Cutting Grass Barefoot??

So what are people’s thoughts about cutting grass barefoot?

I’ve always been told it’s foolhardy to cut grass barefoot. I always took this at face value and wore closed-toe sneakers. Last year I started thinking about it and decided flip-flops would work. Early this year, I decided bare feet were fine.

At some level I think cutting grass barefoot is crazy and foolhardy. On the other hand, I thought about what the real risks are and what protection shoes would provide. Years ago, exposed-blade push mowers were the norm. Getting any body part close to those blades was asking for trouble. Shoes made a lot of sense. In the event your foot got too close to the mower, the blade would initially graze a sole or shoe tip and send a clear message that your foot was in the wrong place.

These days most people use some type of enclosed, gasoline or electric-powered mower. In addition to the blade being enclosed, many safeguards have been incorporated over the years. For example, mine has a system that brings the blade to a dead stop if I release my grip on the handle. If by some freak circumstance my foot was to go under the mower deck, I doubt that a sneaker would offer much protection.

I’ve been cutting grass since I was about 10, and I’ve heard of very few, if any, serious accidents. The worst thing that’s happened to me was when I was about 14, and I hit a rock while mowing. The mower had no bag on it. The rock shot out the side discharge, hit the porch, and ricocheted and hit my knee. It stung, bled a little, but that was it. Some would say I shouldn't have been wearing shorts; long pants would have protected my knee. Oh well, I haven't changed - still wearing shorts.

I still feel a bit reckless cutting grass barefoot, but I haven’t been able to identify the real risk. My yard is essentially flat – no risk of going up a slope and having the mower turn over. I get an occasional twig or small rock in the yard, but nothing significant or dangerous.

I googled “cutting grass barefoot.” The most significant hit I got was a “Yahoo!” page on which the question was posed about the safety of cutting grass barefoot on a riding mower. One response was that this was unsafe because you might have to stop the riding mower to move a branch!! Geez, the horrors of walking barefoot across the lawn to move a branch!!

I’m not encouraging people to cut grass barefoot. At some level there must be a real safety issue, but I’m not getting it. I’m wondering if this is similar to the old idea that it’s unsafe to drive barefoot. That became part of folklore and it was accepted that it was illegal to drive without shoes. Once people started to question it and looked at the laws, there's nothing on the books forbidding it.

I don't consider myself a reckless person. When using power tools I wear safety glasses. When handling rough wood I wear leather gloves. In loud areas I wear earplugs. If there are splinters on the floor I wear shoes. I just haven't identified the fundamental need for shoes when cutting grass.

 

I always mow my lawn barefoot. The bottoms of my feet get sooo green.

 

I mow my lawn barefooted almost everytime..it does seem the mower manufactures these days have taken enough precautions that virtually nothing flies out from underneath...Now, for the weed eater, that is a whole different deal..there is no way I could weed eat barefooted..ouch

 

I'm also barefoot when using my weed eater on my lawn. I've seen lots of folks in my neighborhhod wear flip-flops when using their weed eaters. I'm not sure what protection flip-flops would offer. I'm not knocking your practice of wearing shoes when using your weed eater, just telling you my practice. When using any power equipent, I'm not going to knock anybody's conservative approach to safety.

 

The only significant issue I see with mowing and edging barefoot is hitting your feet with the edger or the line. If you're careful, though, this is not a problem. Otherwise, any other risk is not significantly mitigated by shoes alone.

To be paranoid about safety with all the potential hazards of cutting grass, you'd have to wear steel-toed boots, pants, a shirt, and safety goggles to protect from all that stuff flung about - but we all know there's not too much of that. Otherwise, everyone who mows without a shirt, with shorts, or flip flops would get injured by mowing and edging!

 

I also mow the lawn barefoot, using an electric mower with revolving blades, and it's never caused me any concern, but i'm carefull not to cut through the cable!

 

Unless you are wearing steel toed shoes I believe a rotating lawn mower blade is no match for a regular pair of footwear. I can't see how most shoes will adequately protect your feet from harm with regards to operating a lawn mower.

As a teen I would sometimes mow the grass barefoot, though I was always careful where my toes were in relation to the operating machinery.

Mowing grass in barefeet feels great!

 

theres to many safety features on mowers today to have much concern. 5hp gas mower and low grass. I dont see the big deal. If you had some really tall grass, Id be worried about cutting tin cans and stepping on that.
Doubt you can get your foot close enough to a running mower blade without disabling some safety feature on it or really stretching your foot to get it in there.. And that would be kinda silly

 

I always mow my lawn barefoot. There is no better way to get your soles dirty, and it feels great. Unless you are waring steel capped boots, no other footwear will help if you are stupid enough to put your foot in the balde anyway.

I am looking forward to being able to do this when I am off my crutches and have two working feet.

The weedeater is a completely different story. Tried it once and soon gave up. Man can that thing throw things at your toes!

 

sorry to be a pain in the ass. really.
if you want to mow barefoot, insure yourself that there are no rocks, glass , wood or metal pieces lying around in your lawn or other debris tha may get struck by the rotor blade and become a bullet flying at foot height. also use a lawnmower with a hard plastic grass collector bag that can intercept them. this done, i don't think that power lawnmowing poises terrible, shoes-compulsory threats. I never incurred into such accidents in years.

i was wiki'ing in search of the name of that damned grass collector when i tripped into this, from wikipedia (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_mower#Safety_issues):

Safety issues

Rotary mowers can throw out debris with tremendous force. In the US, over 80,000 people per year are hospitalized due to mower accidents.[6] The vast majority of these injuries could be avoided by wearing footwear while mowing. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be at least 12 years old before they are allowed to mow.[7]

so people, act as you like but please take some countermeasures first and watch your path as usual.

 

please remove your pets from the area that you are mowing, so there is no flying objects hit your animals ...

 

I certainly don't consider your comments to be a pain in the ass. Cutting grass barefoot is one of those areas where you've got to look at the risks. Personally, my lawn is relatively flat and is all grass with no significant twigs, branches, rocks, etc. I think I'd feel differently if I had slopes or there were cans, rocks, etc. strewn about. I forgot until now, but when I was a kid, my uncle shot a piece of wire/metal through his calf when he hit it with a lawn mower. Not much would have stopped that. Then again, he was cutting grass with a power lawn mower on his farm. There were a few hidden surprises in the grass!

 

I have an electric mower and cut the grass (St. Augistine) barefoot. I don't have any rocks or anything that can get slung by the blade. I love the green feet which are far easier to clean off then shoes.

 

I love having green feet...specially on St. Patrick's Day.

 

I have begun wearing flip flops. ( I stopped using a lawn service on mom's yard, so now I do it myself- I haven't cut grass in 15 years ) I tried barefoot, but her yard is so crappy I've stepped on sharp holly leaves so many times it's unbearable. I don't think shoes offer any better protection from the mower than none. I've always wanted Mythbusters to do barefoot myths such as this.

 

I mow barefoot using a manual, reel-type mower. No way to pull that one over your foot, as soon you stop pushing it stops, and by pushing it you lean a little forward so you can't possibly slip with your feet forward while it's moving. And it doesn't have enough power to throw up anything with enough force to break the skin, if you hit a pineapple it stops rather than cutting it up in chunks or throwing it.

I don't really understand people who use power mowers for the relatively small lawns at home, or leaf blowers instead of a rake, or electric clippers for just a small hedge, etc, etc. Most people don't get enough exercise nowadays, using electrical appliances for all kinds of small chores and then having to go out and play sports, go to the gym, doing all sorts of artificial things to stay in shape. I hate sports, but I enjoy doing yard work by hand. I think power tools are unwieldy, noisy, bad for the environment, and the gas-powered ones smell bad too. I wouldn't use them no matter what I'm wearing.

 

ah,, nothing like the sound of a flip flop being chewed up by a lawnmower..

 

I used to enjoy mowing the lawn barefoot until I caught a dose of poison ivy. Now I try to make sure I keep my feet and ankles well covered when I mow the lawn. This was actually the first summer in two or three years that I didn't get poison ivy. FYI: I use an electric lawn mower also. Other then having to plug it into a couple of different outlets when I'm mowing different locations of the lawn it works pretty well.

 

This was also discussed back in 2006, see:
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=198061

So, I'll just repeat what I said then.

Of course I always mow grass barefoot. I do everything barefoot.

Wearing shoes when mowing increases your chances of possible injury since you have no direct contact with the ground and lose the stability and control that being barefoot gives you. It's the same principle as driving with shoes on vs. driving barefoot. Barefoot is safer. Tactile sensation gives you more control.

I currently live basically on the side of a mountain. There is a yard area, but most of it is on a steep slope. It is practically impossible to walk on this slope with shoes on without slipping. I would never even consider trying to mow this lawn with anything on my feet. As it is, with me being barefoot, I can easily maneuver my lawn mower (a gas-powered mower) up, down, or across this steep sloping lawn with safety and perfect stability.

The only possible hazard to bare feet that shoes might ever be useful for, that I can think of, would be to protect from extreme temperature conditions - danger of burning or frostbite. Mowing grass doesn't present any such extreme conditions. As barefooters, we should leave speculation of remote "what if's" to the shoddies and shoe police who like to dwell on such things.

 

Personally, if I had poison ivy in my yard, I'd do my very best to get rid of it rather than wear footwear, because I like to weed without gloves too. And especially on the lawn, 'cause I like to *lay* in the grass on a nice day, and not wearing jeans and long sleeved shirts!