I had a confrentation with an irate nieghbor claiming 8 pm was to late to be mowing my lawn. It was actualy 7:45 and the sun was still well up in the sky. I saw nothing wrong with my actions and stood my ground but offered to stop for the day.
What are your thoughts?
I have always heard that the later the better because the plant tends to slow it’s activity as the light fades and more nutriants and water are in the roots than are present at the brighter part of the day making it less stressful on the plant. Sorry not to have a cite on hand.
Still, I tend to moderate this with families cooking out, eating dinner, watching a movie in the evening.
I just blank out normal conceivable sleeping hours. 8 pm is fine and starting at 9 am on a weekday and 10 am on the weekends should be fine as well.
9PM is the cutoff for noise. People who get up early might well go to bed at 9, and children. Any earlier than that, and, unless you’re mowing right under the window in their TV room, they’re just being grouchypants.
And no noise before 9AM. Same hours as phone calls, as I wish someone had taught the wrong-number caller who called me at midnight last night.
If you were starting at 7:45, I think that’s too late. Evenings should be peaceful.
I started about 7:30 it takes a half our to do my lawn. He just interupted half way through.
If there’s light, it’s all right.
I mean, if you wake up at 1:00 PM or something since you were out until 4:00 AM, it’s too hot out to mow the lawn in the afternoon. You need to wait until 7:30 PM or 8:00 PM, when it has cooled down enough.
I think it’s OK up to 8, but think it’s good of you to stop at the request of your neighbor, I don’t think it’s cool for him to say it’s too late, but OK if he was just to ask if you wouldn’t do it at that time.
So it would be OK for me to start mowing at 5:30 am?
I think that 6 pm is the latest anyone should be running a lawnmower. If someone has a baby or works an odd shift or something like that the sound of a lawnmower might upset them. My days off of work are Wed and Thurs, and when the lawn guys start mowing the lawn at 8:30 in the morning on those days it makes me want to scream until I explode! I would say 10am to 6pm is the most appropriate lawnmowing time. If you absolutely must run the lawnmower later or earlier than that it would be nice to check in with your neighbors the day before and ask them if it is okay, or at the very least give them heads up enough to get a pair of earplugs.
I’m going to guess you don’t have to mow a lawn. The idea that people should only cut grass during the hottest times of the day is kinda harsh.
It’s good to know your neighbors, and a little bit about their habits. Ours apologized profusely for mowing at 8 a.m. one time Hubby works nights and is asleep (or trying to be) at that time. Neighbor forgot, didn’t realize it until he saw hubby get up and close the bedroom window. 
Same neighbor goes to bed early, is up with the chickens. We don’t mow after 5. He’s a damn fine neighbor, and we try to be accommodating, even if that means we mow during the hottest part of the day.
(I shouldn’t say “we”. I’ve never even sat on the damn mower.)
I’m scared of lawnmowers…
I do not even get home from work until 5:50pm most days. Your request seems completely unreasonable. I am occasionally mowing past 8pm but very rarely.
I rarely start mowing before 6pm. I recently bought a new lawn tractor that allows me to cut my lawn in less than 90 minutes. But in the past I could not complete the mowing in less than two hours and usually had to mow on two nights.
I have been pretty good about not mowing past 8pm, which seems like a reasonable time.
Jim
I’d say about 7.00pm or so. The fact that there may still be several hours of daylight left isn’t relevant.
I’m guessing pbbth may not have a baby either-- I’ve never known an infant to sleep only during certain hours of the day.
I’m also skeptical of the “working an odd shift” requirement for quiet neighbors. I work the night shift, and unlike most of my daywalking brethren, I’m well aware that the entire world doesn’t share my shift. In fact, I rather like it that way. If the price of shopping an empty grocery store, perusing a quiet toy department, and eating a leisurely uninterrupted 5AM breakfast on my day off is that my neighbors will probably mow their lawns while I’m sleeping, I’ll gladly pay that!
Of course, I have an idea of what times I’d likely think appropriate to mow the lawn (if I had a lawn)-- probably between 8am (earlier is too early) and 8 or 9pm, depending on the time of year and the neighbors. On the other hand, I wouldn’t think badly of someone else for starting earlier, especially if they were sensitive to heat or sunlight, or had a job that prevented them mowing in the evenings.
I think between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. is appropriate, and I am usually a freak about noise. So if I can stand it, others should be able to as well!
Tell him to go fuck himself. The unspoken rule is 9:00 (or before sundown, whichever comes first) in neighborhoods and “any time I feel like it” in my unincorporated little 'hood".
Methinks you haven’t heard the last from this neighbor.
If a mower is going to upset a baby, it will upset it 'round the clock.
Same with odd shift workers - if you have people who work second and third shift in your neighborhood, any time of day could conceivably wake someone up.