Tips being coins and tricks being a magic trick to make a big coin.
Mowing takes forever and I hate it! Is there a way to speed it up?
Last updated: around mid 2006
Type: Speed-up
Reliability: 
- Very low
Ease of learning: 
- Very easy
Time saving: 
- Moderate gain
Usefulness: 
- Somewhat useful
Difficulty: - Easy-medium
Overall: - Good
This trick is effective most mainly on standard push mowers. While mowing, simply tilt the mower so that the front end is about 4 or so inches off the ground, up to 6 inches is recommended [for speed, 3 inches recommended for niceness of the lawn]. There's many good reasons why this becomes so effective. It's even very effective on tall, wet grass so you don't have to mow the lawn as often. The reason for it's effectiveness is that, if the mower was in the usual position, and that grass gets cluttered around everywhere, the mower will have the tendency to konk out (stall in other words). Tilting it up lets the grass fly forward a short distance and has a much greater area of discarding, thus keeping the rpm's up a ways. However, though it sounds good, the disadvantage about this is that it leaves a wave-like effect with the grass. Not only just that, but it can also be harder on your back. The back issue is workable as, while doing so, keep as upright as possible and you'll reduce the effects of the pain. The final minus about it is when you have rocks in your lawn. They can get thrown quite far, so make sure no one is in front of or to the side of the mower for at least 50 feet, 75 recommended, otherwise they may get hit. For the effects of the waves, safety, and the back pain issue, the reliability gets a very low rating. Outside this, this trick can cut your mowing time almost in half, depending on how tall and wet the grass is (the taller and wetter, the bigger the boost).
This is basically how the mower would be tilted. The left side is the standard way. The right side is the new way. Notice a difference and why the rpm's would keep up higher?
This image illustates the wave effect you'll encounter in a more cross-sectional view. The heights of the wave effects have been magnified 4 times as otherwise it's hard to see. This occurs from the unevenness of the blade since, when tilted, an arc forms. As you head to the right of the image, the mower's tilt increases in intensity. The greater your tilt, the greater the wave effect gets because the greater the arc formed by the blades. Use this trick wisely.
Footnotes:
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