They'll buy anything: status-hungry boomers seek cutting edge lawn mowers

Just before Memorial Day, Rod Reams ditched his clunky old lawn mower. His new ride: a ZTR, or zero-turning-radius mower, which can spin around in place and cut a four-foot swath of grass at up to eight miles an hour.Reams, of west suburban Batavia, likes the way his John Deere Z445 cuts cleanly and trims his chore time to two hours from four. He likes something else, too: "One of my neighbors uses a smaller lawn tractor, and he looks at mine with admiration," Reams says "Big Honkin' Lawn Mowers Are Latest Status Symbol" Chicago Tribune