Your Ideal Mower?

primerbulb120 said:

I'm afraid I don't have much feedback about equipment operation. I fix a lot of equipment, but I don't spend much time using it. I have one string trimmer and one lawn mower that I use once per week during mowing season. Aside from testing machines I've fixed, that's all the yard work I do. I don't understand what you mean about the mower being a command module or influencing the durability of the other equipment. Could you explain this in more detail?

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Sure. I'm thinking about inverters that would allow you to power corded equipment and/or charge battery equipment so that landscapers don't have to return to the truck for power. The unit could also have USB drives to charge phones etc. Granted, these would only be really useful on big jobs where the distance to the truck is a big one.

In terms of maintenance, since you do. Lot of repair, how about devices that tell you how long a machine has been used, so you can get a better handle on oil changes, filters, battery replacement and so forth?

rwraysmith said:

Sure. I'm thinking about inverters that would allow you to power corded equipment and/or charge battery equipment so that landscapers don't have to return to the truck for power. The unit could also have USB drives to charge phones etc. Granted, these would only be really useful on big jobs where the distance to the truck is a big one.

In terms of maintenance, since you do. Lot of repair, how about devices that tell you how long a machine has been used, so you can get a better handle on oil changes, filters, battery replacement and so forth?

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That would be helpful, but many larger machines already have hour meters.

primerbulb120 said:

That would be helpful, but many larger machines already have hour meters.

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I know, I was thinking more along the lines of the handhelds. It wouldn't be just for the mowers themselves, and the hour meters would be enhanced for second generation capability.

rwraysmith said:

Sure. I'm thinking about inverters that would allow you to power corded equipment and/or charge battery equipment so that landscapers don't have to return to the truck for power. The unit could also have USB drives to charge phones etc. Granted, these would only be really useful on big jobs where the distance to the truck is a big one.

In terms of maintenance, since you do. Lot of repair, how about devices that tell you how long a machine has been used, so you can get a better handle on oil changes, filters, battery replacement and so forth?

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Which could only be used when the PTO is not engaged or cause a voltage drop enough to blow the PTO altogether,.
Then you have to convince the mower companies to fit 50A alternators to all equipment , not just the ones that have an electric PTO thus adding a few hundred to the cost of all mowers.
Or do you believe in the perpetual motion machine, or one of those 500 "free electricity" frauds on You tube.
To pull 110V off a 12 V system to power a modest say 1000W drill you will be gobbling up a minimum 10A from a particularly poor generating system in the first place and what about all the engines with 3A generators ?
Most landscapers worth their salt carry a back up jump start pack and most of these already have USB ports, 12 V ports, mains ports, compressor & work lamps. Some also have a radio/ Mp3 player with solar recharging so they won't send your mowers battery flat and recharge themselves, so what was that which we can not live without ?
Ric & I oft cross swords but this time I am with him 100% .He told you what is needed and it is not what your are eluding towards.

Mowers already have hour meters, designed by clowns with no idea of the operating conditions of mowers so they have liquid crystal displays that go blank or black after 2 hours in the sun so become effectivly useless or screens that are so glarey they can not be read even if the LCD was working and then the really good ones with lots of information flashing in front of your eyes in a font size that can not be read without a magnifying glass or better still are neither dust nor water tight so get so dusty under the screen they can not be read, or condense water under the screen so they can not be read ,or short out or just plain mechanically fail.

My perfect mower would be one you could still start by pulling a cord. Instead of having to replace a $60 battery every couple of years.