Electric Lawnmowers

[Dragonfly]

I've had a Neuton CE6 for three years now, the CE6 has the larger 19" blade. It's awesome. It's about the same power as a 4hp gas mower. Most gas mowers run around 6hp today, so it's a little less powerful than the average mower. That said, it's done a great job cutting my 5000 sq ft of turf. It also does a pretty good job sucking up leaves. I always bag, and never mulch. The weak point is the blade. I think they're made out of butter. They bend, nick, and dull at the drop of hat. No gas, plugs, oil changes, carb tuning, etc. The battery is always ready to mow. I have two batteries, just in case, but I've rarely needed to use both in one mowing. With the battery in the mower weighs about 50lbs, with the battery out, it weighs about 30lbs. (The 36v lead-acid battery is heavy.) You can hang the mower on the wall with the battery out. Only one moving part - the electric motor.

http://www.neutonpower.com

Edit: Rumors of a lithium ion battery upgrade persist, but I've seen no evidence.

 

[Doug_G]

I see the word LawnBott, but all I can think is Killbot.

In CA you guys can get the Turfinator.

 

[doug]

In CA you guys can get the Turfinator.

And this is how it begins...

 

[Tommy]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking of getting this one. It would be sufficient for my flat semi-urban lawns.

I switched over to electric last year to a Neuton which is similar to the Toro. I have two gripes with the mower: one, the handle doesn't "float" meaning it doesn't move up and down to minimize the ground terrain's bumps and divots. Take's a bit getting use to. The other gripe is the cutting blades do not extend to the outside wheel's edge. Looking at the Toro photo, it looks like the blade housing doesn't extend to the wheels edge either. Without this feature, where ever the grass meets an edge, there will be a uncut strip of grass because the wheels will prevent the blade from reaching the edge. After I got the mower (which was free thanks to AQMD program) I did find there are electric mowers that have the mowing deck extend past the wheels which permits edge mowing. Maybe not a concern, but thought I would pass on some info you may have not thought about.

 

[clea]

i've been using the black and decker mowers (am on to my second one http://www.blackanddecker.com/outdoor/CM1936.aspx) for a few years now and don't have any real complaints especially since the latest one is the 19" with the removable 36v battery. This allows me to mow my lawn in one day rather than the two passes it used to take me.

 

[doug]

Moved into this thread a bunch of other posts having to do with electric lawnmowers. Might be worth going back to skim over it.

 

[mnx]

My goal is to convert my lawn to a no/low mow grass. (a mix of fescues). Has anyone else done this? It sounds like it would be much better than using a mower 1-2X per week!
When re-seeding patches this fall I tried out this: http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/index.php?p=product&id=257&parent=4

 

[vfx]

My goal is to convert my lawn to a no/low mow grass. ...

We have a no-mow lawn. Creeping red fescue. Similar to freeway grass. Uses less water and is pretty much maintance free.

 

[Doug_G]

Creeping red fescue.

For some reason I read that as "Creeping fed rescue".

The one thing my LawnBott can't do is cut long narrow strips. The city, in its wisdom, decided a while back to sod a strip along a recreational pathway on the side of my property, outside my fence. Naturally they don't bother to maintain it so I have to do it. I used to use a push mower to handle the small areas that the LawnBott didn't do, but this was way too much so I decided to try a Black-and-Decker electric lawnmower.

I have to say it totally sucked. It was running out of juice by the time I finished the city's strip - I figure it could handle about 10% of my total lawn area - and took overnight to recharge. Also it was so anemic a lot of grass would not get clipped, especially anything that went under the wheels, so you'd end up with these ugly inch wide strips of uncut grass. Going over it a second time wouldn't even fix that. It was so useless that I gave it away and bought a gas mower. Fortunately one gas can pretty much lasts me the summer.

 

[Robert.Boston]

My approach for fossil-free lawn care is to put my 16-yo son behind a rotary push mower. I tell him it's good conditioning training for sports. ;-) He doesn't get stuck behind the shed, but the recharge cost is really high.

 

[Todd Burch]

I've got a Craftsman electric mower (wired) along with a 100 ft. extension cord. Although you have to plug it in and be careful not to drive over the cord, it's very lightweight, inexpensive, and has required zero (and I mean literally zero) maintenance in the almost 6 years I've owned it now.

I've found that if you're smart about how you mow (start close to the outlet, doing back-and-forth straight passes working away from the outlet), it's not a big hassle to deal with the cord. Maybe not as care-free as a battery powered mower or an automatic mower, but given the higher cost and other requirements (such as limited acreage that can be mowed), a wired electric mower is a good, inexpensive compromise.

 

[adiggs]

I'm going to revive this thread since it has been 3 years. Seems awfully silly for me to drive my Model S to the gas station next spring to fill up a tank of gas so I can mow my lawn.

Anyone have experience lately with electric lawn mowers? I have about 1000 sq feet of lawn to mow.

BTW, the Dutch are brilliant.

Kevin - my wife and I have been using a Black and Decker corded electric mower for years (decades?). We go through a cord every 5ish years or so, but it's worked very well for us. We have about 1-2k sq feet of lawn to mow as well. Biggest issue for us is late spring in Oregon - it's wet here, and getting enough dry days in a row to get the grass cut can be a challenge. When the grass is wet, the mower definitely doesn't do as well as the gas mower.

But after that, it's about the same, and no point pollution / relatively quiet (ok - it's not quiet; the mower blade by itself is reasonably loud).

Pretty sure we got ours at Home Depot ; Lowe's probably also has 'em, one of the competitors. Would buy one again in a heartbeat, though thinking about a cordless for the next go-round.

 

[AndreN]

I've got a corded Black and Decker and I love it. I've had it for almost a decade and never mowed over the cord. I had to wear earplugs with my old gas mower, but this one is quiet enough that I don't need to do that any more. Also I don't have to breathe exhaust fumes while pushing it. Or carry a can of flammable liquid inside my car to refuel it.

 

[NigelM]

Now if only someone would come up with an electric solution to help me deal with 10 acres....I'm starting to think keeping sheep is not a bad idea.

 

[clea]

Now if only someone would come up with an electric solution to help me deal with 10 acres....I'm starting to think keeping sheep is not a bad idea.

goats would probably be better 'cause you also get the benefit of harvesting the cashmere wool ...

 

[vfx]

Now if only someone would come up with an electric solution to help me deal with 10 acres....I'm starting to think keeping sheep is not a bad idea.

You missed the baaaad joke.

 

[Doug_G]

Now if only someone would come up with an electric solution to help me deal with 10 acres....I'm starting to think keeping sheep is not a bad idea.

Think of the methane production!

 

[JRP3]

Now if only someone would come up with an electric solution to help me deal with 10 acres....I'm starting to think keeping sheep is not a bad idea.

You need a mower with a swappable pack: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...ric-Lawnmowers?p=140939&viewfull=1#post140939

 

[kevincwelch]

Thanks, everyone. I think it's down to the Toro or the Black and Decker.

We have a small lawn, but I really hate dealing with the cords.

 

[NigelM]

Think of the methane production!

But at least sheep can be recycled!