Electric lawnmower maybe?

Yvonne Smith

Yvonne Smith

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I was not sure where to put this, between here or the home improvement thread, or the gardening threads. Anyway, I am thinking about getting a small battery operated lawnmower. Bobby has the riding mower and a walking mower, and he does the main parts of the lawns; and I have my little battery operated weedeater that i use to mow around the plants and the areas where Bobby can’t take the mower.

I am looking at one of the small (13”) battery operated lawnmowers to use in some of those areas instead of the weedeater. With the weedeater, even though it is a light weight one, I still have to carry it and lean over to use it ; but with the small lawnmower, I would only have to push it. and the handle would help give me better balance.
The lawnmower also has a small bag for grass clippings, so I can collect the clippings do use those for mulch around the flowers and plants. I think that when I am pruning back the blackberries and other vines, I can run the mower over them and turn those into mulch, too; so it would be handy for me for a lot of things.

This is the one I am looking at. It only weighs around 20 lbs, and should be easy for me to use.

 
I thought about buying an electric lawnmower when my last one finally died, but ended up getting another gas-powered one, so I don't know any more than what I have read about the electric ones. Given that my electric chainsaw works pretty well, I don't see why it wouldn't work, particularly on a small lawn.
 
I have been using a battery operated weedeater for several years now, and I really like those. They are lighter weight than a gas weedeater, and you do not have to drag a cord around like with the regular electric ones.

This spring, I got a small rechargeable cultivator, and it works really well for what’s I use one for, which is just small cultivating jobs; so I started thinking about getting the small rechargeable lawn mower. I can use it in places where I have been using the weedeater that a lawnmower would also work if it is small, and have decided to try it out and see.
It should be here next week, and i am looking forward to using it.

I have missed being able to use the gas powered ones, but it has just gotten too hard for me to operate them and they are too heavy for me now; but the lightweight rechargeable ones are so nice to use, and no messing with having to mix fuel, either.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
I was not sure where to put this, between here or the home improvement thread, or the gardening threads. Anyway, I am thinking about getting a small battery operated lawnmower. Bobby has the riding mower and a walking mower, and he does the main parts of the lawns; and I have my little battery operated weedeater that i use to mow around the plants and the areas where Bobby can’t take the mower.

I am looking at one of the small (13”) battery operated lawnmowers to use in some of those areas instead of the weedeater. With the weedeater, even though it is a light weight one, I still have to carry it and lean over to use it ; but with the small lawnmower, I would only have to push it. and the handle would help give me better balance.
The lawnmower also has a small bag for grass clippings, so I can collect the clippings do use those for mulch around the flowers and plants. I think that when I am pruning back the blackberries and other vines, I can run the mower over them and turn those into mulch, too; so it would be handy for me for a lot of things.

This is the one I am looking at. It only weighs around 20 lbs, and should be easy for me to use.

Click to expand...
I have a lot of experience with battery-powered garden tools. I didn't want to spend much & after returning some, I did some research. At that low price, you can't expect it to last very long & the battery won't have protection from overheating or overcharging. The mower won't have the important safety features you want, either. I ended up with EGO garden tools - mower, string trimmer & hedge clipper. Considering what a gardener would charge for a large back yard, the mower has already paid for itself & then some.
 
Tony Nathanson said:
I have a lot of experience with battery-powered garden tools. I didn't want to spend much & after returning some, I did some research. At that low price, you can't expect it to last very long & the battery won't have protection from overheating or overcharging. The mower won't have the important safety features you want, either. I ended up with EGO garden tools - mower, string trimmer & hedge clipper. Considering what a gardener would charge for a large back yard, the mower has already paid for itself & then some.
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I just looked at the EGO mowers on Lowes. Most people have good things to say about them. I bought my first DeWalt battery tools maybe 6 months ago (pole saw and a circular saw.) Regardless of which brand you get, you gotta back the "kits" that include the battery and charger in order for them to make economic sense...I guess you already know that.
 
John Brunner said:
I just looked at the EGO mowers on Lowes. Most people have good things to say about them. I bought my first DeWalt battery tools maybe 6 months ago (pole saw and a circular saw.) Regardless of which brand you get, you gotta back the "kits" that include the battery and charger in order for them to make economic sense...I guess you already know that.
Click to expand...
Yes, the batteries are very expensive by themselves but not when you buy them with the tool.
 
Tony Nathanson said:
I have a lot of experience with battery-powered garden tools. I didn't want to spend much & after returning some, I did some research. At that low price, you can't expect it to last very long & the battery won't have protection from overheating or overcharging. The mower won't have the important safety features you want, either. I ended up with EGO garden tools - mower, string trimmer & hedge clipper. Considering what a gardener would charge for a large back yard, the mower has already paid for itself & then some.
Click to expand...
That IS a really nice electric lawnmower, @Tony Nathanson ! It is so far out of my price range that it might as well be on the moon, and probably way larger than I need anyway.
Since Bobby does all of the actual lawn mowing with his big mowers, this one is just for me to get some of the places the big mowers wont fit into, but that are not so small I have to use the weed eater to get them done.
As far as lasting, I will probably wear out way before this little lawn mower does, too. Anyway, i am looking forward to trying it and seeing how well it does.
 
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Yvonne Smith said:
That IS a really nice electric lawnmower, @Tony Nathanson ! It is so far out of my price range that it might as well be on the moon, and probably way larger than I need anyway.
Since Bobby does all of the actual lawn mowing with his big mowers, this one is just for me to get some of the places the big mowers wont fit into, but that are not so small I have to use the weed eater to get them done.
As far as lasting, I will probably wear out way before this little lawn mower does, too. Anyway, i am looking forward to trying it and seeing how well it does.
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OK but don't leave the battery on the charger after it's charged. It may not have the safety device that stops charging to prevent overheating. It also probably doesn't have a fan on the charger to prevent the battery from overheating during charging. That has caused house fires. The better mowers have these safety features. And make sure the handle has a spring lever so the mower automatically stops if you let go of it - which can happen if you trip while mowing (like I have).
 
Many people (including myself) were not aware of the risks with rechargeable batteries. Years ago, I bought some inexpensive rechargeable batteries & a charger. Luckily I was home & smelled something burning. The charger melted. I learned that cheap batteries & chargers don't have the circuitry to prevent overheating that's why the price is low.
And (at our age) it's easy to forget things - like batteries charging so it's nice to have safety features. I have left the house or fell asleep & forgot that I had batteries charging.
 
Ken Anderson said:
I don't have a battery-operated lawnmower, but I have several battery-operated power tools, and I don't leave the batteries on the charger either. Maybe that can be done now, but like leaving a computer on whether I am using it or not, that's just not something I do.
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I think that all the newer battery chargers have the automatic shutoff when full feature. Skill was sued for big bucks years ago for the fires that started, so I think all the new ones I have encountered have the shut off feature. Even my battery charger for 12-volt batteries has it. Of course, that doesn't mean the danger doesn't exist and it may be safer to remove the batterys from the charger when full. DeWalt chargers specifically say it is safe to leave the batteries on the chargers.
 
My yard is small, so since maybe 2007 I've used a 20" Homelite 24 volt mower.

It has a battery pack containing two 12 volt batteries. The original charger died so I replaced it with a generic one designed for small "mobility carts." The batteries went bad so I took the pack in to a battery shop and they replaced the two 12v batteries inside. Less than half of the rice of a new manufacturer's original pack. Pretty much time to do that again.

I generally charge this and other smaller battery lawn gear from solar power. Trees prevent rooftop solar from being anywhere near practical here, but I can dash around moving portable panels and still grab a lot.

My "solar generators" or "powerstations" are sort of like giant versions of the USB power bank thingies. Most of them have inverters so they can power AC gear like battery chargers as well as powering USB evices and 12 volt devices - mainly automotive.

The middle-tier to upper-tier products offer flexibility. They have "ECO mode" features that can turn off the inverters and/or DC-to-DC converters if the load drops or is unplugged. Often you can set the draw threshold and a timeout. So if a plugged in battery charger stops drawing below some current for some minutes it will shut that off. These smarter units support access via Bluetooth and/or WiFi to a phone app for monitoring and remote control, firmware updates, and configuring various operating modes.
 
I keep my batteries in my house rather than in the garage to protect them from heat extremes. But I do worry about spontaneous combustion. Not only are Lithium Ion batteries difficult to extinguish, I believe they do not require oxygen to burn.

I just placed an Amazon order. I should have added a case/bag for them, although I'm not sure how efficacious they are.
 
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