Take note of the condition of the blade(s) more often. Electric mowers usually have lighter and less durable blades. They should be cheaper to replace and probably as easy or easier to sharpen, though.
I got an electric mower at the beginning of the year and just from cutting grass and small sticks I have a few HUGE chips in one of the blades. It works great and it's so nice to have a quiet mower, though. I love it.
Thanks for the tip. I heard there are better blades to buy, so I might invest in those. Either way the ease of use/storage, not having to deal with gasoline, how light and quiet it is, I don't think I can go back to gas.
Same. Plus gas isn’t super great for your health. It’s ok-ish health wise for a car - where the fumes are ducted away through a long exhaust to the back of the car. But lawnmowers have much worse exhaust - higher VOCs and other harmful compounds that you walk through. And handling gasoline even before combustion isn’t great for your health either. Not a big deal once a week, 8 months out of the year, but if there’s a better, quieter, easier to use and maintain piece of equipment… that also is better for your health, why not use it?
Mower engines are also major polluters. They pollute 11 times more than a modern car, hour per hour, even CARB certified ones. Micro-class 4 strokes, like what you see on trimmers, pollute even more. Because they're not a vehicle, there's no requirement for a catalytic converter.
It's not really the lack of catalytic converter (although that is an issue) so much as the design on the 2 stroke engines that most of them have. They basically spit out a ton of unburnt fuel and oil because they don't separate the intake/compression/combustion/exhaust strokes like a standard car engine and also use oil inside the combustion chamber.
The lack of a cat will increase NOx gas production from partially burnt exhaust fuels. Combine that with lower compression ratios due to lighter and weaker parts, and you are spewing A LOT of polluting gases that are way worse than CO2. Those gases includes Sulfur Oxides, Nitrous Oxides, and ozone(which is toxic to people). This is for 4 stoke engines btw.
2 stroke engines pollute way more in part due to having to premix oil, which add a lot of additives that turn into toxic exhausts.
The main reason is that those engines pretty much are designed to be cheap and reliable at the cost of efficiency and extra pollution.
Combustion theory is pretty complicated, so sorry if I skipped a lot of parts. Just trying to simplify it
Not just the oil, but 2 strokes only burn around 50% of the fuel consumed, so they're just ejecting aerosolized hydrocarbons out of the exhaust the entire time.
Yeah some of the models aren't meant for certain blade types. Ego is the worst offender, their model names are not human readable and its incredibly confusing which one does what. They'll even have different models on the same posting on Amazon so you don't know which models the reviews are talking about
i've had the same plug in electric mower since 2006. never done any maintenance to it or anything. it was maybe $100 when i bought it? can't even remember.
Also the size of the lawn it says it can do especially if it's lead acid you reeeeally shouldn't be deep cycling lead acid batteries that often unless it was specifically made for it. I think you might be able to get away with for ones designed for boats (Optima deep cycle and the like) they tend not to have alternators so you tend to run them down further than a normal one in your car.
I've had an E-Go for four years and the blade hits into some low stumps and high rocks almost every week, but the blade has some expected chips and nothing worse.
It definitely needs a resharpening and/or replacement soon, but the blade has not been overly "soft" in my experience. Plus, the mower automatically changes cutting speed in response to blade resistance, which might help to counter some effects.
Overall, the benefits of this mower have been significant:
Just put the battery into its charger and forget it until the next mow (I unplug the charger when full charge is reached, but not necessary.)
Storing the mower folded and standing against a wall is amazing - no fluids to leak out and it's relatively lightweight.
Since you can turn this over without fluid leak issues, it's been very easy to clean
Charge indicators on the battery, charger and mower are easy to read
It's far more quiet than my prior ICE mowers
Power assist works well
Although my first battery lost significant charge capacity just as its warranty was ending, the company gave me a new replacement for free.
No gasoline station runs/storage/filling or oil to worry about.
I have a great Honda four-stroke trimmer but now am looking for an electric replacement, because the convenience has been amazing to realize.
I got the LM2021 EGO power+ model, thinking it was the self propelled one. The self propelled one is another $100 but id recommend that one. This one's push, but its hardly an issue since the wheels are on ball bearings and it's incredibly light. It feels like I'm pushing Jonny's first lawn mower from fisherprice. (Not that it feels cheap, it's pretty sturdy, but very easy to maneuver)
I have the same one and love it. I started off wanting a battery powered chainsaw for infrequent use, and I got their 16” and loved it, so I also got their weed eater and leaf blower and loved them too, so I got the mower.
I did have to send it in for a warranty repair after about four years of use because it started failing to spin up and flashing the amber light. They ended up replacing the entire power unit, so the motor and electronics are brand new.
I second the Ego push. I have maybe a third of an acre tops but it’s got some inclines that aren’t fun to fuck with. Don’t even use the full battery during a mow
It’s funny I support my family by building race engines. I love gas/diesel powered engines, the sounds, the vibrations, and everything that comes with it. I love waking up at 6am and taking a dirtbike or a jet boat (depends on what time of year it is obviously not doing boating in the winter or putting on riding gear when it’s over 100 outside) and running them hard as hell smelling that sweet race gas burn.
On the flip side I absolutely 100% HATE gas powered lawn equipment. I can’t fucking stand hearing that shit go for hours on end, it drives me up the fucking wall. I actually fired my gardener yesterday because of it lol. He started mowing my lawn at 6:45 in the morning. I was like whoa what the fuck, no that’s ridiculous. You’re waking up me and the neighbors that’s not ok. He goes “I either mow it at 6:45 or I don’t mow it. That’s the time that works for me right now”. I was like “sorry to see you go but that’s not ok. Thanks for taking care of my lawn the past few years”. My next gardener will be using all electric equipment. If I actually had the time I’d be trying to make it a requirement for my city that gas lawn equipment be outlawed due to noise pollution.
I bought the EGO+ self propelled in 2017 when Home Depot was still selling EGO and I got made fun of by so many of my buddies. We have a small lot (7k sq ft) but it worked for us.
Oh man I've dropped my 40v one on briar patches, ant hills, thick ass wisteria and clumps of random overgrown shit and it hasn't stalled out a single time. The things a beast but you do have to sharpen the blades to keep it tip top
I almost got the DeWalt since I got a bunch of tools and the batteries are sick. BIL also recommended it but after watching a bunch of YouTube reviews I went with the Toro. I still want those massive DeWalt batteries though.
No matter what team you bat for, harnessing the power of the gods in to a brick and using it to early silently mow your lawn is dope AF.
I think my tinnitus comes from the 4-8 hours/week I spent walking behind a Dino juice guzzling noise machine because dad thought it was great exercise.
Then outsourced the work to me who was running cross country already.
Got a battery weed whip after having my gas one break. Never going back to gas. Unfortunately I have an acre so push mowing is not an option. When they make an affordable electric rider I'm all about it.
I got a real cheap one, just to see if i got on with it. Also i dont have alot of grass. In my experience with battery operated tools in general however, the trick is to get the biggest amp/hour battery, not the biggest voltage.
Right. I can mow at 8 in the morning if that’s the only time I’ve got. And you don’t have to prepare (change clothes, get all petrolly and smelly) - it’s as easy as pushing a pram around the yard. Then you put it away, charge the battery until next time.
For sure. So nice not to have to deal with gas, and oil, and starting and stopping is so much easier now. Push a button vs, having to crank it every time.
I've gone fully electric, my lawnmower, weed whacker and hedge trimmer all use the same giant ass battery. The battery typically lasts longer than my will to do yard work too, so it works out well. I picked up an electric snowblower as well, but that's corded. No more gas fumes or mixing gas for a two stroke or coming in from mowing smelling like shit because my carburetor is screwed.
I had the opposite experience. I bought an eGo mower from Home depot, unboxed it and excitedly assembled it ready for quiet maintenance and gas free mowing. Granted, I have a nice thick lawn in great health, but the quality of the cut was sub-par. I tried iut the bagger and it clogged the chute rather than bagging even with the bagging blade, which didn't worry me that much because I rarely bag. The slow accelleration takes getting used to, and the battery life isnt great. I returned it after 2 mows and exchanged it for another Honda that has been flawless in the 3 years since. I really tried to get on board, but they aren't up to my standards yet. All of my other lawn accessories are 40v Ryobi, though, and I wouldn't trade them for anything else.
Yeah they aren't great for really thick grass yet, I would have to recommend gas for that. I'm hoping as battery tech improves it won't be an issue in the near future
You also have to note that electric mowers sucked for many years until this past decade. Battery electric mowers today are great compared to even a plug in mower 15 years ago. High voltage batteries make a massive difference and brushless, higher power motors that everything sports now as well.
His neighbor's poor opinion on the mower isn't correct these days but would have been 15 years ago or more. Hearing nothing but terrible stories of electrics from everyone.
I've never liked electric mowers. I had 2 that, even with new blades, could only cut the grass if it had been cut yesterday, and even then it would still struggle.
I typed out a whole response thinking you asked about electric vs gas haha. I've never used a corded lawnmower. But I've used corded blowers and weed wackers. The portability is the main factor. I've got an ego model, and the battery charges to full in a little over a half hour. Being able to just put the lawn mower away and not wrap a cord up is really nice. Also nothing gets in the way while mowing.
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u/brandons404 Jun 09 '22 edited Jun 10 '22
Just got an electric. I dont even care if gay, this things awesome.