Florida free.

donfey 10-27-2021 10:25 AM

California 2?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenswing (Post 2021727)
I don’t want our state doing anything California does.

ABSOLUTELY! The radicals and wackos control California now. There's nothing wrong with being ecologically responsible, but trying to eliminate that last 10% of pollutants in the air is NOT responsible - it's insane.

SB8476 10-27-2021 11:05 AM

Battery Landscape Equipment
 
It would also resolve the noise pollution that these devices generate.

blueash 10-27-2021 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan View Post
I read this morning that in a half hour, the pollutants spewed by the average two-cycle engine in a leaf blower equals the pollution from a Ford F-150 pickup—over a 3,600 mile drive!
Carl Sagan tells us that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Your statement seems to cry out for such evidence. Perhaps you have a link to what you read?


The closest I could find was a story in the Washington Post

It included links to two studies. One in Edmunds from 2011 which specifically tested leaf blower vs Ford 150 Raptor trucks and included this:

"The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor"

But, being an automotive website they did what seems to be a misuse of data. They measured non methane hydrocarbon output. The EPA does not list that group of compounds as greenhouse gases. The two cycle engine emitted 300 times the amount as the truck. CO [carbon monoxide] output of the blower was 23 times that of the truck. Only by using the non methane figures did they reach their estimate. This is dishonest IMO. Non methane hydrocarbons are a pollutant in haze and smog but they are nothing like CO2 or methane when it come to risk to the planet. And guess what Edmunds did not measure... CO2 emissions. That's why the headline hydrocarbon output. Carbon Dioxide is not a hydrocarbon but it is the major greenhouse gas produced by engines.

The second study from Sweden references a potentially carcinogenic compound in both lawn mower and auto exhaust and suggests that adding catalytic converters to lawn mowers would be helpful. It also states that using a 4 HP push mower, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons output of one hour of use is the same as 100 miles of driving a car, again not looking at CO2

What I could find does support the statement the OP made when only looking at some of the engine output but not looking at all the important chemicals in engine exhaust.

Now having said that, 2 cycle engines are terrible for our air. The stuff they spew is a pollutant especially creating smog. Leaf blowers additionally kick dust, molds etc that are on the ground back into the air, a problem not lessened by going to batteries.

Here are links worth reading IMO:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default...leaned_ADA.pdf This one shows the data used to inform the decision in California. A summary would include small off-road engines such as those found in gas-powered leaf blowers are a larger source of smog-forming emissions than the state’s 14.4 million passenger cars.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...er-ban/583210/ an opinion piece, a bit short on science about how the ban on gas leaf blowers came to be in Washington DC

fcgiii 10-27-2021 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAVES (Post 2021742)
As far as steam power. I've always found it interesting. The reality, high pressure steam is sort of a bomb. Controlling it is way beyond the ability of most in the villages to control it. Steam locomotives, the big ones were more powerful than modern diesel locomotives. They also were less efficient.

And steam engines had to stop for water every hundred miles or so, which slowed them down and created need for water stations all along the route.

ThirdOfFive 10-27-2021 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fcgiii (Post 2022186)
And steam engines had to stop for water every hundred miles or so, which slowed them down and created need for water stations all along the route.

Too bad there hasn't been more done to adapt the Stirling engine to some modern-day uses. The technology has been around for well over 200 years: it was used in English mines to pump water as far back as 1816.

Neils 10-27-2021 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI (Post 2021794)
The developer needs to build a segregated village for all the whining, crying, moaning, groaning, woe is me OLD goats to live in with a 20' wall around it and an armed guard at the entrance to keep out all the riff raff. No lawn mowers allowed, no noisy cars or motorcycles, no dogs, no construction contractors with noisy power tools, and no wind chimes. Did I miss anything?
Apparently some of you lived in Utopia before coming here, so why did you leave? Can old people do anything besides complain?

Yes. We built the country that you now enjoy

justjim 10-27-2021 12:02 PM

Comparing Florida to California regarding air, noise and water pollution is like comparing oranges to apples. However, if Florida keeps growing the difference could be less and less. I’m not too old to remember California was “the place to be” until it wasn’t… For us Florida may be the place to be until it wasn’t for us or our grandchildren. Time will tell.

Boston1945 10-27-2021 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2021670)
I read this morning that in a half hour, the pollutants spewed by the average two-cycle engine in a leaf blower equals the pollution from a Ford F-150 pickup—over a 3,600 mile drive! California has recently banned gas-powered leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, lawnmowers, etc. use by lawn care companies because the pollution they put out is equal to the pollution from ALL the cars in California. It seems that battery-powered equipment, recharged at night, has reached the level where by having multiple batteries, crews can work all day without recharging. (All of my power tools are now battery-powered, including my Sawsall and my full-size circular saw and my big drill.) Battery-powered tools are also much quieter. For homeowners in The Villages with lawns, an electric mower with a cord may make more sense.

Should the appropriate governing units here follow the lead in California and require lawn crews to use battery-powered tools?

FYI. California did NOT ban all gas mowers and other equipment used by commercial firms. We are a long way off on such equipment for the lawn industry. For the homeowner YES this does work. Take this with a grain of salt from someone who is in the business for over 30-years. Yes, Cal. has some tuff regulations in some towns as to the hours of use for such equipment on the books.

b0bd0herty 10-27-2021 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2021670)
I read this morning that in a half hour, the pollutants spewed by the average two-cycle engine in a leaf blower equals the pollution from a Ford F-150 pickup—over a 3,600 mile drive! California has recently banned gas-powered leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, lawnmowers, etc. use by lawn care companies because the pollution they put out is equal to the pollution from ALL the cars in California. It seems that battery-powered equipment, recharged at night, has reached the level where by having multiple batteries, crews can work all day without recharging. (All of my power tools are now battery-powered, including my Sawsall and my full-size circular saw and my big drill.) Battery-powered tools are also much quieter. For homeowners in The Villages with lawns, an electric mower with a cord may make more sense.

Should the appropriate governing units here follow the lead in California and require lawn crews to use battery-powered tools?

I use all battery operated tools and a Honda Lawn mower but/AND I will never follow California's lead... I've a brain. I would pay extra for the manufacturers to add catalytic converters to their tools to assist in reducing pollution.

Cheryl Barrios 10-27-2021 02:31 PM

No. And we are not California. If the laws of California appeal to anyone, I think that is where they should live. I came to Florida because I like Florida, the people, the laws, the amenities, etc. I didn't go to California because I don't like their laws, a lot of their people, and more.

JMintzer 10-27-2021 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GypsyRN (Post 2022126)
Or maybe they could use the correct word: "they're".

https://c.tenor.com/UBG8PwX5sukAAAAM...-chappelle.gif

Nick B 10-28-2021 07:30 AM

No my friend told me anything battery operated is a communist plot to take our freedom.

Nick B 10-28-2021 07:40 AM

Please explain kissing lanais .

blueash 10-28-2021 07:50 AM

1 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick B (Post 2022479)
Please explain kissing lanais .

The back of your house is so close to the back of another home that they are "kissing"

blueash 10-28-2021 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0bd0herty (Post 2022251)
I use all battery operated tools and a Honda Lawn mower but/AND I will never follow California's lead... I've a brain. I would pay extra for the manufacturers to add catalytic converters to their tools to assist in reducing pollution.

Maybe California is following your lead? Seems like you despise the state but agree with their recognition that mower/trimmers etc are a problem. Even California has not gone to catalytic converters, so you're ahead of them in the clean air department.

MrFlorida 10-28-2021 09:45 AM

Don't want the government telling me what to do or use....we've had enough !

MDLNB 10-28-2021 11:35 AM

The air in our country is much better than it was 70 years ago. I remember when auto pollution and coal burning furnaces and water heaters made the air so dense you could hardly see through it during the winter months. Our air is much better now, regardless of what the tree huggers suggest. I have no problem with subtle changes, but I see no reason for radical and costly changes based on someone's whim. Some folks have way too much time on their hands. I always marveled at how some folks could spend so much time demonstrating when others had to budget their time between working a job and home maintenance. But, I digress.

JMintzer 10-28-2021 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick B (Post 2022479)
Please explain kissing lanais .

When a mommy lanai and a daddy lanai love each other...

And that is how you get patios!

stadry 10-28-2021 02:46 PM

those who do their own lawn maint. MAY wish to use batt pwr'd. commercial maintainers can't

blueash 10-28-2021 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDLNB (Post 2022639)
The air in our country is much better than it was 70 years ago. I remember when auto pollution and coal burning furnaces and water heaters made the air so dense you could hardly see through it during the winter months. Our air is much better now, regardless of what the tree huggers suggest. I have no problem with subtle changes, but I see no reason for radical and costly changes based on someone's whim. Some folks have way too much time on their hands. I always marveled at how some folks could spend so much time demonstrating when others had to budget their time between working a job and home maintenance. But, I digress.

I would suggest that the reason why our air now is not so dense is because the tree huggers began the battle 70 years ago. You admit that you now benefit from decades of activism which was opposed by coal and power companies and steel and more. They said that the pollution controls were too costly and radical and the tree huggers had too much time on their hands. Same for our fouled water, our use of DDT etc. I am so proud of those who fought for cleaner air, water, food, highways, etc.

Topspinmo 10-28-2021 03:40 PM

All that just got moved out of the country and still polluting. So, as long as it not in our backyard it’s big benefit right? Well long as you’re not up wind from Mexico and not in jet stream of China.

Topspinmo 10-28-2021 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDLNB (Post 2022009)
At least "nerds" probably know how to spell "their" or use spell check. I've never heard of HD owners being called "nerds" before, but one learns something new every single day.:coolsmiley:

There still slow loud obnoxious turd of motorcycle world.

MorTech 10-28-2021 04:08 PM

Did you know that goats pollute more than flying a Boeing jet from NYC to Singapore!

MorTech 10-28-2021 04:12 PM

Two words - Energy Density.
Physical Reality does not care about your feelings/indoctrination.


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