4 gallons to mow once? You have more to mow the any battery or plug in electric that I know of to be practical. Your backyard condition is probably more then any could even handle.

Should a suitable electric be known of by someone or become available in the future, your elevation will not cause a power loss. Gas engines loose about 3% per 1000' due to less oxygen, not a factor with electrics.

Maybe there are other options for your yard so you won't be mowing as much. Think low maintenance gardens, grazing animals for the backyard if your world allows. Turf isn't earth friendly considering the chemicals typically used and the emissions from the equipment to maintain it.

I can't imagine a 100' extension cord being long enough to mow something that takes 4 gallons of gas!
A circle with a 100' radius is only 0.72 acres!
What kind of mower are you using?

If you go through that much gas, you'll save money going electric.
Also if you go through that much gas you'll be mowing forever with an electric.

Good luck.

4900 feet doesn't hurt a gas engine that much. 10% maybe.

4 gallons each time? That sounds like about 10 acres. No way in Hades can you manage it with an electric mower, and as Bill mentined, the extension cords needed would be hundreds of feet long, causing a more severe current loss than the altitude-caused power loss on the gas mower. 4 gallons of fuel would last the average homeowner 2 years or more, so fuel prices are really still not a factor in mower choice, and probably never will be - you must be on a large place. I think if you don't want to keep paying for the fuel, you have to consider the other options like tomplum mentioned.

Do you have a teenage kid "borrowing" your gas for his car?

Thanks everyone.

When I got this mower several years ago, I noticed that it took twice the amount of gas as my previous mower and ran at 1/2 the power, and I had to run it full throttle all the time, to do any cutting at all.

Even with full throttle its power isn't enough to push grass out the side shoot without clogging every 30 seconds--and as far as rear bagging, it's the same. I have to stop every 1/2 min. and push the grass up into the bag.

I made a mistake when I said 4 gals of gas.

It takes 4+ fills of the gas tank. I think that's about two gallons.

Still, it seems a lot of gas for a mower that is 1/2 the power of my old one (15 yrs old, ten years ago),

It had a B&H 4 Hsp engine. This one is a Murray with a B&S 5.5 Hsp OHV. I thought it would use less gas and have more power. But was I ever wrong.

Think I've been running a lemon all this time?

The service people said it was set right. The carb was factory set. I did check the rpm and it's correct, but their is very little power--my blade is sharp and balance.

I was going to adjust the carb. to get more power, but I guess you can't do that with the modern mowers and also have to run them full-throttle, with some engines having no throttle. All they dealer said about my gas-guzzler and low power is they could put in a jet was sized for this altitude.

after what I'm hearing here, I think it should be doing a better job than what I'm getting.

I have to do my homework and try to figure out what to get to replace it. With the consensus being no electric, it's look for a power mower, that is good and is below $400.

Off my list is anything MTD, Murray, Troy-bilt (MTD). I'm a bit unhappy that I traded in my old Troy-bilt Horse tiller and let the sales person talk me into a "brand new pony." He failed to tell me that MTD had just bought out Troy-bilt and they were no more. Otherwise, I would have forked out the money to upgrade the 20 year old engine, which was my original intent. But that's done and the trouble now is getting a new push, power mower, with high wheels to help me in the backyard.

This mower of mine that's using all the fuel, has 12" high wheels which sure makes going over the bumps much easier compared to my old mower that had same size wheels.
But even with that it is still tough.

In fact, one of the back 12" wheels (plastic) spokes, just broke at the axle, followed by the rest of the spokes, before I could push the mower back to the house.

Still wanting to go electric, I see that Sears has a satisfaction guarantee--I wonder, does that mean if I try it and don't like it, they'll take it back without a hassle?

That'd let me see how their electric does. The one I'm looking at is cordless, which solves the 100' (actually I need at least a 150' power cord) power cord problem. But will it survive the backyard? From what you say, I'm pretty sure it won't.

I see the Sear High wheel mower is 6" in front and only 8" in back. That doesn't sound like a very good ratio to me.

Thanks again for the advice. Hope I can figure out what to do before the Father's day sales are off. If you'd like to give me a poll on what you suggest, keeping the price no higher than $400, I'd appreciate it.

Remember though, the terrain is rough, up, down, bumps, etc.

With the heavy use of fuel, low power, and now having to replace a wheel, it's better to get a new mower (or a good used one) rather than waste more money on what appears to have been and is still a lemon.

I looked for a Billy Goat, but every where was sold out.

A 5.5 HP OHV should mow circles around a 4 HP, especially if it was a flat head.

IS your blade sharp AND installed correctly?

Once you use the mower, unless something is mechanically wrong you will have to pay a restocking fee at Sears on outdoor power equipment. I believe it's about 15% but don't recall for sure offhand. And no way will a cordless hold 2 gallons of gas worth of energy in a charge, and corded models these days are pretty flimsy and not designed for large, difficult to mow yards. You need a gas mower.

In that price range, I'd look at the Lawn-Boy Insight Gold and Toro Recycler series. But I'd suggest if you want a truly premium mower that you up your budget to at least $500 and get something that will better stand up to hard use.

If you are mowing a lawn that is big enough to use 2 gallons of gas(even with a poorly running mower) three times a week with a non-self propelled mower at 4900' elevation, you must be in absolutely awesome shape! Congrats from a wuss who uses a rider for 1/2 acre ; )

@ 4900' elevation, who cares what the grass/lawn looks like?

thanks all.
yES, The blade is sharp, balanced, installed right side up.
It is sort of strange though, the cutting edge on all the other blades I see are on the opposite side of the blade.
I tried getting "generic" blade a couple of years ago. It was the right size and looked similar, but the cutting edge would not be hitting the grass with the motor rotation.
I think it's just always been a lemon mower/engine.
I did indeed think a 5.5 OVH would run circles over a regular engine, but the power seems to be less than 1/2 of the old engine--and without being able to adjust the carb, there's no way to check to see if it is set correctly. The only thing I could do was use my take to see if the RPMs were in spec. They are. But as I mentioned there isn't enough power to do a side eject without clogging in only a few seconds, and trying to rear bag is a stop start every 30 seconds to move the grass higher into the bag. The mower is just not pushing the grass out, nor doing much good cutting.

Thanks for the advice on a new mower. I know nothing of the companies in that price range and at that $$$, I don't want to make a mistake, e.g. get something by MTD or a mower company that used to be good but is now part of a larger company that isn't really interested in quality mowing.

Hey, 4,900 ft isn't too high for grass. I have grass 3 months/yr. The weather is a little hard on things though. The summers are above 100 degrees in the day. Night gets to the 60' or 50s. Right now it is 10 June and the temp outside this morning was 43.

The ground is really hard on a mower. It's really easy to run over rocks--they grown out here. -- that's actually true--the shaking of the ground + Freeze/thaw bring rocks to the surface that weren't there in the fall.

I guess trying Sears electric just to see what its like is not such a good idea. I was hoping to go as "green" as I could. I guess I'll have to settle for putting on a new roof and installing a solar water heater.

It was mentioned that i go up to $500 and get a real, quality mower. What makes one, quality? This B&S OVH starts perfectly but lacks power. In fact, my neighboor has come over and helped me mow. His mower is old, but it's engine sound twice as powerful as mind from the way it cuts, it has a lot more torque--especially when it comes to filling a grass catcher bag.

For a quality mower I should stay away from MTD of any sort, sears,==that's about all I know to keep away from.'

I do still want a push mower. The exercise is good. As long as I have a quantity of Gator-aid, I'm okay. (I admit though it'd be nice to not have to do the pushing.)

"yES, The blade is sharp, balanced, installed right side up.
It is sort of strange though, the cutting edge on all the other blades I see are on the opposite side of the blade. "

That tells me you have the blade on wrong, since all walk behind mowers I've ever heard of rotate the same direction.

If your mower is running correctly and has the blade installed properly and is using 4 or 2 gallons of gasoline to mow a yard of that size I doubt that an electric will have the power to cut through and bag that grass. It must be thick beyond anything I've experienced.

I note that you are using a Murray mower. They will do a decent job, but are really not as effective at bagging or mulching as one of the better designs from Toro, Honda, Lawnboy, etc.

Before you buy an electric mower realize that it will not have the power to do as good a job as a gas powered machine. That translates to even more frequent mowings and longer times.

I suspect that there is something else going on with your Murray. You might have a lawn mower mechanic check it out.

When you spend $500+ dollars on a mower, you get things like a better deck, better wheels and wheel brackets, more robust drivetrain and just overall a sturdier and better functioning machine.

Most newer mowers are fairly quiet, you can't really judge the power by the amount of noise it makes. My new 6.75 B&S is quite a bit quieter but much more powerful than my old 4 HP B&S.

When looking at the bottom of your mower (turn it on its side), the blade should turn counter-clockwise, so if the blade is horizontal the cutting edge is on the top on the right side and the bottom on the left side. You may want to turn your blade over and give it a try, the performance will improve drastically if it was previously incorrect.

im in agreement with metal, might want to check and see if you blade is on wrong side up. also, check you air filter. are you mowing when the grass is wet? if so that might be one of your problems as well. there could be a plethera of things that are working agains you. but i'd first make sure the blade is on correctly. if you are mowing 3x a week, holy crap, i want some of that grass in my any clients yard that i have to mow. thats just cash in the bank!!!

Checking the blade direction is good, tho maybe the poster was referring to the blade being sharpened on the bottom edge- which is done on some Murray 2 sided blades - even an AYP from last year had an odd oem blade that was sharpened on the bottom like some of the electrics are.

That sounds like my neighbor's Craftsman the other week when he was trying to bag with it. The grass was a little thick and moist and it would clog and die every 10 feet on him. The thing would sound normal while idling but once he hit the grass the power would just disappear. Meanwhile, the Kawasaki FJ180V on my Toro could care less what altitude it's at or how thick the grass is. I can't imagine going through 2 gallons of gas per mow, that would literally be 3-4 hours of mowing time on the Kawasaki. Using 3 times that much gas per week would be some serious time taken out of the schedule.

We're at about 5100' altitude here. The Colorado front range has a lot of grass to mow at that altitude or higher so there shouldn't be any big problems with a real engine.

Pretty sad when you need 180CC for a walk behind!

Something is very very wrong here. Four gallons of gas will get my extended-cab Chevy Silverado with a 5.3 L engine almost 80 miles down the road. I can't imagine any yard that would require a walk-behind (or even a rider) mower to consume that much energy to mow!

Mike from Arkansas

Thanks for all the follow ups.

Wildboar, you're right. It indeed does take me 3-4 hrs/mowing. That's a lot of time & I'm pretty much done in by the time I finish. The deck btw, is only a 20".

The reason the grass is growing so well, is it is new sod, laid last fall, and fertilized as soon as the snow was off.

Since then, the weather has been unsettled, with temps going from 50s to 90s in a week, then back to the 50s, with rain.
(rain here is a sprinkle, compared to back east or the nrth west) It's rained mored in the last two months than it did in the 1st 9 months of last year. The new grass loves this weather (night temp this morning was 43). Frost got some of my roses.

Now, on to the engine and blade.

I too, thought for sure the blade is on upside down. Especially when I saw the universal replacement blades have their cutting edge on opposite sides from my blade.

Not being able to find a blade among any of the double edge blades that had the cutting edges as mine does, I ordered a very pricey, OEM. And guess what. It's cutting edges are the same as mine.

However, that makes sense, since the engine rotation is clockwise and not counter-clockwise as Metal suggests it should be. All the blades I saw seem to be set for that kind of rotation.

The way I have the blade on now is that the sharp sides are on the right, front, bottom and left, back, bottom.

If I flip it over, it will be the thick, non-sharp side that always hits the grass. I thought the sharp side should be in the direction of the rotation and come into contact with the grass as it rotates. Is that wrong?

Years ago, I did flip it over a couple of times because I couldn't believe how it was throwing the grass out.

There wasn't much difference, other than the grass was being pushed down. That doesn't make sense to me either. How is the grass getting cut if the sharp edge is not hitting it?

Wildboar, what you said about the Craftsman is exactly what this mower is doing. The exception being, the grass is not wet==at least not wet as in being from rain (I'm cutting at late afternoon, after the sun has had a chance to dry off the grass.) It is wet in that it is alive, and grass juice comes out when it is cut.

This mower makes a great mulcher if I move at about an inch every ten seconds. But any faster, and in no time the side discharge is clogged or if I try to use the rear bag, as soon as there is about 2" of grass in the bag, the mower doesn't have enough power to push it any further & I have to stop and pull the grass to the top of the bag, then cut another 10' feet, stop and do it all over. It sucks.

I still want to think the blade is on upside down. That'd be an easy fix. Should the dull side hit the grass or the sharp side? With the clockwise rotation, it sure is strange, but that's how it is. The new OEM blade cost 4x as much as the other double edged blades, whether universal or brand.

So, I'm ignorant on the rotation and blade. Should it be set so the sharp side is at the front of the direction of rotation or turned over so the dull side is what 1st comes into contact with the grass?

I'm frustrated & tired. This is a lot of mowing, stop/start, and going through lots of fuel.

I do appreciate the help.
Right now I'm trying to decided whether to replace the broken 14" back wheel or try to glue the spokes back together (or get a new or preferably ($$$wise) Good quality, used mower.

Anyone know what kind of glue will work on plastic? Regular super glue doesn't set. --this is one of situations where the glue instruction's say, "works on most plastics" [but not on this plastic].

I did find that if I use the super glue that has to be mixed, it will make a collar around the break and the strength of the glue alone, will hold the spokes in place.

hey, that gives me an idea--I wonder if some large, hose clamps, if wide enough, would clamp the breaks together as you would if clamping two pieces of hose?

First preference though is to use a glue that works. -- a new wheel is around $30 and money is tight. The $30 would go better toward another, but this time, quality, high-wheel mower.

And finally, yes the gas mileage really stinks.

Radio, and others I hear what you are saying. Something is definitely wrong (and there is no fuel leak).

I got better mileage from my '69 Camaro RS, running at 120 mph, than I do from this mower at 1'/30 sec.

The easyest way to check the blade placement. Is when you flip it on it's side. What side of the blade is the Grass stuck on? Sharp or dull? or clean & then run a min. I picked up a new used Electric at Salv. Army $40. Because when I looked....... the grass was stuck on the dull side! They too thought it was a P.O.S.