I have documented my steps to go green within my small data center. But I have been going green with yard work for years as I have been using a battery powered mower for over 15 years.  But now I have found something much better and it will save me in charging costs moving forward. What is this? Neuton Power CE6.3 Lawn Mower.

Over 15 years ago, when I lived in Austin TX, Austin had a trade in program: Bring your gas mower in and we will give you a voucher to buy a brand new electric corded or battery mower. I took advantage of this and purchased a Black and Decker CMM1000 24 Volt lawn mower. It did yeoman work while it lasted even with all its problems.

Those problems were that it took me two days to mow my lawn in Austin, TX (less then 1/4 acre) and if the grass was wet it took even longer. In addition, the blades were soft metal and just about anything pocked the edge. If a branch greater than 1/4″ got into the blade I had to resharpen it. I had to buy new blades (or sharpen the once I have) every year.

As the mower aged, I ended up replacing the circuit board, bushings, and battery at least once. It was starting to become expensive. Finally it broke. The handle literally snapped as it joined the body. The handle was always loose but I never did see the fatigue as it was buried under a huge bolt. I barely finished the mowing I had to do.

Now in New England I have about 1/3 an acre to mow. I would say 4 times what I had to mow in Austin. With the Black and Decker that would take minimally 4 days. 3 days for my field and 1 day for elsewhere. If the grass was taller than 2″ or wet it could take longer.

To my rescue is a brand new Neuton Power CE6.3 lawn mower. I was able to completely mow my field in 2 days and get mostly around my house. So how is 2 days any help, let me explain. We have had so much rain that I could not get out to mow, and when I did, the older mower broke so we ordered the Neuton Power CE6.3 with its 6 months of trial and had to wait an additional week for it to arrive and then 3 days for the batteries  (I ordered the additional power kit) to completely charge. By then the lawn was AT LEAST 1 FOOT tall.

I set the CE6.3 at its highest mowing setting and attacked the field. I was able to cut 2/3s of the over 1 foot grass on one battery charge. I removed the spent battery and put in the second one I purchased and finished the last 1/3 and then took it to an overgrown area and mowed down the brush and still had plenty of charge left to do more.

The 2nd day I completed the mowing by taking it to the 2nd to lowest setting and groomed, what I already cut, to the proper level. Once more I was able to complete 2/3s of the field and then putting in the other battery got all but a 25×25 foot part of my side yard completed. This grooming was actually harder to do as the grass was still very damp and dense. In addition, I have the weedwhacker attachment for the CE6.3 and that also helped trim up around various obstacles in the yard.

The weedwacker attachment could have affected the battery life but I am not so sure. But it definitely was difficult to use as you had to maneuver the bulky mower around the obstacles.

Nor did the blade get damaged when mowing up small twigs and other small tree debris but I did sharpen it before use using the handy sharpening tool that comes with the Power accessory kit.

What took two days with the Neuton Power CE6.3 would have taken 8 or so days with the older Black and Decker CMM 1000.

So how does this save me in the long run? Less use of the mower will lower over all charging costs after  mowing. Instead of taking 3-4 days mowing should now only take me 1 day, that is unless I let the grass grow over 1′ again. Now I will have more time to sit back and enjoy the lawn. BBQ anyone?

Edward Haletky

Edward L. Haletky, aka Texiwill, is an author, analyst, developer, technologist, and business owner. Edward owns AstroArch Consulting, Inc., providing virtualization, security, network consulting and development and TVP Strategy where he is also an Analyst. Edward is the Moderator and Host of the Virtualization Security Podcast as well as a guru and moderator for the VMware Communities Forums, providing answers to security and configuration questions. Edward is working on new books on Virtualization.