Battery life expectancy with electric push mowers?

[m6z]

Any first hand reviews? How many years have you been using your battery powered mowers?

I've got a small yard. Something like 6000 sq. ft. So one of the electric mowers should work for me, but do they hold up over the long term? Typical battery replacement intervals?

I previously had a Toro mower that went 6 or 7 years with no issues(I sold it when I moved). I would appreciate the low noise of an electric, but I don't want to spend $300-500 on something that's going to need an expensive battery in five years.

 

[M635_Guy]

I haven't had one, but I'd guess you're looking at a battery every 25 minutes or so.

If you add up the cost of gas/oil, it isn't the cost of a battery, but it does help.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

In my limited experience with cordless electric mowers, the life of the battery is about whatever the battery warranty is plus a couple of months.

 

[Bacon!]

Yes you will need a new battery. It is very unlikely that you'll get enough runtime to mow 6000 sq ft for 5 years from one battery, if even when brand new. You should factor in the cost of a replacement battery.

Cordless always has a much higher cost of ownership/year unless you are an engine snob and refuse to contrast against anything that doesn't have a pro grade Honda/etc engine, is usually at least twice the price of a gas mower unless you mistreat the gas mower, don't give it oil changes once a season or 50 hrs, leave stale gas in over winter.

No they don't hold up over the long term either, all equal equal are built flimsier than gas mowers, but with the lighter weight you may mow faster if it doesn't bog down. Someone on this forum, likely mechanically inclined to do repairs, you should check your make and model to see if they offer replacement parts. They are not "as" standardized as gas mowers when it comes to cross-brand parts availability, but as long as the manufacturer stays in business and does offer parts, you need not look elsewhere for them.

 

[humpty]

I have the Echo cordless mower. I think I am on year 3? Anyway, it has been a great mower, I get about 4 or 5 mowings out of a battery. I have 2 batteries and the echo has two slots so you just flip the key and away you go.

I have a small city yard so not super tough on it but I do the neighbors yard sometime. I would buy it again. It is nice not to have to worry about prepping it for winter or worrying about corn damage. Plus it is considerably quieter than a gas mower.

Is it cheaper than a gas mower? Hell no, you could but a lot of $99 mowers for what I have in to mine but I really do like it.

They have a 5 year residential warranty that includes batteries so that is nice.

humpty

 

[64merc]

IMO, unless you find a dirt cheap clearance model, you don't go cordless to save money. You go cordless for the convenience, lighter weight, and less noise. I am never going back to gas.

It's hard to say for certain how long your battery will last, but I will say that mine (60v Snapper) gets warm, and heat is not good for them. Luckily, I have several so I'm not too worried. By the time they go bad I'll treat myself to an upgrade. They are like TV's, they just keep getting better and cheaper.

 

[Bacon!]

^ Depends on the situation? It's decidedly less convenient for me to go grab the battery off the charger and load it into the mower, mow a while and swap the battery to finish, then remember to put it back on the charger, once the other battery pack has finished charging, than to just pull a string on a gas mower and go. There is the factor of fueling it up but that takes 15 seconds for an amount of fuel that would outlast 3 battery pack cycles.

I've been facing that with a leaf blower and accepted the compromise to go cordless because 2 cycle engines are more finicky about fuel and carb gumming issues as well as their lower hours lifetime, but I often regret the short runtime and for a push mower that doesn't even need oil/gas mixed, I still think a gas mower is less hassle. Maybe I wouldn't if a mower was the only thing I owned that was gas powered, but since it isn't, a trip or two seasonally to get fuel while I'm fueling a vehicle anyway, covers multiple pieces of equipment.

 

[jimreed2160]

I am working on my second Ego and my buddy is still using the first one. No repair issues. Battery lasts longer than I do. Charge breaks are self-interest periods. So for me, no smelly gasoline in garage. And quiet mowing in the yard.

 

[m6z]

Thanks for the responses guys. Gives me some more to think about. I've been seeing a couple clearance models for around $200 and that's what prompted the question.

 

[mervyn]

Thanks for the responses guys. Gives me some more to think about. I've been seeing a couple clearance models for around $200 and that's what prompted the question.

Thread bump ! What did you buy and how has it held up ? I may have to get one as my gas mower makes my tinnitus flare up.
Currently using earplugs AND earmuffs and it still flares up

 

[tiredoldironworker]

I've been using the Greenworks 60V stuff for over 3 years now. Have the self propelled 21" mower, 16" chainsaw, 110V converter, and love them all. STRONG! The Milwaukee string trimmers, both straight shaft brush cutter and adaptable pole saw are excellent as well.

 

[Steve_P]

Greenworks, Ego, and Ryobi were the top three rated by Consumer Reports, in that order. Also consider which has the best blower and trimmer for the $ when you commit to a brand.

GW had the highest "predicted reliability" of those three 21" mowers.

Edit: I don't have a battery mower but love my Ego blower that I've had for two years; so far, I love the Ego trimmer (only one real use)

 

[allinon72]

Milwaukee m18 Fuel mower - started with (4) 12ah HO batteries. Half acre lot. Heading into season 4, I've warrantied 2 of the 4 batteries.

 

[Steve_P]

^ Good info.

I'm sure that Greenworks uses 80V and Ego uses 56V for a reason: they discovered early on that 18-20V batteries typically aren't up to the tasks that OPE often faces. Since they're primarily OPE focused, they didn't try to adapt an existing drill battery platform for OPE use.

There have been multiple complaints here about the DeWalt 20V OPE failing in a few years.

A battery platform that's good for a drill isn't necessarily good for a mower or blower.

 

[Skellyii]

A friend and I bought Craftsman self-propelled V60 mowers on end of season clearance at Lowes back in 2019 for about $110. Both of us had .20 acre lots back then. I could usually get two mows on a charge. I have a .5 acre lot now, so I use it only for trimming the edges, but the battery seems to still be OK.

I think the V60 has been discontinued, but the electric mowers are far better than when me and a neighbor bought them back in 2010.

The push and self propelled mowers seem to be pretty good these days, but the riding mowers...looking at you Ryobi, aren't quite there yet.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Ego for third year going strong. If you have five minutes here is a video I did for friend on the fence, we both are happy.

 

[WisJim]

I have Greenworks 40 volt stuff, 2 chainsaws, 2 string trimmers, a pole saw, and the batteries are 7 to 11 years old and all still working fine. I have 2 chain saws because my first one died a month after the warranty ran out and the nearest service center listed was an abandoned farm shed about 20 miles away. I bought another saw because I needed it right away but Greenworks sent me another new one even though it was after the warranty expired. Two string trimmers because the wife and I both used them when we were still on the farm. I have no complaints about the tools or batteries and I am amazed the batteries are still working so well.
We also have the big Ego snow blower but it's only 2 1/2 years old. And my son is using my 1970s vintage GE Electrak garden tractor but that's a whole nother class of equipment.

 

[oldmachinenut]

Ego for third year going strong. If you have five minutes here is a video I did for friend on the fence, we both are happy.

I have this same mower, I have been using it for
3 years and I love it.

 

[gtae07]

I've had a Greenworks 60V for 7 years now. I'm still easily cutting the whole yard (1/5 acre minus house driveway and shop) on less than a full battery. Very, very pleased. Nice and quiet and no gas can to have to deal with refilling.

 

[Pinaud]

Ego, on 4/30 will be 5 years, mower, backpack blower and string trimmer. Less the 1/5 acre to mow, very happy with the platform. Mow and use the blower a 7.5 AH battery and a 2.5 or sometimes 2 for the string trimmer.

 

[duneslider]

Here is my take, can't comment much on the budget mowers but have some second hand info. I have a Makita 21" "pro" 36v mower and like it a lot. Battery issue is mute for me since I have a ton of makita batteries. I am going on my 4th year with this mower and all my batteries are fine (again I have a lot of batteries though). I also have a makita string trimmer. I think for most residential homes an electric mower is great. I have a half acre lot, obviously not 1/2acre of grass. Mower holds 4 18v batteries, most of the summer I can cut the whole yard on a full set of batteries but if the lawn is really thick and deep I might need double that, no big deal though cause I have the batteries. For my use case, this setup is great and I wouldn't go back to a gas mower. My makita mower seems built well enough that it will last a long time, much better built than the Craftsman gas mower I had. I love the makita string trimmer as well, I can do my whole yard on a single 4ahr battery. I only use the 5ah batteries in the mower and I have 8 total that I rotate through. I have never had a makita battery die "early". I have batteries going on 10+ years and still working fine. I have some older batteries maybe in the 15+ year range that have reduced capacity.

My dad and brother have some version of department store electric mowers (not certain brand but whatever is cheap at Home Depot and Lowes), they also like their mowers but they don't have the convenience of extra batteries I have. My brothers yard is small so he is fine with what he has but a battery replacement for his likely isn't worth it and it would be a throwaway and buy a new mower. My dad can't do his whole yard with the included battery and an extra battery is pretty expensive, so he mows, then edges and trims while the battery is charging, then finishes mowing at the end. Works fine for him but again when the battery dies he will likely buy a whole new mower.

I think for me since I have batteries and am fairly consistently getting new batteries the mower makes sense and the mower itself will last me a long time. I am not sure I would feel the same way with a mower that didn't share batteries with other stuff I have.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I've had a cordED electric mower for many years now, and only once has it needed repair ($11 amazon rectifier).

That said I've got a bunch of eGO stuff so if a cordless mower fell into my lap i'd probably be OK with that.
I had to fix one of my batteries out of warranty once. they told me to buy a new one, I reseated the BMS connector internally and it's been flawless since. capacity testing with a kill-a-watt (not very accurate) says the batteries are still over 80% rated capacity.

 

[jfleisher]

My Ryobi 40v gives me ~80 minutes of runtime (2 batteries in tandem, it alternates between them). After mowing my ~5000 square feet of lawn, I still have 25% life left in both batteries. Self propelled, too. My next mower will be a robot…

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Interesting may convert to battery power mower once my Toro gas gives out or local ordinance demands it.

 

[Fretters]

Here is my take, can't comment much on the budget mowers but have some second hand info. I have a Makita 21" "pro" 36v mower and like it a lot.

I've got the 53cm/21“ Makita too, & it is a decent machine. Swapped over to the Bosch cordless mower a couple of year ago though. That's not self-propelled like the Makita, but I find it slightly better on manouevrability, with it being a tad smaller. I run it with 8Ah Procore batteries.

I find the main benefit of battery mowers is their weight. That's why I went battery instead of petrol for home use. Less weight equals less tendency to rut the ground.

 

[Steve_P]

The reality is that the new Greenworks, Ego.... battery OPE is legit. They're not toys. Cranky old guys still think they're like that dustbuster they bought in 1980 that was useless. They love their cordless drills, but they'll never change their OPE opinion, despite never using any. Because somehow that's different from a drill. Not really, if you're using the new high voltage batteries.

I've been using gasoline OPE for 40+ years. I worked in small engine repair shops in the 1980s. I'm old. If you dismiss this new battery stuff, it's ignorance. My handheld Ego blower has more power than my handheld Echo 2 cycle. I have a 0.6 acre lot with a **** ton of edging, 800+ feet; and that much trimming; it takes 30+ minutes to do it, and I can do it all on one bar of five on a 2.5 AH Ego battery.

For sure, if you have a farm, gasoline trimmers still have a use. And if you run a landscaping business, tree service...... yes, it makes sense. But for the rest of us...

 

[Bobioz1]

kobalt 80v. .3 acre yard. 6th summer, battery still going strong. When battery craps out I’ll get a whole new mower.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

The reality is that the new Greenworks, Ego.... battery OPE is legit. They're not toys. Cranky old guys still think they're like that dustbuster they bought in 1980 that was useless. They love their cordless drills, but they'll never change their OPE opinion, despite never using any. Because somehow that's different from a drill. Not really, if you're using the new high voltage batteries.

I've been using gasoline OPE for 40+ years. I worked in small engine repair shops in the 1980s. I'm old. If you dismiss this new battery stuff, it's ignorance. My handheld Ego blower has more power than my handheld Echo 2 cycle. I have a 0.6 acre lot with a **** ton of edging, 800+ feet; and that much trimming; it takes 30+ minutes to do it, and I can do it all on one bar of five on a 2.5 AH Ego battery.

For sure, if you have a farm, gasoline trimmers still have a use. And if you run a landscaping business, tree service...... yes, it makes sense. But for the rest of us...

Good point Steve_P. Depends on your needs but gas power is still my go to for yard/landscape tools. Battery power impact driver and drill is fine. Head scratcher when someone uses underpowered gas or battery power tools taking 3x longer to get the job done. Not sure if I would choose your handheld Ego blower over a Sthils gas power backpack blower such as a BR 800X.

 

[Sumboodie]

I'd hope at least an hour to handle a small yard.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have a landscaper so I know nothing about lawn mowers. However, if you think you're getting a Milwaukee FUEL mower for under $1000 with batteries I'm afraid that you're badly mistaken.

 

[Odd-job]

^one upon a time there was a $800 Milwaukee deal with 2X12.0's, but it hasn't come around again...

Man this zombie thread looks like an air tool vs cordless debate.

Batteries are starting to be consumables. Get extra batteries like having extra gas around. Yes the upfront costs are higher, but would argue that when those cost are amortized you are better off with batteries especially when shared with other tools. Factor in gas, gas storage, getting gas, gas clogged carburetors, not having to smell like gas and batteries start pay for themselves in my mind. Still have a generator and equipment > 8 hp powered by gas though.

I do wonder if battery OPE validation will come when actual professional landscapers start adopting. Pretty sure charging infrastructure is an issue and plugging into a customer's home might not be politically correct? On the other side the noise ordinances might push more landscapers to using electric for blowers, trimmers and mowers?

Also to answer the OP's question, I can do my small yard easily on 2 X 6.0s on my Milwaukee Mower. Occasionally I do the neighbors larger lawn and use 2 X 12.0's. I run the mower on the high blade speed and can drain the 12.0's pretty quickly when trying to take down the jungle (2ft high grass), but ordinarily with normal length grass the 12.0's can out last my endurance. If I am feeling motivated and don't start drinking too much beer, I can reload with a fresh set of 12.0s and keep on going.

 

[Skellyii]

Good point Steve_P. Depends on your needs but gas power is still my go to for yard/landscape tools. Battery power impact driver and drill is fine. Head scratcher when someone uses underpowered gas or battery power tools taking 3x longer to get the job done. Not sure if I would choose your handheld Ego blower over a Sthils gas power backpack blower such as a BR 800X.

You're comparing apples and oranges. handhelds are for blowing off your driveway, sidewalks, decks, i.e. small jobs. Backpack blowers are for the big jobs such as major fall leaf cleanup.

At my last house, I had a yard that was less than 1/3 of the size of my current place, and I needed the backpack blower for the fall leaf season, since I had 4 very mature oak trees, and a couple of misc trees.

Now I have a much bigger lot, but no major trees. Been here 2 1/2 years, and never needed the backpack blower. Probably should sell it to someone who actually needs it.

 

[tworley]

Have had a ryobi mower for 4 or 5 years now with a single 6ah battery. No issues yet. Just pulled it out for the first mow of the year and the battery still had a charge. Though, I will say my yard is not very big; probably 1000 sq ft is all.