Dadding with Distinction – Lawn Mowed on One Tank of Gas

• Date: May 27, 2018
• Time: 11:55 a.m.
• Location: Backyard, southwestern Sioux Falls, SD
• Temperature: 95(!!!) F
• Wind speed: S 13 mph (negligible)
• Equipment used: Kenmore Briggs & Stratton Gold self-propelled mower with Dust Blocker bag
• Length of achievement: 1 hour, 23 minutes
• Achievement, described:

My lawn can be a bear to mow on brutally hot days, and July came early in South Dakota, I guess, with a forecast high of 97 today. Fortunately, the humidity was only about 25%, so could have been much worse.

But no self-respecting dad wants to be at an irksome chore longer than he has to. Normally, mowing takes me about an hour and 10-20 minutes to cover our delightful little half acre, moving all the drainpipes and hammocks and (dozens and dozens) of tennis balls, ducking under tree limbs and swingsets, etc. This early in the season, just one mow in, I’m also usually bagging all the long grass instead of mulching so it doesn’t sit on top and kill the pretty lawn before July and August smothers it anyway.

So it helped to fill the tank to the tippity, tippity top before starting — something I’m usually too lazy to do, but since last week’s mow was a partial one, and I still had gas left, I figured I’d start full.

Even with the stops for bagging and extra passes on the side of the house where our sump discharges and the grass was nearly to my knees, this Craftsman workhorse didn’t sputter once.

Thought I was doomed when I was ready to wrap everything up before remembering the side yard — heat had gotten to me; or, maybe it was hitting my head on the kids’ swingset a couple times — but Eureka! Achievement Unlocked.