I can just be label ‘ a lawn eccentric person ’ , yet … there was a time ( 1972 ? ) , when along with my two brothers , we would have to write out my kinsfolk lawn bi - each week , as part of our exhaustively long garden chore docket . profligate - track to today – and although I ’m not admit any less fight today ( humph ? Really?)when it come to edit the lawn properly , it was a very swelled deal ( perchance because my Dad was an creative person , and a one - time greenskeeper during college – yeah , that could be a couple of reasons why ) . Dad had an weird and almost unhealthy appreciation for attractive lawn stripes and grids , ( you make love – estate of the realm - sports meeting - Fenway - Park - timber - stripe ) and as a folk we we ’re ( and cover to be ) always ‘ old - school ’ – which intend – – OK . I ’ll be blunt . , Push - mowers . Push lawn mower without engines . Push mower without engines before they were hipster cool .
It took bowel , train and talent . My crony set about the gut and gear , but I get the talent . Which , when it add up to lawn care , I somehow ( gratefully ) lost .
Today , our once impeccably stripy lawn neither stripy , plaid or immaculate . It ’s clearly much small , but it is the same lawn . I mean , it smells the same , unlike other people lawn , which is unmanageable to key out , but it must be our unique combination of weeds and pasture selections . Gardens variety , or develop , which is altogether normal , and I have accepted this as part of maintaining , or shall I say ‘ stewarding ’ a piece of land which has been in my family for over 100 age . Today , our garden has more trees , more beds , and more things to navigate around , and to make this terrible recollective station unforesightful – I have avoided investing in a drive - on mower for these reasons . Yes , a drive on would be fun , but I could never justify it .
Now – my elder pal have their own abode , their own kid who they can torture , and their own lawn ( some , even with dainty , neat rows and striped ) , which go forth me ( the youngest ) with our old ( ancient ) sept lawn . All 2.5 Acre of it . Even though I have the largest lawn in the neighborhood , there is no drive - on lawn mower in our garage – until now . All of our neighbor have riding lawn mower , which they apply to cut their puney quarter acre lots , but a riding lawn mower just never made my short - lean . That is , until the folks at Troy Bilt came along , and I discovered this odd , yet appeal design . And , the seat , cupful holder and … mmmmm I kind of like it .
When I chose to review a ride on mower , the decision did not come easy . Believe me , Troy Bilt prepare some serious lawn equipment , but if I was to really be honest about this review , I wanted to find something young , not just accept a fancy drive on with headlights and all the bells and whistles just because it was free . Sure , it would have been fun to involve for a giant lawn tractor , or even a zero - twist beast just like the one that the landscapers habituate ( hey , Joe still is n’t talking to me ! ) , but as a product designer , I was not find anything interesting – from a usability percentage point , about the more typical tractors or mower . This retiring March , while in Scottsdale at our Troy Bilt Saturday 6 kick off , I see to it exactly what I want to write about – this half-baked smaller drive - on lawn mower that looked like something one would see cruising down the crisp aisle at your local WalMart than on a golf course . I had to know more about this thing .
The TB 30 Neighborhood Rider , is n’t even called a mower – it ’s a “ passenger ” , what ever that means . OK – it may look a little less ‘ buff ’ than it ’s bigger bro ’s , but this little flushed beast has some impressive characteristic – the master one , being practicality . When I ask the folk at Troy Bilt who where help us screen the equipment while in Arizona , what they were think when they designed this affair , they reply with far more answers and understanding than I had ask about .
First , The “ ice yacht - like ” design was intentional – designed this fashion for a very unspoiled reason .
The TB 30 Neighborhood Rider is project to do things that it ’s greater kinship group , can not . For example , first – it can jibe through ones average 30″ garden gates ( bing – we have lots of those ! ) .
Second , the Neighborhood Rider is design not to have a long tractor - like front ( you fuck , the hoodlum and long outlet where farm tractors usually have their locomotive engine – not necessary on any lawn mower , but in this display case , it grant one to see exactly where they are cutting – how brilliant is that ? No more cutting into bed , nipping off rare plants as you turn , or reckon where you are trim down .
Third , the 18 turning radius allows one to turn as if navigating around pallet of Oreos at a Wal … .. await – I mean I can carve around by alpine beds without trimming a single cherished genus Saxifraga from Tibet . severely , this is a huge plus for us with rarefied plants , as most drive on mowers are plan not for practical ground – like for those people who have gardens , but instead for aesthetic I .
Forth , the chair - comparable seating – which countenance one to model like a homo with knees in a comfortable perspective ( my issue with most bathroom , too – BTW - TMI ) , go out draw of way , specially around the steering wheel . I rarely receive this feature designed well with other drive - on mowers .
So guy ’s , this is not just for you ladies , you dudes can now ride it – no alibi ( do n’t worry , the designers at Troy Bilt still took aid to bestow a beer holder .
Mow responsibly . ( hmmm – another toilet military issue … . ) .
The techy specs themselves , I will go out up to you , check out side - by - side comparisonshere . I seldom depend at those variety of things , opting to buy based on first for looks . I do buy for cost , unremarkably start for the most expensive because I think that one get quality for a good Mary Leontyne Price , yet I also take account some blueprint practicality – or impracticality if it look awful . And while I am on the subject of aim – let ’s be real , this machine is not worthless , if anything , I love it ’s black and cerise motive , and , it certainly match my ruddy and black poulet .
The Troy - Bilt Neighborhood Rider is not a liberal pricepoint either , retail for just over $ 1000 , it ’s has so much going for it , that many home gardeners might find it practical and utilitarian . smashing for both little , or declamatory gardens , it takes up far less room than most ride on lawn mower , it is easy to lead off ( like many of the Troy Bilt merchandise ) , it cuts the grass so flawlessly and tightly , that I did n’t need a bag .
On the down side ? It does n’t have headlights , ( or a horn for that matter ) . Then again , I am a miniature designer . But there is that drink holder , and a cushy seat with outpouring . Oh , and a skillful lineament is that when you support up , the lawn mower mechanically rick off . Nice .
All in all , I can say this – the path I sense about the drive - on mower category has changed forever . If you ’ve been looking for a mower that you’re able to hinge on , but one that is smaller , less expensive and more maneuverable , than in conclusion , there is one . It ’s in truth practical , and not about being a monumental 4WD beast . Many of us will prize that .
NOTE : Full Disclosure — naturally – Troy - Bilt leave this TB30 Neighborhood lawn mower for free ( but I incur to take what I wanted to try out as well as write about ) . I am not an easygoing person to please . The mower , as part payment for being a 2013 Saturday 6 blogger , was offered free to me to keep ( and one will be given off this yr to one of my readers ) . I was further to be honest , to share my legal opinion and I know they really signify that . Honestly . So … OK . A headlamp would have been nice ! Stay tuned for an amazing Troy Bilt giveaway come soon this summer on this web log – you wo n’t trust how generous it will be .
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