I still remember the day my father got his first of many lawn tractors. We had a many acre lawn back then and he was incredibly relieved to be free of the push mower. For me, it made the prospect of doing chores exciting. Getting on the lawn tractor was a privilege in those days and I begged for the opportunity to cut the grass for my father.

Back then lawn tractors were never much for speed or ease of use. Turning it on was always a difficult job. My father usually had to do it and then it was a struggle to get me on without initiating the emergency shutoff. Once I got going though I’d easily be on it for hours; not just because the lawn required it but because I enjoyed steering so much that I would end up missing big sections of grass.

One of the next lawn tractors he got was much easier for me to start but by then I was big enough to start the other anyway. Unfortunately for my father I was also driving by then so the novelty of being able to steer a motor vehicle around the back yard was no more. Not that I stopped doing it; it’s just that it became a chore and, as such, was preceded by typical parental threats.

These days lawn tractors come fully loaded with all kinds of perks and are far more pleasurable to use then the old clunker my dad first had. The lawn tractors people are using today, or the ones they should be getting themselves at any rate, are getting closer to luxury vehicles then gardening tools. Lawn tractors now come with comfortable seating, quieter engines, more effective blades and even cup holders. That’s what I was missing on my dad’s old riding lawn mower, a place to put my soda!