Gas. My windows keep the noise out.
Electric lawn mowers
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
So 2024 is around the corner. Is the California purchase ban on gas powered mowers going into action on January 1st?
I guess I should play the lottery then
I love this phrasing. What does this mean? There is no shortage of gas mowers available for purchase. Honda I guess is getting out of the business but that’s just good old capitalism deciding how to best allocate resources no?
jeff
As soon as the Gen 2 M18 mower comes out, I'll be buying it! Already have endless M18 batteries anyway
Used my neighbors Ryobi Lithium Zero Turn and boy its so nice and quiet!
Used my neighbors Ryobi Lithium Zero Turn and boy its so nice and quiet!
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
6 years with my Ryobi 40v mower and the battery is fine. Haven't even sharpened the blade.
A new battery is $127, less than a trip to the lawnmower repair shop to have the carb rebuilt after forgetting to use Sta-bil over the winter.
A new battery is $127, less than a trip to the lawnmower repair shop to have the carb rebuilt after forgetting to use Sta-bil over the winter.
Umm....you do understand electric mower doesn't have to mean battery powered? My 1980's Black and Decker plug in mower still works great.
I am telling the truth. There are three lead-acid batteries in series. I charge them after every use.
How many times have you run over and cut the cord? (LOL)
Or worse yet tripped over it?
ER near by?
No trees or bushes to maneuver around? Nothing worse than a cord in the way.
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My grandpa had a electric corded lawn mower.
Never run over and cut the cord, why would anyone want to do that? How many times have you blown yourself up or set yourself on fire fueling a gas mower? Or sprained your back lifting one into the trunk of a car?How many times have you run over and cut the cord? (LOL)
Or worse yet tripped over it?
ER near by?
No trees or bushes to maneuver around? Nothing worse than a cord in the way.
Agree. Wondering the size of area being mowed as well as frequency. There are folks that mow their lawn once a month. I’m glad they’re not in my neighborhood…
The push mower I use most of the time these days turned 50 this year-it's older than me. It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where I can't keep it going indefinitely short of throwing a rod through the block or something like that. I did change a few wear parts when I put it back into service last year after the(original) owner had let it sit idle for a few years-I needed an ignition coil(the big issue with it, and why he'd quit using it-it was deceptive as it ran but not correctly), a starter recoil spring, and an additional spring in the starter. I bushed the wheels with Oilite bushings to bring them back to round and fitted new wheel bolts, so it rolls easily and without any wobble. Even if this one does die, well there's more than a few similar ones to it in my garage, and there are plenty of others out there.
BTW, battery longevity-a lot comes down to both initial quality of the battery and using it within its design parameters. A lead acid battery that lives in a controlled environment and is kept at or near full charge can easily last years. Lithium Ion likes to live in the 20-80% charge range, but again will last years in a good quality battery that spends most of its time in an ideal environment. I bought my first MacBook Pro in 2012, and it was used regularly to 2015 and intermittently since then-it's still at around 82% of design life. I have had much older laptop batteries that work just fine. I set up a 2003 PowerBook for my dad for a specific program this past weekend. It was a 17" on an Apple factory battery, and those haven't even been avaialble in like 15 years. I pulled it out of the closet and told him that I made no promises of how good the battery would be, but darn if the thing didn't charge all the way up(it took its time) and when I tested it lasted an hour before I gave up. NiMH is probably the fussiest battery technology(IME) but treated right can still live a long healthy life.
The really amazing one to me is good quality NiCd. There's one particular model, or rather series of models, of camera flash I really like that were produced in various forms from the 1970s into the 2010s-if anyone is interested it's the Metz 45 series flashes. From the beginning they were sold with either a "basket" for 6 alkaline AAs, or with a 6 AA cell NiCd pack. I have about a dozen NiCd packs, most from the late 90s to mid 2000s. The vast majority still meet or exceed the advertised spec for flash recycle time(7 seconds claimed, most will do it in 6 seconds when charged) and when I've tested can, for the worst one, get about 40 full power flashes before recycle goes above 7 seconds. My best one can do around 55. For reference, the manuals say that a freshly charged NiCd pack is good for 50 full power flashes. I've only ever bothered to re-cell one pack, and it had a ~15 second recycle time on a full charge so I never bothered testing it further. Incidentally, I cleaned up a decent bit of corrosion from cell leakage when I rebuilt it, but it still worked. I have some 80s packs that will charge and hold a charge, one of which is close to in spec, the other of which will power and work the flash but comes in at around a 20 second recycle time. Metz came out with an updated NiMH pack to fit these flashes in the mid-2000s(they actually did it right-all of their NiMH packs regardless of the application use a thermal diode to determine full charge) and the couple I have are hit or miss as to how well they work. Granted it's worth mentioning in all of this that Metz is(or was) a German company and I know they used premium quality cells in everything(and charged a premium price for it...)-it's pretty rare that I find any of their nickel based batteries that are completely dead no matter how old. I'll also mention too that it's a shame NiCd has such poor energy density because in most other ways, IMO, it's a superior technology to NiMH. In 2023, though, an 1000mAh NiCd cell(which is about the limit for AA sized NiCd) is a hard sell when NiMH starts at around 1600mAh and you can find them on up to 2800mAh or so.
BTW, battery longevity-a lot comes down to both initial quality of the battery and using it within its design parameters. A lead acid battery that lives in a controlled environment and is kept at or near full charge can easily last years. Lithium Ion likes to live in the 20-80% charge range, but again will last years in a good quality battery that spends most of its time in an ideal environment. I bought my first MacBook Pro in 2012, and it was used regularly to 2015 and intermittently since then-it's still at around 82% of design life. I have had much older laptop batteries that work just fine. I set up a 2003 PowerBook for my dad for a specific program this past weekend. It was a 17" on an Apple factory battery, and those haven't even been avaialble in like 15 years. I pulled it out of the closet and told him that I made no promises of how good the battery would be, but darn if the thing didn't charge all the way up(it took its time) and when I tested it lasted an hour before I gave up. NiMH is probably the fussiest battery technology(IME) but treated right can still live a long healthy life.
The really amazing one to me is good quality NiCd. There's one particular model, or rather series of models, of camera flash I really like that were produced in various forms from the 1970s into the 2010s-if anyone is interested it's the Metz 45 series flashes. From the beginning they were sold with either a "basket" for 6 alkaline AAs, or with a 6 AA cell NiCd pack. I have about a dozen NiCd packs, most from the late 90s to mid 2000s. The vast majority still meet or exceed the advertised spec for flash recycle time(7 seconds claimed, most will do it in 6 seconds when charged) and when I've tested can, for the worst one, get about 40 full power flashes before recycle goes above 7 seconds. My best one can do around 55. For reference, the manuals say that a freshly charged NiCd pack is good for 50 full power flashes. I've only ever bothered to re-cell one pack, and it had a ~15 second recycle time on a full charge so I never bothered testing it further. Incidentally, I cleaned up a decent bit of corrosion from cell leakage when I rebuilt it, but it still worked. I have some 80s packs that will charge and hold a charge, one of which is close to in spec, the other of which will power and work the flash but comes in at around a 20 second recycle time. Metz came out with an updated NiMH pack to fit these flashes in the mid-2000s(they actually did it right-all of their NiMH packs regardless of the application use a thermal diode to determine full charge) and the couple I have are hit or miss as to how well they work. Granted it's worth mentioning in all of this that Metz is(or was) a German company and I know they used premium quality cells in everything(and charged a premium price for it...)-it's pretty rare that I find any of their nickel based batteries that are completely dead no matter how old. I'll also mention too that it's a shame NiCd has such poor energy density because in most other ways, IMO, it's a superior technology to NiMH. In 2023, though, an 1000mAh NiCd cell(which is about the limit for AA sized NiCd) is a hard sell when NiMH starts at around 1600mAh and you can find them on up to 2800mAh or so.
I live in Ohio. I bought my first house in 2003 and lived in it until 2017. I bought a new Lawn-Boy 2-stroke with the Duraforce engine when I moved in. I put 2 ignition coils and a carb during its run. I gave it to my dad earlier this year, he used it once and bought a gas powered Toro super recycler with the big 190 cc B&S.
I repair small engines on the side, and I can say my business is definitely up, but I think it has more to do with the higher replacement cost of mowers now than lack of gas replacements available. In years past people never repaired push mowers because it was hard to justify the cost when you could go to WalMart and buy a new one for $100. Now times are tougher for many people, and the cheapest WalMart mower is $250.
With that said, there seems to be two groups of people. The first group likes the advantages battery power offers (usually elderly customers) since there is no messing with gasoline or storage issues, and they have very small lawns and don't use the equipment frequently. The second group have either tried battery power and were unhappy (usually with battery life) or have too much property to maintain for battery to make sense.
My local Home Depot had all of their Echo trimmers on clearance. The customer service people said Home Depot is planning to phase out all 2-stroke gas powered equipment in favor of battery power. This doesn't mean you won't be able to buy any gas powered equipment, since I'm sure other stores, dealers, etc will sell it, but it's clear that some of these stores are playing into the political game. The customer service guy thought it was a bad move since he said they sell a bunch of the Echo and Toro equipment, and many of the average income customers are swayed away from the higher initial cost of the battery mowers. They had a very plastic-looking battery Zero turn on the floor which stickered for over $7500. Next to it was a 23hp Cub Cadet with a larger 50" deck for $3800.
With that said, there seems to be two groups of people. The first group likes the advantages battery power offers (usually elderly customers) since there is no messing with gasoline or storage issues, and they have very small lawns and don't use the equipment frequently. The second group have either tried battery power and were unhappy (usually with battery life) or have too much property to maintain for battery to make sense.
My local Home Depot had all of their Echo trimmers on clearance. The customer service people said Home Depot is planning to phase out all 2-stroke gas powered equipment in favor of battery power. This doesn't mean you won't be able to buy any gas powered equipment, since I'm sure other stores, dealers, etc will sell it, but it's clear that some of these stores are playing into the political game. The customer service guy thought it was a bad move since he said they sell a bunch of the Echo and Toro equipment, and many of the average income customers are swayed away from the higher initial cost of the battery mowers. They had a very plastic-looking battery Zero turn on the floor which stickered for over $7500. Next to it was a 23hp Cub Cadet with a larger 50" deck for $3800.
I'm not push mowing the .5+ acres with an electric mower and I'll be darned if I spend $4K plus on an electric rider! I'll be keeping my Honda self propelled and Cub rider for as long as I can!
Longer than a rechargeable battery pack...