Electric Lawn Mowers??

Toolfan66

Been thinking about the EGO that they sell at HD.. Any thoughts on electric Lawn Mowers??

pitdogg2

My neighbor has had a few over the years. None of them seem to have any longevity to them. In the time i have had one (Lawnboy) he has had three electric. One corded and two batteries, if the grass was allowed to get very tall none of them did a very good job getting through it. Excuse me i do not know which brands or where the fell in the line up of electric lawn mowers.

motorhead43026

Better get Sal.

msg

Interesting thread. I used to think electric mowers were for just for 70 year olds in socks and sandals with 12sq ft of lawn in their Palm Beach retirement condos so they'd have one more thing to gripe about when they ran over the extension.

What am I talking about. I still mostly think that.

But seriously, interesting with battery technology developing as it has.

Jstas

In my experience, electric lawn mowers are ok for moderate lawns, good for small lawns.

Anything over about half an acre will be brutal. 3/4ths of an acre or more and it'd be impossible with an electric mower because corded or battery powered, the limitations can be difficult to deal with in either cord length or battery life.

Also, depends on the type of lawn. Stuff like zoysia grass that is well established and thick will make a stout gas mower struggle if it gets too high. So with an electric mower, you have to mow more often. In places like the Northeast here where we get tons of rain in the spring and early summer, the grass grows like wildfire. A gas mower has to mow every week and even then it gets a bit too high. An electric would be a couple times a week.

Now, I have no experience with these EGO deals but I did have a neighbor with about .40 acres of land to mow and he had a battery operated mower. He actually ended up buying 3 more batteries for a total of 5 just to be able to finish mowing his lawn in 1 day. To me, that's too much of a sacrifice in time to make an electric worth it. He moved away, though, so I have no idea if he still has the mower or not.

Jstas

Well, an acre is ~43.5K square feet so at ~6400 sq ft, you're mowing about .15-.20 acres of land.

An average yard for most people in suburbia and not in a McMansion is roughly 12,000-15,000 square feet which is .25-.33 acres. (a quarter to a third of an acre).

Food for thought.

mhardy6647

Yeah (and FWIW) I would think 5000-6000 square feet of "manicured" (well prepared and landscaped) lawn would be ideal for the modern crop of battery-powered mowers (of which I hear good things). I don't think it'd be too practical for us, e.g.

Oh, and my daughter's father-in-law (who is a pretty technologically savvy guy -- as a professor of medicine and a former astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle!) has one of the EGO mowers, and likes it a lot.

smglbrth

I have no experience with electric mowers. However, I like my Lawnboy and the smoke/smell it produces from the 2 cycle engine at start-up. Gotta love it when a few of the neighbors give me dirty looks sometimes.

I don't trust battery powered products, for me, they always seemed to run out of juice at the worst possible time (Murphy is still alive and well). I've never had good experiences with them and the replacement battery prices are horrendous for some of that stuff...

Jstas

Yeah, not saying they are bad at all.

But if you're like me with 3.25 acres of land (well, only about an acre and a half that isn't covered by lake and trees) an electric mower is not going to cut it. Literally.

That's why I have this.

motorhead43026

Here in the Midwest especially in the spring, electric mowers choke big time on bluegrass, rye and fescue mix lawns. They do have their place though.

NotaSuv

Had an EGO for awhile and loved it but switched to a weekly lawn service which I LOVE more fishing time.................

mhardy6647

John Megadeth wrote: »

For the record, I'm not of the LEAF-minded view on electric mowers; I've yet to plaster it with silly magnets and stickers...

But, but... LEAFs and lawn mowers go so well together!



(sorry -- couldn't resist)

msg

Is that functional, or a Trailer Queen?

Jstas wrote: »

But if you're like me with 3.25 acres of land (well, only about an acre and a half that isn't covered by lake and trees) an electric mower is not going to cut it. Literally.

That's why I have this.

mhardy6647

Flames and white walls... where're the fuzzy dice?

MrBuhl

I had an electric before, was fine actually as mentioned above for a small lawn, in fact easier in some ways - move up to a medium or larger lawn though, and there is no substitute for cubic inches as they say. Fossil fuels all the way.

mhardy6647

MrBuhl wrote: »

I had an electric before, was fine actually as mentioned above for a small lawn, in fact easier in some ways - move up to a medium or larger lawn though, and there is no substitute for cubic inches as they say. Fossil fuels all the way.

[emphasis added]

"no replacement for displacement"

True of I/C engines and of loudspeakers.

Viking64

I have about 30 acres here and the guy across the road that owns a horse farm is happy to cut it for me for free!

GospelTruth

I used to have a gas powered lawn mower. I went with a battery powered lawn mower for a couple of reasons.

My Reasons

• Mower is less weight. I have a walkout basement and where I am in Nevada, I have to take a mower down steps on either side of my house. There is no where or way I can push it around to the back. I have to use stairs. Much easier to pick up a mower when it's battery powered as it weighs a lot less.
• Yard footprint. My yard is pretty small compared to what I had when I lived back in Michigan. Having a smaller yard means I don't have to worry as much about running out of battery power.
• Got sick of having a gas can around and dealing with winterizing things.
• Easy to put away. Because it's light, I have it hanging on a wall in the garage.

My Purchase
Greenworks 20-Inch 40V Twin Force Cordless Lawn Mower, 4.0 AH & 2.0 AH Batteries Included 25302
Purchase Price on an Amazon sale was $287 delivered to the house.

What I like

• It's lightweight and easy to push. Yeah, no self propel, but that's fine.
• Cuts the grass nice and even. No issues.
• One lever to adjust the height. It goes pretty high, so if I need to cut long grass if I've been gone over a week, I just run two passes.
• It's pretty strong with getting through thick grass.
• The bag is great as well and holds more grass than my gas powered one did.
• I can get about three mowings (front and back yard) on a charge. This has two batteries, so one is on and then when it goes out, the other kicks in.
• Batteries indicate how much charge is left.
• My little kids haven't figured out how to turn it on - I consider that a safety feature that requires a button press and holding of the bar down at the same time to start the mower.
• No need to have a gas can in the garage anymore - my wife appreciates that with the little ones.

Summary
Now, it all depends on if you have a big yard and if you have steep inclines and what not. My yard is smaller compared to those in the midwest. Takes me about 30 minutes to mow the front and back. My yard is also flat, so take that into consideration as well. With that though, I'm glad I went the route I did. I have purchased other tools by this vendor as well and the batteries are inter changeable. Makes it nice for doing other outdoor chores around the house.

Toolfan66

Thanks guys, food for thought, my yard is not that big so this does draw me in, and my old mower has seen better days..

I posted this right before I go to work, and end up coming home sick by 10... it just came on fast...

pitdogg2

Toolfan66 wrote: »

Thanks guys, food for thought, my yard is not that big so this does draw me in, and my old mower has seen better days..

I posted this right before I go to work, and end up coming home sick by 10... it just came on fast...

They sell good medicine for that all over Colorado

Toolfan66

John Megadeth wrote: »

The guy I bought my gear from also sells it on eBay. Let me know if you’re interested, I can send you his username.

Please do..

sucks2beme

I looked at electric for a lawnmower, but went gas.
I did however go with an 80v Lowes string trimmer.
WARNING. Anybody running modern rechargable stuff-DON"T
run them too low or the chargers won't work. The batteries might still
be good, but the chargers are set up to not deep charge.
I've had to jump batteries with another in order to bring the voltage
up high enough for the charger to start working.
I've had it happen to Dewalt power tools, and a Lowes 80v pack.
Thank you internet for the fix.

Viking64

msg

That's one heck of a lawn sculpture.
The owner mows the lawn with these in crossed bandoliers

Jaybeez

I tried a neighbor's electric on my 1/4 acre plot of Saint Augustine grass and it literally choked on it.
I'm in full gas mode, both with mower and trimmer.
Hoping the environmental cops in So Cal don't come knocking on my door over this all ...

JimKellyfan

I never had an electric lawnmower, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.
I have a Crapsman 19.2 weed whacker as a back up to the quad yearly carb replacement need echo, echo, echo.....though.
I have a DLT2000 and a Montgomery Ward (I believe) push mower from the 80's or early 90's with some redneck aluminum chute that flings debris straight to the face on occasion.
So, I been mulling one over myself.
Let me know how it works out, I suggest a faux consumer report review post someone ?

mhardy6647

My old (and I do mean OLD, as in pre-MTD) Troy-Bilt had a handle on the deck that you could turn to change the cutting height via a clever set of two rails connected to the front and rear wheels on each side. It took a little effort but worked pretty well.

That was a great lawnmower that served us well for many years, but the engine finally died and I pitched it.

ken brydson

John Megadeth wrote: »

Another thing I love about the EGO mower is the single adjustment lever to raise and lower the cutting deck. I always loathed having to struggle with adjusting the height at each wheel on my previous mowers. This may be something other gas-powered mowers have, but I’ve not seen it. It is a great feature on mine.

Handy for some but I have lawn curbing and like to drop one side down lower for the outside edge.

Toolfan66

So I finally broke down and purchased a EGO mower, did my first cutting yesterday, I have to say the first thing that I love is how quiet they are, second thing I like is how they can be stored, third thing is how quickly the battery charged it was awesome!!!

Did my whole yard, and didn’t break a sweat, and I cut through some pretty thick areas in my yard, it being my first cut of the season..

Now i will see how it holds up week after week, I’m guessing pretty well with how John loves his..

F1nut

My property is too big for an electric mower, but I bought an EGO trimmer last year to replace yet another POS gas one and could not be happier. The thing is amazing.

rooftop59

Toolfan66 wrote: »

So I finally broke down and purchased a EGO mower, did my first cutting yesterday, I have to say the first thing that I love is how quiet they are, second thing I like is how they can be stored, third thing is how quickly the battery charged it was awesome!!!

Did my whole yard, and didn’t break a sweat, and I cut through some pretty thick areas in my yard, it being my first cut of the season..

Now i will see how it holds up week after week, I’m guessing pretty well with how John loves his..

I have basically gave in to just paying $30 a pop for my yard since it’s a large yard and that’s just really cheap. And my kids are too young to do the yard yet...BUT they could probably push an electric. And the thing I HATE about the gas machines is the maintenance which sounds like would be less on these electrics. Hmm...