Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Super Sickle

 Giant rotating blades for cutting symmetrical lawns
 
(+1, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

For those with boring shaped yards. A huge rotating set of blades, like on a manual lawn mower (see link) that extracts from a slot in your home that you either roll across the entire lawn in one (or a few) fell swoop(s). I have a perfect rectangle-shaped back yard that takes me an hour and a half to two hours with a push mower to complete. This would take me significantly less time to complete. It could even have a bag or net behind it to catch the grass clippings if you so desire. Also a blade sharpener that you rotate the blades against would be attached to the slot in the house to keep it fresh. The blades could be attached to a set of wheels that run along your fence and be adjustable to the height of the yard you want cut. Less expensive than a laser or robot, no pollution and very little noise. I guess I could just pave it over and play <shameless promotion> honky ball <shameless promotion>.
—goober, May 15 2003

Robo-mower http://www.shopping...orium-uk.com/mower/
Makes old-fashioned push mowers look sickle. [jurist, Oct 21 2004]

Laser Lawn Trimmer http://www.halfbake...a/Laser_20Lawnmower
Perfect for rectangular yards. [DrCurry, Oct 21 2004]

Manual lawn mower http://www.cleanair.../scotclasreel1.html
clean air mowing [goober, Oct 21 2004]

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       That robo mower would be expensive and more time-consuming. One fell swoop and cheap. No maitenance and no need to call the robo-mower repair man.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       I've been against housing big sharp mechanically operated sickle shaped blades beneath my house ever since our automatic timers went haywire, resulting in that unfortunate "incident" when all the neighborhood kids were playing baseball in the back yard. Who knew that the timer had reset itself? Such a shame to see so many promising athletes cut down in their prime. That's why my family now endorses robo-mowers (link).
—jurist, May 15 2003
   

       I guess I'm just cheap, but robo-mowers and laser mowing things, which as I understand is still a push mower but with laser blades, seems expensive and time-consuming. Is this idea too simple for the halfbakery? I'm not fetching for croissants or anything, but this is an alternative to expensive, time-consuming, loud, and polluting lawn mowers. I need to draw this or something. Also, jurist, this isn't mechanical, unless you want it to be. I'm a proponent of exercise still, so you have to drag it, either on the ground for a close shave. or on height-adjustable rollers. So to wrap it all up again, quick, quiet (good for 3 AM mowing), non-polluting, cheap, and still get the exercise.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       But what happens when an absent-minded uncle accidentally presses the "mow the lawn" button during an outdoor family party?
Aaaaaaaaaaah *squirt*aa*schpech*aaaaaaa!
—phundug, May 15 2003
   

       This isn't automatic or mechanical or whatever unless you need the danger and risk in your life. My prototype will be human-powered! Imagine that! Does every idea on this site have to appeal to the lazy? It can be automated or mechanical with a safety code device for the handicapped or infirmed. Also, don't invite absent-minded uncles to your parties.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       Well the real problem with this idea is it assumes that a lawn mower is just a blade on wheels. There's are a couple of reasons the blade in a lawnmower spins, which makes it unlikely that your giant blade would be very effective.   

       One is the mower needs to agitate the grass to get it up where it can be cut. The other is the blade needs several passes to cut everything.   

       In order for your blade to cut in one swoop it would have to be impossibly sharp.
—krelnik, May 15 2003
   

       I was thinking about that krelnik. I wasn't sure if it would cut all the grass in one swoop since I haven't tried it. It could be a double sided blade that could cut on the way back towards the house also. Even if you had to go back and forth with this thing 10 or 20 times, it would still be quicker than going back and forth with a regular mower 40 or 50 times. I'm going to try to find a good sized blade and drag it across my yard to see how effective this would be. Therefore, research pending, unless someone else has already tried this and would like to provide insight. If this does prove futile, the idea could be changed to one of those manual lawnmowers with the spinning blades that fits the width of your yard.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       I've never used one of the manual lawn mowers with the spinning blades, so I don't know how effective it would be. Wouldn't one of those the width of the yard work? Btw, I can only run 87 mph. I put up a link to a newer model manual mower. I didn't realize they actually still made these.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       I've cut a few overgrown lots and hay meadows with a hand-held sickle. Have fun, [goober], but don't expect any blue ribbons from the Neighborhood Beautification Society.
—jurist, May 15 2003
   

       I wasn't planning on using a hand-held sickle, although I'm sure they're fun for about 2 minutes. Hope you didn't decapitate any little bunnies when you did that. I'm gonna go edit the original idea. O.K., original idea edited to reflect a better method that dragging a huge, single blade across your yard. If someone wants to help me out with the aspects of putting a drawing on the site, I'd be glad to illustrate the idea and e-mail it to them.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       This version makes a lot of sense actually. A well deserved pastry for you. +1.
—jediprincess_3, May 15 2003
   

       Yeah, I kinda thought the single blade thing was kinda suspect, but I think I might try to build one of these things.
—goober, May 15 2003
   

       //Btw, I can only run 87 mph. //
Wow.
—thumbwax, May 15 2003
   

       (trying to pull from the deep recesses of my memory) "...he told me that on my deathbed that I would have total consciousness. So I got that going for me." (trying to pull from the deep recesses of my memory) O.K. I lied thumb, it's only 73.
—goober, May 16 2003
   


 

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