Thoughts on battery powered lawn mowers...

Gas mower i've had forever finally died. Is the battery tech good enough to buy one or is it worth waiting a few more years and buy one next go around?

I've had bad luck with the gas TORO I bought with an electric start ( worked a total of 6 times) but luckily stuck the ex with that one when I divorced.lol

Thanks

My neighbor has one, it seems only run for 30min to a hour. It is a Kobalt 80-Volt. I got our yard setup where I don't need to push mow, and when his mower dies he comes and gets my push mower. 

I've had a Black and Decker 20V one for quite a few years now- and it works great.  I even use it to mulch leaves before picking them up on a second pass.

How much yard are you looking to mow?

I bought a cheap plug in Black and decker mower recently and in its limited use its been great!

Pulling around the cord is a bit annoying but it never runs out of power and you dont have to deal with a small gas engine and the problems there

I have the Ryobi 40V and am very happy with it. Recent thread here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/ryobi-40v-lawn-mower-review/153019/page2/

Assuming I remember to charge it overnight the night before I'm going to mow, the battery has never died on me. At least 75 minutes of charge last year, probably less this year after I forgot to take the battery inside for the winter.

My Kobalt 40V is not bad.  I can get through my .25 acre property (admittedly with a decent wooded area I don’t mow) on the standard battery.  If I let it grow too long, I need to also use the smaller battery that came with the string trimmer.

It’s nice not wearing ear protection to mow the lawn.  However, I don’t think I’d go for an electric mower, unless I also was going to use other appliances in the same ecosystem.  Extra batteries seem overpriced compared to when they are included with other tools.

If I had to guess i'm on 1/4 acre with a couple small hills. 

I was just worried about the life of the battery. I typically split up doing the front and back on different days. The warranty on these look to all be 4 years.

We have an 80V Kobalt. Will handle the front and back yard on one charge. We also have the 80V string trimmer. The mower package I bought came with a charger and two batteries, so I went ahead and bought the string trimmer package that came with a charger and one battery.

So we have two chargers and three batteries. If one happens to die, grab a fresh one and throw the dead one on the charger.

I just did my lawn today.. I like being able to have a conversation with somebody while running the mower, yes, I have to speak a little louder, but at least we can hear each other without having to yell

Have an EGO self propelled on its third summer.  Half Acre and the battery held up for the whole thing the first year, now takes a recharge half way through.  Part of that is the battery, stored it in an unheated garage winters and part is the lawn is way thicker now than it was.

Still love it, quiet and great cut, stores in a smaller space in the garage.  

Given the general state of battery-powered tools these days (pretty good), I'd suggest that a battery-powered lawnmower would be fine for small yards (~1/4-acre-ish).  Make a point of maintaining the battery through the winter, and you could probably expect to get a good three or four seasons out of it.  Maybe more.

I bought a Ryobi 40v after reading the above linked thread and I have really liked it so far.  It cuts well, feels lighter, is much quieter, and doesn't fumigate me with exhaust like the old mower.  I've cut my small lawn twice on one charge since I bought it. I might get a third cut before it needs a recharge.  From past experience with power tools, I am expecting some battery degredation over time, but with my small yard, I think it's going to work out fine even if battery life drops off.  So far, so great.

Love my 40v Ryobi. And im on my 3rd season (just sharpened the blade for the first time last week - should have done it last year), batteries are still great (except the first one I got that was bunk basically right out of the box and Ryobi sent me another for free). I leave the batteries on the chargers plugged in in the garage 100% of the time. Ryobi would be nuts to build a charger that doesn't do the right thing to maintain the batteries.

Also, my leaf blower and hedge trimmer and snowblower run on the same batteries so I'm using them all year. 

Something that I'm not sure has been mentioned here, although is the inherent benefit of a battery mower so is likely assumed: 

There is no fiddling with either premixing gas or changing the oil or running the old gas out at the end of the season or using STABIL or futzing around trying to get the damn thing started or replacing a carburetor. They just worked--and I had a Honda before this too, so its not like I'm bitching about the circa 1984 Lawn-Boy that my dad picked up and dropped in a trash can halfway through mowing the lawn in 1995 either. 

mtn said:

Something that I'm not sure has been mentioned here, although is the inherent benefit of a battery mower so is likely assumed: 

There is no fiddling with either premixing gas or changing the oil or running the old gas out at the end of the season or using STABIL or futzing around trying to get the damn thing started or replacing a carburetor. They just worked--and I had a Honda before this too, so its not like I'm bitching about the circa 1984 Lawn-Boy that my dad picked up and dropped in a trash can halfway through mowing the lawn in 1995 either. 

Correct, I should have mentioned that. I didn't want any of that dirty smelly stuff in my garage, big part of why I went battery powered.

mtn said:

Something that I'm not sure has been mentioned here, although is the inherent benefit of a battery mower so is likely assumed: 

There is no fiddling with either premixing gas or changing the oil or running the old gas out at the end of the season or using STABIL or futzing around trying to get the damn thing started or replacing a carburetor. They just worked--and I had a Honda before this too, so its not like I'm bitching about the circa 1984 Lawn-Boy that my dad picked up and dropped in a trash can halfway through mowing the lawn in 1995 either. 

Great point. Another reason I'm considering battery power.

Thanks guys!

I recently resurrected an old push mower I had with a $99 Harbor Freight vertical shaft engine.  It bolted right in place of the hella-blowed-up B&S engine.  Blade bolted right up, and all the cables worked too (though oddly, the throttle now works in reverse- minor issue, don't care).  My deck and wheels and everything were fine.  And it wasn't a self-propelled mower, push only.  I use it for trim work and mowing inside the fenced-in garden (about 1/8 acre)

It's on it's third season now and I've done nothing other than add gas to it and change the oil once.  Starts first pull every time.  

The difference between $99 and $newbatterymower$ will buy a lot of gasoline.  And the HF engine isn't terribly loud, either.  I wear hearing protection, but its more so I can listen to music while I mow.  

Now, I'd LOVE to electrify my 1990's-era 18HP tractor mower, mostly because it IS loud as berkeley and I like to mow at night.  But that would require at least 2 electric motors (one to drive the deck, one to move the tractor, though 1 for each of the 3 blades might be a better solution, for 4 motors total) and probably a Leaf's worth of batteries.  

EDIT:  Hmmmmmmm

mtn said:

Something that I'm not sure has been mentioned here, although is the inherent benefit of a battery mower so is likely assumed: 

There is no fiddling with either premixing gas or changing the oil or running the old gas out at the end of the season or using STABIL or futzing around trying to get the damn thing started or replacing a carburetor. They just worked--and I had a Honda before this too, so its not like I'm bitching about the circa 1984 Lawn-Boy that my dad picked up and dropped in a trash can halfway through mowing the lawn in 1995 either. 

Absolutely. my last gas mower, while not bad to start, I used to wire a loop around the safety bar so i could step away and leave it running rather than having to jerk a rope to restart it. The Electric Mower, push a button and pull the safety bar and it just starts running.

Chiming in for easy retrieval of this thread later

I picked up an EGo 56V battery powered push mower a few weeks ago. Now, I only use a push mower for trim work, the bulk of my mowing is done on a rider, but so far this thing is great. No gas, no noise, and best of all, you push the button and it works Every Time. I get a good 40 minutes out of a charge, which is plenty for me.

I have the Dewalt 2x20V mower and it's good, but doesn't have a great battery life on the smaller batteries.

For better or worse I'm married to the Dewalt tool & battery system, so I run the 60V 5 amp hour batteries on the mower and I never have to stop for a charge or swap out with those.
And there are times where I'll go 2-3 weeks between mowing because of work and weather.

Doesn't even hesitate to cut the tall, thick stuff. I do have to go a bit slower so I don't clog the deck, but I really enjoy the heck out of mine.

Of course my tool trailer and shed are both set up with solar panels and inverters so I never have to use shore-power for charging my battery packs, but that's neither here nor there, just a personal preference for how I've set up my layout.

I saw a city worker use a new Stihl mower at Vancouver City Hall and he was extremely enthusiastic with his praise. In my case two winters of hard work by raccoons chasing European Chafer Beetles has left us approximately 10 square feet of lawn. The back yard is now all garden.

Figured I'd update this since I haven't been on here in a while. Picked up a 40V Ryobi and am really happy with it. Less fatique after cutting and typically can cut it in less time. No issues with charging and power loss either.

Thanks to all who commented.

I know an elderly neighbor that has this mower. Black and Decker 3.5hp.  The only maintenance ever done was an occasional blade sharpening and one replacement battery.  I think she has had it for about 10+ years.  Easy to use/maintain.  

We *love* our ryobi. We have a small lot, 50x125 with a house of course in it, but I can get two mowings to a charge. It’s super light, and quiet. I like reducing my piston count for whatever reasons. It’s one of my favorite recent purchases, right up there with the fr-s