We live in the country. Our yard is green until it isn’t as in June, July, and August when it takes on the color of dried out tan “waiting to burn at a high speed”.

We also live amid thirty-three acres of fir and ponderosa pine trees. These, for those of you who don’t know, burn at the drop of a hat or in many cases a cigarette pitched out of a vehicle by some dumb A hole.

Thus, the reason we continue to keep at least thirty feet of non-flammable material away from our buildings. And this takes mowing for a minimum of an hour and a half in all kinds of heat. We are fortunate in having big riding mowers to do the job.

General safe mowing considerations before, during, and after the job is finished.

This link was written by OSHA for employers, but they fit a homeowner as well.

https://www.osha.gov/riding-mowers

After deciding it’s time to mow we put on our gear consisting of:

Hearing protection-I use over the head ear muffs with at least a 34dB rating[1].See the CDC blog here for more information about selecting the correct rated protection: https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2018/10/24/hearing-protection/

Another option is the simple but effective foam earplugs if they are inserted correctly. As is in all the way. Look at the following photos.

Eye protection

We consistently use either full eye goggles or, at a minimum, safety glasses. An example of one is the Dewalt DPG94-1C Dominator SAFETY Glasses, Clear Lens found on Amazon. Some people use a full-face shield; however, it is still a recommendation to use safety glasses as well.

Dust mask.

In dusty conditions, I use a simple COVID 19 mask. These may not be the best, but they are what we use and probably will until we run out of the many, we have in packages stored in the house.

Gloves

Gloves are optional for us. I use them, my wife doesn’t. Personal preferences.

Checking over the mower

When we mow, we always look over the mowers to make certain the tires are pressured up to the proper amount of air, the belts aren’t frayed, it has gas, the oil levels are correct, the mower decks work right, and finally that it starts quickly without an excessive turnover amount.

We DO NOT use our mower on hillsides because we don’t want to tip over.

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[1] NRR is sometimes referred to as “hearing protection rating.” Organized by their potential to reduce noise in decibels (dB), a term used to measure the power or loudness of sound, hearing protectors must be tested and approved by the American National Standards (ANSI) in accordance with the Occupational Safety & Health …from a Google search