Battery Powered Push Mowers

bisley

My 4.0 B&S push mower has finally given up the ghost, after nearly 40 years of mostly light use. I have a 60" Hustler Zero Turn that does the bulk of my work, but have always found that a 20" push mower is handy to have around for 'close work.' Also, Mrs. Bisley is always using the push mower for her many projects, so a replacement for the old one is mainly for her.

All of my research keeps pushing me back towards battery powered, which I have never really considered, because of short battery life issues. However, it seems that this is much less of an issue than it used to be, with batteries lasting 40 minutes or more of mowing time, which is more than adequate for almost anything we would be using this mower for.

Tell me what you know (or think) on this subject. I'll admit that the thought of easier maintenance is very attractive to me, for a tool that gets very limited and sporadic use, and a couple of good reviews here could sway me quite easily.

Big Chief

Yep, use yer Smart Phone to order one and a Smart Drone can deliver it and get a Smart Robotic mower that knows where to mow from how you program it and control it all from yer Smart TV which displays live video from the mower....................so these days we can all be Smart Asses :jester:

bisley

cpj wrote: »

What's Mrs Bisley gonna think about your new boyfriend?

She will probably be relieved. :tooth:

Actually, she would probably prefer the power that an IC engine brings, so she can run over stuff and chop it to shreds without ever slowing down.

What makes the battery power attractive to me is that she won't be interrupting my naps to make the lawnmower work, after sitting idle for a year. Something irritates me about a female standing over me (impatiently) while I go through all of the lawnmower troubleshooting things, which always turns out to be fresh fuel and an air filter I don't have - but I never believe it until I have cleaned the spark plug, blown out the old air filter, and flushed out the fuel system. Meanwhile, she has given up in disgust and attacked the problem area with a yo-yo, which supposedly makes me feel ashamed and inadequate, even though I became immune to that 30 years ago. :jester:

zorba

I just bought a plug in electric, which "should" work well for my situation here in Florida. Haven't used it yet though, so the jury is still out.

I avoid battery powered equipment where ever I can.

bisley

I remember using one of those in the late '50's. My uncle bought one and brought it over to see if his brother's 9 yo boy could handle it. It did a beautiful job on the front yard, till I ran over the cord. My dad spliced the cord, finished the mowing and loaded it back up in his brother's Buick, never to be seen again. I think he was afraid that I would figure out a way to electrocute myself.

Anyway, I did have a favorable impression of the mower.

Teach

A battery-start gas engine mower makes a lot more sense. Nothing like turning a key instead of yanking a cord and cussing a blue streak for 10 minutes every time I want to get the thing running!
Jerry

jaywapti

Teach wrote: »

A battery-start gas engine mower makes a lot more sense. Nothing like turning a key instead of yanking a cord and cussing a blue streak for 10 minutes every time I want to get the thing running!
Jerry

:agree::that: The problem with battery powered tools, is when the battery dies its cheaper to buy a new tool then the batteries, then ya just throw away the old one.

JAY

bisley

Right now, I'm leaning towards another plain-jane push mower, somewhat like the one I just finished off. Until this year, I could go out after it had been idle for 6 months to a year or two, and put fresh gas in it, then pull it through a couple of times, and it would crank on the first hard pull. Considering how little maintenance I ever did on it, it was really amazing. For $140, I can buy one that should be the last one I ever need - that's hard to beat.

Upon further thought, I think Mrs. Bisley would get frustrated with anything that wasn't strong enough to destroy anything that got in front of it.

NN

I would not get a battery powered one.

My hang up is

---

use it charge it----ok that works; but, if the battery is not run down far enough before charging
the battery doesn't last.

bisley

cpj wrote: »

Years ago I finally gave in and let her mow at her request, as she said she loved mowing. Yes my mower could do it 10 times faster, and I KNEW she would destroy the mower, but I hate mowing for free. I had to be anywhere but home when she mowed, as I cringed every time she hit something she shouldn't.

We just got a new mower for the wife to use. A Sucksavarna self propelled mower. Brand new. FIRST time out I was watching her mow. I saw a piece of rope, twine, whatever from 50' away. I see her headed that way. I figure if I can see it, she can see it, and she'll pick it up. Nope. Runs right the over it. I said nothing, just went back to the garage.

My wife has been doing most of the mowing for about 20 years, and she's pretty good at it. Yeah, she chops up stuff that should be picked up, but my deal with her is that if she is doing the mowing, I'll keep her equipment running. She knows if she gets too carried away, I won't keep up, so she moderates her destructive tendencies. Because, the most important thing to her is being able to walk out the door and start to work, without the frustration of a two hour delay while I fix something (I don't get in too big of a 'hurry').

Teach

I get to watch my tax money at work every time I have to wait for some morbidly obese person on one of those electric carts to pull out their EBT card at WalMart and "pay" for better food than I can afford!
Jerry

bisley

cpj wrote: »

Got to get some of the money I pay in socical security back early!

Just keep paying that social security tax. I've already supported my 4 or 5 groups of retirees for their last ten or fifteen years of life- now I get to use some of your money to pay my income tax. :tooth:

NCFUBAR

My uncle has one (a 56V top of the line :blah:) and the hour run time is maybe 45 minutes. The whole thing from mower to battery to changer was just over $500 :silly:. If he lets the grass go to long the thing bogs down and the battery goes even quicker. He was thinking about an extra battery until he found out the run about $200 :yikes:. Damn I love my 20 year old Honda push mower tha still starts on the first or second pull!

jaywapti

I have paid into SS since 1954, if i had been allowed to keep it, just put it in the bank or CDs i would be a very rich man, instead i get to see some creep at Walmart with 5 lbs of gold chains around his neck use food stamps and drive away in a new car laughing at me.

JAY

RugerFan

Just saw a commercial for a Ryobi for $299 at Home Depot. Claims it'll cut up to .5 acres.

bisley

My experiences with Ryobi electric tools have been satisfactory. It all depends upon the battery, really. These days, everybody can make decent electric motors, if they want. The good ones are always going to be the ones who don't skimp on battery quality.

Buffco

Battery powered lawn mowers have been trying to be a thing for a lot longer than we realize. I would personally avoid them like the plague. The reason mowers are so troublesome is we are taking an IC engine and asking it to perform in the hottest, dirtiest environment imaginable. We wouldn't dare drop our truck engines 18" off the dirt and then run it WOT through the dust.... With no liquid cooling.

The absolute best thing you can do... Nay, you SHOULD do, is only put non ethanol gas in all your​ power equipment. Gas is supposed to have a shelf life of 30 days. Ethanol lessens that to maybe a week.

Sure, it'll still run, but it's not 87 octane anymore. It may be 80-82… because the ethanol gas bonded with moisture (phase separation) and it falls to the bottom of your tank. It ain't water but it ain't ethanol either.

Go with a Kohler Command (Not a Courage!) Or a Briggs Vanguard. Install a shut off switch in the fuel line. After every mowing, turn off the gas and burn that crap out of the carb. Blow off all dirt and dust after every mowing.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

shootbrownelk

Trump needs to sign an executive order getting the damned ethanol out of our gasoline.

coolgunguy

shootbrownelk wrote: »

Trump needs to sign an executive order getting the damned ethanol out of our gasoline.

I agree that ethanol sucks, but that is not a fight he wants right now.

As to battery powered mowers, I don't see a problem so long as the brand you get comes with more than one battery so you can swap and continue mowing while the first battery charges. Barring that, it's stick to a cheap gas mower... they're just easier.


ETA: I realize swapping batteries may not be necessary for your usage, this is the criteria I would use for mine. As always YMMV.

bisley

You're thinking along the same lines that I was, when I began this thread. But, after 're-interviewing' Mrs. Bisley, I realized that the first time that the mower bogged down in thick or wet grass, she would park it and break out the yo-yo, and be sulled up for the rest of the day, leaving me to wonder why. :tooth:

snake284

zorba wrote: »

I just bought a plug in electric, which "should" work well for my situation here in Florida. Haven't used it yet though, so the jury is still out.

I avoid battery powered equipment where ever I can.

I have a plug in and a hundred and twenty feet of cord. That thing had power. But I hit a tree root with it and it killed it and i'm going to have to look into it and find the problem. I think it must have an internal reset switch somewhere. But as for battery powered I guess if it's for light work it's ok, but I want more power than that.

snake284

bisley wrote: »

I remember using one of those in the late '50's. My uncle bought one and brought it over to see if his brother's 9 yo boy could handle it. It did a beautiful job on the front yard, till I ran over the cord. My dad spliced the cord, finished the mowing and loaded it back up in his brother's Buick, never to be seen again. I think he was afraid that I would figure out a way to electrocute myself.

Anyway, I did have a favorable impression of the mower.

Yep most of those have a lot of power. But they do worry me because if you cut the cord you have an exposed live wire which you can step on.

snake284

bisley wrote: »

You're thinking along the same lines that I was, when I began this thread. But, after 're-interviewing' Mrs. Bisley, I realized that the first time that the mower bogged down in thick or wet grass, she would park it and break out the yo-yo, and be sulled up for the rest of the day, leaving me to wonder why. :tooth:

Yep, an electric with a cord has bukoo power but though batteries have come a long way, in my opinion, a mower is pushing the edge of the envelop of battery technology.

I have a cheap Husky I bought at Tractor Supply with I think about a 5-6 HP gas motor, I think it's B&S that must have anti bog technology. It's got power out the Gazoo. I can't bog it down in dry grass. Of course you can bog a tracker if it's wet. I don't like any more that's self propelled. I like a push mower with at least 5-6 HP and more if I can find it. I do some mowing on the side for a real estate man I go to church with. I have pushed that Husky through some pretty tall grass with hardly a balk. I've had it right at a year now and it still starts on the first or second pull if I remember to push the priming bladder. It's one of the best mowers I've ever had and I paid right at $150 for it brand new. It's a 22 inch cutting width. It's very manuverable and is great for close or rather tight space work.

One thing that makes life a whole lot better if you use small engines, StaBil. I keep it in my mower gas at all times.

bisley

The first 'good' mower I had was a Snapper rear engine rider. It had a 33" single blade and a Kohler engine that had enough power to slip the friction drive wheel that transmitted power to the mower. It was a good machine, and used properly never gave any trouble.

However, Mrs. Bisley would get out in the weeds with it (when they were still wet, of course), and take a full cut with the mower set low. The motor was so powerful, it wouldn't bog down, so it just spun the drive wheel till it was ruined. It took it about 3 seconds to ruin the drive wheel, so if you recognized it before you smelled burnt rubber, you could stop before the drive wheel was ruined.

She never did, and that really fine mower got a reputation for being high maintenance.

coolgunguy

bisley wrote: »

You're thinking along the same lines that I was, when I began this thread. But, after 're-interviewing' Mrs. Bisley, I realized that the first time that the mower bogged down in thick or wet grass, she would park it and break out the yo-yo, and be sulled up for the rest of the day, leaving me to wonder why. :tooth:

Well, that would give you plenty of time to practice your "resting I don't care" face...

Buffco

shootbrownelk wrote: »

Trump needs to sign an executive order getting the damned ethanol out of our gasoline.

We would have to have a replacement. It's actually an octane boost that took the place of MTBE. That was bad stuff if it leached into the ground, and it did.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

tennmike

Buffco wrote: »

We would have to have a replacement. It's actually an octane boost that took the place of MTBE. That was bad stuff if it leached into the ground, and it did.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Nitromethane or nitrous oxide for octane boost? :tooth: