Push Mowers, Battery Vs. gas

[Diggin It]

Both of my gas push mowers are giving me fits. Run one time, not the next, carbs, plugs, filters, whatever. I'll muddle through this year, but I'll be watching the season end closeouts that should start before too long. I know everybody has their favorite and most hated brands, but I've had decent experiences so far with Ryobi. What I'm not sure of is between 40V and 80V that some brands offer.

And I don't understand package pricing. I see one package with a 21" mower, string trimmer and one charge and battery for $400, but I also see a mower with battery and charger for $250 and a trimmer with battery and charger for $150 which means I could get the mower, trimmer, two batteries and two chargers for the same $400.


But I'm still not convinced battery mowers have the guts of gassers for taller grass. I use the two riders and SCUT for most everything, so the battery pusher would just be for trimming smaller areas.

 

[bmaverick]

The only BIG advantage with an eMower pusher is ... It can be left out in the RAIN.

I have gotten over the years about 15 gasser pusher mowers off the curb in fair to excellent shape for FREE. What was the issue? People left them out in the rain.
The head and pickup coil tend to RUST and thus it's a no running engine. Pop the cover off, wet sand, then brake cleaner, slap it all back together and it's ready for mowing.

Never had a clogged carb either because I tend to place just a thimble full of SeaFoam every now and then to a full tank. 2X thimble full with a half tank to run the tank empty for winter storage. Works like a charm every time every year. In the Spring, add fuel, pull the cord and the engines just run as before.

Some locations, cities, towns and in California, eMowers are the ONLY thing to use going forward.

 

[RandyT]

As a repair center what I see is after the warranty or in some cases before the warranty is up they obsolete out the batteries, so in 2-3 years when that battery goes bad don't expect to get a replacement or the replacement will be as much as a complete new mower. In most cases they entire mower will go to the garbage in 2-3 years.

 

[bmaverick]

As a repair center what I see is after the warranty or in some cases before the warranty is up they obsolete out the batteries, so in 2-3 years when that battery goes bad don't expect to get a replacement or the replacement will be as much as a complete new mower. In most cases they entire mower will go to the garbage in 2-3 years.

Then a person has to order the battery interface plate from the old style to the new style battery. They sell them both on eBay and Amazon.

I can take a Ridged or Ryobi or DeWalt or Craftsman battery and with the right plate mix and swap any of them to work in any device.

With the B+D trimmers of the NiMH era, I have a simple plate to use their Li batteries. EZ.

 

[RandyT]

@bmaverick The problem with the mowers that I work on is they start out as 36v and then a year later they come out with a 48V, and then the next year is 60V and then to 82V all with different sizes and shapes of batteries. So 3 years after purchasing a 36V they are now on the 80v version, and the older battery is no longer available, or the replacement battery for the $399 push mower is $349. Some of those push mower batteries are the size and weight of car batteries.

 

[bmaverick]

@bmaverick The problem with the mowers that I work on is they start out as 36v and then a year later they come out with a 48V, and then the next year is 60V and then to 82V all with different sizes and shapes of batteries. So 3 years after purchasing a 36V they are now on the 80v version, and the older battery is no longer available, or the replacement battery for the $399 push mower is $349. Some of those push mower batteries are the size and weight of car batteries.

Same goes for the eChainsaws. B+D had a nice 40V. It's gone higher. I could use an interface plate and mount 2 of the 20V to have the 40V. Sort of like a double decker.

 

[RalphVa]

The Ryobi 40v 21 inch "crosscut" mower has gas power. Great mower. So much easier to trim with because it's lighter than the beastly gas powered stuff. So much easier to pull back on a slope. The crosscut is a self propelled mower. You can get the 21 inch and a 20 inch Ryobi in push, but why push when you can so easily get power? Just wish they'd give us a reverse. Would be so easy to do.

No belts, just motors for the wheels and for the blade.

It is not a budget mower. The crosscut is near $600, but the push ones are a bunch cheaper.

Get it with the 40v grass whip. It has gaslike power as well.

Had a Kobalt 40v push mower. Not worth much. Sold it.

Now have a Ryobi ZT480e for most of the mowing. Don't use the self propelled 21 inch much any more. Do still use the 40v grass whip.

We don't do gasoline stuff any more except for the 2 cars and pickup.

 

[Grumpycat]

I have had an EGo 21" SP mower for about 5 years now. All EGo products are 56V and use compatible batteries which are available from 2.0AH to 10.0AH. No planned obsolescence.

When I bought EGo only offered pure push and SP but recently at Lowes I see they have 2 more models claiming to be more powerful than mine. I also have a 15" EGo string trimmer. Have little doubt the string trimmer is equal to many gas trimmers but my mower is not. Is quite sufficient for routine cutting but for "high grass" when neighbor didn't mow for months I couldn't bite more than 6" or so per pass across the lawn. As for my own lawn, have no trouble taking passes the full width of the mower. It rarely speeds up for heavy cutting.

My advice is one can never have too much battery. The expensive EGo mowers at Lowes come with 10AH batteries, I have 7.5AH, which powers my mower 40-60 minutes depending on how high and wet my grass.

One interesting feature is how the SP motor is independent of the blade motor. Infinite variable speed SP. The SP can run when the blade is not.

After 5 years my original battery still has most of its capacity. Just as new I can still almost mow my entire 0.4 acres on one charge. The retail price of a bare battery is ridiculous. Mower + 7.5AH battery was $550 5 years ago, but bare battery was $400. When a backpack blower with same battery appeared for $300 on closeout I snagged it primarily for the battery. Later found another in classified listings.

Doc says over 30 minutes of cardio/day is overkill so I usually mow the front one day and the back the next to kill two birds with two stones.

Have added matching 18" chainsaw and the hedge trimmer. Both are better than expected.

 

[Richard001]

The Ryobi 40v 21 inch "crosscut" mower has gas power. Great mower. So much easier to trim with because it's lighter than the beastly gas powered stuff. So much easier to pull back on a slope. The crosscut is a self propelled mower. You can get the 21 inch and a 20 inch Ryobi in push, but why push when you can so easily get power? Just wish they'd give us a reverse. Would be so easy to do.

No belts, just motors for the wheels and for the blade.

It is not a budget mower. The crosscut is near $600, but the push ones are a bunch cheaper.

Get it with the 40v grass whip. It has gaslike power as well.

So how does the self propelled work ?

Does it have a transmission or some sort of gear reduction ?

Richard

 

[RalphVa]

So how does the self propelled work ?

Does it have a transmission or some sort of gear reduction ?

Richard

Self propulsion is fine. They have a slider that controls maximum speed and also controls starting torque. It's a little bit too loose and too easily moved by brush, accidently brush by the hand, etc.

No belts nor gears. Has motor(s) for the wheels and a motor for the blade.

The self-propelled thumb buttons work the same as they did on the Honda self-propelled gas mower we had. Had same crossed (dual) blades, too.