Electric Lawn Mowers, Yard Tools, etc

[ls973800]

I had "hi-jacked" a different post, so wanted to carry on the discussion in an area where it belongs.

 

We are moving into a house at the beginning of August, and I have to buy a lawn mower, edger, weed eater, etc.   This is only the second time in 42 years of marriage that we have been in a condo, both times while waiting for a house.

 

I have had plenty of gas powered lawn equipment over those years, and never even thought about considering electric operated ones.  We made a move that required us to really downsize and therefore I sold all of my lawn equipment, knowing I would not need it for at least one year. 

 

Having just leased a C-Max Energi in April, I am ready to try going "green" in other areas also.  The little bit of reviews I have read on the web have mostly been positive, but there are a few negatives as can be expected.  I will have about 1/3 of an acre in a subdivision, and the yard is mostly flat.  I usually cut at least once a week, and I mulch the clippings.

 

I am 63 years old, and have always used a self propelled mower and they have always been at least 21 inch cutting width.  There are only two, maybe three, self propelled electric cordless mowers I have been able to find so far.  They ALL use the older lead battery which adds about 30-35 lbs to the machine, and they have special charging requirements.  One requires the battery always be connected to the charger when not in use.

 

Any suggestions, comments, etc?  It's been so long since I had to push a mower, I don't know if I can give up the self propelled feature.  With the limited selection right now, perhaps I will just buy a used gas mower and see what happens in the market by next spring.

 

Also, what ever brand mower I buy, I will also more than likely buy the edger and trimmer since the same brand can share batteries.  More convenient having only one charger that can handle all of the batteries, and having extra batteries if needed.

 

 

Thanks, Steve

[CassidyB]

Have you looked at any of the Ryobi cordless mowers? Most are lithium-ion and the battery can be swapped out. I have a 7 year old Black and Decker cordless. The battery is built in and it is quite heavy... But 7 years with no problems. It's been a great investment, If it ever dies, I'm switching over to Ryobi

[Podivin]

I agree with CassidyB, take a good look at the battery powered mowers. They are VERY light, much lighter than the ones from 3 or so years ago. In fact they sort of feel like a toy,but they do a good job with the grass. Mine is 21" with two blades. I bought it from Lowes (or Home Depot, I don't recall exactly), it's so light it feels like a toy. I also have a 1/3 acre lot (with a swimming pool and 12x16 outbuilding, so I don't mow the entire lot), it mows it just fine. The 50-something lady next door borrowed it and like it enough that she bought one for herself.

[markd]

When I owned my house I would pay a service to cut my grass, when gas jumped to $4.50 a gallon they raised their price to $240 dollars a month so I bought an electric mower. I loved that thing, it was quiet and never needed gas. I have a small grassy area in my patio at my condo and I have a push mower for that.

[Bugblndr]

I use a 21" deck gas powered Lawn Boy mower for my small yard.  It starts first or second pull every time (as it's guaranteed to do) and use maybe a gallon of gas a season.

 

My neighbor has the Ryobi 40V lithium ion cordless mower, chainsaw, and trimmer and let me try out his mower a couple of weeks back. It's fairly light in weight and did a pretty good job.  It doesn't have the grunt that my gas mower has so It would struggle more with long or damp grass IMO.

 

For now I'll stick with my gas powered mower and plug-in electric trimmer.  By the time either needs replacing, I'm sure the technology will be even better.  

 

For the winter time I use a Toro plug in electric snowblower which starts first time every time.   :salute:

[eldrijt]

I just got the Ryobi 40V mower. It got good reviews except a charger issue a year ago. Each battery lasts about 20 minutes or more in thin grass. W have thick Zorro Zoysia and it does fine. Brushless motor and 43 lb. No need for self propelled.

 

http://www.protoolreviews.com/tools/outdoor-equipment/lithium-ion-powered-lawn-mower-round-up/13560/

 

Ryobi had 1 of the longest run times, weight among the lowest and did not have any trouble with thick grass. Small bag and less perfect mulching compared to our gas mower is easy for us to overlook.

 

Jim

[kostby]

REPOSTED from the "Hitch thread", so I'll remove it over there.

 

I've never owned a gas mower, only electric in 30 years of home ownership, but I've always lived in planned subdivisions with lots far less than an acre in size. A single appropriately-rated 100' two-conductor electric cord designed for ungrounded electric power tools has always been more than sufficient, because I always had outlets in both front and rear of the homes. Cord management is not much of a hassle if you always start nearest the outlet and mow away, one row at a time, to the farthest location the cord will reach.

 

For many years, I preferred the flip-over-handle Black & Decker electric mowers, but was eventually unable to find parts for the last one when it died. It had a polycarbonate deck and would have lasted virtually forever, except that the windings on the armature came loose, and a replacement armature from a B&D supplier cost more than a new mower, and there was no electric motor repair shop nearby to get an estimate. 

 

Newer safety regulations apparently no longer permit flip-over-handle designs, so now I have a Lowes "Kobalt"-branded 21" 13-amp model, the most powerful ever. As long as I mow about every 7-10 days, it has plenty of power.  I'm not a fanatic about lawncare, so I don't keep the yard at putting-green or even fairway height, more like 3.5 to 4.5 inches, usually.

 

Like the lower-end gas mowers and snowblowers most are manufactured in the same factory in China so, Lowes and Menards (and probably many other stores) sell basically the same 21" 13-amp plug-in electric mower under various brand names.  Last year, the Kobalt at Lowes was on sale and it had a year longer warranty than the very similar Greenworks at Menards.

 

Lowes: Kobalt-branded 13-amps 21", includes side-chute, mulching plug and rear bag (I always mulch so I never use side or rear bag.

http://www.lowes.com...93-KM210-06_0__

 

Menards: Greenworks

 

http://www.menards.c...r/p-2271388.htm

[Marc Smith]

Hey folks,

 

I'm the landscape and grounds manager at Georgetown U in DC.

 

and while we are not going the battery route soon,  we have been testing stuff...

 

I have been doing a long term test of Dewalts tools http://www.dewalt.com/tool-categories/outdoorpe.aspx

 

We have the string trimmer, shears and blower on a demo.  I have been very impressed with the tools.  the 6 amp 40v battery will run the string trimmer for a solid hour.   I we have a cemetery on campus and I did a long run time test and trimmed all 400 headstones on a single charge with juice leftover.  The blower and shears have been equally as impressive.  My guys do complain that the the battery tools don't just have the same amount of "umph" as the gas tools,  but imo if I had to give up gas  it would not be the hardest swap.

 

I also had the stihl rep down on Tuesday and we got to look at some of their tools. http://www.stihlusa.com/products/battery/    I'm working on getting a long term test on a few of their pieces as well.   The voltages and Amps are not the same (lower) as the Dewalt but Stihl offers a wider range of tools.

 

I have looked at the Echo Units.  and while I'd love to Demo one,  they aren't biting.  but they seem to have a great "no questions asked" return policy within 90 days...

 

I am looking at the units from a commercial use view.

 

and one of the local universities bought this Meangreen but from a residential stand points it would be a bit of overkill  but up clos e inperson and I had a chance to use it it was very impressive.

 

 

one thing to look at when you buy mower/ string trimmers  is the width of cut and run times.  To boost the run times they make the cutting width narrow.  less load on the engine.    especially on the string trimmers

Edited July 9, 2015 by Marc Smith

[ls973800]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and information posted so far!  I am just a little leery of buying a mower that isn't self propelled at this stage of my life.  I have read how light and easy the electric mowers are to push so I might seriously reconsider those.

 

The lead batteries are a concern for me that are on the self-propelled models available now, and that is another reason I am going to reconsider the push mowers.  Not sure why different batteries aren't being used, unless it's just older technology that the manufacturers haven't seen a need to update yet?

 

I wondered why there were some small cutting paths for many of these mowers, as small as 14" from what I remember.  I guess the fact that the electric mowers just aren't as powerful as a gasoline mower (yet) does make sense for the smaller cutting paths.

 

I am thinking I will need about 40 minutes or so of running time to cut the entire yard.  Something with a duel battery is appearing to be necessary for my requirements, as I was a bit surprised to read about only 20 minutes of running time on some of the mowers.

[eldrijt]

Compare the weight of any mower to 43 lbs. My last mower was a basic MTD with large back wheels. Weighs 65 lbs and is NOT self propelled. It is very basic. So add 15 lbs for self propelled and you're looking at 80+. Remember it's not self propelled when you pull it back toward you or when you turn 180. We have such a steep lawn that for safety I wore football cleats, and worried about it backing over me if I lost footing. I had to quit mowing 6 years ago and we hired a guy. My 59 year old wife just couldn't handle the 65 lb or the pull cord. But now she can mow it with the 43 lb mower no problem. She is very excited about it and plans to tell all her girlfriends. On flat ground this mower is absolutely trivial to push by anybody. Even a 10 year old.

 

40 minute lawn may or may not be a range problem depending on your grass.  We got 20 min/battery on very thick but dry zoysia while mulching. This grass is way way thicker than the fescue we used to have. The review mentioned above got just over an hour out of the 2 batteries on the Ryobi. Home Depot allows you to return within 30 days so try it out.

 

Edit: I just checked- gas self propelled is 97 lbs and a Black and Decker lead acid self propelled is 72 lbs http://www.amazon.com/CM1936-19-Inch-Cordless-Electric-Removable/dp/B002YK4UZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436569509&sr=8-1&keywords=Black+%26+Decker+CM1936

 

Jim

Edited July 10, 2015 by eldrijt

[cheezy]

My POS Crapsman just gave up it's ghost and I HAD to start using the old school rotary Fiskars that the wife bought, while I was away on my last training tour for 7 months; she could not get the Crapsman started on her own.

 

IIRC, the Fiskars was $135, silent, no fuel/electricity. I've grown to like it.  

[WheNRG]

I was recently lookng at the Kobalt at Lowes.  They've got an 80V 21" mower that has really good reviews.  It is not self propelled, but as mentioned people stated that it is so light that they don't miss it.  5 yr warranty, so what do you have to lose?  Batteries are reported to last about 30 minutes, but it comes with 2 and they recharge in under 30 minutes, so you will always have one ready to swap out once the first one dies.  Also much quieter than gas.  I would buy one now except we are looking to relocate soon so I don't know what size I would want for my new property yet. 

[ls973800]

Thanks.  The Lowe's one sounds like it would do the job.  I'll check their site and see what other yard equipment they have that would use the same batteries and chargers.  I've seen two other models I like also.  Looks like I may forget about the self propelled since I also have read reviews that they are not that difficult to push.

[eldrijt]

That Kobalt looks really good especially the battery and 30 minute charger. Didnt see the weight though.

 

Jim

[ls973800]

That Kobalt looks really good especially the battery and 30 minute charger. Didnt see the weight though.

 

Jim

 

44 pounds according to this top 10 review.  I have been studying these 10 reviewed mowers for the last day or two.

 

http://electric-lawn-mowers-review.toptenreviews.com/kobalt-40-volt-cordless-mower-review.html

[eldrijt]

I think 44 lbs is for the 40v Kobalt. The Greenworks 80v is 62 lbs and appears to be a twin of the Kobalt 80v. Steel deck. What impressed me was the 80v batteries and charger use active fan cooling to allow 30 minute charge time which about equals the run time so it has virtually no range limit if you charge while mowing. For my steep, tiny yard though I prefer the much lighter weight of the Ryobi.

 

Jim