I know we have had a mild summer, but the fact remains that yard work is a necessity again. I used to love being out in the yard and enjoying the fresh air, warm sun and smells of fresh cut grass. Now that I am older, I dread yard work (hurts my back and knees), sweat profusely and find the heat and humidity stifling!

So my favorite product is one I do not have, but have high on my wish list. It is a mere fantasy of mine, it is a lawn mower. (Another sign of aging…a fantasy is about a yard tool).

My favorite product is the Toro Recycler 20091 self propelled, super recycler gas lawn mower. The model name is The Toro 20091 Personal Pace. It retailed suggested price is $530.00.¹ What make this all the more enticing is my advancing age, recent findings that I have arthritic knees with mild joint narrowing and a broken lawn mower. I borrow my son’s mower or my son-in-law’s mower, and both are push mowers.

Why do I like it? Let me tell you in approximately 500 words. What’s there not to like? Get a look at all these features! Where to start? OK, I’ll start with the starting system. It’s the Briggs & Stratton ReadyStart engine with 6.75 foot-pound gross torque. The engine is guaranteed to start on the first or second pull or Toro will fix it for free; far and away the best guarantee in the industry. It’s not even necessary to prime the motor or choke the engine.² Sweet.

Next is the patented Super Recycler cutting system features a veneered cutting blade, clipping accelerator and kickers that combine to give you the best cutting system that Toro makes. Something that is called an accelerator lifts up the grass under the 21-inch cast aluminum deck. Two kickers then force clippings back into the blade where they are chopped and re-chopped into fine mulch. Toro even provides a free annual blade sharpening for five years and this helps the cut stay sharp for years.³

But the best is yet to come. It is Toro’s Personal Pace system with rear wheel drive. This mower will actually “sense” your walking speed and automatically matches your pace. It is geared to do that up to a walking speed of 4 mph. Imagine, you do not have to run after the mower, it adjusts to you. It is the industry’s most advanced self-propelled system.⁴

But they left out one thing. Just one thing that would make this THEE perfect mower. Toro forgot to address my sweating profusely. I sweat like the proverbial pig and have to constantly wipe my face off. So, here is how I would change this product I so longingly yearn for. I would borrow from the fitness cycles and attach a. mini sized cooling fan. There would be an exercise –sized mini fan, encased in a vinyl cage, similar to a nylon screen in a screen door. That fan would be mounted to the handle bar with a simple “c” clamp device. It would have a wire that is attached to the hub part of the rotary blade. When the mower starts and the blade is engaged, the fan would be propelled. So the movement of the blade would power the movement of this mini cooling fan. The clamp, when loosened, would allow you to adjust the angle of the fan, then you would tightened the clamp to hold in place.⁵

I am not an engineer, so I do not know if this is a feasible idea. I do like how it sounds and I think it would help keep the lawn mowee (person operating the lawn mower) cool. I have been unemployed since last year August, so finances are far from ideal. But when I do get a job and get things straightened around, I definitely plan on asking Santa Claus for the Toro 20091 Personal pace. He may say not this year, but he cannot say that it’ll shoot my eye out. Right Ralphie?

REFERENCES:

1) TORO Web page; www.toro.com/home/mowers/superrecycler/20091
2) ConsumerGuide Products
3) TORO Web page; www.toro.com/home/mowers/superrecycler/20091
4) ConsumerGuide Products & TORO Web page; www.toro.com/home/mowers/superrecycler/20091
5) Author's Imagination and Wishful Thinking