Going gasless

[RalphVa]

I stumbled upon the fact that the 20 and 21 inch self propelled Ryobi 40v mowers are top rated. So, have made the decision to go gasless. Took pictures of the 3 mowers(2 gas and one Kobalt 40v), Kobalt grass whip and the 3 gas cans/containers to advertise them on Nextdoor. Most will be cheap but think I'll ask about $300 for the Honda HRR mower. It's the best mower we've ever owned, only minor problems with the electric start. Give it a pull at the beginning of the season, and she always kicks right off. Excellent mulching mower.

The Ryobi 21 inch mimics the Honda: the 2 blades and blade/speed controls very similar. May run the wife over to Waynesboro tomorrow for her to look at both the 21 and 20 inch ones. Her arthritic hands give her some problems with some controls. Probably take the copy of my DD214 to get the veteran discount and buy it and a grass whip. Want to sell of all the Kobalt stuff, one being the very good grass whip. Wife wore out 2 of their 40v chain saws; went with a Stihl 36v.

Kobalt's 80v mower is rated pretty well, but they have a bewildering variety of battery voltages; whereas, Ryobi seems to be sticking with their 40v (except for the 42 inch zero turn, which has lead acid, I think four 12v in series).

 

[RalphVa]

Guess I could have gone with this option.

 

[lman]

My wife would shoot me if I got her a push mower to mow our 4 acres of grass.

 

[RalphVa]

Self propelled 40v.

 

[LittleBill21]

she mows 4 acres with a self propel push mower? i mowed 1.5 acres with a self propel for a couple years on hills and it was quite the work out, is there a reason your not getting some form of a rider?

 

[RalphVa]

I posted elsewhere about getting a Ryobi 42 inch zero turn battery rig. It'll likely do the 1/2 acre yard, my "blueberry" hill and the trails. The new Ryobi 40v walkbehind will be for backup/trim work. We've only about 1/2 acre up here. She can mow it with the Honda self propelled in 1 hour or so and usually just the one tank of fuel. She mows like a scared cat, top speed, but good at the edges.

 

[MoKelly]

My wife would shoot me if I got her a push mower to mow our 4 acres of grass.

And, in my opinion, rightly!

That could be deemed cruel and unusual.

MoKelly

 

[stuckmotor]

I stumbled upon the fact that the 20 and 21 inch self propelled Ryobi 40v mowers are top rated. So, have made the decision to go gasless. Took pictures of the 3 mowers(2 gas and one Kobalt 40v), Kobalt grass whip and the 3 gas cans/containers to advertise them on Nextdoor. Most will be cheap but think I'll ask about $300 for the Honda HRR mower. It's the best mower we've ever owned, only minor problems with the electric start. Give it a pull at the beginning of the season, and she always kicks right off. Excellent mulching mower.

The Ryobi 21 inch mimics the Honda: the 2 blades and blade/speed controls very similar. May run the wife over to Waynesboro tomorrow for her to look at both the 21 and 20 inch ones. Her arthritic hands give her some problems with some controls. Probably take the copy of my DD214 to get the veteran discount and buy it and a grass whip. Want to sell of all the Kobalt stuff, one being the very good grass whip. Wife wore out 2 of their 40v chain saws; went with a Stihl 36v.

Kobalt's 80v mower is rated pretty well, but they have a bewildering variety of battery voltages; whereas, Ryobi seems to be sticking with their 40v (except for the 42 inch zero turn, which has lead acid, I think four 12v in series).

It might be a good idea to try the battery equipment for a while before selling their gas powered counter parts My son has a battery mower, blower, and an item ot two more. He says they're like toys compared to gas ones.

 

[stuckmotor]

It might be a good idea to try the battery equipment for a while before selling their gas powered counter parts My son has a battery mower, blower, and an item ot two more. He says they're like toys compared to gas ones.

My son seems to have gotten used to his battery mower. It's a 40 volt 20" Ryobi, and now has two batteries.

 

[MossRoad]

Many years ago, my sister planted her entire small city yard with wild flowers. She left several paths through them. It was quit attractive. My brother in-law was an electric forklift mechanic. He made his own battery powered push lawnmower. He said he could light up a smoke, push the mower around all the paths, put it back in the garage and have a couple puffs left on the cigarette. He said he charged it in the spring and it lasted almost all summer on that one charge. He was a very happy man and often thanked my sister for eliminating the lawn.

 

[MoKelly]

There is a “planned neighborhood” near St. Louis that forbids gas powered lawn equipment.

The yards are all postage stamps.

I’ve driven through on a Saturday on a bike and it sounds like a bee convention - a buzzzzzing hum all over!!

MoKelly

 

[kenmbz]

Everything I have read about the mowers on other threads and reviews had complaints of running out of power in .5 to 1 acre of mowing. I would really want to make sure you could cover 4 acres with any battery powered device if that is your current lawn area.

 

[cqaigy2]

There is a “planned neighborhood” near St. Louis that forbids gas powered lawn equipment.

The yards are all postage stamps.

I’ve driven through on a Saturday on a bike and it sounds like a bee convention - a buzzzzzing hum all over!!

MoKelly

I guess that would be better than bellering backpack blowers and lawn mowers. Not to mention the lovely smell of all those 2 strokes on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[RalphVa]

Picked up a Ryobi 40v 21 inch "crosscut" mower and carbon fiber grass whip and 3 batteries and 2 chargers among them. Waiting now for a visitor @ 2 before going out to unload and unbox them.

Sold the Kobalt 40v mower with a couple batteries and chargers on Nextdoor. Thought I'd had my JD 14SB and Kobalt grass whip on Nextdoor as well but went on to lower their prices and didn't find them. Got them there now. Must have screwed up putting the ads in.

Gave away an old metal 5 gallon gas can on Nextdoor. LOTS of people interested in it. Never did like it, e.g. with one of those spring loaded lids over the pouring spout. Heavy sucker, too.

BTW, HD took my DD214 to give me my veteran's 10% discount, but they gave me static for not having a veteran's ID card. The HD web site showed NO Ryobis in stock. They had gobs of both the 20 inch and 21 inch ones.

 

[5030]

I turned 90% of the barnyard into feedlot. Works for me quite well.

 

[RalphVa]

It might be a good idea to try the battery equipment for a while before selling their gas powered counter parts My son has a battery mower, blower, and an item ot two more. He says they're like toys compared to gas ones.

The Kobalt 40v brushed motor mower was like that. This one supposedly has "gas like" performance. One of the guys helping with the loading said he'd just gotten one, and his is like that. Some others seem to have gone to 80v for their self propelled mowers, like Kobalt. Kobalt, in particular, has a bewildering variety of batteries. Their brushless stuff is either 24v or 80v; whereas, their older stuff is 40v.

 

[MoKelly]

I guess that would be better than bellering backpack blowers and lawn mowers. Not to mention the lovely smell of all those 2 strokes on a Sunday afternoon.

That is exactly why they did what they did —- plus the fact no yard can be more than 400 sq. ft. It’s hard to run out of battery power with that size.

But you best have curtains on every window!

MoKelly

 

[RalphVa]

Finally got to use the Ryobi 40v mower and trimmer.

I bought the carbon fiber grass trimmer to try to reduce the weight. It's still as heavy as the Kobalt 40v but MUCH MORE POWERFUL with its brushless motor. I did way more than the normal grass whipping and ran the battery down to where it would not show anything with the battery button, but it was still spinning the whip. This a truly variable speed trimmer, ala like the old 2 cycle engine ones. The speed start/stop/variable speed button is easier to use than on the Kobalt. The Kobalt has a separate button you have to push to enable the start/stop button, like many other saws, etc. On the Ryobi, the "safety" is built right into the same button.

The registration of it on Ryobi's website was confusing. They show about a half dozen different 40v trimmer models. I went to HD site and brought up the one I bought. No model shown. I just entered the serial # for the one end. There seem to be separate serial #s for the other end as well as for the battery and charger. Sorta the same for registering the mower.

The 40v 21 inch "crosscut" mower worked great except the levers and start button are far too sensitive and safety oriented. I finally ended up zip tying one of the levers and wrapped a line with quick release knot on the other one. You can use either lever, but if you touch the other lever, the mower stops! Just a toggle switch in place of the button and no levers would be fine, folks, but the GUVMIT safety czars probably won't allow it.

I mowed about 1/3 the lawn and used about 1/4 of the battery power with my slow walking speed. My wife will have no trouble at all mowing all of it with her storming around at top speed almost running behind the mower. She mowed the other part of the lawn with the Honda while I was poking around on that 1/3. The Ryobi takes both 6 aH batteries, but you only have access to one at a time by resetting a red key to point towards the one you want to use.

The "crosscut" one also has a single lever for setting the cutting height. It only sets on the inch though, no half inch settings. The "crosscut" also has a 1 inch bigger big wheel in the back.

Batteries in a battery machine are just "gas". So, worst that could happen is I need to buy another battery or do my grass whipping a day before or day after the mowing and use its battery. It's only a 4 aH one though. The ones supplied with the mower are 6 aH.

 

[RalphVa]

Have sold both the old Kobal 40v (brushed) mower and just now sold the old classic JD 14SB to a 6 year navy guy in process of moving to Quantico. Have no idea how old that 14SB is. Still runs great.

Holding off in advertising the Honda HRR216VLA. Looks as though it may only be worth about $200 now since new ones are available now at around $500 instead of $800 when we bought it from (JD) Va Tractor. It's 8 years old.

 

[Richard001]

The 40v 21 inch "crosscut" mower worked great except the levers and start button are far too sensitive and safety oriented.

Is the "crosscut" mower self propelled ?