Battery Powered Mowers

[Freebird]

I'm in thee early stages of looking at new mowers.   I now have a Woode Mow'n Machine with a 61" front deck and a Kawasaki engine.   It's several years old now but hopefully won't need to replace it in the very near future but my wife mentioned that I should start thinking about it and If I need to replace it, should do it while I'm still working.  Anyway, I started looking at what is available and ran across a DR Power electric zero turn with a 60" deck.  You can buy it with one, two, or three batteries.  I'm sure that for the size of my yard, it would require the three batteries to get it done with one charge.  Now here's what puzzles me.  They say that the electric mower will save an average of $10.00 per mowing vs. a gas motor.  That's all well and good.  They also say that there is a 5 year or 1000 hour warranty on the batteries and based upon my limited experience with these battery powered tools, that is about all you will get out of them.  OK....so say that they last 5 years.  The batteries are $1500.00 each.  So in 5 years I have to spend $4500.00 to replace the three batteries.  Based on my calculations, I would use about $1300.00 worth of gas and oil with my gas mower over 5 years.  So how is this electric mower cheaper to operate?  Do these manufacturers just hope that we don't do the math?

[vzuden]

As with any numbers pertaining to marketing a product.  $10.00:savings per mowing would be the savings of using electric vs paying for gasoline.   Many people will not look at the long term larger expense 

[Marcarl]

You didn't mention anything about recharge costs, that needs to be in the equation as well. Of course now we need to start thinking about the future costs of electricity vs that of gasoline or diesel,,, too much for my brain, I can't look that far into the future, and if I could they would be sure to change it so that I would be wrong once again.

Last year we bought a Country Clipper z-turn with a joystick. Ours is only a 42" but they make bigger ones. I couldn't be happier, easiest machine I've ever cut grass with. But it does run on gas.

[N3FOL]

This is just too much mathematics for me and based on your initial calculations, gas powered mowers are still more economical in the long run.  It is scary to think about the price of the batteries after 5 years...and after 5 years that price at the present time will double in cost after 5 years.  IMO, you are better off with gas powered since you are very good in maintaining your equipment.  Battery powered mowers are for homeowners who don't like to change oil on their equipment.  FWIW, I am still using my JD tractor that I bought in 2001 and is still running strong.  Maintaining it is not so expensive either.

[dueyk1111]

what are ya gonna do with the old batteries? i tried to get the new lithium batteries changed at batteries plus, they wouldn't take them or couldn't change them!!!!

[Freebird]

In my opinion, it's just fake advertising. I just looked again and DR Powers website says 10.00 per hour operational saving vs. gas.  It actually takes about 2 gallons of gas to mow my yard.  It takes about 3 hours to mow my yard and about 2 gallons of gas so approximately 7:00 at current gas prides here.  So that's about If I factor in a yearly oil change, that equals about 35 cents per hour for the annual  oil change.and  filter. So it cost me about 2.45 per hour to mow my yard.  So how can they advertise that the electric mower saves 10.00 per hour over a gas mower when it only costs me 10.00 per hour to mow?  If it didn't coast ANYTHING to charge the electric mower, it would save me about 2.45 per hour.  Then figure new batteries at 4500.00 every five tears or so on top of that.  Over 5 years, 4500 for new batteries minus 1200 for gas and oil means the electric would cost me 3300.00 more to operate over 5 years PLUS the cost of charging the batteries  

I'm not at all interested in an electric mower, just ran across these misleading ads while looking at various mowers.  I can assure you that I will stick with gas or diesel.  Most likely, gas.  

[Woody]

and in five years they would probably change the battery style and I would have to throw it all away and start over 

[BratmanXj]

9 hours ago, N3FOL said:

 Battery powered mowers are for homeowners who don't like to change oil on their equipment.

 

34 minutes ago, Freebird said:

In my opinion, it's just fake advertising.

As a die-hard gearhead it hurt me to acknowledge when my mother moved last year to a townhouse that an electric push mower was the best option for her.  It only takes 15 min to cut her lawn and she can go 2-3 times on a charge with a small Ryobi push-mower.  It stores nicely in the corner up-right and I don't have to go over there every few months and change the oil, tune-ups or clean the carb because she got bad gas.  I don't want to say electric is false advertising, it's great for the suburbanite but doesn't scale up to larger machines required for larger properties.

Every person I know who raves about their electric lawn care tools are people who couldn't fix a gas one if they tried.  I've bought my entire family nice snowblowers "used" because they weren't properly stored and the local shops in the Chicago suburbs want $175 up-front for diagnostics.  They'll sell me a 2yr old $500 blower for $100 and go out and buy an electric.  Its easier for them to buy a new battery every few years than learn how to clean & tune a carb.  They feel a sense of accomplishment because "they" fixed it with a new battery rather than paying someone to fix a gas engine for them.  

[Freebird]

Actually, if I had a small yard where I used a push mower, I MIGHT consider one.  In a residential area, the decreased noise level would be nice.  I'm not against everything electric.  I use Milwaukee Fuel 18 drils and saws for my stairlift installations.  Much easier than dragging cords around but to he honest, they too are expensive and I don't get the life out of them that I should.  Example, I use their 3/8 inch hammer drills.  I don't abusd  them in any way.  I install about 110 to 120 stairlifts per year.  Most have 4 brackets that screw to the stair treads and each bracket uses 4 wood screws, about 1 1/2" long and they are about a number 10 size.  Not huge lag bolts.  So 16 wood screws x 120 stairlifts means about 1920 screws per year.  Sometimes there are a couple more per unit.  That is VERY light use for a drill however.  I typically only get about 3 years out roof a drill motor.  The batteries actually last a bit longer than that.  Not a good track record though.

I have an EGO 56 Volt battery powered leaf blower.  It's absolutely the best performing leaf blower I haver ever owned but you only get about 30 minute before it needs another charge and a few weeks ago, the charger quit working.  It has a two year warranty and was about 18 months old when the charger went out.  I called and they said that they would honor the warranty but the charger is apparently back ordered or something and now 3 weeks later, the order on their website still says waiting.  I have no idea when it will ship.

[N3FOL]

For mowers and tractors, battery operated does not work for me.  But when it comes to a chainsaw, it is the only battery Ryobi brand I have in my yard equipment.  Simply because...I only cut tree branches time to time and I've had it for almost 5 years now.  Its 40V battery so far is holding up fine.  As for this chain saw, the only oil I need is the chain lubricating oil.  

[Woody]

I also us Milwaukee M18 tools just bought myself the 18ga brad nailer for Fathers day, but I thick I am getting better service out of them that you are I hope I didn't just jinx myself. I bought an M18 plus hammer drill and broke a bit and  when I called Milwaukee the lady asked me a couple of questions and sent me a new one. I probably use my side grinder harder than any M18 I have and it has held up great. I bought the weed Wacker and after about a year I gave my gas powered one to my son.

[Freebird]

I’ve had decent luck except with the drill which I use the most.  I also have the portable band saw, circular saw, metal cutting circular saw, small side grinder,  and Brad nailer.  Steel cutting circular saw has done ok but I backed  over it with my tractor and it’s kind of messed up now but actually still works. 

[PastorCurt]

When I was working, we used the Milwaukee drills being talked about with no motor failures. We drilled tons of holes in 304 stainless including some 5 inch with a hole saw. No drill failures but some sore wrists from the hole saw catching. The saw stops but the guy holding it experiences extreme acceleration in the opposite direction!

[bpate4home]

I'm a fan of the Ryobi battery tools.  I purchased one of the original 18v blue ones and used it for many years before I finally burned it up when the battery went dead and I was on the last screw for a deck. pulled the trigger and manually twisted it. Bought the Drill / impact combo ~20 years ago and they are still going strong. I have the 18V blower I use regularly and I had the weed eater too and used it for several more years after my son ran that over with the truck, I just bent the tube back as close as I could.  Now I have a very small front yard compared to most as we only have 1/4 acre here in Texas compared to the 1/2 acre + we had in Ohio and nothing like Don's setup. I also don't use them professionally, but I do use them while making furniture, building  items for us like our outdoor kitchen/gazebo area and any number of odd jobs for friends and family like sheds decks and even some remodeling. 

[Du-Rron]

Check This Out

.Battery Powered Lawn Equipment will soon be forced down your throat.

[Freebird]

15 hours ago, Du-Rron said:

Check This Out

.Battery Powered Lawn Equipment will soon be forced down your throat.

I don't believe all those statistics that Home Depot is claiming but I do agree that it's being shoved down our throats.  

[ragtop69gs]

I mow with a 4 wheeled Gravely 816 with a 50" deck. It was manufactured in 1973 !  In the time I've owned it, other than oil and filter changes I've rebuilt the engine once and replaced the PTO & belt once. I'd say that's pretty good for a 50 year old mower.  Gravely made a few 4 wheelers that will run a 60" deck.  All attachments are shaft driven by a true transmission internal PTO.  I fully expect this mower to outlive me.   You could find a nice one with a 60" deck and 48" snow blower for about $3,000  The only Plastic on these tractors is a few bushings, the headlight lens and seat cover.

[Freebird]

Well, my wife got me thinking about a new mower but after a little consideration, I really don't need one.  I currently have a front deck Woods Mow 'n Machine.  22 HP Kawasaki motor, 61" front deck with power lift, etc.  It's been, and still is, a good mower.  I like the front deck as opposed to mid mounted because it allows me to get under all the evergreen trees we have that are low to the ground.  I thought I would like to have a new Ferris FX800 front deck but have found that they were discontinued.  There are very few options for a front deck system, Grasshopper and Walker seem to be the biggest players but they are very expensive.  Then I started looking at used but nearly new ones.  My Woods only as about 575 hours on it and most of the used ones have 1200 to 2500 hours on them and they are still asking around 10,000 and up for them.  So, I figure if those are lasting over 2000 hours, mine with 575 hours should last a LONG time yet.  So I'll take a ltttle better care of and hopefully it will last as long as I need it.  

[BlueSky]

So far I only have a couple of battery operated tools.  When they get everyone converted over to battery powered everything, the new power plants that will have to be built and added to the rate base will double the cost of electricity.  No one is going to save money with battery powered. 

I don't understand the rationale.  Currently, there is 0.04% carbon dioxide in the air.  That is 4 parts per 10,000.  If it gets below 0.02% plants begin to die.  Is 0.04% such a problem?  I saw a video about how much greener the earth is now from the extra carbon dioxide... All of the climate disaster predictions so far have been way off base. So, I'm really confused about the whole push for electric everything.  

 

[ragtop69gs]

I mowed with a Grasshopper while working for the school, I was not impressed when comparing it to the front mount Scag we also had  at the school. 

7 hours ago, Freebird said:

Well, my wife got me thinking about a new mower but after a little consideration, I really don't need one.  I currently have a front deck Woods Mow 'n Machine.  22 HP Kawasaki motor, 61" front deck with power lift, etc.  It's been, and still is, a good mower.  I like the front deck as opposed to mid mounted because it allows me to get under all the evergreen trees we have that are low to the ground.  I thought I would like to have a new Ferris FX800 front deck but have found that they were discontinued.  There are very few options for a front deck system, Grasshopper and Walker seem to be the biggest players but they are very expensive.  Then I started looking at used but nearly new ones.  My Woods only as about 575 hours on it and most of the used ones have 1200 to 2500 hours on them and they are still asking around 10,000 and up for them.  So, I figure if those are lasting over 2000 hours, mine with 575 hours should last a LONG time yet.  So I'll take a ltttle better care of and hopefully it will last as long as I need it.  

 

[Freebird]

2 hours ago, ragtop69gs said:

I mowed with a Grasshopper while working for the school, I was not impressed when comparing it to the front mount Scag we also had  at the school. 

 

I’m not sure that Scag still makes one either. 

[circa1968]

I really want to see the technology for battery-powered stuff (tools, lawnmowers, tractors, cars, motorcycles, etc) advance to the point of truly being competitive with their gas-powered equivalent.  BUT, my viewpoint has nothing to do with global warming or any of that fear-mongering crap.  Two viable, competing technologies will make both better in the end.  That's free market capitalism at its finest.  The problem we are having now is a bunch of gov't busy-bodies trying to mandate stuff that is not yet truly viable technology to be cost/performance/utility competitive with its gas-powered equivalent.  They are working to an agenda, rather than letting free market forces do what they do best.

It's going to take several humongous technology break-throughs to make battery powered stuff viably competitive with gas-powered, when you take all aspects into consideration.  Tesla makes the fastest production car on the market, but has range limits and takes longer to charge than a gas car takes to fill up.  If you just want to go real, real fast for a relatively short distance, don't mind waiting for at least an hour recharge and have a large enough bank account, nothing beats a Tesla.  So until EV mfg'ers can overcome the tradeoffs, gas-powered technology will need to not only survive, but continuously improve to stay ahead of the new competition, or it WILL be replaced - eventually - by better technology.

Personally, I think the Mustang Mach E is a cool vehicle.  If it had more range and could charge to full capacity in the time it took to fill a gas tank, I would buy one in a heartbeat for cross-country road trips, but it doesn't currently do what I need it to do for that (5-600 miles/day @ 85-90MPH)

My dream is to have a full electric touring bike that will go a minimum of 200 miles on a full charge, has swappable battery modules that I can pull into any 'gas' station and swap out for fully charged ones in 5 minutes and then go another 200 miles.  Rinse & repeat.  If it can do that repeatedly, reliably and safely, I am all in.

Until then, I still love my Venture (and honda gas mower).

P.S. the one thing that really scares me the most about all the EV stuff is the amount of electrons stored and used for operating/fast charging and the intensity of those electrons being unleashed if/when something goes wrong - they move in unison, at the speed of light.