Electric ZT

[Bill Guenthner]

They have electric motors, not engines. And they haven't figured out the batteries yet. And it's been well over 100 years.

Yeah… no. It’s literally happening right now. In 15 years you won’t be able to buy a passenger car that isn’t electric.

 

[2manyrocks]

At the rate things are going can't buy a passenger car right now.

 

[tomplum]

Saw my first Rivian at the CO-OP the other day. Didn't see a mower deck on it though....

 

[Oaktree]

Like it or not, electric is the future.

If for no reason other than it's being forced on us.

Don't get me wrong, electric tools have their place. A battery chainsaw, weed wacker, lawnmower etc. is fine for a suburbanite who's only going to use it for an hour or so at a time. They're relatively quiet and you don't need to have gas on hand (especially 2-stroke mix). I have a HF Lynx chainsaw that's perfect for those small 10 minute projects. Wouldn't want to use one to cut a year's worth of firewood though...

As far as an electric rider mower/ZTR, while having something quiet would be a plus, where I store mine is nowhere near an outlet making it a bit impractical to recharge.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I have a HF Lynx chainsaw that's perfect for those small 10 minute projects. Wouldn't want to use one to cut a year's worth of firewood though...

Those cheap saws are… well.. cheap saws. My electric chainsaw lasts long enough on a single battery to cut down and cut up 3 or 4, medium sized trees (6 inch trunk, maybe 30 feet tall) And I have 3 40V 4 amp batteries. Many times I’ve used it for an entire day of cutting and clearing. My primary circular saw and miter saw are electric as well. I built a 30x20 foot deck using only electric tools and never even thought about charging.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have a number of EGO tools...all work quite well for my residential needs. I would definitely consider an EGO ZT if they come out with a 60" deck (54" is the largest currently available). The other "limitation" could be battery life. My lawn is approximately 2½ acres.
My current ZT, a Deere commercial mower, only has around 500 hours on it, so I don't see any need to replace it anytime soon. But when I do, an EGO mower will be considered

 

[tomplum]

There too I see a lot of folks that feel they have to mow their whole 5 or whatever acre lot. More power to them, but my time and resources can be used in a much more valuable way. I have clients that as they age feel that lawn and garden care to that degree will push them out of their house. Many of times I ask them to rethink how much their doing and why?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We mow 8 acres...
I’d like a Hustler 104.
Still less costly than a 60” commercial electric mower.
I do like my electric trimmer and blower... but that work is light duty.
I’m game for an electric ZTR, if the cost comes way down. $26k when a comparable gasoline unit is $10k is a big ask. I’d never make that money back.

 

[mikester]

Would anyone buy this, I know no way I would, CAN$7,000 which works out to US$5,600 . Supposed to be able to mow 2 acres on a charge.
Probably all downhill, 1/2" high grass, 100lb operator on dry ground with a tailwind............Mike



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If it's "Made in China" then NO

 

[lukeh]

My neighbor has this model. He mows approx 1.5 acres of mixed weeds with it, and it's flawless. No belts (motors directly mounted to the blades), runs through it all quicker than his old gas ZT, lifetime warranty on the batteries, batteries recharge VERY quickly, it's a real heavy plastic that doesn't deteriorate like the thin steel of gas mowers; there really is no downside that I can see.

I have switched over to this same brand (EGO) of everything else: push mower, weed whacker, hedge trimmer, chainsaw, leaf blower etc. I will never go back to gas tools after using these.
I maintain 3 acres with these.

All that said, they are probably not quite ready for commercial duty where they are being used for many hours every single day. And they probably aren't aimed at the homeowner mowing many acres every week either. But they do a really good job of filling the segment they ARE aimed at!

 

[priberc]

Would anyone buy this, I know no way I would, CAN$7,000 which works out to US$5,600 . Supposed to be able to mow 2 acres on a charge.
Probably all downhill, 1/2" high grass, 100lb operator on dry ground with a tailwind............Mike



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Like anything"new" the price will come down as they 1, become more mainstream and demand for them increases 2, more competition in the market place drives price down. For example the cheapest electric car in Canada is +/- 40K and this is 7K.....pretty sure there is not 1/6th the battery power in the ZT.....

 

[lukeh]

As far as an electric rider mower/ZTR, while having something quiet would be a plus, where I store mine is nowhere near an outlet making it a bit impractical to recharge.

For what it's worth, these have 6 battery slots. You just take the batteries out like a battery drill and put on the charger. These are not like the old school golf carts where you plug the whole machine in.

 

[BeezFun]

Surprised they didn't start with a stand on mower rather than sit on. Could have saved a lot of weight.
The review didn't say anything about seat comfort. My problem is my mowing is rough, even with a suspension seat it gets old. I'd switch to electric in a minute if it was comfortable. I've switched to electric chain saws, pole chain saw, and string trimmers. Nothing makes me happier than getting rid of a gas powered engine, I'm sick of rebuilding carburetors, adding Stabil to the fuel, pulling my shoulder out of the socket to start the thing, etc.

 

[lukeh]

.......... they haven't figured out the batteries yet. And it's been well over 100 years.

I'd disagree with this. The batteries are very much figured out. These carry a huge amount of energy, are very quick & easy to recharge (minutes, not hours), are very reliable over many hundreds of cycles, can be run totally flat with no noticeable loss in life.
The only improvement left that I can see is increasing the energy density, which is happening all the time.

But I am interested to know what aspect you don't see as figured out yet (genuinely, I'm not trying to be combative).

 

[5030]

Electric is the future once battery tech is fully figured out. There’s a reason that diesel locomotives have electric engines. The torque curve on electric motors is so much better than IC.

Not quite right. They are diesel-electric. The prime mover is diesel, driving an alternator which produces current for the traction motors. The reason is, you don't need any sort of mechanical linkage from the engine to the drive motors, just copper wire. It all distills down to cost of production. Now, in the east, locomotives are powered by an overhead caternary od high voltage lines but only there.

 

[5030]

No kidding? I thought they ran on D cell flashlight batteries.
You kinda left off my opening qualifier; "Electric is the future once battery tech is fully figured out." Hybrid cars also use generators to power electric motors. Like it or not, electric is the future.

You need to loose that polluting Kubota you have and step up to a 225 grand JD electric utility tractor. Time for you to quit babbling and just do it....lol

 

[5030]

Yeah… no. It’s literally happening right now. In 15 years you won’t be able to buy a passenger car that isn’t electric.

No issue with me, I won't be here anyway and if I am, I won't be driving anything anyway. The way it's going, candidly I don't want to be (here) anyway.

 

[BeezFun]

Well here ya go, a Gravely 60" electric ZTR that runs all day on a single charge, only $32,500 !!!!

 

[5030]

If it's "Made in China" then NO

It is, I did some research on them the other day... Parent company is Chinese., just like 90% of everything else today and that don't make it a non starter for me. If you are about not made in China you'd better crawl in a hole and die. Most everything you use has Chinese origins. It's called 'World Class Manufacturing.

Been reading along and not commenting.

Here is my take on them.. No more changing the oil, no more oil filters, no more dealing with stinky gas dribbling from the stupid EPA approved gas cans that are a joke, no more replacing the starting batteries that puke at least every other year, no more replacing worn out belts and worn out spindle bearings, no more 'winterizing with gas stabilizer, no more worrying about hydrostat transmission issues
The cost is right in line with my present 2 ZTR's, yes I have 2, one for the wife and one for me and both are gas hogs.

The Ego comes with 4 batteries, you can add 2 more for extend run time. The batteries fit all their cordless tools and the supplied charger charges ALL of them at one time in 2 hours. I mow about 2.5 acres of lawn and yes I'm buying one and selling at least one of my gasoline ZTR's. Projected battery total life is 3 years (projected). May last longer, may not. The gas engines in the ZTR's also have a projected life, usually under 1000 run hours, some well under that and engine replacement isn't a cheap date either. I'd rather replace batteries than an engine myself, much easier. Battery technology has come a long way so I expect good life out of them.

No belts (blades are direct drive with brushless motors which are very efficient) (why drones and the newest cordless power tools use them). No hydrostatic drive units either. Brushless high efficiency motors. Don't much care if the deck is formed steel sheet or fabricated, my one ZTR has a stamped deck and it's 10 years old and I keep it clean underneath and free of grass 'cud' when stored over the winter, no corrosion issue with it, never has been. The mower is 100% solid state controlled so it's highly efficient to begin with.

Where it's made only slightly concerns me, not all that much really. Where to you think your cordless tools like Milwaukee are made, they ain't made here, I'll tell you that. If you think they are, you'd be dead wrong. Might be assembled here, but the guts came from China or Taiwan.

I'm gonna buy one for certain. Like I said, the price is right in line with the current gas powered ZTR's.

One thing I am going to do is, I'm going to buy and erect a solar array behind the shop to power the charger for the mower when it's parked so it won't have any impact on my utility bill at all. In as much as mowing is a weekly chore, it can sit on the charger for a week at a time so it will be fully charged when I need it and, I'm going to purchase 2 extra batteries that fit in the slots on the mower that I can use on the other EGO cordless tools that I will also be purchasing.

Real tired of the constant upkeep of the gas powered ZTR's I own. Constant thing. Not an electric car person. I drive a very fuel efficient buggy (40 mpg) and I don't drive much anyway, being retired, I don't have to. My farm truck as well as the farm tractors are diesel but the fuel that goes in them is one, a deductible expense and two is covered for the most part in the profit I make from the crop I grow and harvest.

Mowing the lawn isn't a covered expense or deductible expense. Neither are the mowers themselves.

My personal opinion is, it's a mower who's time has come and I'll be buying one this year for certain.

I'll use it for a solid year and do a review at that time.

Until then, keep on filling yours with expensive stinky gas drippling from the EPA approved gas jugs that are a joke, keep buying belts, air filters, motor oil, spark plugs and all the stuff I won't be buying. Have fun with it.

 

[Tony H]

No! However, in our 'land of the free' the new regime had passed laws to end the sales of fossil fuel equipment in a few years. Have you seen all the new Stihl equipment? All batteries. I will baby my stuff.. Hopefully they won't ban the sales of engine/caburetor rebuild kits

Would anyone buy this, I know no way I would, CAN$7,000 which works out to US$5,600 . Supposed to be able to mow 2 acres on a charge.
Probably all downhill, 1/2" high grass, 100lb operator on dry ground with a tailwind............Mike



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