Battery Powered Lawn Equipment

[applescrap]

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.

 

[madscientist451]

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.

 

[Soulshine2]

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

id like to get one of those and have a 3 point tiller attachment

 

[passedpawn]

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?

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).

 

[Zuljin]

Echo is good stuff. Lots of commercial guys use it. There are different grades at different price points, but all have a solid rep.

 

[CKuhns]

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.

 

[verboten]

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.

 

[applescrap]

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.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

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.

 

[passedpawn]

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.

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.

 

[Zuljin]

We bought a plastic Honda, used, from a pawn shop when we bought this house. It lasted a few years until it started bowing oil out the carb. Good mower.

 

[passedpawn]

We bought a plastic Honda, used, from a pawn shop when we bought this house. It lasted a few years until it started bowing oil out the carb. Good mower.

I've learned two lessons about small gas engines over the years:

• Always use Sta-bil additive in gas. I add it before I put the gas cans into the trunk. A container of this will last a LONG time.
• It takes about $15 and 5 minutes to swap out a carburetor. If I can't get it to purr with adjustments to H/L within about a minute, I replace the carb. The last carb I bought was $15 and came with replacement fuel filter, fuel lines, gaskets, even a spark plug.

 

[murphyslaw]

I want one of those roomba lawnmowers so badly.

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/husqvarna-automower-450x-review/

 

[NGD]

Curious if anyone has used the EGO hedge trimmers at all.

 

[jgln]

LOL...I remember as a kid my friend's dad had an electric lawnmower with a cord and we were always running over it and cutting it. Imagine vacuuming a carpet but a lawn and a lawnmower.....what a PITA.

I had nothing but problems with 2 cycle weed whackers then I read 4 cycle engines have 1/10 the issues and so far they were right.

I have a lot of heavy weed whacking to do, we live in "the country" and don't have a nice lawn, mostly a mix of grass and weeds we cut now and then, edging only when it gets out of hand. I have 10 acres but really only 1.5 we mow, the rest woods or farmed. I never tried a battery one and for now probably not a good option.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO WEAR EAR PROTECTION AROUND MOWERS AND WEED WHACKERS!!!!!!...........What??

You don't want constant ringing in your ears for the rest of your life like me.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I bought an Ego 56v string trimmer over Memorial Day for like $160, and so far it has delivered on every promise. I still use a gas mower, but for trimming around the edges and around the flower beds, it is as easy and straightfoward as charge-squeeze-whack done. Usually 1 charge is good enough to last two uses for my 2/3 acre suburban lot. Price is a direct competitor to a good quality gas trimmer, without having to mess around with 2 cycle issues. It is also very quiet, to the point where ear protection isn't necessary - and my dad's near deaf from a lifetime of working on heavy machinery, so I am neurotic about ear protection.

 

[Beernik]

I had a homelite cordless lawnmower until I moved into the condo I just moved out of.

It was good as long as I didn’t let the grass go more than 10 days between mowings. If it got more than 14, it would take a couple charges to do the front & backyard and they were small yards.

I loved not having the gas exhaust blowing grass pollen all over me. It really helped keep my grass allergy problems down. My only complaint was that a replacement battery for it cost almost as much as the freaking mower.

This time, I think I’ll buy a corded mower.

 

[applescrap]

I want one of those roomba lawnmowers so badly.

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/husqvarna-automower-450x-review/

Cool!

 

[Dland]

I had nothing but problems with 2 cycle weed whackers then I read 4 cycle engines have 1/10 the issues and so far they were right.

Have had good service out of Honda 4 cycle weed whackers, but you do have to change the oil regularly if you want to get a lot of life out of them. They are a little quieter also. I use them for my mowing crew, so they only have to carry one type of gas and I do not have to worry about how it is mixed.

Of course the "two cycle problems" are almost always fuel related, if you use good mix oil and fresh gas, they work pretty well too.

 

[applescrap]

This saw seems awesome. I have the original 18v battery, I think the plus is better but it works in this saw. The camping light is 24 I think that would be nice to have too. I found a video of someone using a 18v weed wacker. While not right for everyone these tools might help someone out there.

 

[Zuljin]

After 10 minutes of moderate weed whacking today, slightly overgrown border of a flower bed, the battery was nearly dead. It's not even worth buying another if they don't last more charging cycles than this. Sucks. The C3 it self is a fine tool.

 

[applescrap]

That seems oddly short. I did the street weeds, gutter, sidewalk, the side of my house, front and back yards, bushes, shrubs on fence, neighbor mint etc. On full charge without killing it. The blower, not so much. The cold might hurt it? I am going to take better care of the batteries this winter. Going to get the camping light tomorrow if swmbo agrees. That camping light says 73 hours run. Pretty cool.

 

[Still Brewn]

Did you ever come up with something? I have been eying the electric riding from Ryobi.... well now they have 2 this year. I have been using Ryobi tools since they came out with their first 18v kit in 99 and have been very happy with them.
The riding mower with the steering wheel has a transmission, gears, motor made for the ez go golf carts if that helps you out any. They are tough and will take plenty of abuse and still keep running. We went through 2 sets of batteries in 5 years with all three of the ones we have at our cabin properties if that tells you how much we abused them. All three with custom wheels and tires and all three were used about every day during the summer, during the day hauling things around from loads of firewood to including the occasional towing of a car or air boat. At night joy riding on 1000 acres of land.
They also have a ZTR but I haven't looked at that because I don't like the way they leave can tear up the grass when turning.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm impressed that a 38" riding mower can run up to two hours. If I derate that by a half hour it'd still handle my acre+.
The two evident issues are the bagger option - it's a double, I run a triple and that cuts down on the trundling to the compost pile from the other end of the property...and the price(!) Without their bagger option that's still over double what I paid for my current 42" v-twin Husky rider with a triple hard-sided bagger...

Cheers!

 

[Still Brewn]

True.... very pricy but on the flipside you have plenty of backup power if your electricity goes out all you need is an inverter. Been there with the golf carts. After a storm cut the power and as everyone else was leaving the island we were able to continue having our party with enough power to keep the band playing And the beer cold....

 

[Zuljin]

I just did my front weed trimming, edging, and edged the neighbor's curbs along the street. 15 minutes maybe. It wasn't heavy today. The battery wasn't dead, but I don't think it had much left. I may hold off until it dies altogether and go with Kobalt, Ryobi, or splurge on Stihl.

 

[Kharnynb]

I've got a bunch of the ryobi 18 volt stuff, it helps to get a few different size batteries, so you can swap em around according to need.( i've got 2 included 1.5 ah 1 2.5 ah free "bonus" one and 1 4 ah bought one)

The trimmer is nice, especially if you buy the plastic "blades" instead of the string(we have lots of rocky area's)
The hedgecutter was mandatory after i've cut through several cords on the corded one.....
Got a bunch of saws and such, though my drills are bosch blue series(better quality).

Lawnmower I've been thinking as we have a lot of lawn terraced over 4 different heights....but so far the old gasoline one works fine.

 

[passedpawn]

The trimmer is nice, especially if you buy the plastic "blades" instead of the string(we have lots of rocky area's)

I tried various string trimmer heads, including the one with the plastic "blades". The one below, which is cheap on amazon and Home Depot, is by far the best. I took a whole spool of string (and a beer) and cut the whole spool into the necessary lengths. That will probably last me a lifetime.

Replacing string is so easy. I HATED the string "feeder" heads that come with trimmers, gawd.

 

[Zuljin]

They're all a pita. The C3 advances line by letting off and on the trigger. It mostly works, but like the bump and feeds, sometimes the line gets bound on the spool.

The type like above are okay(ish) if the machine can handle heavy line, at least .095. Even then, if you do a lot of whacking or you whack it hard it means you have stop and reload a lot. IME anyway.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I actually kinda like the trimmer head on my Ego electric. You cut 18' of line, string it halfway through the head (9' on either side), then twist the head to feed it back in. The entire process takes maybe 3 or 4 minutes.