Trial and Error

Josh has been spending ALOT of time researching "green" transportation. He REALLY wants us to turn the Saturn (the car he'll get when he turns 16 - and Dad gets a new one!) into an electric vehicle. So far, Dad hasn't been convinced that the savings will offset the cost involved. :-)

Josh also has started a lawn care business. So far it's just one other lawn plus ours, but he has plans and goals! The name (fittingly enough) is Electric Yardworks. Last summer, when our old mower died a painful death, Darren and Josh went mower shopping. Of course, Josh wanted one with all the bells and whistles. Darren wanted one... cheap. After letting Josh know that he'd pay for one with the added features, but that Josh would pay for the gasoline... Josh decided the rechargable electric one was a much better purchase! He also bought a rechargable weedeater (that can shift into an edger too)...so Josh's "green" lawn business was born.

He's sent off for business cards and plans on creating a flyer to pass around the neighbors to see if he can drum up about 3 more yards.

Anyway, he thought that having a trailer to attach to his bike would be a better idea than pushing the mower down the sidewalk so he spent ALOT of time researching bike trailers that could haul a mower and weedeater. All the ones he found to purchase were more than he was willing to spend so he decided to build one himself. He found some on-line that people had built and they gave advice, and directions to build your own.

Hours, days and weeks were spent on planning out the "build", accumulating all the materials (again, at the least cost possible) and actually putting it all together. I am so proud that he was creative enough to find items that were waiting to be trashed to use in this build.

Well, yesterday was the big day. They actually worked out the final kinks and got the trailer built... but when the weight of the mower was put on it and he set out for a test drive - the trailer's poor little wheels collapsed under the weight. When I got home from the grocery I saw the trailer out by the curb... and my first thoughts were "Uh oh... do I even want to go inside?" But his spirits weren't broken and he has since removed the wheels and saved the base for future use. Oh, and he also decided that the three houses he'd really like to work on getting are the three older folks that live within a house or two either direction of us so a trailer might just not be necessary right now anyway! :-)

I think in all, under $40 was spent on the build... and so much more was learned that it was certainly worth the expenditure. He did almost everything himself. Darren was nearby to assist with how to use some of the tools, but all the ideas were Josh's own. What a great experience!

Oh, and they went today to visit a guy in Prairie Village who does conversions on vehicles to turn them into EV's! Josh said it was "really cool." Perhaps we WILL have an EV in the not too distant future.