These days, a lot of manufacturers and retailers are trying to appeal to the eco-conscious consumer by selling products that make a minimal impact on the environment — it also doesn’t hurt if they save you some money. The new propane-powered string trimmer from LEHR promises to do both.

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Pulling the starter cord on a lawn mower is nobody’s favorite pastime, but have things really gotten so bad that we need to start our mowers with the turn of a key?

Over the past 10 years or so, we’ve seen a lot of companies expanding their lines of electric-start lawn mowers, and now you can find models by Toro, Honda, Craftsman, Lawn-Boy, and Snapper at all the major home improvement stores and even at lots of small independent dealers.

Most retailers market these easy-to-start mowers to the elderly and to people recovering from surgery or with recurring injuries.  But that begs the question:  Should a person who can’t muster enough strength to pull a cord really be put behind the controls of a 60lb gas engine with a rapidly spinning metal blade on the end of it?

Of course, the other point may well be that we’re just lazy and don’t want to pull the cord.

So, are electric-start mowers a hot solution, allowing everyone the freedom to mow their lawn despite physical limitations or injuries?  Or are they just one step further on the long path to a lazy American population not willing to pull a simple cord to get some work done?  Let us know in comments.

Street Pricing [Google]

In the never-ending fight for truth, justice, and efficiently running 4-cycle engines, the newest arch nemesis of mowers and small lawn equipment everywhere has reared its ugly head:  ethanol!  As crude oil prices rise, gas companies are trying to cut costs and encourage renewable energy sources by adding ethanol to their gasoline mixture — up to 30% by volume in some parts of the U.S.  For an easy way to combat the negative effects of ethanol in your small engine, you can install an inline fuel filter.  Follow the jump to learn how.

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Ever since the discovery of the spork, people have been trying with limited success to combine two implements into one and give it a catchy contracted name.  Now some company has decided to merge two indispensable gardening tools, the rake and the trowel, into what they call the Trake.

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To get the best quality cut out of your lawn mower, you’ve got to keep the blade sharp — but it’s not exactly easy holding that thin sheet of rusty metal at just the right angle over the rapidly spinning abrasive stone on your bench grinder, without losing a finger or at the very least taking a bite out of your blade’s cutting edge.  Lawn-conscious consumers can make the job safer and easier with Dremel’s lawn mower and garden tool sharpening attachment.

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For some time now Sears has marketed their top-of-the-line hand tools under the name Craftsman Professional, attempting to set them apart from and above the standard Craftsman line.  Now, that distinct black and marigold color scheme has found its way to their lawn and garden department as well, on an assortment of commercial-grade powered lawn equipment.

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About two years ago, we asked what you thought about manual reel mowers, and the response was a pretty solid Hot.  But back then we were only asking about non-powered reel mowers, and in the meantime we’ve been seeing a lot more gas-powered reel mowers on the market.  Naturally we wonder if these burly-engined counterparts are as hot as their manual cousins.

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When you’re pruning, you don’t want to carry around a bunch of tools, so Fiskars’ Dual-Cut lopper lets you cut both large and small branches cleanly with the same tool.

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Dethatching the lawn by hand with a rake or proper dethatching tool is hard work.  You can buy or rent a power dethatcher, but that’s just one more piece of equipment to worry about — or for around $15 you can outfit your lawnmower with Arnold’s universal-fit 16″ dethatching blade.

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The three-piece Smart Cap from Evriholder Products adds a screw cap and spout to any bag so you can easily pour, seal, and store bags of pet food, seed, potting soil, or any other products that comes in a plastic bag.

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Scepter claims that with their ODJOB mixer you can mix 60 pounds of concrete in 30 seconds by just rolling it back and forth.  You’re not limited to concrete either — you can mix mortar, grout, fertilizer, feed, soil, and paint thoroughly and quickly.  With the lid on, the ODJOB mixer is airtight, so you can also store consumables like seed and feed in it.

Inside the seven-gallon ODJOB mixer, patented baffles create a corkscrew effect that moves the mixture around and redistributes it end to end. When you’re done, just rinse out the ODJOB with water.

Pricing for the ODJOB mixer starts around $30.

ODJOB Mixer [Scepter]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a sink outside, so you could clean up before going into the house?  With an outdoor utility sink like this one from Vertex International, you can wash yourself, your toys, and possibly even your dog, if we’re to believe Amazon.

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In 1974, James Dyson created the Ballbarrow, a wheelbarrow with a ball in place of the front wheel.  It’s no longer manufactured, but a company named NuVations markets a wheelbarrow similar in concept: the NuBarro.

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Who said a wheelbarrow had to have a tub?  Instead of a tub the Workhorse wheelbarrow line from Brentwood Industries features a bed and dash made from North American hardwood — it’ll haul brick, tile, hay, wood, or other stackable materials.

A steel undercarriage supports the 60″ North American hardwood handles, which are topped with comfortable hand grips.  Brentwood sells three different Workhorse wheelbarrows: one with a single 2-ply tire that retails for $200, another with a single 4-ply tire for $220, and yet another with dual 4-ply tires for $250.

Workhorse [Brentwood Industries]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Brave Products seems to be having a bigger issue with their hydraulics than they thought. Their semi-recent recall of a few splitters has been expanded to encompass quite a few more models. The issue is with the splitters’ hydraulic cylinders — defective rod retention causes the seals to leak and the rods to detach.

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The Ames True Temper lawn and leaf cart holds up to a 30-gallon bag open so you can collect your leaves, grass clippings, or even recyclables.  If your bag’s only half full, the flip-down lid keeps the contents in the bag until you can fill it completely.

Mount the cart to the wall, or use the wheels and tubular handle to move the plastic-bodied cart where it’s needed.  The adjustable bag holder works with either paper or plastic bags.

You’ll pay somewhere north of $30 for this lawn and leaf cart.

Lawn and Leaf Cart [Ames True Temper]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You just want to mix a pint of gas in a 40:1 mixture with two-cycle oil, because you don’t want to have a gallon or two of mixed gas left over at the end of the season.  Do you want to crunch the numbers in your head or find a calculator?  No.  Instead use the MixMizer’s ratio scale to take the guesswork and/or calculation out of mixing gas.

Hopkin’s MixMizer is a plastic syringe-like tool that only weighs 15.8 ounces.  It comes with a plastic extension tube to reach the bottom of the can to get those last few drops of oil.

You can purchase the MixMizer for something like $6 to $7.

MixMizer [Hopkins]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]