The Black and Decker MM275 Electric Mulcher Mower

These posts may be out of order a little but hey, they get the job done right?

The Black and Decker MM275 electric lawn mower and mulcher I inherited from my Father in Law after he bought it on sale and immediately ran the cord over. I told him to buy a spare cord but he didn't listen. It came with a 2 year warranty from Sears but he didn't care and wouldn't get the stupid cord.

Instead of doing that, he passed it on to me to try out. This is an 18 incher and was newer than my 2008 model I'd been using (I upgrade every couple years anyway) but didn't look as powerful as my old Lawnhog style electric mowers.

I gave this beast a whirl after sticking on a new cord and was greeted by that strange yet pleasing sound electric mowers make. No gas "chug chug" here, just that "whirrr" and the spinning of the blade. I've grown to really like that sound.

You can sort of tell what a mower is made for by looking at it and the small tires and low profile on this scream "small, flat grassy lawn". This isn't a stick chewer by any means but it could probably handle your average tree branches that decide to blow off. I opted to use this in the front yard because it's pretty flat and easy to mow without cord issues. It did the job well, I was pretty impressed. This wasn't going to see the backyard because that was under construction at the time (building a deck) and I didn't want to mow over nails, screws and other stuff I'd spilled haphazardly around. I'd surely snag the cord back there too, it was a mess in 2010.

Here's the basics of the Black and Decker MM275 Electric Mulching Mower:

• Weighs 39 Pounds
• 9 Amp Motor
• Cuts Between 1' and 3.5"
• Has a Bag Attachment Area
• Came With 100 Foot Cord
• 3 Modes : Mulch, Bag and Normal
• Great Warranty (Sears Bought)

Overall this is a nice little machine and you can pick them up pretty cheap in 2012, I called around. The light weight of this combined with the versatile use makes it a great choice for the little lady in your life or if you just prefer a less "pushy" mowing experience. 

I quite liked how light this thing felt. It's harder to push my 4 year old around than it is to mow my lawn with this electric lawn mower. 

This is a good machine but keep in mind it does have that cord. I recommend getting an extension or two to have around just in case you're watching the squirrels screw around on a nearby tree and run that cord over. You can get these new in quite a few stores still.

The First of the Bunch: Black and Decker Lawnhog MM675 Electric Lawn Mower

The Lawnhog MM675 Electric Lawn Mower by Black and Decker

The newest addition to my garage in summer of 2004 was the Lawnhog MM675 18 Inch Electric Lawn Mower by Black and Decker. This model is actually a mulcher and one of the first I've tried out. Why did I wait so long? I don't like getting green feet. Yeah, stupid reason but with five kids running around, that's hell on the carpet when they come in.

It's time, however, to give the mulcher a shot to see how it impacts the lawn. I purchased this mower in May 2004 to prepare for summer and a long spring kept me from trying it out until late June. It was worth it! I hate bagging to be honest, I'm lazy that way I guess and I don't like mowers that just spew grass all over the place.

I expected this electric mower to just blow grass out the side like the old gas monsters would but instead it seems to gently deposit it slightly off-center after chopping it finely. It's pretty neat and I'm told this helps fertilize the grass in some sort of cannibalistic fashion. Whatever works to keep that grass nice! You can also switch to bagging and spewing if you feel like it.

If you read my first post, you know how I feel about cords. They...well...I hate them but it's fun to watch others mow over them rendering their mower useless. This was one of my earlier electrics but I'll always think of it fondly and I hope the duct tape on the cord held up for the person I sold it too until they got a replacement cord.

Here's some basic things to know about the Lawnhog MM675 Electric Lawn Mower

• Weighs 46 Pounds
• 12 Amp Motor
• Cuts between 1" and 3.5 "
• 3 Cutting modes: Mulch, bag and blast grass out the side
• Flip Handle: Kind of a neat feature to avoid rotating the mower and avoiding the cord
• Has a Cord, watch out!
• Chews up rough areas and sticks very well

These are the primary things I think need to be known about this bad boy. There's some other technical specs but surely you'll see those if you decide to buy one of these one day, even though it's fairly old and may not be available at all unless through a reseller. I'll link one at the bottom of this page one day if I don't forget.

Over the summer of '04 I developed quite a nice relationship with this mower, I learned it's pros and cons and really did my best to push it to the limits as I was still new to the electric lawn care world. I ran over sticks, mowed wet grass and even big weeds just to see what would happen. This thing really IS a lawnhog. It blows through midsized sticks with ease and even the occasional rock didn't seem to hurt the blade. I do sharpen once a month (habit) so I never had the bending grass issue at all. 

The only downside to any corded electric mower is the cord. The flip handle helps this a lot because you can position it so the cord is always on the same side to help avoid cuts.

Something I can't quite figure out is what the heck Ron, my neighbor was using when I bought this Lawnhog. It was solid black, I can swear to that and it was definitely a Black and Decker corded electric mower. Maybe he painted it? He's a bit off, that's possible...

Black and Decker Electric Mowers: Making Your Neighbors Jealous For Decades!

Why the heck am I creating a blog about Black and Decker electric mowers? Well, to put it bluntly, it's 2012 and if you're still using a greasy, smelly and loud gas/oil mower, you're a dinosaur.

This isn't an easy change to make, I'm the cheapest middle-aged man I know (ask my wife) and I bought dozens of used mowers since the late 90's when I wasn't so old and mix/matched the parts to keep these beasts alive. Many were simply "grass benders" until sharpening the blades, oiling them and generally spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME IN THE GARAGE.

As my family grew into a small army (5 kids now) time became an important commodity that I simply couldn't waste anymore. The time came to liquidate my gas mowers and start looking for something easier that needed less maintenance. I miss my garage time but I've discovered some of the best mowers ever made. I've test driven close to 50 different electric mowers since they really took off about 10 years ago and I've decided two brands reign supreme. These brands are Black and Decker and Worx. What's the difference? Well, we'll get into that in a different post but it boils down to Price, Noise and Reliability. These are the two AAA brands on the market right now when it comes to hand push electric mowers.

What really forced my hand in the electric push mower realm was my neighbor. We'll call him "Ron" to keep him anonymous. He's the bane of my existence. His Kentucky Bluegrass lawn is perfectly groomed at all times, fertilized properly and it seems like his whole property is absolutely level. He's like an old lawn magician and no, he will absolutely not give me his secret. I've spied on him and after 10 years have no idea how he does it and keeps it so nice. Maybe it's his mean dog that keeps kids off the grass or something he's feeding the squirrels, I don't know but I WILL have a nicer lawn one day even if I have to wait until he ...moves on. Yeah it's evil so what, you haven't seen his lawn!

Ron had one of the first electric mowers that was popular in the 90's, this silent mower of death I called it because I was sure it would kill him. Over time he ended up with fist sized wads of duct tape holding the cord together because he kept mowing the cord. I admit, I enjoyed it immensely when the noise would cease and a barrage of terrible language was spewed. I still chuckle thinking about it. Naturally, I had to get an electric model too. To prevent running the cord over, I taped a piece of vacuum hose over it. Ugly? Yes. Effective, sort of. I only really chopped it up once compared to Ron's pearl necklace duct tape cord from hell.

Time went on and we upgraded, keeping an eye on each others mowers. Ron got a Black and Decker cordless electric mower a few years back and I had no idea they went cordless at all. It was kind of ugly and looked like the one in the picture up there but black. He could mow his whole front lawn on one battery but I heard him swearing in the back so I assume it ran out of juice back there. I got the next best model (I'm cheap remember) that was about $50 cheaper. It would just barely do my entire front lawn and side walkways. 

I knew with the first use that this was the future of mowing. I mean, how could it NOT be? It's quiet, no gas or oil, no smells. You could probably sneak out late at night and use it without any cranky neighbors being too upset. It does make noise like a mower but not that familiar "broken motorcycle" noise we all know from old mowers.

Today, I actually have 5 electric mowers in my garage, 3 Black and Decker, 2 Worx and a couple neat electric weedeaters as well. Our lawn fight will eventually move into the laser mower realm I'm sure but for now, I lead the tech fight and I know my lawn will look as good as his one day.

In this blog I'll share some stories with you about some different mowers I have and you can decide whether or not electric mowers are up your alley. If not, maybe I'll be a little entertaining as I relate more battles with Ron and the newcomer in the house to the East, "Bill".