battery powered lawn mower

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reible
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battery powered lawn mower

Post by reible »

Just over 4 years ago I needed a lawn mower and decided to get a battery operated one. It has worked fine. But this spring one of the two supplied batteries died. It only needs one to operate. And now the second battery will not charge fully.

Guarantee was for 3 years. I was hoping for a bit more life out of the lithium but did not get it.

The part that hurts is the replacements are on the expensive side. Total with tax $146.33. Just replacing the dead one and will use the other until it either will not charge or not mow at least the front yard.

Review for this battery were not good but 4 years ago it was a new product so no reviews of long term use.

I will do this one time replacement but when they die again I will move on to what I hope to be a longer lasting solution.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

Ed
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edma194
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by edma194 »

reible wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 9:01 pm The part that hurts is the replacements are on the expensive side. Total with tax $146.33. Just replacing the dead one and will use the other until it either will not charge or not mow at least the front yard.
How much gasoline and oil do you think you would have used if in the past 4 years if you weren't on batteries?
Ed from Rhode Island

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DLB
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by DLB »

I use an Echo battery string trimmer and chainsaw. I like both, but the batteries are relatively big and heavy. I saw that this year Echo dropped my battery platform and replaced it with another. I'm a bit disappointed that they did that, long term prospects aren't great. I see more advantage getting away from two-stroke motors.

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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by thunderbirdbat »

We have been slowly replacing our chainsaw, trimmers and the small mower we use to edge up around things with battery powered units. Since I have the DeWalt 20v system for my hand held woodworking tools, my husband decided to go with their chainsaw, trimmers and mower. Keeping with just one battery line has come in handy a few times.
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RCZ
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by RCZ »

Ed, we use a Ryobi string trimmer and a leaf blower, and both have been good performers for our fairly small yard. One advantage is the easy availability of the 18 v batteries and also the fairly long life of all the batteries we have. Even though this isn't what you were asking about, I mention it because Ryobi has battery powered mowers now. If we move to a house with a larger yard, I would take a good look at the Ryobi mower because we have had good experience so far with their cordless stuff.
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by garys »

edma194 wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 9:18 pm How much gasoline and oil do you think you would have used if in the past 4 years if you weren't on batteries?
I figure I use about $10-15 a year in gas in my lawn mower and about $5 a year in oil. That wouldn't be enough to pay for a battery in 4 years for me. I'll be using gas power for my lawn mower, snowblower, and rototiller for a long time yet until batteries make more progress. I have a battery powered weed eater, and it is far superior to a gas powered one with a 2 stroke engine. It won't do my entire yard on one battery charge, but it is easy to recharge the battery and finish the next day.
My neighbor needed all day to get his 2 stroke weed eater started before he could do anything. After a few years, he tossed the 2 stroke in the trash and bought a battery powered one. Now he gets the job done fast.
Batteries are OK for light jobs, but anything that needs significant power isn't a job for a battery.
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by twistsol »

My daughter has a Ryobi 40v snowblower she got for Christmas in 2013. The battery on it failed last winter so 9 years on that. She lives in Duluth/Superior so it threw plenty of snow in its life. Replacement batteries are $179 before taxes.

After we moved from the country to the suburbs a couple of years ago, I replaced my small gas powered outdoor tools in favor of Ryobi 40v. I have a push mower, edger, string trimmer and leaf blower and no issues at all. No gas, no smell and quiet is a real advantage, but battery costs may outweigh the advantages. I really wish Ridgid made garden tools. Their lifetime service agreement covers batteries and they've replaced the batteries on my set of shop tools a couple of times in 10+ years.

I did not opt for the Ryobi riding mower and went with a Cub Cadet XT1 gas rider and a gas powered Toro snowblower. Pressure washer and roto tiller didn't change since they don't see much use.
Thanks much,

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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by rpd »

I always had trouble starting the 2 stroke trimmer, especially the first use in the spring. My neighbour told me to put fuel stabilizer in the gas, and that made a big difference. Going to a 4 stroke was also a big improvement.
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by RFGuy »

Several years back I bought the Black and Decker 40V platform. It was very reasonably priced. The tools aren't great, but they work. I was most impressed with the batteries. It was my first lithium ion tool battery that didn't self discharge, e.g. I could leave it unattended all winter and the battery would still have a full charge come spring. It looks like the design has been updated a bit, but the battery interface looks the same so I think you can still get batteries for it. It received moderate use for a few years and I had no problems with it, but I don't use it anymore (batteries are still fully charged!). I also have a couple of Milwaukee outdoor power tools. They are nice because I can share batteries between my woodworking shop and outdoor tools. The chainsaw works well enough for a 16" chainsaw. I think the DeWalt platform did slightly better than the Milwaukee chainsaw in reviews. For serious chainsaw work, I would still go with a gas Husqvarna one instead. What I really like is the 6" handheld pruning saw called the Milwaukee Hatchet (pic below). I have used several high quality loppers over the past couple of decades, but if you have a lot of tree work to do they are fatiguing and hard on the hands. If you do a lot of tree or shrub limb cuts in the 1"-3" range this tool is fantastic. Surprised it does so much off of such a small 12V battery.

Ed highlights my main concern with battery powered tools, i.e. the whole platform changing due to adopting a new battery technology. I am already on my 2nd generation of Milwaukee battery technology in my shop, but before this I had all DeWalt. If you count one or two NiCad ones before that, I guess you could say I am on my 5th or 6th generation of battery powered tools for my shop. I love my M12 and M18 battery powered Milwaukee tools, but if & when the next battery platform comes along it will be VERY painful for me to switchover again because I have so many tools on the current platform. What I don't get is the push to put EVERYTHING on battery power. I mean a cordless drill makes sense. Unless I am a contractor on a jobsite without power, or building a cabin for myself in a remote area, do I really need a battery powered tracksaw? Festool has been pushing their new anti-kickback cordless tracksaw the last year. With batteries, it is like $800. For the average woodworker/hobbyist, who will purchase these battery powered tools knowing that perhaps in 10 years you have to trash everything and start over on a new platform? It is very expensive to start over. As long as I can get replacement brushes, etc., my corded tracksaw should last me the rest of my life. When/if I go to build that cabin one day, I will just bring a generator to power any corded tools. Some days, I wonder if I shouldn't go back to just having a cordless drill and nothing else battery powered. Buying a new $200 cordless drill every 10 years isn't so bad, but buying a new $1000 lawnmower every 10 years due to battery platforms changing starts to get really painful...

Okay, rant over, but I would be interested to hear what others think about cordless tool obsolescence.
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edma194
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Re: battery powered lawn mower

Post by edma194 »

RFGuy wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 10:06 am Several years back I bought the Black and Decker 40V platform. It was very reasonably priced. The tools aren't great, but they work. I was most impressed with the batteries.

Ed highlights my main concern with battery powered tools, i.e. the whole platform changing due to adopting a new battery technology.

Okay, rant over, but I would be interested to hear what others think about cordless tool obsolescence.
I have the B&D 40V trimmer and blower, they work, but one of the batteries went bad after a year, not even heavily used.

I want a cordless chainsaw, something with a 16"-18" bar, but I'm hesitant to spend $300 on batteries that may not work with anything else, and might go bad on me. I don't plan to do a lot of chainsawing any more so these batteries have to last many years to make them worthwhile. Some of these batteries are interchangeable but it's not clear to me how well that works in both the tool and charger. There are adapters that allow different battery types on tools, but it still seems kind of shaky. I think the companies need to cover their investment in batteries by making sure you have to buy their brand initially, and in the future to keep using the tool. None of those companies should be in the battery business, they should stick to the tools and support standard interchangeable battery systems. I don't buy any of those battery dependent smart technology excuses either, it's a battery, if the tool is smart it can sense the discharge rate and optimize around whatever it is. I'll take 10% less time on the battery for a 50% cut in the cost any time. I'm sure it will be much more than a 50% reduction in battery cost once batteries are standardized and independent battery makers compete for the business.

In the end I'll spend the bucks on currently available products because I don't want to be yanking cords on chain saws anymore, my own batteries will wear from doing that.
Ed from Rhode Island

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