Tool Review: Greenworks 60V Self Propelled Wheelbarrow

Anybody who knows me knows that I love gardening and working in my yard. I am notorious for working myself to complete exhaustion, at which point my wife will ask me if I can moderate. The short answer is no. I cannot. I am like a toddler. I either go 120% or 0%. I have an on/off switch, and that's it. 

Case in point. Two weekends ago I wanted to plant a fruit tree. The problem was that I had two oleander bushes in my way. Over the past four years I have averaged one oleander bush removal per year, while needing an entire year to forget how terrible that process is. But this fruit tree had to be planted, two oleander bushes

Ten Things I Learned from Building a Dollhouse with My Daughter

In 2019 my wife and I got our daughter a dollhouse for her ninth birthday. Initially I wanted to completely build a dollhouse from scratch with her, but my wife helped talk me down from that ledge. (She typically only has to ask, "When will you find time to do that?" So much wisdom!) So we opted for a Victorian wooden dollhouse kit (available at Hobby Lobby) -- still pretty DIY in the true Renaissance Dad style, but with pieces already cut out. 

When Big A opened the dollhouse, her face lit up. She asked when we could start building it, which we did right away. Started. And it took us one year to build, from start to finish. 

One. Year.

I thought I was prepared for this. My friend Stan built a dollhouse with his daughter, and they worked on it for something like 18 years. He and I often talked about the process, so I had mentally prepared for a building project that would be something akin to building an actual house. I wasn't sure if my nine-year-old would feel the same way.

I was pleasantly surprised. My daughter not only loves building things (check out her inspiring project here), but she also loves just spending time with me (Daddy Daughter Date here). The dollhouse is the perfect combination of these two things.

And here are some things that I have learned in the year that it took us to build the doll house.

1. This project was my daughter's, and it went the speed that she wanted. If I had done the dollhouse on my own, I would have laser-beamed on each task, working on it evening and weekend until it was done. But it wasn't my own, and the goal was not a completed house. The goal was to spend time with my daughter on a common task.

2. I was a consultant. The house was my daughter's. She picked the colors, the wallpaper, the style. I got to make recommendations, but she could completely ignore me whenever she chose. And she did. But that's okay, since I wanted the house to be hers. Again, I was along for the enjoyable ride, so "fancy" ruled the day no matter how much I preferred "practical" or "classy". 

3. This project needed a space. Initially we were working in our guest bedroom. But then guests happened, and the dollhouse moved to the garage. Then summer happened, and it moved inside during some stages. I finally cleared off some table space in the garage, and that is where our "workspace" was. When it was moving around every couple of days, it was a pain. So the dollhouse space was a very necessary component of the project.

Renaissance Dad's Top Ten Products the Year

Let's start 2021 by getting a little philosophical. Think about the number of products that you come into contact with every day. From the time you wake up, to the time you go to bed, you encounter thousands of products. This morning, as I was making coffee, I thought about this. Just to make coffee, I made decisions about the type and brand of the coffee maker, the coffee, the filters, the r/o system that provides the water, the faucet, the container for compost for the old grounds, and the mug that I use. When I look around my house, my yard, and my office, the number of products is staggering. 

So imagine the glorious honor of making it onto Renaissance Dad's Top Ten Products of the Year list! Yes, here for the second year in a row, is my Top Ten list, with ten of my favorite products from last year. Note: These are glowing endorsements from me with no compensation or free product (unless noted). These are just products that I used and loved in 2020. In no particular order, here they are: 

Yardwork with My Tween

It is currently 350° in Phoenix (no hyperbole or exaggeration here), and today I had a lot of yardwork to do. With temperatures exceeding most oven broiler settings, the idea of being outside for more than a fraction of a second is not as alluring as it is in the fall with the perfect 75° weather. 

But I have a secret weapon. It's my tween. My tween has been working with me to learn to mow, and she is now on auto pilot. This means that instead of me having to mow and then move into the rest of the yardwork, my daughter does the mowing (and trimming) while I get to tackle the rest of the work. She earns money, I get to spend less time with my skin baking off my bones, and we both get to commiserate about the heat together. 

So today I had to tackle trimming my palm tree. This tree is massive, and it has these seed pods that serve two purposes: to clog up the pool vacuum and to sprout hundreds of baby palm trees all around the pool deck. Additionally, when the pods are cut off, they weigh between 25 and 50 pounds, so they are a real treat to haul to the rubbish pile (heavy sarcasm here). 

Normally I don't trim this tree until the seed pods start dropping (after telling myself for weeks to do it before that). And in the past, it has taken me about six hours with a hand saw to trim the fronds and pods. By then I’ve melted into a pool of lava and am too scorched to do anything with the carnage, so I leave all the debris on the ground for a few weeks until I can muster up the energy and willpower to go back out in the heat and deal with the trimmings.  

But today I used my Greenworks pole saw. The reach was perfect, and instead of taking six hours to trim, I had the tree trimmed in 35 minutes. Then I had another (heat)stroke of genius and hired my 8-year-old to pile up the fronds for me. I tossed them over the wall; he dragged them to the driveway and stacked them up. He earned two bucks, and I earned a free afternoon in the AC.

Two hours, beginning to end, and the lawn mowing and tree trimming were done. We were able to once again retreat into the blissful joy of our air conditioning. And while this may seem like an advertisement for Greenworks tools, it is nothing but glowing appreciation from somebody who is grateful for as little time in the baking Arizona summer heat as possible. I got nothing from Greenworks but a pole trimmer and the joy of spending time with two of my kiddos doing yardwork. 

Greenworks 60V Gen2 String Trimmer: Clean Up That Messy Line

Here's a story that most of us are familiar with. You have spent a few hours doing yard work. All that's left is trimming the edges of the yard and then blowing off the hardscape, and you're ready for a shower and a cold beverage. You start your string trimmer, get a small percentage of the way done, and then your string line runs out. You're faced with the dilemma of spending the time fighting with the trimmer to refill the line. I know I'm not the only one who has filled up a dual spool trimmer line, gotten it tightly wound, and then went to put it on the trimer head, only to have the line jump bounce out, unwind itself, and get tangled.  At that point, I'm thinking that the edge of the yard doesn't look that bad and can be taken care of the next time I mow. My neighbor doesn't say anything, but I see him eyeing those sloppy edges.

That happens to me every. Single. Time. It never fails. When the trimmer string needs replacing, it's at the tail end of my yard work but never as I swipe that last blade of grass.

Gen 1 (top) and Gen 2 (bottom)

Enter the Greenworks 60V Gen 2 String Trimmer. Any loyal Renaissance Dad reader

Greenworks 60V Mower: Generation 1 vs. Generation 2

Six years ago to the week I posted a review of a Greenworks 40V Twin Blade lawnmower that I had been using for quite some time. At that point, I thought it was the best mower that I had ever used. Three-and-a-half years after that, I got to test out the new version, a 60V Self-Propelled single blade lawnmower. I was such a fan of my 40V mower, I didn't see the need to upgrade. But the 60V mower won me over with its long run time, wide cutting path, and its overall power.

Last fall Greenworks announced a second generation of their 60V mower. Just like last time, my first reaction was to stand by my trusty old mower. But looking at the list of new features made me want to see how the 2nd generation 60V mower stacked up to the 1st generation as soon as it became available.

Renaissance Dad's Ten Favorite Products of 2019

The year 2019 has come and gone, and as we enter 2020, I can't help but think that the Jetsons steered me wrong. While I don't think there was ever a specific year mentioned, I'm disappointed that 2020 hasn't given us flying cars, food conveyor belts, or sassy robot maids. While there will be many amazing things in the coming year, I certainly won't be holding my breath on that list.

But this has caused me to pause and think of 2019 and some of my favorite things that I discovered or rediscovered during that year. I made some fantastic discoveries in 2019, and I would like to share my ten favorite products of 2019, in no particular order. Please note that none of the companies gave me products or money, but I am simply so happy with my experiences that I wished to share them.

1. Home Master Artesian Reverse Osmosis System - I didn't want to change out my reverse

Renaissance Dad Tool Review: Greenworks 60V Brushless 10-Inch Pole Saw

I am a power tool enthusiast. When my wife and I were first married, I used to plan house projects around the new tools that I wanted (sorry, not sorry, sweetie). When I wanted a router, I convinced myself that baseboards and trim would be easier and nicer if I cut them myself with a router and router table. When I wanted to make my own compost, I convinced myself that owning a chipper/shredder would be the best way to go. And on, and on, and on.

But sometimes I see a tool and I wonder if it is really necessary, or I arrogantly think, "Yeah, some people will need to use that, but I can make do with what I have because I've got the mad skills." Some tools seem like superfluous space-wasters. I used to think that way about a jointer, until I got one and realized how much easier it is than trying to use a table saw or planer to do the same job.

That is the question that ran through my head with a pole saw. For those who may be unfamiliar with this tool, it is like a chainsaw at the end of a pole (you may ask yourself why one wouldn't just attach a chainsaw to a pole and call it good. The answer is because that is completely unsafe, but I'm sure there is somebody on YouTube who has done this and posted step-by-step instructions).

Renaissance-Dad Tool Review: GreenWorks Pressure Washer

I have owned a GreenWorks electric pressure washer for several years, and it has been a great tool to have. It has also made me quite popular, as family and friends without pressure washers regularly borrow it. So when I recently had the opportunity to get my hands on the newer version to see how it compared, I jumped at the chance.

Right out of the box, I saw the same quality that I've experienced with all of my GreenWorks tools. It took less than ten minutes to put together, the components were solid, and the instructions were easy to follow (not that I actually read the instructions. I'm not Lord Business...). 

The GreenWorks pressure washer is a 2000 PSI, 1.2 GPM beast. If you're unfamiliar with what this means, the PSI (pounds per square inch) refers to the pressure of the water coming out (cleaning power), the GPM (gallons per minute) refers to the amount of water coming out each minute (1.2 gallons), and beast refers to the fact that this will be able to tackle just about any chore on my property. 

My Secret for Finishing Compost

Like any other grownup, I have many chores that I do on a regular basis. Dishes, laundry, yard work, bills, etc. The cyclical list goes on and on. As a parent, I often do these things automatically without thinking about having my kids help.


This past weekend, when I had to rotate my compost and chip it up, it was not automatic that I asked my kids to help out. In fact, it was only on a whim that I asked when my wife was heading out with my middle daughter. And I was somewhat surprised that both my oldest daughter and my son enthusiastically agreed to help out.

Renaissance Dad Tool Review: Greenworks 18" 60V Brushless Chainsaw

Before I was 25, the only chainsaw experience I had was playing Doom. My first chainsaw was an electric chainsaw for some light yard work around the house, mainly trimming thick branches that I didn't want to use a pruning saw for. The first time I used a gas powered chainsaw when helping a friend, I realized that my electric chainsaw could only be called a chainsaw because it had a chain. But so does my bike...

Then I started doing a little more major tree trimming, and my electric chainsaw could no longer hack it (hehehe). It finally saw its end when I helped my parents with a fallen mesquite tree, the last thing that it ever cut down. The electric saw was gone. I loved the power of a gas saw, but never wanted the mess, smell, or hassle of it around the house. What's a guy to do?

Spring Gardening: Build the Foundation by Preparing the Soil

When I lived in Illinois, gardening was so easy. My wife and I lived in an old farmhouse. In the back corner of the yard were the remnants of an ancient tree, long since cut down. The roots were decaying, and the soil was so rich and fertile. We popped in a tomato plant and a jalapeno plant, and that summer we had no shortage of vegetables. We did nothing, and our crop was abundant. We congratulated ourselves on being gardening prodigies.

And then we moved to Arizona. Alkaline soil composed of clay, sand, and the tears of those who once dreamed of gardening. Irrigation that must be applied in the proper amounts at just the right time or we would be the reason the state would move toward complete drought. Tomatoes that would split their skins if the sun hit the fruit for five seconds too long, and would drop from the plant if I didn't sing to them each night. We were not in Kansas (or anywhere in the Midwest) anymore.

Renaissance Dad Tool Review: GreenWorks 60V 16-Inch Brushless String Trimmer

Three-and-a-half years ago I wrote an article about my new GreenWorks string trimmer. I was so happy with the performance that I labeled it "The Best", being extremely content with the 40V power, the compatibility with my other 40V tools, and its ease of use. That string trimmer has been fantastic, and I have not been on the lookout for a new one.

Renaissance Dad Product Test: GreenWorks 60V Self Propelled Cordless Mower

I have many bizarre quirks, and one of them is that I really love research. When I am in the market to purchase something, or when I am just interested in finding out about a new product, I love to read reviews, look at specs, got to stores to fiddle, compare, and push Google to new limits with the amount of comparison that I do. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I started Renaissance Dad. After extensive amounts of researching, I wanted to share what I had learned with the entire Interweb.

That being said, I spent years researching lawn mowers, purchased and owned several different brands and varieties (battery, corded electric, gas, self-propelled, push). Three and a half years ago I fell in love with the GreenWorks G-Max 40V Lion mower. And in three and a half years my love for this mower has not wavered.

Family Movie Night: How to Make Your Favorite Movies Kid Friendly

Before my wife and I had kids, our movie nights were seamless. We could watch our favorite movies in perfect peace. Once we reached the point with our kids when we had family movie nights, we ran through the standard Disney and Pixar movies, and then my wife and I started to introduce our kids to our favorites. It's amazing the difference between watching Back to the Future as a couple and watching it with a four- and a six-year-old. Brow sweating, hands shaking, I watched with my finger on the mute button, waiting for the inappropriate language that I knew was coming, and dreading the inappropriate content that I forgot about. So we were faced with the option of not having family movie night until the kids are older, being stuck with repeats of G rated movies for the next 8 years, or sweating through every family movie night, waiting to mute, fast forward or pause.

Enter our family movie night magic maker: ClearPlay. In searching for a way to find edited movies, I discovered the ClearPlay Blu-ray player. This player works with DVDs and Blu-ray discs, and it has streamable filters that allow families to choose what is acceptable and what should be filtered out. Basically, ClearPlay is about putting the control into a family's hands without having to worry about content. Users are able to set filter levels for profanity, sex/nudity, substance abuse, vulgarity, violence, sensuality, and many more categories. You can choose levels of no filtering, least filtering, medium filtering, and most filtering for nine different categories. ClearPlay will either mute the movie during filter levels, or will skip the filtered out moment or scene. There are over 4,500 titles that have filters, with movies added every day.

ClearPlay has definitely enhanced our family movie night experience. We got to kick off our fun old fashioned Christmas by enjoying one of my favorite Christmas movies, Christmas Vacation, and the only sweat I experienced was from laughing so much and watching my seven-year-old's face as Clark Griswold flew down the hill on his greased up saucer sled.

By the way, this is not a sponsored post. I have not received any payment or incentive from ClearPlay. These are my unbiased opinions.

Inexpensive Solar Panels: Good for the Environment, Good for the Family

When my wife and I were first married, we heard about the idea of powering a house with solar panels. We immediately used our dial up internet to slowly read about residential solar production. Through our investigation, we discovered that the cost for solar panels was more than you could save in a lifetime of electrical bills. Yikes! We believed at that time that we would probably not be able to ever afford to have solar panels on our house.Against all hope, we still put it on a list of life goals and stuck it next to our dinosaur computer.

Fast forward to 2015.

Phone app showing daily solar production

While solar panels are still relatively expensive, we decided to look into leasing them and ultimately ended up with solar panels on both of our Arizona homes using Solar City. While we generally don't like to lease anything, we realized that leasing solar panels does not cost us any money in the long run. In fact, it actually saves us money when our monthly electrical bill and lease payment are combined. We actually have several months in the year with a $0 electrical bill (only paying the lease amount on the solar panels) which is absolutely fantastic.

In the last year, we have saved an average of $50 per month by generating solar power ($600 over the past year). We have generated 14,781 kWh of power in one year, which seems to be enough to power a small town. Solar City's fantastic app for iPhone (or Android) enables me to monitor my solar usage, see how much I have generated for a day, week, month or year, and check to make sure that the system is working properly. 

The kids LOVE the solar panels

Solar City is a company that was started by two brothers who wanted to make solar affordable for the average homeowner (if only one of MY brothers had talked me into doing something like this). Their engineers work with the homeowner to develop a system that works for the home and lowers the monthly electrical bill by more than the lease payment. They also take care of all permits, installation, inspections, and follow up. And, according to a different company that I spoke with, they are the only solar provider that handles their own financing, which means that they are more affordable. In essence, Solar City is a fantastic company to work with, and they make every aspect of going solar easy. They currently provide solar systems in 15 states.

The full array

Here's what having a solar system means to me as a father. It means that I am reducing my carbon footprint by producing a good portion of the electricity my family uses (so I can feel good about recharging the batteries for countless annoying talking toys). I am much more conscious with the electricity that I use, knowing that what we produce goes that much further if lights are turned off or we open the windows to help cool off the house. And I love talking about electricity with my kids. In fact, my kids, ages six, four, and two, love looking for solar panels as we are driving around. It is kind of the hippy version of "Slug Bug," although I suppose "Slug Bug" was kind of a hippy thing to begin with... Anyway, the logical side of me loves saving money and the environmental/fatherly side of me loves doing something good for the planet.

If you are interested in learning more about Solar City and whether or not they are the right company for you, please use the following link: http://share.solarcity.com/renaissancedad   For every person who signs up for a solar system through this link, Renaissance Dad will donate $100 to a local charity.

The Best Cordless String Trimmer: A Renaissance Dad Review

G-Max 40V String Trimmer

There are some life events that just give me chills and cause me such extreme joy--my wedding, the birth of my children, the purchase of a new house, and every time a power tool breaks. Yes, I know that the last one on the list may seem like a stretch, but I really do enjoy the passing of an old tool and the research that I get to put into a new tool. And I not only research every tool that I purchase, I shop around for the best deal on that tool.

That being said, it makes sense that if joy comes from one power tool that ceases to function, I will have even more joy when two power tools cease to function. And so I present the first of a two part blog on new power tools for the lawn.

Adjustable head angle

Next to a mower, a string trimmer is the most used tool in my yard. I have had several different types over the years--gas, corded, cordless--but have most recently stuck with cordless. I have had two Black and Decker cordless string trimmers, and both have been okay. They get the job done, but that's about it. The battery life has often been just barely enough. Usually, by the end of the yard, the string is no longer cutting the grass but merely massaging the grass into submission. So as that massage became less effective, I faced either replacing the battery or looking for a new tool. Since I wasn't thrilled with the trimmer in the first place, I decided to look around.

Adjustable, telescoping handle

Enter the Greenworks G-Max 40V string trimmer. This puppy has more bells and whistles than I know what to do with. The handle is adjustable, so I can get a comfortable angle for holding the tool. While this is not unique to the Greenworks string trimmer, one feature that aids in this is the adjustable tool head. The angle of the head can be changed, so the comfortable hold for me can still yield a parallel cut. MAGIC! This feature is amazing, and yet another example of how Greenworks engineers really think their products through.


Another wonderful feature is the on trigger. Most of my string trimmers have had a trigger-like button that you have to hold with one finger until your finger cramps and feels like it is going to fall off just to get violently massaged by the line powered by the slowly dying battery. Not on this bad boy. The trigger runs along the underside of the entire grip. This means that you can drum your fingers with the music while trimming, and you get constant power.

Full handle trigger

Speaking of power, the Greenworks G-Max 40V String trimmer is powered by the same batteries used in the Greenworks G-Max mower. The first time I used this trimmer I popped the secondary battery out of my mower, loaded it into the trimmer, and was able to complete the yard without skipping a beat. The Lithium-Ion battery means a steady, constant power supply with no power fade, and 40 volts means that you will have plenty of power to complete your yard. Lithium-Ion also means lighter weight, and this champ weighs in at a mere 9.2 pounds.

Shopping around for this trimmer can save you a little bit. It's about $150 for the tool with battery, or for a smaller yard, you can get by with the bare tool for about $70 if you have the Greenworks G-Max mower (using one battery for mowing, and the other for trimming).

Easy change from trimming to edging

If you haven't been able to tell, I am quite happy with this trimmer. However, there is one thing that I must warn you about. I have contacted Greenworks for various reasons over the past several months, and their customer service is terrible. I had a question for them, and after e-mailing with no response five times, I called. I was told that my question would be passed on and I would receive a response from a supervisor. That call never came, and subsequent calls and e-mails went unanswered. So while the products are fantastic, in my experience, the customer service is really bad. This is definitely something that should be taken into consideration when making a purchase like this. That said, the products are so good that I still chose to buy them.

So there you have it, Renaissance Dad readers. Another tool review, another happy Renaissance Dad, and another yard that has edges as crisp as a freshly ironed shirt.

Have fun with the yard work, because winter is upon us and we don't have much mowing time left. And by "we" I mean "you," because I live in Phoenix and mow all year long.

Patriot Electric Wood Chipper: A Renaissance Dad Review

Patriot 1.5 hp Electric Chipper

I love doing yard work, but I hate throwing large quantities of green waste into the dumpster. I have always wanted a way to grind up the waste to use in my compost and as mulch. Years ago I borrowed a chipper from my friends Roger and Mary. It was a heavy duty, gas powered chipper. It did the job, but it was loud, smelly, and the wood chips smelled like gas and exhaust, so I was hesitant to use them in my garden. Over the years I have done research into a quality electric chipper, but it seems that the reviews all state that moving to an electric chipper means sacrificing power and efficiency.

Enter from stage left: the Patriot Electric Chipper. I have read reviews and looked into the company, and I was excited about the quality of the chipper. I contacted the company and was able to get a discount on the chipper in order to try it out and write a review. So here, my faithful Renaissance Dad readers, is what I have discovered.

Getting help assembling the chipper

Starting with the heavy boxes that were delivered, I knew that this was a beefy machine. My kids helped me put it together. (Please note – the chipping cone of this machine may be used for spontaneous singing of Frozen songs before it is assembled.) Everything about this machine demonstrates that it is made to last, from the heavy duty pneumatic tires and steel bolts, to the thick deflector over the shredding chute. This chipper also has a bag that attaches to the deflector shield to collect the chipped and shredded material. Magical! While this machine is heavy, I have loaded and unloaded it from my truck by myself. I would recommend using a buddy to load and unload, but it can be done in a pinch by yourself. And then there is the instruction manual…

If you are anything like me, you typically ignore the instruction manuals and begin operating everything on a trial and error basis. Let me quote for a moment from the front of the instruction manual for this chipper. “A note to the happy, excited, to-heck-with-the-manual kind of customer… We’ve put this information on this page because it has come to our attention that some people don’t read these manuals. (Can you believe IT!)” Boy, do they have me pegged. But an instruction manual like this shows me that humor can be included, and it caused me to read the majority of the manual before operating this chipper. Okay, maybe not “majority”, but I did read some of it.

"Let It Go", as sung through a chipping cone

FINALLY, I got to plug it in and see what happened. I started with some bags of leaves that I rescued from the alley last fall. I poured the leaves in, slowly at first. Then I wanted to see how it handled a higher rate, so I dumped a large quantity in and promptly tripped the breaker. Lesson learned. This machine has a very specific feed rate, and listening to the motor will tell you if you are feeding it too quickly. The result was completely pulverized leaves. Four massive bags of leaves were reduced to a little more than half of a trash can, which will be used over the next several months to cover my kitchen scraps until they are ready for my tumbling compost bin. For leaves, the Patriot Electric Chipper receives a 9 out of 10 thumbs up (my three-year-old, who recently asked me to start calling her "Big A", will hold up all of her fingers if something is outstanding and say, "This is 10 thumbs up." Hence the Renaissance Dad scale). 

Please note, while I started off with eye and ear protection, I quickly learned that the dust from 6-month-old leaves is abundant and decided that a dust mask was necessary.

Bags of leaves pre-pulverization

Make sure you have adequate protection for all your helpers

The next trial was with some finished compost. I typically have large chunks left in my compost (avocado peels, coffee filters, not-quite-composted banana peels, etc.). I have always wanted a way to grind the compost up to end up with a finished product similar to what one would buy at the store. So I figured I would run a batch of compost through the shredding hopper to see what the end result was. WOW! This is the compost that I have always dreamed of. The finished compost was so beautiful that I brought it in and set it on the fireplace mantel for all to see. Not really, but I wanted to. The Patriot Electric Chipper finished the compost in a way that I have always dreamed of. For finishing compost, the Patriot Electric Chipper receives a score of 11 out of 10 thumbs up. That’s right… This one goes to 11!

Now it is time to try some wood. And this Renaissance Dad does not start of with anything easy. I recently trimmed some dead mesquite branches from my parents’ house. Knowing that this chipper was on its way, I prepped the branches for the chipper. If you’re not familiar with mesquite, it is a thorny desert wood which, according to Wood Database, ranks fairly high on the Janka hardness scale in comparison to the majority of North American woods (I can almost hear most of you coughing “nerd” into your hands. That’s okay. I accept it). The short version is that I knew this would be a challenge but I wanted to see if this electric chipper could handle it. Once I got the feed rate down, and again listened to the motor as an indicator, I was making wood chips like a mad man. The end result was a trash can of beautifully chipped wood that will be added to compost and used as mulch. For chipping branches, this machine receives a score of 8 out of 10 thumbs up, although I know that with freshly cut branches and other less diabolical species of wood this score will improve.

Shredded leaves

Here is what this machine is not. This is not a gas powered chipper. While it is extremely high quality and built to last, this 1.5 hp chipper is not a 10 hp gas powered chipper. I can only imagine what kind of damage I could do with a 10 hp chipper. As I stated above and have stated previously, I want to avoid gas powered yard equipment and know that I will not be able to shove whole tree trunks into an electric chipper (although, if Patriot ever figures out a way to create 10 hp from a 110 electric outlet, I would be the first to jump on that and try it out). That being said, this electric chipper is user friendly, efficient, and most importantly, clean.

And now the downside. Quality and power like this does come with a price tag. This is not an inexpensive machine, and while Patriot sometimes has deals like free shipping, this chipper still has a price tag that will leave some people wondering if it is worth it. But I have a solution.

Shredded compost

Many people who are avid gardeners know other avid gardeners. There are community groups, neighbors, friends, people from church, and relatives who enjoy gardening in their yards. It made me think about community, and how we have somehow developed this need to have something for ourselves instead of sharing it with a community. Some things that are used on a regular basis are much more convenient to own individually, and some things are too bulky or cumbersome to load up and haul off to a friend’s. But what about a chipper? I use my chipper about once per month, which means that it is available 29 days out of every 30 or so. What if a group of four or five people in a fairly close geographical area got together and purchased this? What if something like a chipper brought gardeners into community together, giving them a reason to interact and share their passion with each other? How much yard debris would be diverted back into gardens instead of to landfills?

Overall impressions? This is a yard machine that is definitely worth the money. It's easy to operate, does a great job chipping and shredding, and is great for utilizing yard waste in effective ways around the garden. The communal purchase is a way around the price tag, but aside from that, this is a machine that any avid gardener would benefit from. 

Shredded compost added to a watermelon bed

Please remember to be safe out there. Happy chipping!

The Best Lawnmower: A Review

I've already said it. Superlatives are the best ever. So here is a shout out to what I find to be the (almost) perfect, best lawnmower.

In the past ten years, I have owned five different lawnmowers: one electric, two gas (one being self propelled), and two battery powered (one being self propelled). I'm trying to think of a type of lawnmower that I haven't owned, and a ride-on is the only one that comes to mind. There are generally pros and cons to each type.

An electric mower usually has enough power to do a decent job and is lightweight, quiet and fairly efficient. The biggest con is that you have to deal with an extension cord crisscrossing your lawn. I'm not a fan.

Gas mowers generally have more than enough power to handle any type of lawn. The biggest cons in my opinion is the noise and having to store gasoline. Having little children, I decided that I did not want to have the fuel around or the mess of the fuel that tends to spill when filling the mower.

Battery powered mowers tend to be clean and efficient (no fuel or oil to worry about). However, they generally do not have much power, and the batteries usually only hold enough charge for a smaller lawn.

Finally, the self propelled models add quite a bit of weight. The self propelled battery mower that I had weighed over 90 pounds, and the battery itself was quite heavy. The battery was large and powerful, but the self propelled feature chewed up a lot of the battery life, causing the mower to lose power before I finished mowing my yard.

So what's a guy to do?

Greenworks G-Max 40V Lithium Ion Mower

When I first saw the Greenworks G-Max 40V Lithium Ion mower, I thought that it was just another gimmick mower. I looked into it and realized that the engineers are people who have probably actually owned lawnmowers before, and probably actually did research into what a great mower should be.

The Greenworks mower weighs just over 40 pounds. It is extremely light and maneuverable. In fact, I find that I tend to mow a little fast because it is so easy to push. Maybe Mow Jogging will be the next Olympic sport, kind of the summer version of Curling.

The mower has two 40-volt lithium ion batteries. For those who may not be familiar with lithium ion technology, it is a powerful rechargeable battery that has little to no memory (which is actually good in a battery), little energy loss while sitting on the shelf, less weight than traditional rechargeable batteries, and a great energy density. The energy density allows the battery to run at full capacity until it is depleted, which means that you don't get the slowdown effect that you get with other rechargeable batteries. These batteries run at full speed and then stop, kind of like a two-year-old. So this mower will run off of one battery at a time. When the first battery is depleted, you get a little power interruption, indicating that the mower is switching to the next battery.

Check out that backside!

The mower also features a variable power feature. This means that when mowing thick, heavy grass, the mower will run at full power. When the mower does not need full power, it will reduce the amount of power going to the blades to conserve battery life.

Wait a minute. Did I say blades? Yes I did! This is where the Greenworks engineers really thought this through. Electric mowers generally have a smaller blade which means a smaller footprint. That means that the cut is not as wide, which means more paths up and down the yard. A larger blade requires more energy (torque) to spin, which does not make for an efficient battery life. However, the Greenworks G-Max mower has two short blades. They run side-by-side, giving the mower a 20" cutting path, something that few battery powered mowers have been able to accomplish. Its light weight combined with the lithium ion batteries means that this mower will run for a long time, making this a viable option for those with larger yards. In fact, I often mow my large yard with this mower without it kicking over to the second battery.

Two lightweight lithium ion batteries

The Greenworks mower also offers the option to bag clippings or mulch. In case you're not sure which to do, I almost always mulch my clippings. I would rather see the clippings fertilize my lawn than throw them in the landfill. The mower also has a one lever height adjustment, which means that all of the wheels are adjusted at once.

Are you ready for one of the coolest feature?  This mower is quiet. It makes about the same amount of noise as a box fan on high speed. That means that I can carry on a conversation while mowing, I can hear what is going on around me, I can listen to music, or, very importantly for a Renaissance Dad, I can mow at night after the kids are asleep.

So what are the cons? To be honest, the drawbacks are minor. The first is the way the Greenworks mower handles the corners of the yard. Because the twin blades are in the middle of the mower, It is very difficult to mow the corners. I just hit them with the string trimmer as I am doing the edges. I believe that this is a very small tradeoff in having this mower. This mower also struggles when trying to cut too much thick grass. Before I put in my winter lawn, I tried to cut the old summer lawn as low as possible. The grass was too thick for this mower to handle, and I was too impatient to incrementally cut the lawn. The final drawback is the price. This mower retails for around $400. I could never pay that for a mower, so here's what I did.

Twin blades are genius for a rechargeable mower

I am a regular Lowe's shopper. When I decided that this was the mower for me, I checked on it every time I went to Lowe's. During one visit, I noticed that they had one of these mowers that they were selling as an open box. Cha-ching! To further reduce the cost, I sold my then-current lawn mower on Craigslist. So the total out of pocket for this mower was $100. Now I could have easily justified the $400 price tag, considering that I would never need to purchase gasoline or oil. And because of the weight I have fewer chiropractor visits. And because of the quietness I do not suffer from hearing loss. So you can see that this mower easily pays for itself, but I still liked finding ways to reduce the initial out-of-pocket. Parenthetically, CPOoutlets.com is a great place to purchase out-of-box and factory reconditioned lawn and power tools. At the time of this publishing, they offer this mower for $359. They regularly have 10% off coupons, so that would bring the cost down even more.

One touch height adjustment

What would I like to see in this mower in the future? It really doesn't matter, since I'm planning on owning this forever. But if the engineers ever decide to redesign it, I think a couple of LED lights on the front for night mowing would be pretty cool. Aside from that, I think I have found the perfect mower. If the other Greenworks products are as exceptional as this mower, I will probably slowly add those to my collection.

Oh, I just thought of another addition for future engineering: a flux capacitor with Mr. Fusion attachment that utilizes the grass clippings for time travel! Now that's a mower that this Renaissance Dad would spend some money on!

Roads? Where I'm mowing, we don't need roads...