What's your experience on battery powered yard tools?

In reply to z31maniac :

I'm not at work now, so I can elaborate more. I did return the first trimmer when I couldn't get the quick connect attachment to work. 

I don't remember whether it was apart and wouldn't go back together, or was stuck and wouldn't come apart. 

They took it back without difficulty, although they did examine it to verify that all of the parts were there. 

I'm very careful to keep the attachment pieces well greased now. Also, I know I mentioned it earlier, but I'll repeat it: the line trimmer head was a piece of junk. 

I have an ego trimmer and blower, with 2 batteries...Only need one battery really, as I can trim/blow on one. 1/4 acre lot

tuna55 said:

Had a Worx long ago, and loved it. Bought an EGO power+ 56V about a year ago, and loved it more.

Bought one of these a while ago based on Tuna55s recommendation and it has been great. Occasionally I wish it had a little more power but 99% of the time it is prefect for what I need.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to go into one of the local Lowe's this weekend and talk about warranty/exchange/issues with both and see whats easier to deal with in store.

My dad picked up a battery powered push mower and some other lawn instruments that all use the same batteries.  Since he lives in central FL, he put up a solar array and got some batteries and an inverter.  IIRC, he did this 5+ years ago and he hasn't "paid" to mow his lawn or weed eat anything apart from the initial purchase.  He also uses the charged batteries to run the lights in his pond in the backyard.  

Reviving an old thread here - I'm looking at the electric options out there with multiple tools, Ryobi, Sunjoe, Lynxx, Atlas -- what's the battery ecosystem like for them? Can I use one battery on all the things as long as the voltage is the same? Amp hours makes no difference for the interface?

I'm specifically looking at a pole saw with the option of a mower for my wife

Five year update.  My ego self propelled mower is still great.  Didn't store the battery inside the first 2 years, it only lasted 45 minutes per charge.  They sent a new one, now between the 2 I can cut close to an acre, half is zoysia grass, which is very thick and is tough on mowers.  Bought a B&D blower/weed wacker combo at the same time, it was dirt cheap.  These batteries are pretty tired, between the 2 I can get maybe 15 minutes.  But I am stubborn and cheap and will persist until one of the devices actually dies.  Besides, who wants to trim for that long anyway.  So overall I am very satisfied.  No more gas cans in the garage, no more carb problems.  And no more earplugs to cut the lawn.

+1000 on the entire Ego product line. 

Updating: I'm still happy with my 80v Kobalt trimmer. Still on the original battery, despite storing it in my uninsulated garage. 

I've got an old Black n Decker cordless weed wacker with two batteries.  One fully charged battery is needed to do my small suburban yard.  I assume batteries have gotten much better, I'm tempted to try a Ryobi weed wacker since I've got a bunch of other Ryobi tools/batteries...

I'm six years in on my Ryobi 40v trimmer and original battery, still going strong. I got the axial blower and brush cutter attachments too. Added at 40v Ryobi chainsaw at Christmas and the 18v LiON hedge clippers. I'll never mix gas for lawn tools again.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Updating: I'm still happy with my 80v Kobalt trimmer. Still on the original battery, despite storing it in my uninsulated garage. 

Same here.  Going on 5 years of seasonal use.  I plan to buy more Kobalt 80V tools and yard equipment.  Chainsaw first and eventually a mower when my current gas mower gives up the ghost - I think this may be its last season.

My understanding is storing in the cold won't cause damage to the battery. Charging it during low temps will. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

I should've clarified, the issue with my uninsulated garage isn't cold, it's heat. For several months of the year the temperature will hit the 90s.

Using the 18v Ryobi stuff, a few things - string trimmer and leaf blower - really love them!

I dont have much to blow or weed eat and usually one battery will be enough for weed eating and then put a fresh battery in to start on the blowing and be done in just a few minutes (me, not the battery)

When I worked at HD, we had some 40v stuff, I forget the brand. The blowers freaking blew HARD, really forceful. It's what we used to blow gravel in the parking lot, very impressive. And very fast charging.

I am now onto year 4 with my Kobalt 40v lawnmower and trimmer.  I did have to put the mower up on the table this year and tighten up a few bolts and screws, it was starting feel "loose", but other than wishing I had bought into the 80v stuff, I have had no complaints with either of them.  I need to get a hedge trimmer this year.  My elderly neighbor's hedges are starting to invade.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Ah... same with mine.  Unless it's charging, the battery lives in my shed, which here in SE PA will see upper 90's with some regularity. The shed has no electricity so the charger is in my garage and while it is not really insulated or conditioned, it is attached to my house, so it does stay somewhat cooler/warmer than the outside temps.

I went with the 40V Greenworks system about a year ago. The pole-saw is good. The pole-hedge trimmer is dead. The basic hedge trimmer broke a tooth when I nicked a chain link fence, but still worked for a while. Now the motor smokes when I try to use it. The weed trimmer is weak. I have the version with a single string and getting on my knees and cutting the weeds with scissors would be quicker. The string feed mechanism on those is the worst design I have seen. I have seen positive reviews of the 14" version with dual strings.

i have the EGO 56V string trimmer.  i really like it.  and it's got a really cool self-loading function for refilling the string.

slefain said:

I'm six years in on my Ryobi 40v trimmer and original battery, still going strong. I got the axial blower and brush cutter attachments too. Added at 40v Ryobi chainsaw at Christmas and the 18v LiON hedge clippers. I'll never mix gas for lawn tools again.

Dang, my 40V Ryobi battery died right on time when the 3-year warranty ended. Luckily I was able to sweet-talk the Ryobi claims people to still warranty it for free. But I was fully prepared to buy a new battery without second thought. I like it that much more compared to engine options. 

Just a reminder to shop around: the Kobalt, Snapper, and Greenworks all use the same build house and are essentially the same tools per-voltage.  They're often on sale at different times, so you can save hundreds if you don't care about color-matched tools.

The 80/82V batteries all interchange in the tools as well.  My Snapper mower has the big Greenworks battery in it right now, and my Greenworks string trimmer takes the Snapper batteries no problem.

I bought into the whole Dewalt ecosystem.  I have a line trimmer, pole saw, lawnmower, fans, and most of the smaller power tools.  I like the fact that I can pull a battery out of the lawnmower and use it in my angle grinder if I want to.  The tools have all performed well.  I've only used the lawnmower a couple of times so far so the jury's still out on that.

Dewalt 40v trimmer does the job as well or maybe better than my old gas one. I like using the battery in my other hand tools, lasts forever.

Yeah I got Ryobi stuff and it works great, I've been using it relentlessly on my yard I have the lawnmower and the weedeater and leaf blower and all of them are on 18 V and they are great because they cut the yard and they blow the grass and they clipped the trims

What am I missing to where an 18v can do what a 40v can do? There are even some 80v mowers out there too. 

P3PPY said:

What am I missing to where an 18v can do what a 40v can do? There are even some 80v mowers out there too. 

Voltage essentially is the "speed" of the motor, but also can imply amperage of the pack- a lithium-ion cell will always have a constant voltage of 3.7v, so in that 80v battery you've likely got ~22 cells total which will likely have far more amps than 18v (which will likely have 6).