Acres(?) per gallon?

Being my first summer with a ride on mower, I have begun to wonder about lawn mower fuel useage. Is there any standard fuel use measurment. I think that it would come down to either gal-per-hour, or per-acre. I think that hourly use would be more strait forward than acreage, as deck width and patern over lap would make a large inpact.

Just a random idea, but I would like to hear from you guy on this.

Who cares? If you do care about fuel economy on your mower, get a reel mower (not to be confused with a real mower). I've got one, it's fun! It's most fun when a teenager-ish kid walks past you, they have no idea what the heck the spinny handle thing is that you're moving around on the yard. It's really pretty easy to use if you mow regularly...if your yard is a jungle, stick to the petroleum based stuff, but then again you can't complain much about fuel economy when you're mowing down the jungle.

Bryce

No standard measurement that I've ever encountered. That may change now with the cost of fuel. But it's always been vague terms like "economical" and such.

There's a lot of variety in fuel usage rates, just starting with the engines. A Kohler tends to be thrifty, the two cylinder Briggs are not. As well power loss to things like hydrostats.

Your deck design and blade type have a great deal of influence on the energy requirements to make the cuts. Mulching units take quite a bit more power to operate.

I am waiting for Pimpish to comment on the mower he uses... apparently the deck area is the size of an aircaft carrier and it cruises at 40mph.

Use gallons per hour. The amount of fuel required to cut one acre in my yard, which is devoid of trees, is minimal compared to my neighbor's acre which is full of trees and other obstacles. Therefore, he uses more fuel to cut the same amount of grass. Miinimize your hours at a given power output, and you maximize your fuel economy.

We use gallons per hour in avation too because, depending on how the winds are behaving, you are covering more or less distance with a given amount of power. Hell, if you are flying into a strong enough head-wind, cars on the interstate below you will pass you.

I may get a push mower.. my lawn can be measured in square inches

I just use the weed whacker a couple times a year. Anything else is handled by the machette.

If I never see a reel mower again, it will be too soon.

Here's a recent pic:

My reel mower is pretty slick...not very grassroots, but now instead of me having to get the lawnmower started for her, she can just go mow all by herself. :) I've had it over a year and it's still a long way from needing sharpened (FWIW, my yard isn't very big, it only takes me about 30 minutes to do the front and back). This is the one I got a while back:

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/brilreelmowp.html

I see that there's now a newer model out:

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/brill-mower-package-38.html

I will say that if you've got tall grass, lots of twigs/pinecones, or a big yard the reel mower is definitely not the way to go. However, I live in the city and don't have a very big yard so it is really handy. No loud engine so I can mow whenever I want day or night, better for the grass, and it's easy to store. My last place had over an acre, even with a riding lawn mower it was still a PITA...I doubt I'll ever have a yard that big again that I actually maintain, unless you count dirt tracking as maintaining.

Bryce

Where did all the old reel mowers go? I wouldn't mind having one, but don't care to pay $200+ for a new one.

I recently picked up a reel mower from the American Lawn Mower Company in Indiana. I was on a kick to buy something made in America. Beware, the 18" mower is made in China. The 16" one is made in Indiana.

You can find them at Sears, and True Value hardware stores for around $100. They are light (25lbs or so) and super easy to use. My lawn had become a jungle during my last roadtrip. Yesterday I was going to fire up the gas powered mower, but it wouldn't start. I grabbed the reel mower, and after a couple of hours, (and a considerable amount of sweat) the lawn was done. The reel mowers aren't perfect, but they are kinda fun, quiet, and nearly zero maintenance. I love mine. It is a far cry from the 100lb cast iron monstrosity I used to use at my Grandma's house.

https://www.reelin.com/

You can get new "Scotts" brand ones for a lot less than $200 at your local hardware store and they're a heck of a lot better than the old reel mowers IMO. The Scotts ones are actually recommended for bigger yards (wider) or taller cut height (adjusts higher than most models). I got this high falutin' model because it doesn't require sharpening (ok, it probably will in a decade or so) and because it's really lightweight (17 pounds IIRC). Like I said, she's doing the mowing now, it was well worth the extra dough to get rid of any excuses she might have that would require I continue doing the mowing.

Bryce

I think the tank on my mower holds about 3 gallons and I can do the full yard (3-5 acres) almost twice on one fill up. Not bad for a V twin brigs, hydro whatever tranny and so forth. this was just out of shear curiosity.

I picked up one of these for doing the area around the pool at the last house. I never imagined that a reel mower could operate so smoothly. Plus, it didn't throw grass clippings into the pool. Your effort is directly related to the height of the grass and your speed. http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/node3290.aspx?nid=61657&pid=73444

It takes me abuot 2 1/2 hours and 2 gallons with my 18 hourse Kohler, but I do patterns in the grass which use a little more gas.

I use this massive Toro at work... Turbo diesel, cuts 16' path at 7 miles an hour, cruises at 20 mph, and I go through about 1/2 gallon per hour.

Joey

Joey, that would be roughly 27.2 Acres/Gallon of Diesel.

joey48442 wrote: I use this massive Toro at work... Turbo diesel, cuts 16' path at 7 miles an hour, cruises at 20 mph, and I go through about 1/2 gallon per hour. Joey

This post is useless without Pixxors ;)

Sweet. Those are not exact numbers, but I know that after riding the thing for about 6 hours it usually takes about 3, maybe 3.2 gallons to fill it back up.

http://www.toro.com/golf/mower/rough/gm580/580.html

Joey

joey48442 wrote: http://www.toro.com/golf/mower/rough/gm580/580.html

Hmmm...80hp Mitsu turbo-diesel. That would be about perfect for a Colt...

I wuz thinkin' along similar lines, Pete. Half gallon an hour under load, I bet you could get 60MPG with that motor in a car.

Not only is that under load, but its wide open, as near as I can tell. Everything is hydraulic, so you just open the throttle, then adjust how fast you go with the "traction peddle".

Joey

You deliver pizzas on a tractor?

The standard for measuring engine efficiency is BSFC “Best Specific Fuel Consumption”. The calculation derives pounds of fuel burnt per hour / per horse power and gasoline weighs right around six pounds per gallon. A very efficient engine (say Honda V-Tec) will have a BSFC of around 0.45 which means it’ll give you 13.4 horse power for one hour on one gallon of gas. An air-cooled, carbureted, low compression, high surface area to volume ratio engine like a V-Twin Briggs probably has a BSFC around 0.7 which means you’re burning a gallon to produce 8.6 horse power for one hour. I’ve got a 5.5 horse power Briggs lawn mower. If its governor is set to run at 75% power, that’s 4.125 horse power which, with a BSFC of 0.7 should consume around 0.48 gallons per hour…that sounds about right based on my experience.

RX...that's a great post, but to clarify the B in BSFC is for Brake. Don't take my word for it...it's even on the internets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_specific_fuel_consumption

Bryce

Wall-e wrote: You deliver pizzas on a tractor?

Joel is the hardest working man in the pizza business. He will mow down the competition to get there first.

He does side work during deliveries, he is tho only pizza guy in Holly who gets tipped for the lawn jobs.