Battery Powered Lawn Equipment

wps-hbt
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Zuljin

Zuljin

I come from the water
HBT Supporter
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Messages
38,957
Reaction score
11,779
Location
Z Bourne
But gas haz moar powah!

I know. Ive used the four stroke type with handlebars. Anyway.

I've a Craftsman C3 weedwhacker. It's okay. 19.2 volt lithium ion. Handles routine trimming just fine. It'll do heavier work, but that wears down the battery pretty quick. I'm also on my second battery in 3 or 4 years and I think it's waning.

What do y'all use and how is it?
 
Cheap B&D trimmer that uses 20V Li-ion (1.5 Ah) batteries. My yard is big (14,000 sq ft), with plenty of landscape edging to work around. I can do it all on one battery and part of a second. It works ok, though the feeding of string can be a little flaky sometimes. I buy a bulk reel of 0.065" string and refill the bobbins--cheaper than buying the OEM B&D bobbins.
 
I'd like to get a string trimmer / weed whip. I don't have a ton of places I need to use one, just around the house and a small lawn mower shed.

Haven't really looked into which one to buy yet.
 
Last edited:
1/3 acre yard.
Ryobi 40v string trimmer uses about 1/3-1/2 the battery.

Still using a gas mower. New mower in maybe 2-3 years will probably be battery. I'm sick of rebuilding the carb every other year from the shytty ethanol in the gas.
 
Not “lawn equipment” per se, but picked up an EGO blower a few months ago. It only has the 2.5Ah battery, but runs for a solid 38+ minutes on low. 15-20 on high. Does a pretty solid job and I don’t have to keep gas/oil around. Only time its struggles is when its wet out.
 
S-Met said:
1/3 acre yard.
Ryobi 40v string trimmer uses about 1/3-1/2 the battery.

Still using a gas mower. New mower in maybe 2-3 years will probably be battery. I'm sick of rebuilding the carb every other year from the shytty ethanol in the gas.
Click to expand...
Nowhere to buy non-ethanol? That’s my go to for my motorcycle and all my small equipment.
 
Last edited:
NGD said:
Not “lawn equipment” per se, but picked up an EGO blower a few months ago. It only has the 2.5Ah battery, but runs for a solid 38+ minutes on low. 15-20 on high. Does a pretty solid job and I don’t have to keep gas/oil around. Only time its struggles is when its wet out.
Click to expand...
I have an EGO blower too and it blows (pun intended). I love that thing. I like it so much I bought my dad one and he loves his too.

I just bought an EGO string trimmer a few days ago. I have a small yard so I haven't even gone through a cycle of the battery yet but I'm impressed. So quiet and convenient compared to my old gas trimmer. It has an easy string load feature that is really cool. I think eventually I'll replace my Honda gas mower with an EGO battery mower.
I also want to get their chainsaw.
 
Miller4 said:
Nowhere to but non-ethanol? That’s my go to for my motorcycle and all my small equipment.
Click to expand...
Yes, but not convenient. I dont want to drive 20 miles when I need 2 gal for my equipment and the nearest gas station is 0.5 miles from home.
 
I hear ya. The last area I lived it was a ways to get and I don’t go through it very fast. But it was worth peace of mind to get a couple gallons and not have to worry about carb issues. Anyways enough derailing the battery thread with gas... my coworker has all makita 36v tools and loves them.
 
I bought my FIL an Echo 60v blower. (Maybe 58v?)
F'ing awesome! I borrow it at least once a month. Wish I would have got it for me. Open-box return for $100. Still in original plastic.
 
Zuljin said:
But gas haz moar powah!

I know. Ive used the four stroke type with handlebars. Anyway.

I've a Craftsman C3 weedwhacker. It's okay. 19.2 volt lithium ion. Handles routine trimming just fine. It'll do heavier work, but that wears down the battery pretty quick. I'm also on my second battery in 3 or 4 years and I think it's waning.

What do y'all use and how is it?
Click to expand...
x340 john deere 54 inch cut deck,hydrostatic . I have 3 acres to cut. I can get into most everything with the deere, for the rest I use a trimmer.
weedeater is one of those where i can swap out the attachment and use the same powerhead- standard trimmer head, cultivator(mini tiller) and now ...edger. love it.
 
S-Met said:
1/3 acre yard.
Ryobi 40v string trimmer uses about 1/3-1/2 the battery.

Still using a gas mower. New mower in maybe 2-3 years will probably be battery. I'm sick of rebuilding the carb every other year from the shytty ethanol in the gas.
Click to expand...
run it empty every fall before you put it away, also use seafoam or lucas gas additive once a month. marvel mystery oil is always good too.
 
jschein said:
I have the Kobalt 80-volt max mower and blower. They are both great
Click to expand...
One of our council members has that one. Said yesterday he likes it. Does good.

Looks like Kobalt and GreenWorks are both sold at Lowe's and may both be made by Globe Tools.
 
I have the EGO self-propelled mower and their blower. Love them both. 1/4 lot and the battery originally lasted the entire yard. Then we put up a fence and the mow became less efficient (taking longer) so it wont quite finish. I do the front, then weed eat with B&D eater while the battery charges, then mow the back yard. Works for me and love not having to worry about gas/oil.
 
I'm going to purchase a Bauer cordless hedge trimmer from Harbor Freight.

I'd love to look into a battery powered weedwhacker. I have a Craftsman gas as well and I hate the noise it makes. I tend to skip weedwhacking because I hate using it.
 
I have a Ryobi battery trimmer. It has a lot of power and I like that I can swap out attachments on it to replace other equipment as they die (e.g. hedge trimmer). I have a corded electric lawn mower that works great but dealing with the cord is a PITA especially because I do not have an outlet on the front side of the house. When it dies I am definitely replacing it with a battery powered unit.

Craftsman used to be a great brand but, like B&D, it has been outsourced as a name to far inferior manufacturers.
 
When our trusty Honda mower finally gave up the ghost several years ago, we went cheap and bought a Toro (with a Kohler engine--same company makes toilets!). The Toro might be good for a couple more years at best. After that dies, I'll probably go cordless, now that the battery technology has come along in recent years. Then my move away from gas yard tools will be complete.
 
No way battery will tackle the jobs around here. I have a John Deere 2305 with a 62” cut mid mount mower. It has a 3 cyl yanmar diesel engine. I also have a front end loader for it. The trimmer is a stihl km56 kombi motor with edger, string trimmer and brush cut attachments. The chainsaw is a stihl ms 170. Both the kombi and saw get non-ethanol premix
 
brewbama said:
No way battery will tackle the jobs around here. I have a John Deere 2305 with a 62” cut mid mount mower. It has a 3 cyl yanmar diesel engine. I also have a front end loader for it. The trimmer is a stihl km56 kombi motor with edger, string trimmer and brush cut attachments. The chainsaw is a stihl ms 170. Both the kombi and saw get non-ethanol premix
Click to expand...

They definitely aren’t for every application, but what they are good for its nice to have. Way quieter, often times lighter (not always) and with 2-3 batteries, one will charge before the other is used so you never need to stop.
 
Yeah, everything still gas here, chainsaws, trimmers, tiller, power washer, 46" triple-bin riding mower, etc.
An acre+ of lawn plus a crapton of planting beds and a veggie garden and a lot of big ass trees are just way out of electric's wheel house...

Cheers!
 
Bilsch said:
I'm going to wait till Tesla makes yard equipment. ;)
Click to expand...

Overpriced, hard to find a dealership, same model for years, impossible to get repaired and you have to pay extra to get the “turbo” feature unlocked via OTA software update?
 
I have some Stihl commercial battery powered tools, chain saw, pole saw, blower, hedge machine, probably get a string trimmer too. They are not cheap, but the all have same battery system and they a great for certain jobs.

Also have several of each of these gasoline powered, of course, am in the business. But there is a place for the electric ones.

We now only use the electric chainsaw for trimming on fencing jobs, for instance, and a quick trim of a limb over customer's pool with the pole saw is more relaxing to everyone when it is quiet, then blow off debris w electric blower.

Then there is the stealth factor....
 
MaxStout said:
But maybe Musky will launch a chainsaw into space.
Click to expand...

We never saw what kind of wounds were on the “mannequin” he launched. Could have still been a chain wrapped around the “mannequins” spine.
 
NGD said:
Overpriced, hard to find a dealership, same model for years, impossible to get repaired and you have to pay extra to get the “turbo” feature unlocked via OTA software update?
Click to expand...

Huh.. I've had none of those issues.
 
I think in 5-7 years both my mower and my car will be powered by battery. I'm cool with that. As long as I get to keep my gas guzzler suv for towing purposes.

:off: I have a coworker who drives a newish F150 he uses for towing and commuting. He recently purchased a used chevy volt. His gas bill went from 400/month to <50. His car payment is 300/month. He's pretty happy with it. He still has to keep the truck to tow with.

Him and his wife have already taken multiple long road trips with it.
 
I love battery equipment and it has treated me very well. It started with a worx 12 v string trimmer. I used it for years with that cheap nicad battery. Actually got a 2nd battery from them.

When it broke I started reading reviews and read 18v wouldn't work blah blah blah. All from, of course, people offering opinions that had never used it. I thought, s..t I used that pos worx for years at 12v so I figured 18v was enough. Boy was I right. That ryobi 18v has done me justice for years. It has never and I mean never let me down. It was cheap, its light, and I only got one battery. I use the battery in a ryobi dust buster at all times and then take it out, weed wack and bring it back. The dust buster is awesome too and was like 25 dollars. Same one battery. Would like camping light and or radio to maybe.

I also have the 40v turbo blower. It is really powerful and awesome. I have seen the cheaper one work and it's not very good. That battery blower is so convenient, powerful, and easy. So got the hedge trimmer to go with the 40v. It is awesome too. Anywho I love battery tools. I hear all the time, from gas owners, how bad they are or you know, how real men use gas tools, but over the years, the convenience, the durability, the light weight, the expense, the maintenance, the ease of use, I am pretty sure I have the last laugh. I have seen on multiple occasions gas equipment fail my neighbors usually gummed lines or flooded carbs. My equipment has never failed, ever. I have never used electric mower.

I got the cheap 100 dollar HD mower. I bought one used it for 10 years, ran it into ground and got another. Funny story, I was mowing one day and my neighbor came out and asked if it was self propelling. I guess be couldn't wrap his head around what was driving it.
 
I blew the head gasket on my Prius, but I figure I can run it for 1/2 hour at a time around the yard, so I was thinking of getting a tow behind electric rig and save the planet by not sending the old car to the scrap heap.
:mug:
 
brewbama said:
No way battery will tackle the jobs around here. I have a John Deere 2305 with a 62” cut mid mount mower. It has a 3 cyl yanmar diesel engine. I also have a front end loader for it. The trimmer is a stihl km56 kombi motor with edger, string trimmer and brush cut attachments. The chainsaw is a stihl ms 170. Both the kombi and saw get non-ethanol premix
Click to expand...
id like to get one of those and have a 3 point tiller attachment
 
Zuljin said:
But gas haz moar powah!

I know. Ive used the four stroke type with handlebars. Anyway.

I've a Craftsman C3 weedwhacker. It's okay. 19.2 volt lithium ion. Handles routine trimming just fine. It'll do heavier work, but that wears down the battery pretty quick. I'm also on my second battery in 3 or 4 years and I think it's waning.

What do y'all use and how is it?
Click to expand...

I have the C3 tools and batteries, so I tried the C3 blower. Not good. I keep it on my back patio. It's pretty useless for most things.

I bought the EGO blower about 4 years ago. Lots of blow, but the battery only gave me about 15 minutes on max. After a couple of years, that was down below 10 min and not enough to handle my driveway, and definitely not enough to do jobs like blowing oak leaves off my lawn and blowing out gutters. I gave it to one of my neighbors. Also, even though it was all plastic and battery-powered, it got heavy after a while.

I'm back to gas stuff now (backpack blower). I have all echo equipment now. I'm not going back to battery (though, my pole saw is still electric for weight reasons).
 
Echo is good stuff. Lots of commercial guys use it. There are different grades at different price points, but all have a solid rep.
 
Gas powered everything. If you cant swear up a storm because the darned things are F'd up due to the ethanol and once you do get them started pollute the air with blue smoke, breath exhaust fumes and make a whole lot of noise at 6 am to wake the neighbors how much fun can you possibly be having?

OK - All kidding aside - I do have an 18v Ryobi trimmer and 40v blower and really do like them both.
 
We have had the Ego mower, and trimmer for 3+ years and I love it. I never have to clean the carbs or change the oil. Will be getting the blower soon.
 
I have no problem with gas and would love to own some nice stuff. Problem is I have had one hand me down and one that I bought for 89 last me 18 years. Plus it's so light weight I can use it upside down and sideways easily. Truth be told I suck at lawn care and have little interest. This gives an idea of what can be done with a 18v. Haha, I went over board and flubbed the corner. Figured who would see it, lol.
Screenshot_20190702-233058_Gallery.jpeg
 
For the last 2 seasons, I have been using an Ego electric mower on a 1/4 acre of South Florida St. Augustine grass. It's the non-self-propelled model so it's a bit of a work out but my lawn is flat so not too bad. I run it in mulching mode but it's not quite up to the rate of growth we have here in the summer. In any case, it does a pretty good job especially as I am not a lawn perfectionist. I bought it as I was fed up with dealing with gas mowers. Still using an Echo trimmer, which will probably outlast me.
 
shetc said:
For the last 2 seasons, I have been using an Ego electric mower on a 1/4 acre of South Florida St. Augustine grass. It's the non-self-propelled model so it's a bit of a work out but my lawn is flat so not too bad. I run it in mulching mode but it's not quite up to the rate of growth we have here in the summer. In any case, it does a pretty good job especially as I am not a lawn perfectionist. I bought it as I was fed up with dealing with gas mowers. Still using an Echo trimmer, which will probably outlast me.
Click to expand...

Yea, the st augustine "grass" down here can be really thick in the summer, and if it's rainy season (now!) your average mower can bog down badly. I've got a sweet Honda mower with a plastic deck that is certainly the best one I've ever had. It NEVER bogs down, not at all. I used to have to pull a wheely through wet parts of my yard to get through it with the Craftsman.

The EGO stuff looks like it's built pretty well. If I lived up north I'd consider the EGO mower, though battery life and cost are a pretty big concern there.
 
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top