Do you let your kids ride your mower?

[JimmyWeb]

Lawn mowers aren't designed to carry passengers, period! Kids have no business on a mower until they are old enough to operator it themselves. I'd say in their teens.

I have to agree, I would never let my sons ride on a mower with me. That's just irresponsible behavior. When they get old enough to understand and when they are tall enough to operate it, I will show them how to mow. Until then they aren't coming anywhere close to my future mower.

 

[Mace Canute]

I sometimes think that in many cases, the parent letting the kid ride has little to do with the kid's desires but everything to do with the parent's. They want to have their kid ride with them to fulfill some fantasy they have built up over the years and in doing so, they put their kid in a hazardous situation to satisfy their own desire. When anyone tells them they are putting their kid into a hazardous situation, they become very defensive and out comes the long list of reasons they use to justify their actions. Their ability to differentiate between fairly benign situations and truly hazardous ones seems to evaporate!
I was allowed to ride on the tractors once I turned 10 and I started to use the tractors (by myself) on the farm when I was 12 and by the time I was 13, I was putting in just as long a day as the men did when doing summerfallowing. It wasn't much longer before I was more capable than they were when it came to handling the tractors. (They weren't the best, and I had a knack for it! :biggrin It was a good age (12) for me to start because I had grown enough by then to reach all the controls...and I never ever had any close calls with any of the equipment on the (1440 acre) farm. I honestly can't say if that was due to good planning or luck, probably a mixture of both, but the fact remains I never had any close calls.

Just my :2cents: :smile:

 

[monica123]

My father has a ride on lawnmower and when he takes the kids for a ride he hooks the trailer up and loads them in there and drives them around the yard, that way they are contained in the trailer and they are safe.

 

[Zeroturn]

Wow- 5 really? That is dangerous I think. My daughter started to help my dad (gramps) when she was 11. She started here at 12. I think it's a good age. She has been riding her 4-wheeler since she was 9 or 10.

 

[monica123]

Five is way too young. My son is almost four and I would never consider allowing him to ride the lawnmower. I have only just let him got on the ATV this year.

 

[dnjsyl]

I am 47 and rode a cub cadet at 4 years old...i didnt mow with it till later on, i just rode around on it.......it keeps you out of trouble. My son has rode for a long time and he is 15 now. He begs me to mow and weed eat all the time....he understands the danger and is extremely careful and has been for some time....i must say he does a great job on the 4 acres that he does mow....

 

[Zeroturn]

Well I guess if you are just riding on it, then 4 or 5 is fine. They can't mow of course it's too dangerous. I would allow them on a rider way before they could operate a push mower.

 

[briggs]

i have taken my 5 year old and my 9 year old autistic daughter for a drive around the yard on my mower but never with the deck on ..I have a cart for them now and they love that even more ...Will i let them cut the grass heck no ....

 

[cohen]

It isn't a responsible thing to do to say the least. It isn't a toy for goodness sake. It's a tool with moving blades. Anyhow, this is one safety measure that each would-be owners of mowers should be mindful about.

 

[AndyMan]

My 10-year old mows the easy areas (flat, level, no obstructions). My 12-year old mows everywhere. It is a money-earning job for them, and they treat it seriously. The one time the older one goofed around, that was the end of mowing for him until the next year. He has never goofed around on the mower again.