Question for the brain trust, about cordless lawnmowers

Huntindave McCann

Huntindave McCann

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I have less than 1/4 acre of residential grass to mow and am considering a battery operated mower. I currently am using a gasoline powered self propelled mower.

There have been times when the grass has gotten too long and tends to stall the engine on my current gas powered mower. When it does this, there is no apparent ill effects to the mower engine. Just re-start the engine and continue mowing.

My question is;
Given similar circumstances (too much load, stalling or greatly reducing the RPMs of the motor), will the brushless electric motor, on the cordless mower be damaged in anyway?

Edit; After a bit of research, it seems that yes it may be damaged, depends on how the circuit is built and how long the stalled condition persists.

So maybe a better question is; Anyone using a cordless battery mower and how is it working out for you long term?

This is the unit I am considering for purchase.

2nd Edit;
Yes, I know the simple solution is not to let the grass get too long in the 1st place. My response to that is; I have other higher priorities. :p
 
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I know 2 people that use a battery operated mower and like the ease of use and no maintenance. I would suggest using a cordless weed wacker to knock down the heavy stuff and then mow.
 
Watching! My next mower and weed eater will definitely be electric. Though my weed eater is about 15 years old and shows no sign of dying. Mowers these days seem to last about 5 years before they rust out.
 
I've been using a Kobalt 40v mower for about 8 years now with no issues. That said, I have very little grass - its a 15 minute job. Mine has a mode that kicks in some extra juice if it bogs down. I have an EGO chainsaw and that thing is nuts. I run out of battery before it does...
 
Tony Young said:
I've been using a Kobalt 40v mower for about 8 years now with no issues. That said, I have very little grass - its a 15 minute job. Mine has a mode that kicks in some extra juice if it bogs down. I have an EGO chainsaw and that thing is nuts. I run out of battery before it does...
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Been looking real hard at the EGO chainsaw.... is it really that good? I have a tree a year come down. Actually going to be chainsawing a few hours tomorrow. Been really looking hard at battery operated chainsaw. Got so sick of how loud the gas ones were. Bought a cheap electric one that runs off an extension cord and I have tried wearing that thing out and it just keeps on ticking. Best part, no need to wear any kind of hearing protection. But the ext cord is annoying at best. So the next step would be a battery operated one.
 
Carl said:
Watching! My next mower and weed eater will definitely be electric. Though my weed eater is about 15 years old and shows no sign of dying. Mowers these days seem to last about 5 years before they rust out.
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Carl,
I've had a Dewalt cordless weedwacker for several years now. Way better than a gas trimmer for what I use it for, grass trimming.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
I have less than 1/4 acre of residential grass to mow and am considering a battery operated mower. I currently am using a gasoline powered self propelled mower.

There have been times when the grass has gotten too long and tends to stall the engine on my current gas powered mower. When it does this, there is no apparent ill effects to the mower engine. Just re-start the engine and continue mowing.

My question is;
Given similar circumstances (too much load, stalling or greatly reducing the RPMs of the motor), will the brushless electric motor, on the cordless mower be damaged in anyway?

Edit; After a bit of research, it seems that yes it may be damaged, depends on how the circuit is built and how long the stalled condition persists.

So maybe a better question is; Anyone using a cordless battery mower and how is it working out for you long term?

This is the unit I am considering for purchase.

2nd Edit;
Yes, I know the simple solution is not to let the grass get too long in the 1st place. My response to that is; I have other higher priorities. :p
Click to expand...

The usual suggestion is to raise the deck and mow in 2 cuttings rather the 1 but that leads you back to original issue. Sort of a Catch-22 situation :)

Rick
 
Tony Young said:
I've been using a Kobalt 40v mower for about 8 years now with no issues. That said, I have very little grass - its a 15 minute job. Mine has a mode that kicks in some extra juice if it bogs down. I have an EGO chainsaw and that thing is nuts. I run out of battery before it does...
Click to expand...
Tony,
On the subject of batteries, are you still using the original battery for your mower?
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Tony,
On the subject of batteries, are you still using the original battery for your mower?
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I still have the original but it dies pretty quickly, I'd say it has about 50% of original capacity. My "new" battery is 3 years old and doing fine - I always write the date of my batteries with a sharpie so I can keep them straight. I have a pole saw that uses that same battery and it works well as long as I keep the blade sharpened.
 
William Reinicke said:
Been looking real hard at the EGO chainsaw.... is it really that good? I have a tree a year come down. Actually going to be chainsawing a few hours tomorrow. Been really looking hard at battery operated chainsaw. Got so sick of how loud the gas ones were. Bought a cheap electric one that runs off an extension cord and I have tried wearing that thing out and it just keeps on ticking. Best part, no need to wear any kind of hearing protection. But the ext cord is annoying at best. So the next step would be a battery operated one.
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After hurricane Florence, I used it to cut up a water oak that was maybe 25-30 feet tall. Reduced the entire thing to limbs and logs without having to recharge. It's so nice to use because it's light and as you noted quiet.
 
We have a big lawn and mow with a big mower. But; Space is tight between our house and my shop and my wife mows there with a Toro self-propelled battery-powered push mower. It is excellent! The motor automatically speeds-up when the mower encounters tall grass.

I have switched to all battery-powered tools for use around the yard now. Hedge trimmer, string trimmer, leaf blower and chainsaw.
 
Whew ,I remember having to use one of those reel mower's that was dull as a butter knife once as a kid. I use to cut my grand mothers yd. as a child and at time our gas mower quit on me in midst of cutting. She had one of those and I tried to finish with it. That was before child abuse laws of course! Vowed to never let the gas push mower break down again after that.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
In have indeed, used such a "cordless" mower,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, more than once! Who turned over your rock today? :p
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Just peeking out...

Growing up my neighbor had one of them cordless mowers...needless to say he paid me to mow, with my dad's gas mower

Seriously though, we have contemplated the cordless electric mower. Quite a few neighbors have them, and are happy with them, but they have said theirs bog down if you don't keep up mowing and it gets too tall and thick...but they do seem to be getting better and better. Maybe after the current mower rots out we will go electric.
 
I need to ask my neighbors what brand they have. I know the one set of batteries works with the mower, weed trimmer and blower. They are very happy with it.
 
Carl said:
I need to ask my neighbors what brand they have. I know the one set of batteries works with the mower, weed trimmer and blower. They are very happy with it.
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Carl,
That is one drawback to my personal situation.
I have cordless-- (a) chainsaw (b) hedge trimmer (c) grass trimmer (d) drill, all DeWalt, all 20 volt.
Any new lawn mower will be a new battery platform for me.
 
DWalt needs to get into the lawnmower business!

THey have Craftsman, and have had no problems.
My neighbors brother has Toro and highly recommends that brand.
Seems like there are a lot of choices.
 
I have a Ryobi chainsaw, weedwacker, blower, and hedgetrimmer for the yard. I've trimmed out hundreds of houses with the 18ga brad, 15ga door nailer, and a 12in compound sliding miter saw all 18volt. I have about 10 other various Ryobi tools as well. I bought into them when they were the only one producing a cordless glue gun for countertop fabrication. They also were the second to produce a cordless brad nailer. Love them a lot. I still run a trusty Honda push mower at this point for the yard.
 
I have gas everything , of course we have 2+ acres to mow, and then a 5 acre field that is done with diesel.

I do kick myself for not getting an electric string trimmer though. My wife doesn't like the rattle of the gas one, so I'm stuck doing all of it. Thankfully my youngest (10) now mows the lawn for $20 so that saves a bunch of time. Just need her to get the lines straight now
 
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