From daybreak to sunset.
make that to actual darkness. :smack:
I mowed our lawn at 8:30 - 9:10 on Friday night. I wanted to wait until it was cool enough and the sun was behind the western hills so I wouldn’t get a sunburn.
Since I know my immediate neighbors, I knew I wouldn’t be disturbing anyone.
I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule. Depends on your neighborhood and your climate.
Man, I didn’t even think that starting to mow my lawn at 7:30PM would be bothering anyone. I do it that late a lot, because of all the rain and I’m the only one who lives here, so it gets long sometimes and I have to do it as soon as I have a chance - and often that is 7:30 on a Monday.
Or, I do it late because it’s damn hot out and I don’t have A/C…so if I am out in the scorching sun at 5 mowing, then I have to go inside to my really hot house and sit there until it cools off 4 hours later. I figure anyone else around here doesn’t hear me mowing because they have A/C and are tucked away indoors with all their windows closed 
I suppose if anyone were to stop me and say it was too late for mowing I’d tell them “ok I’ll stop but you realize my lawn will be about 7” tall before I can mow it again, right? Hope that’s ok with you!"
I used to have a neighbor - we used to joke that he had lights mounted on his mower. He’d start late in the evening, and go well past sundown - easily 8:30-9. Not a big deal as he was overall a fine neighbor.
Also, he’d start mowing and finish. (Well, actually he’d move on to his leaf blower or another of his countless powered yard tools. I tend to be averse to power tools whenever a quieter manual alternative is reasonably available.) Less bothersome that the old guy next door who mows during the day, but seems to take hours doing it.
One thing that made it better in our mind was he did it during the week. To me, 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night was less bothersome than - say - 5 p.m. on a Sat or Sun. On the 4th we had some people over to cookout, and another neighbor cranked up a power trimmer @ 5. I thought that was a mite inconsiderate considering that it would not be unusual for folks to be entertaining outside on a holiday.
It’s light until past 9 PM here. My baby goes to sleep at 8:30. If your lawnmower’s running outside my window at 8:45, that’s not cool.
I shoot for finishing by 8:00. There’s babies and early risers around here, so it just seems considerate. For me, that means starting by 7:00 and it’s usually cooled off enough by then.
If my neighbor complained about me mowing my lawn before 8PM, I’d tell him to get his happy ass over here and mow it during the day while I’m at work. I mow in the evenings and try to plan it out where I get done just about dusk. I’m not going to have a heat stroke just so Mr. Precious can watch “Survivor IX” in peace.
This is one (albeit small) reason I got a reel mower - yeah, it takes a bit longer, but I can do it at 3 AM if I want and not have to worry about disturbing anybody.
Of course, that’s made difficult by whatever dog (or possibly bear, or horse, judging by the size of the deposits) who has decided to make my yard its own personal toilet. I like to see it before I, urrrgh, mow over it.
It’s never bothered me. I kinda find the sounds of lawnmowers, etc soothing in an “all is peaceful” kind of way.
Your neighbor would REALLY hate my hubby, then. He mows (or bushogs, or bales hay etc.) until 10 p.m. Usually it’s because he’s late getting to it (from working all day somewhere else). Just yesterday he cut hay from daylight to dark.
He’s the guy with the lights mounted on his mower & tractors. Front and back.
The P.D. here has told him that 10 pm is the cutoff. I’m not sure if that’s in our noise ordinance or just a customary time.
I’m with Kalhoun about the baby. If the baby wakes upon hearing a mower, what difference would it make what time the mower was running? Babies sleep at odd times too. Or, not sleep, in the case of my babies. If they were old enough to actually go to bed at 8:30, they were old enough to ignore lawnmowers.
I predict that this is one of those issues with little ‘gray’ area. A person is strongly opposed to it or barely concerned about it.
As long as you’re finishing between 8-8:30 in the summer you should be fine.
I’ve done it as late as 6:45 or 7. I have a reel mower also, and none of my neighbors have odd hours.
If you know someone goes to bed very early, I can see being accomodating. However mowing late is usually going to be less annoying than mowing early, when you want to avoid the heat of the day.
I’d prefer you be done by 7:30.
But, I’m only going to say something if it’s after 9:00.
I agree with this. . .
By 7:30, People have exercised, eaten, showered. They have a book out. They might be puttign the kids to bed. It’s the end of the day. . .winding down time.
If you mow at 6:00. . .well, that’s when people are getting home from work, getting the kids picked up from practice, lighting the grill, etc. That’s activity time.
Of course you don’t need to bend your schedule to accomodate mine, but in general, I think that getting past 7:30 is just getting into that “end of the day” territory.
I mow until it’s too dark to see anymore. Of course, my closest neighbor is at least a quarter mile away, so…
Most folks in my neighborhood follow the “9 to 9” rule in the summer. Seems about right to me. It was good of you to stop, but unless the neighbor was very polite and offered a good reason (“I’m sorry to ask this, but we’ve just gotten the baby down. Would you mind stopping?”) then he was being kind of a jerk. Living in a city or the ‘burbs means putting up with your neighbors’ noise to a certain extent.
I’m not arguing with you, but a few years back one of my father’s neighbors threatened him with an axe handle for daring to cut his lawn with a powermower at 10am on a Sunday.
My father was in his late 70s at the time and fiercely independent. Said neighbor was in his late 40s and an absolute ass. When I heard about it, I wanted to stop over and pay ole ‘Beauford Pusser’ a visit, but it turned out that my father had resolved it all at the time, and in just three sentances.
After waiting for the neighbor to finish ranting, my father replied, “Well, first off, the noise ordinance doesn’t apply to operating residential lawnmowers at 10am in the morning in this municipality. Second, my name’s not ‘Mr. Blucher’, its ‘Judge Blucher’. And lastly, I think you better go home and think about who you just threatened before you get yourself into some serious trouble.”
Asshat Sorted. gavel slap Next case. 
Right now my hometown is under a government Knowzone Alert because we are in the downwind Indianapolis metropolitan area. Whenever possible, we are to mow our lawns and fill our gas tanks after 7:00 pm. Last summer, it was 6:00 pm, but this year we are on the newfangled DST.
Too much ozone messes with people (a) over 50, and (b) with serious respiratory problems. That’s me on both counts; I’m a 56 year old asthmatic. If my neighbors want to mow at 10:00 pm, that’s all right by me.
I’m with you! (Does “weighing” motion with hands) Gunfire. Mowers. Gunfire. Mowers. I’m going with lawncare, thankyouverymuch.