2019 Lincoln MKZ - Auto stop start

I had Rotator Shoulder surgery that did not solve all the problems . That is why a purchase of a cordless electric mower was money well spent .

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I use a very small bungee cord in order to keep the engine running if I have to remove my hand from the handle.

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@VOLVO_V70. I had a cordless electric mower–a Black and Decker CMM 1000. I bought it used from a friend. I really liked the quiet operation of the mower. The batteries, which were lead acid, only lasted one season. I put in new batteries and the new batteries only lasted two seasons. I bought another set of batteries, mowed 5 minutes and the mower stopped. The controller board gave out and that part is no longer available. I donated the mower to Goodwill.
My wife likes to mow, but she has had rotator cuff surgery and found the Black and Decker too heavy for her to push.
I am sure the new cordless electric mowers with the lithium ion battery are lighter and much easier to manage. I have a Worx string trimmer with the lithium ion battery and it is great. I made it through the mowing season with my old mower that I purchased in 1992. Maybe I will buy a new cordless electric mower next year.
To me, the stop/start makes sense on a battery powered car, but not on an internal combustion engine vehicle, just as having the motor stop.when you release the handle on a cordless electric mower is no problem, but it is a nuisance on a gasoline mower with a recoil.starter.

The Honda mowers don’t stop when you release the handle - they just disengage the blade clutch. I find that to be a smarter way to go about it. The whole purpose of stopping the mower is so that there’s no way for the blade to injure someone when no one’s at the controls. Of course, it’s cheaper to have a hard connection between the blade and the motor, and then brake the whole thing when you let go of the handle, but it’s not the best solution.

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I use a zip tie to keep the mower running. It has enough slop it easily slides to the bottom of the handle, I slide it up to the middle of the handle so when I am pushing the mower it does not fall down, and the zip tie stays in place while idling.

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Modern mowers are so much easier to start than they used to be, especially after they’re warmed up, that I can’t imagine mowing my own lawn if I’m this fragile.

I switched to a Li-Ion cordless electric lawnmower about 2 years ago. Best decision I ever made.

Guy kitty corner has a riding mower to do a 50’ x 130’ lot, with a decent size house smack dab in the middle. I supposeif you are fragile it could be an option.

@shadowfax. On the cordless electric mower that I had, when one released the handle, it reversed the field coil of the motor which served as the blade brake. When the controller board failed, I was going to bypass the board with a single pole switch because I could bridge the terminals on the board and the motor would run.
I know today’s gasoline mowers usually start with one or two pulls of the cord. I once bought a used mower for $20 that had a wind-up starter. I would turn a crank that would wind up a spring. I would then flip a lever and the spring would crank the engine over as it unwound.

Now that’s cool. I’d like to have one just to take it apart and look at it.

I always thought it’d be neat to have an inertial start mower like on some of the old radial airplanes. You’d either turn a crank, or flip a switch that engaged a small electric motor. Either way, a flywheel would start to spin and once it was up to speed, you’d engage a clutch that turned the prop. They made a cool sound when they’d start up:

I have a riding gear lawn mower simply because of a huge live oak tree. Could only go about 20 feet and the bagger on my push mower was filled. Fills my recycling bin a minimum of four times before the leaves are gone.
I also use the mower to maneuver my boat around.

We had one from Wards in the early 60s. There was a crank to wind the spring, when you folded the crank back to the home position the spring was released and started the engine. Worked quite well.

I don’t have any gas powered outdoor equipment, but plug in, not cordless.

The mower like that I had, a handle flipped off the top of the mower, wind it up like a clockspring push a button then it released the pent up energy to crank the motor.

I’m betting that mower had a key or push-button starter, and doesn’t have a pull-cord starter.

No pull cord, just a hanle tat unflded, then got wound up, then push a button to release the would up spring tension to crank the engine. https://youtu.be/22-IC7I7hJY

@shadowfax. The first push type rotary mower with a blade clutch was back in 1952. Our neighbor bought a Sears Craftsman mower with a Power Products 2 stroke engine. The engine shifted back and forth on the chassis and loosened or tightened the belt that connected the blade to the engine. Pulling up the handle shifted the engine and loosened the belt and the blade stopped turning. Stepping on a pedal shifted the engine the other way and tightened the belt so the engine would spin the blade. The system was simple but worked well. It also prevented damage to the crankshaft if one hit a rock or some other object

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My 2019 MDX’s have separate ac controls for the rear. By setting the rear temperature controls to “lo” and the rear fan to the lowest setting, auto stop/start is disabled, as the system always engages the air conditioning. Here in SW Florida, that is not a problem.

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