A Lesson from a Mower

I decided to buy a mower this year. I have been using hand-me-down mowers since I left home, and I am tired of it. It usually takes me an hour to get the stupid thing started, then something breaks partway through and I have to deal with fixing it. I just want a mower that starts when I pull the cord. Period. So, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase my first mower. I had in mind just going to Wal-mart, getting some cheap mower for about $125, and going on my way. But then I read this article.

Basically the article is an excerpt from a book called The Man Who Said No To Wal-mart describing the unwillingness of Snapper (the lawnmower manufacturer) to “sell out” to Wal-Mart. Often selling out means diminishing quality in order to produce more quantity. They take pride in their product and would rather a customer keep a quality mower for 15 years rather than be forced to buy a new, shoddy mower every couple of years. Yes, you will have to pay a little more – the bottom model starts at $299 – but you are paying extra for longevity and the reputation of a company that refuses to sell a product that does not meet their high standards.

It really struck me that we have such a disposable society. We buy crappy products for cheap, and we expect too much from them. When a $100 mower breaks down after one year, why should we be upset? As the adage goes, “You get what you pay for.” But our culture has become so commercialized and shaped by an ebay mentality (get what you want for whatever price you want) that the thought of spending hundreds of dollars on a product when a much cheaper knock of exists would be ludicrous. And we get mad thinking that someone would expect us to pay for quality. As a result, we have all this crap that people buy, and many companies that have the quality product are going out of business because few have the foresight to see that paying extra will benefit in the long run.

My dad has a mower that he purchased at Sears – 36 years ago!! And he still uses it each weekend to cut his lawn. When I used it as a teenager I thought it was so lame. It wasn’t self-propelled. It didn’t include mulching capabilities. It had a choke!! But that old gray mower did the job and still does today. They just don’t make them like they used to. They make them with cheaper materials and build from a mentality of engineered obsolescence.

So what to do? Boycott Wal-mart? I haven’t gone that far but I have seriously reconsidered how I approach purchasing “big” items (mowers, cars, electronics, etc.). And, I am yet to fully institute such an ideology. I did not buy a Snapper for $300. I bought a Bolens 21" Cut Mulching and Rear Bag Push Mower with a 4.5 HP Briggs and & Stratton Engine from Lowe’s for $169. Hopefully it will last more than 3 years. I am hoping it will last until Elijah can learn to mow.