Anyone regret their cordless electric OPE?

[SteveSRT8]

I have young children who often come and help me in the summer months with a large yard. Last month they brought a full suite of new Ryobi stuff they had bought. A nice but incredibly noisy blower, edger, etc.

After about an hour they were using my gas powered stuff, as the batteries were dead and the power unit was timing out due to overheating I guess.

I like electric, it just doesn't cut it when you have a serious lawn...

 

[RyanY]

Originally Posted by Ifixyawata

I had 2-cycle gasoline versions of each of these and while both were more powerful, 2-cycles and I don't seem to get along, I can't keep them running more than a year and a half. I blame ethanol.


Just out of curiosity, did your 2-cycles get a new spark plug every 1-2 years? This is the biggest maintenance item IMO. Both of Hitachis ran on ethanol gas for about 6 years with new plug each year and seafoam or clean the carb every 2-3 years - no problems at all. I now use E0 and do the same maintenance.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted by edwardh1
love mine, starts every time.no stupid different size fuel lines to replace, no torn primer bulbs etc etc

Fuel line and a primer blub every five years or so is cheaper than new batteries.

 

[Ifixyawata]

Originally Posted by RyanY
Originally Posted by Ifixyawata

I had 2-cycle gasoline versions of each of these and while both were more powerful, 2-cycles and I don't seem to get along, I can't keep them running more than a year and a half. I blame ethanol.


Just out of curiosity, did your 2-cycles get a new spark plug every 1-2 years? This is the biggest maintenance item IMO. Both of Hitachis ran on ethanol gas for about 6 years with new plug each year and seafoam or clean the carb every 2-3 years - no problems at all. I now use E0 and do the same maintenance.


My last go-round with 2-cycles was an Echo trimmer I bought at at yard sale for $10, put new plug, fuel lines, pickup filter, air filter and such, never could get it to run. I think I replaced the plug on my Poulan blower but it was one where it would run but bog down on increased throttle after it was warm.

 

[KrisZ]

Not planning to switch to electric anytime soon as battery overall life expectancy is only few years. Most half decent gas powered equipment has no trouble lasting 10+ years.

 

[Asterix]

Love my 2001 B&D mower so much I keep fixing it. Batteries have been a problem lately due to dying chargers and the charging connector, but I have that fixed now. Batteries are 2x 12V 20Ah AGM lead acid, which are the same as many scooters, so they're not too expensive and easy to find. I have a stash of replacement parts, so I should be able to keep it going another decade. It mows my 3/8 acre just fine, even wet. Sharpen the blade twice a year and you're good.

While it's super that there are so many battery lawn mowers out there these days, I'm not liking the cost of replacement Li ion batteries.

My B&D 12V string trimmer just got a new battery over 10 years after I bought it, because the old one was getting too weak. The trimmer works great! The battery was just a 5Ah AGM, which cost little. Took 10 minutes to replace.

There's no way I will ever buy gas-powered OPE. They make an awful stink and make horrible noise. Plus, electric OPE is so much easier to maintain. The battery wearing out is no reason to scrap the whole thing.