Wanted: lawnmower that gets good gas mileage

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard

John Deere salesman Johnny Greene, left, sells Raymond Nolan a lawnmower Friday at the John Deere branch located on The Strip.

Chances are, you’ve noticed gas has shot up to around $2.25 a gallon. With analysts saying those prices are here to stay for the entire summer, it certainly makes a dent in the wallet when filling up the family car.

But what about the lawnmower? Now that virtually everyone has upgraded to a riding lawnmower, and warm weather has caused the grass to grow, people are realizing high gas prices aren’t only going to affect their driving. It’s going to affect their yard mowing.

“Just about everybody who comes here talks about gas prices,” said John Deere salesman Johnny Greene. “But what are they going to do? They have to mow their yard.”

Johnny says John Deere doesn’t have any system to rate the gas mileage of its mowers. So figuring out the gas mileage is mostly guess work.

“I’ve had a few customers when they’re looking at a bigger mower say, ‘I don’t need something this big because of the gas prices.’ That happens every once in a while but not often,” said Johnny.

With gas prices creating an instant market for hybrid cars and cars that can operate on other types of fuels such as biodiesel, it begs the question of whether the lawnmower industry is evaluating such options.

“John Deere isn’t thinking about any kind of hybrid lawnmower that I know of,” said Johnny. “I’d say they’ll wait about five years until all the kinks get worked out of the hybrid cars.”

Johnny isn’t a fan of high gas prices himself and doesn’t shy away from offering his opinion.

“In my mind, these high gas prices are ruining the country,” said Johnny. “It’s on everybody’s mind.”