48Connor
Well-known member
Agreed on that. It is a nice feature, but I should be able to cut my flat lawn with this in 15mins, so I shouldn't miss it too much.
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Electric Lawn Mower?
- Thread starter 48Connor
- Start date
Agreed on that. It is a nice feature, but I should be able to cut my flat lawn with this in 15mins, so I shouldn't miss it too much.
Before buying a battery mower make sure to price shop at Atlas Machinery, better yet, go there...it is tool candyland!
I miss old small atlas downtown. It had charm (although the parking situation was far from ideal).
IHL (Investment Hardware) is also a great place to check as they are often far cheaper (and/or running promotions with a free battery or bare tool). I bought a Makita blower and hedgetrimmer that came with a free IHL jacket. IIRC price was about the same as just one tool with a battery from other stores.
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48Connor
Well-known member
Ok I bought the Eco. Hopefully I like the ergonomics because at Rona all the lawn mowers are up 5ft in the air on a shelf, and you can't try them out like at Home Depot.
Charging the massive battery as we speak.
Same. The sale sealed the deal.
Initial impressions, very light and easy to set up. Excellent compact design and folding upright storage.
Definitely plasticky and cheap looking. Underneath, I can't see that plastic fin fan thingy holding up, Was terribly disappointed that it only came with one blade. Dual blades should be standard.
Definitely not built to last, Can't help but view this thing as disposable.
I give it 5 years till I toss it.
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48Connor
Well-known member
Definitely agree on feeling cheap. I was messing with the $1000 Ego's (which still had the plastic deck) and they felt the same however. Unless you upgrade to steel/aluminum I think they all feel kind of the same.
It reminds me of Subaru, where they just stick a bunch of plastic sh*t on them to make them look cool. Ryobi is the same.
Still like 1/3 the price of a Milwaukee, and probably will last nearly as long. I'm hopeful
I was eyeing the alum deck model, but at more than double the price.... no thanks.
Sooner or later. A reputable company will make a compelling well built model.
Honda. Are you listening?
Most of these adapters are just simple pieces of plastic with the wires passing straight through them and simply adapting one plug style to another. There's not much to certify IMHO, it's just some terminals basically.
This is why I bought Ryobi stuff, and not some of the other brands.
Ryobi is huge - I know that they've basically settled on 2 pack styles, the Ryobi-1 18V packs, and the bigger 40v packs for things like the snowblower and mower I own - only the amp hours change, and their sizes accordingly, but I have zero doubt whatsoever that even 10 years from now I'll still be able to buy batteries for them, either directly from Ryobi, or from one of the many aftermarket options out there - these 2 style batteries in particular have reached such a critical mass now that they'll be around for a long, long time in a variety of forms. IMHO they'll be like the D-Cell batteries of the tool world, even when not a lot of things use D-Cells anymore compared to 10, 20...30 years ago, you can still buy them readily almost anywhere that carries batteries.
Dual blades have a lot more windage and much shorter battery life. If you want to see hilarity, check out the blades on the munlti-thousand dollar robot lawnmowers. Basically a hinged razor blade attached to each end of the bar.
Last April I purchased a 40V Ryobi self propelled single blade mower. It came with a 15" sting trimmer + two 6 amp batteries. $900 + HST at the time, probably cheaper now.
This was for the cottage, 12,000 sq ft of lawn, up and down hills, with the gas mower took 75 minutes.
On average each battery last about 35 minutes, depends on how long the grass is. Often I can complete the whole lawn without needing to recharge at all. It operates on one battery at a time, so one can be recharging while using the mower if needed.
The string trimmer works very well, much better than my Ryobi 4 stroke one.
I just purchased a 40V pole saw and a 40V 14" chainsaw. Haven't tried them out yet, but they get good reviews. I'll be using these a few times a year.
Overall, very happy with the 40V system, never liked dealing with mixing oil for trimmers or blowers + the starting hassles. The range of available accessories is great.
My gas mower still works, 20 years old. I use it in the spring and the fall to chop down brush in areas that I don't mow. This old Craftsman mower is indestructible, the Ryobi would never take the abuse, nor do I expect it to last 20 years. My wife reminds me that in 20 years I'll be 86 years old and its pretty likely I'll be cutting the lawn, maybe my grandson can pitch in.
My 29" Craftsman snowblower is 30+ years old. I'm looking at the various 40V Ryobi self propelled blowers. Some of them get pretty marginal reviews, maybe wait a few years until they sort a few things out. I'd like to be able to purchase a bare tool blower and haven't seen these yet. I'd be using the mower batteries. Never used the gas blower at all this past season so no real rush.
This was for the cottage, 12,000 sq ft of lawn, up and down hills, with the gas mower took 75 minutes.
On average each battery last about 35 minutes, depends on how long the grass is. Often I can complete the whole lawn without needing to recharge at all. It operates on one battery at a time, so one can be recharging while using the mower if needed.
The string trimmer works very well, much better than my Ryobi 4 stroke one.
I just purchased a 40V pole saw and a 40V 14" chainsaw. Haven't tried them out yet, but they get good reviews. I'll be using these a few times a year.
Overall, very happy with the 40V system, never liked dealing with mixing oil for trimmers or blowers + the starting hassles. The range of available accessories is great.
My gas mower still works, 20 years old. I use it in the spring and the fall to chop down brush in areas that I don't mow. This old Craftsman mower is indestructible, the Ryobi would never take the abuse, nor do I expect it to last 20 years. My wife reminds me that in 20 years I'll be 86 years old and its pretty likely I'll be cutting the lawn, maybe my grandson can pitch in.
My 29" Craftsman snowblower is 30+ years old. I'm looking at the various 40V Ryobi self propelled blowers. Some of them get pretty marginal reviews, maybe wait a few years until they sort a few things out. I'd like to be able to purchase a bare tool blower and haven't seen these yet. I'd be using the mower batteries. Never used the gas blower at all this past season so no real rush.
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I'm not convinced that 40V is an even replacement for a 29" two-stage blower. The upside is ryobi could follow makitas path and use two 40v batteries in series to allow you to use your existing batteries in higher power applications. I'm not sure if they will do that or not. In lighter snow and if you don't need to deal with a plow windrow, the battery powered options are already really good. It is hard to justify a gas single stage for a residential application at this point imo.
I had a very nice 24" 8HP Craftsman that did a great job. In-laws moved into a condo and gave me the 29" 11HP unit 20 years ago. The smaller blower was actually a better designed unit and did a much better job of cutting through deep snow and the windrow than the larger machine. By the time I realized this I had already sold the 24". So, if I had a well designed 24" blower I'd probably be fine.
Anyway............. I'm somewhat committed to the 40V Ryobi system, the 29" blower works OK for now. I'm able to wait a few years to see how they perform longer term + I'm still waiting for that bare tool purchase option.
Green Meenie
Well-known member
I have the $1000.00 56V, self propelled, twin blade Ego mower that's 3 years old now. It's got the same plastic deck as they all do and it's still like brand new. The thing that surprised me was that the undercarriage of that plastic deck doesn't accumulate baked on grass clippings that need to be removed. Every steel/aluminum deck mower I've ever owned accumulates that stuff like crazy and needs regular cleaning easpecially when the grass is full of moisture like in the spring. Mind you, they were all gas powered mowers that run pretty hot which I'm sure makes a big difference in baking on those grass clippings.
I think you guys will be more than pleased with the plastic mower deck and they're sure a lot lighter than a steek deck mowers.
I did my first cut today and it always brings a smile to my face when it just starts humming away as soon as the battery is slipped into it.
No more gas, oil & air filter changes or fouled spark plugs. Just plug 'n play now. Gotta love it!
A lot depends on where you live. In Ottawa they get more snow but it's colder so the stuff stays light and fluffy. In Toronto we get white lead wet stuff and need more power and a narrower cut.
This is on sale right now too. Trio offer with blower and strimmer. 2 x 80V battery and a steel deck.
^^^^^^^^^^^ this
Finally put the Ego to work today for the first time.
For any sitting on the fence, this is a no brainer,
total game changer and full convert here, ditch your gas mower, and get one of these.
Quantum leap over the old way of doing things....
Got the Costco Greenworks 21” self propelled Pro model the other day. Tried it out today and it’s so nice not having to fight with things. Press-whirr. Awesome. May 6th the thing has $200 off so I’ll go in for a price adjustment. Brings it down to $599 with 2 batteries an extra blade and an 8y warranty on the batteries, 4y warranty on the mower. Best feature-room saving folding mechanism. It stands on its end and takes up hardly any room in the garage.
Anything space saving is good.
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