Anyone use electric lawn mowers?

[desura]

i don't like gas mowers, noisy, rattling, and really polluting too.

Anyone use an electric mower? My area has hills and the lawn has several inclines. Are there any good ones that are battery and self propelled?

 

[MrSquished]

my brother in law uses an electric. It's a small yard but has a hill on it. His only complaint is the batteries don't last long enough. I could find out what kind of mower he has.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, I have a pretty decent one...13 Amps, I think? It is not powered but I do not have hills to worry about, so it is likewise also corded (so no batteries to charge.)

It works really well and is quiet, but the 75ft extension cord you need to tug around is a pain. Plus, you look like a goon to the rest of the neighborhood.

But it was cheap and is really cheap to run. I forget the brand...one of those blue ones that Lowes carries. They do make powered electric motors. I'm not sure how quickly that one saps batteries, so if you go that route, consider a few extra batteries or just a corded mower (though if you have serious hills, that might be even more problematic)

 

[Ns1]

just bought an ego mower. will report back.

 

[dtgoodwin]

I bought the Ego self-propelled late summer. I highly recommend it. It's far more powerful than I would have imagined. The self-propelled feature works well. It has plenty of power for any hill, but I like that it has ball-bearing wheels so I actually push it on flat terrain. Not only do I not have to worry about gas/oil/will it start, but the noise level is much better. When I have my earbuds in and playing, sometimes I'm not sure if it's running or not. The biggest surprise is that my fingers would sometimes go numb with my old mower due to the vibration inherent in a gas powered mower. With this one I don't have that problem. I have .25 acre, and unless the grass gets really long, I have plenty of battery to do the whole thing on one charge.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I have, when we first bought our house money was tight so I was using a relatives old electric mower.
Pros
Fairly quiet
No maintenance
Light
No revving up, it starts at full power

Cons
The cord
The cord became unplugged very easily
Rolling up the cord
Did I mention the cord is a major pain in the ass?
The cord

My opinion is if you have a small lawn to mow like it takes under 30 minutes to mow an electric with cord is alright but anything else I say no.
I've never used the battery type but keep in mind you'll need a plug near where you store it

 

[shortylickens]

Yeah. Black & Decker. It works, but keep in mind our "lawn" is 4 feet by six feet AND has lots of rocks and flowers.

I do like the low noise and easy recharge. Super easy to clean as well.

 

[herm0016]

Black and decker rechargeable, works great. I'll never own another gas one (unless it's tractor size).

 

[Red Squirrel]

When I bought my gas one I was seriously considering electric too. The gas one works fine, it's a Briggs and Stratton engine, but like all small gas engines, it is not exactly efficient. Supposedly a lawnmower actually pollutes more than a car. If I was to do it over again I'd probably go with something that uses lithium ion battery packs. Given the explosion (no pun intended) in availability of 18650 cells you can build your own battery packs for cheaper than you can buy ones made for a specific use. Stick to name brands like LG and Panasonic. So I'd probably build a big ass battery pack if I feel the stock one is not big enough.

Hills and such should not really matter (assuming a push mower and not a ride one), the motor is not really working any harder based on it's orientation.

 

[desura]

just bought an ego mower. will report back.

Yeah, EGO looks like the brand to get right now.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, EGO looks like the brand to get right now.

that looks like the TridenT of lawnmowers. What are you guys thinking?

I got a Kobalt. Tree Fiddy out the door and it lasts a lifetime (OK, I wrecked the first blade on a super Nazi maple root, after the ~10th mow, but that's a $20 fix ).

 

[Merad]

I got this not quite 2 years ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZVOLXE

No complaints... If your lawn is small enough to reach it all with a 100 ft cord, I'd consider a corded mower. Cords annoying and you look kind of derp dragging it around but no worries about batteries, mower cutting worse as they drain, etc. If your yard is large enough that a cord wouldn't reach then you're probably going to need multiple batteries, or split your mowing up over several days.

 

[desura]

So research says that self propelled probably isn't necessary for these lithium electric mowers because they're about half the weight of gas mowers. About 55 lbs vs 95 lbs. Good, because self propulsion adds a lot to the cost.

 

[Red Squirrel]

They even make self propelled electric? seems pointless imo. Even gas ones, I rather be in control of the speed at which I'm mowing especially when nearing tight/odd corners. Not like it's that heavy.

 

[NoTine42]

So research says that self propelled probably isn't necessary for these lithium electric mowers because they're about half the weight of gas mowers. About 55 lbs vs 95 lbs. Good, because self propulsion adds a lot to the cost.

Wait, so electric is heavier than the old 2-stroke, magnesium deck Lawn Boys?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I never actually weighted my lawnmower but I'd be surprised if my basic gas one is even close to 55 lbs but guess it might be. Then again supposedly my snowblower is like 200lbs, it does not really feel that heavy, if I had to guess I'd say 100 lbs, crazy to think it's actually heavier than me. Maybe the fact that I work out makes me underestimate how heavy certain things are now.

 

[Red Storm]

I live on ~7+ acres, but I wish there were reasonably priced electric riding mowers that could handle that much yard. One day...

 

[dud]

i don't like gas mowers, noisy, rattling, and really polluting too.

Anyone use an electric mower?

I don't like gas mowers either but here in Florida a typical lawn would eat an electric mower for lunch. During the summer the lawn can easily grow an inch a day and Bahia and St. Augustine dulls those blades very quickly. Would love an electric but it isn't practical here.

 

[desura]

So from more research, electric probably is more like 10-15lbs lighter. Some models are extremely light, 30lbs. The greentech model is like 43lbs and I'm considering it because the ego model is like 58 lbs.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I have a Neuton electric mower. Battery operated, no cord. It worked ok, for awhile. I had about 1000 sq. ft. of yard to mow and it did the job during the times I'd stay on top of my yard. During the winter, when I didn't mow as much, it was a pain. If you don't stay on top of it, you're going to be charging your battery in the middle of mowing. Mine wasn't self propelled either.

 

[desura]

Holy crap EGO mowers have crazy expensive batteries. Like, $200 just for a 5AH battery. Pretty insane. And that's on top of the $320 for the mower alone.

 

[Ns1]

buy ego batteries on eBay

the 7AH battery is a crazy $300 at Home Depot. At that price, it's cheaper to buy the snow blower (which comes with 2 7AH batteries + a rapid charger) and then re-sell the snow blower sans batteries on eBay.

After a weekend of hard CL'ing, I now have 3 chargers, 2.0, 2.5, and 4.0 batteries.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I live on ~7+ acres, but I wish there were reasonably priced electric riding mowers that could handle that much yard. One day...

Wonder how viable a solar powered mower would be. It would give you shade too. Just have a big ass roof with panels that extend out like a space ship.

 

[msi1337]

I have a Sun Joe.. it cost me about $99 on Amazon and has a cord you drag around behind you while mowing. It does an excellent job cutting the lawn (I have a very small area to mow...takes me about 15 mins).. it is slightly annoying to drag the cord around though.

 

[Ns1]

Fired up the ego today. Nice enough. Unfortunately nothing but 80's gas mowers for me to compare it to. Certainly a lot simpler and quieter...

This Ego leaf blower though, holy shit. Once I found the "turbo" button that thing really impressed me. This is the lower model too, I can only imagine how powerful the backpack version must be.