We bought a new riding mower earlier this summer. We were forced to during the Great Mower Revolt of 2020. At that point, our riding mower wouldn’t start and was hemorrhaging oil all over our garage floor.  So now we have a big green John Deere rider. It’s not sleek or pretty, but it definitely gets the job done. The new problem is rider error. 

Our yard is quite diverse. The front is wooded, with a steep hill (a ski hill in the winter), while most of the back is long and flat. But there is a section of the back that has trees and hills. I mowed the lawn late last week. It was a bit damp from a drizzle earlier in the day. I almost got the mower stuck in the front yard, but managed to get myself out of my situation. I reserved my emergency for a far more precarious location. 

The farthest back corner of our yard, heck it may actually be the neighbor’s yard, has a slight hill, followed by a quick descent into the lake. It’s a tight spot, with no room for a turn. In the past, I had navigated it by mowing forward and reversing out of it. The grass must have been dry at that point. So this time, I went forward and spun my wheels when I tried to reverse out. Every time I tried to reverse, I slid a little forward down the hill… towards the lake. Our neighbor has some lovely landscaping boulders in that area. I couldn’t tell if they would stop the mower from rolling into the lake or rip out the entire bottom of the mower as it plowed over the boulders and continued its descent into the lake. So, I was concerned. We haven’t even had the mower long enough to name it, and I was going to ditch it in the lake. I was releasing the brake like a clutch while trying to reverse, in an effort to stop it from inching forward when the wheels spun, but every time it slid forward. 

It is important to note that I was home alone at this point. I tried calling Travis, but some nice nurse answered his phone and told me he was in a procedure. Did I want her to get him? NO! I most certainly did NOT want her to get him so I could tell him that he just spent a couple thousand dollars on a mower that I was close to drowning. I was just checking if he happened to be on his way home. He was not. I called my neighbor, who was about an hour away. All my kids were at work, except for Trent, who was at his girlfriend’s in Illinois. 

At this point, I actually tried to release the brake with my hand and push the mower backward up the hill. This is how I snapped the tabs that attach the light cover to the front of the mower. Hey, those were cheaply made anyway. I am proud to say that I managed to move the mower about three inches that way. After that, I couldn’t budge it anymore. That mower is HEAVY! I thought I may go up to the house to find something that could help me move it, but I was afraid to leave the mower alone because it could start sliding down the wet grass any minute… not that I knew how I would stop it.

On the verge of tears (I may have been crying, but I am not sure), I decided to try cleaning the wet grass off the wheels and using my shirt to dry the grass behind the mower (yup, for all those enjoying the lake, I took my shirt off), and give it another go. And that worked when I did the brake clutch maneuver. So, our mower just needed me to strip. Then it would go in an effort to get out of that situation so I would put my dirty shirt back on. 

I now apologize to all those that may have been boating by and observed me in my bra trying to get my mower to back up the hill. It was a disturbing moment for all involved. I can assure you that that little section of hill will never be touched by the green machine again. Natural grasses sound like a plan. Have a great humpday everyone!