Electric Riding Mowers

[bdhsfz6]

Anyone have experience with these electric riding mowers? I mow our 7 acre yard with a tractor but I'm looking for one the wife can use to mow around her plantings. She's a bit "mechanically challenged" and also allergic to exhaust fumes so a gas powered model wouldn't be practical. She has a self propelled electric walk behind mower now which works well but we're getting older and the chore is getting more difficult for her.

Lately, I've been looking at this one from Ryobi:

RYOBI 80V HP Brushless 42 in. Battery Electric Cordless Zero Turn Riding Mower (2) 80V Batteries (2) 40V Batteries and Charger RYRM8021 - The Home Depot

Introducing RYOBI's first lithium-ion battery powered zero turn riding mower, the RYOBI 80V HP 42

www.homedepot.com

It's a redesign of an earlier lead acid battery powered model which wasn't well reviewed.

Yeah, at $6K, it isn't cheap. I could get a better quality gas powered riding mower for less but as mentioned above, the exhaust fumes are a problem. Upkeep would also be an issue with another gas engine to maintain. Other than blade sharpening, these electric models appear to be truly "plug & play".

 

[YanmarFever]

You might check out how much replacement battery's are. I saw one of these mowers at home depot the other day, and I could not figure out how it steers.

My experience with electric mowers has been that, they are under powered and only cut short grass.

You might see if you can rent one first and let your wife try it out to make sure she likes it, 6 grand is a lot for a mower, I agree.

 

[2manyrocks]

No experience with it, but because of the price and being a new model with only 31 reviews, I'd certainly compare the ego ZTR which has has 1,600+ reviews. https://www.lowes.com/pd/EGO-Dual-H...ower-with-Mulching-Capability-CARB/5000200347

$6,000 for a 42 inch ZTR strikes me as a lot.

 

[scootr]

She will need to learn how to use and charge the battery properly. I'm assuming lithium. Be sure to only buy Lifepo4 type battery as they last longer and are more forgiving. Recharge large lithium batteries out doors

 

[bdhsfz6]

No experience with it, but because of the price and being a new model with only 31 reviews, I'd certainly compare the ego ZTR which has has 1,600+ reviews. https://www.lowes.com/pd/EGO-Dual-H...ower-with-Mulching-Capability-CARB/5000200347

$6,000 for a 42 inch ZTR strikes me as a lot.

The Ego is also on my list but I've had problems getting parts for other Ego equipment. I bought a string trimmer and leaf blower on Amazon several years ago and eventually had to replace them because service and repair parts were too difficult to obtain.

I suppose I could have the same problem with Ryobi but they seem to be a bigger well established brand.

This one from John Deere looks promising too but it's only available for pre order now:

https://www.deere.com/en/mowers/zero-turn-mowers/z300-series/z370r-ztrak-mower/?cid=PPC_MDS_00491_02425&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3ueiBhBmEiwA4BhspEsYrSJr45E16kDEgAgeTw5ohLFQ7PFOF7cl_P2U52k51bERY5UydhoC9ZoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[2manyrocks]

You might have better luck buying a mower from a dealer that offers in house repairs and parts service.

 

[RandyT]

You might have better luck buying a mower from a dealer that offers in house repairs and parts service.

And even that is not a guarantee that parts will be available in 6 months.

 

[scootr]

You could probably pay a neighborhood kid to mow for 10 years for the cost of that mower.

 

[ultrarunner]

You may be ahead of the curve in that the ban forbidding the sale of 25hp and smaller Landscape equipment is already inked in California…

It’s a full court press to electric with no signs of turning back as best I can tell.

StackPath

 

[2manyrocks]

At least with a gas or diesel ZTR, the engine and the exhaust is behind the operator if that makes any difference in regard to allergies.