Electric Lawnmowers - Pros and Cons

[khardbored]

I’m here to advise against the Snow Joe/Sun Joe brand. The snow blower is weak, batteries last only 30 minutes, and the machine has been replaced 3 times under warranty. They did stand by the warranty but I’m sure when it expires it will soon end up the landfill.

I have a Snow Joe snowblower and my experience is the opposite. Had it about 7 years now, a part broke in shipping and they replaced it no questions for free. After that, it has worked just fine for those 7 or so years.

... as long as you have reasonable expectations about what a single-stage snowblower accomplishes. 8+ inches of wet, heavy snow, it can't handle. So either have to do it in 2 parts, or call a plow.

 

[wxman1]

I am hoping/waiting for my current mower to die so I have a reason to replace it.

Will likely be replacing the snow blower this year as we moved and have a much bigger driveway now.

 

[CoachBob]

Have a 60 V toro self propelled. Rock solid - have blower and trimmer too

 

[SeaClone]

Will repeat my blade sharpening question. Assume this is still needed or are folks just not doing it and getting a good cut still YOY?

Yes, of course the blades have to be sharpened.

 

[Remo Gaggi]

I bought my daughter an E Go, as I didn't want her transporting a can of gas in her car from time to time. It's a really solid mower. I'm buying one when my gas mower dies.

 

[SeaClone]

I bought the 7.5 amh EGO this spring and have no regrets so far. I have a third of an acre walk-out and have had no problems with getting through the whole thing with battery to spare. The rapid charger it comes with gets the battery back to full in under an hour.

My only complaint is the self propel motor sounds like a power wheel

I intend to buy EGO's single or dual stage snow blower before this winter, unless the mower dies on me this summer

If recommend the two stage. It works great. You will need a second battery for it, though. You can buy the two stage tool-only or with 2 batteries. The price difference is almost $700. If you don’t need three batteries, I’d recommend getting another tool that comes with a 7.5 ah battery. I purchased the leaf blower for $400, and ended up with the two batteries I needed plus another tool.

 

[isucy86]

Electric mowers are the way to go. Not a lot of moving parts to go bad. The only maintenance was cleaning up grass clippings from the deck after each use and getting the blade sharpened annually.

On a bigger yard, I would definitely get a 2nd battery. As another poster mentioned, with the focus on climate change- it's probably a decade before all yard tools are electric.

 

[CRCy17]

The rapidness of the change in this space (specifically residential push-mower) makes me think that there won't be any new gas mowers on the market in ~10 years

When I was shopping around about 3 weeks ago, my local Home Depot was about 2/3 Electric 1/3 Gas, with even the cheapest Gas options at or more expensive than the not-quite-top-of-the-line Electric ones

 

[houjix]

We just got a Kobalt 40V system push mower plus a trimmer and blower. Mower came with a 6ah battery that easily handled our smaller yard. The trimmer has a 4ah battery that gives me plenty of time. If I had a bigger yard, I would have gone with something more substantial, but so far totally happy with the purchase.

 

[Sousaclone]

The only downsides right now is the initial sticker shock of the electric stuff, but once you get invested into a system it gets much, cheaper to expand.

Oh I'd also recommend buying a tool (with battery) from Amazon, having it get lost by UPS (actually an Amazon labeling issue), getting a refund for said lost item, buying the replacement at Lowes, and then 4 weeks later having the Amazon item show up at your door completely unannounced after Amazon had declared it officially lost. Got a free battery that way (and an extra string trimmer).

 

[Marcelason78]

Of the brands mentioned, which ones are U.S. made?

 

[mikeiastat]

I like my Ego stuff. I wouldn't expect it to save you much money though. I more hated gas and maintenence. So it was more a laziness bad at maintaining situation for me.

What do you spend on gas. 20 or 30 dollars a year. Initial investment pays off in about 6-8years, but I've had one battery conk out after 3 years. The warranty covered that one, but I'm skeptical that the other 2 batteries will last 10years. (Starting year 6 and out of warranty) At 260 per, extra batteries are an investment, but the overall cost after all operating costs seem to be about the same. Depending on how often you get your gas tune up.

I also don't mind doing the front yard one day and the back the next if need be. Not usually needed. Small price to pay for not winterizing and no tune-ups.

 

[nocsious3]

The new Milwaukee mower can almost mow a cornfield without bogging down. I'm mostly serious.

The lower end electrics have a few issues. They bog down in taller grass where a comparably priced gas mower would not. Battery life often won't get through an average Midwest sized lawn. Herky jerky starts when engaging self propelled.

This is why I suggested the Ego or Toro models. There may be some others that are decent but these are good homeowner tools.

 

[nfrine]

Totally love the idea of upgrading to electric, but a new wheel is $10 and a new blade is $20. Just take the blade off and take it to your local mower dealer/hardware store, they will find a blade that is very close.

Bhos, Dave Ramsey would do the same as you... (and I agree)

 

[baller21]

So we have a neighbor that decided to break out his mower before 7AM this morning, not an electric. I thought it was common knowledge that you don’t mow before 8 at the earliest on the weekend, I usually won’t start until at least 9. Are the electric mowers quiet enough to not wake up the neighborhood?

 

[Rods79]

So we have a neighbor that decided to break out his mower before 7AM this morning, not an electric. I thought it was common knowledge that you don’t mow before 8 at the earliest on the weekend, I usually won’t start until at least 9. Are the electric mowers quiet enough to not wake up the neighborhood?

No excuse for that decision, probably a left lane only driver. You could do it with electric though, it sounds like a vacuum cleaner at worst. They don’t have the disruptive low level engine noise. Probably wouldn’t even know anyone was mowing unless it was right next to your house, or you were sitting outside.

 

[JP4CY]

So we have a neighbor that decided to break out his mower before 7AM this morning, not an electric. I thought it was common knowledge that you don’t mow before 8 at the earliest on the weekend, I usually won’t start until at least 9. Are the electric mowers quiet enough to not wake up the neighborhood?

My elec feels like "half as loud."

At 7am, that lawn had to be sopping wet from dew.

 

[baller21]

My elec feels like "half as loud."

At 7am, that lawn had to be sopping wet from dew.

Yeah but he was on a rider so I don’t think he cared.

 

[JP4CY]

Yeah but he was on a rider so I don’t think he cared.

I definitely don't do before 8, usually 9 for lawn.
Try not and snowblow before 6.

 

[CyCrazy]

Toro personal pace is the only mower I will buy. Not an electric yard tools fan. Stihl for everything else. My Stihl trimmer is almost 20 years old and starts right up llke its still brand new.