Never attempt to sharpen your real mower blade with a drimmel. I take my reels to a buddy of mine that works at a golf course. The machine they use to sharpen these blades run in the neighbor hood of 30k. As for the McLane mower don't waste your time if your lawn isn't level as it probably has caster wheels instead of a solid roller, which will sink into uneven spots in your lawn and scalp it badly.

Ahhh, May is here, someone please tell it to our weatherman, our furnace still cuts in at times most years it's done it's thing by the end of March. Things are starting to pop in the garden finally, The Rhodos are starting to bloom and as I walk around I can see things are starting to bud up. I have to say the weeds are doing extremely well, I've never seen such vigor. We gave up on trying to keep the front lawn looking good a few years back, pouring fertilizer and weed killers on it finally got to me so now we just pick out the occasional dandelion and let it do its own thing. The front lawn? is now full of wild white violets, specie crocus, and a escapee from a flower bed (Veronica repens I think), which we are encouraging to spread, I have to say it's very pretty. DH is a wood turner and a lot of the wood he gets has a lot of different mosses on it so we are trying to get more of it in the lawn, some of it is really beautiful and so soft to walk on. Now after saying all this I will probably be digging up some of this in the fall for more flower beds, I have about 30 Lupin seedlings that have to go somewhere. The big news for me this month is I have a new great granddaughter London Ava 6 lbs. 9 ozs. arrived on the scene in Kelowna as her grandparents were still on the road trying to get there for the big advent, little monkey wouldn't wait. We got the phone call from DD, who had just been talking to the beaming new mommy, cell phones really are great for some things. MrMorton, so sorry about Spyro, a kitty I had did the same thing, Pussums was 16 and had been in poor health for some time, One night she climbed up on my lap, started to purr, looked up at me as if saying goodbye and peacefully slipped away. Yes, I've been weepy too over the loss of everyones pets, it just goes to show that we are all a bunch of very caring people and although distance keeps us apart we are always there for each other and although we all wipe the tears away at such posts it also lets us know we are not alone. On a happier note I finally found a seedling of the white flowering variegated Lunaria (Silver Dollar). I bought at a private plant sale over on Salt Spring Island last year, I actually stood there until they were potted up, this doesn't seem to be readily available, I have the purple with the variegated foliage and several of the plain leaved types in different shades of mauve and purple. I usually just cut the stems and give them away , let others do all the peeling LOL. I will harvest the seed off this variegated white so if anyone wants a few seeds of this send me an email. I only have the one plant so first come..., it is planted away from the other colors so hopefully it will come true. If I manage to get some decent pictures I will post them in the gallery but knowing me and cameras... we'll just have to wait and see. Happy May everyone Annette

Well....MrsBox, about how much is that new JD that starts if you look at it??? That sounds wonderful! Marlingardener - where did you buy your Ariens? I can do without the large rear wheels; I've been told they make it easier to manuever...? The mulching action is a big deal - I don't rake!! Except when my live oaks shed...aaaggghhhh! And the Honda - I didn't know they made mowers! So you can see how much I shop for big mechanical lawn items!!! LOL I have a huge Craftsman rear-tined tiller that's about 20 years old - it's a "rock"! My DH does the weed-eating, and I'm using his old mower (we've only been married 4 years) which is a Toro that has to be at least 15 years old. I haven't bought/shopped for anything large in quite a while. I am also in the market for a weed-eater I can handle, but is "tough". I can't decide between gas or electric. My wonderful DH does his best, but, I want to do my own weed-eating...if you get my drift... ;-) Anyhoo....I'm a shopping! Thanks for your advice and expertise!! Kat

To the Original Poster: A half acre (20,000sf) is a LOT OF LAWN for a manual mower. I've got nearly an acre lot, with about 25,000sf of lawn, and even a walk-behind self propelled mower kicks my butt. In New Jersey I have rye, but I lived in Southern California until 2000 and had St Augustine, so my experiences were similar to yours. However, I had a 12,000sf lot (big for So Cal) and about 7,000sf or actual lawn. While I can appreciate your desire to get rid of a gas engine, I think you need to consider a power reel mower. Personally I like the Trimmer mower. I had a succession of both 20" and 25" mowers. Preferred the "Original" all chain drive mower, although the less expensive "Home Owner" model did an adequate job in a non-commercial environment. The Tru-Cut was also an excellent machine and was available in 21", 25", and 27" cuts. The Tru-Cut was a wheel drive while the Trimmer was a roller drive. At a lower price point, the 20" McLane was a competent machine. Not as good as Trimmer or Tru-Cut, but about 2/3 the price. Whatever you do, avoid the 17" model. I think it is a piece of crap. Good luck.