Electric Lawn Mowing Options. Corded, Cordless, Hovering, and Robotic(!)
Part of renting a house in Portland is having to take care of the lawn. I do mean that you have to as well. If I were to let the grass become too unruly, I'd get a call from the city and fines would follow soon after that.
But being opposed to using gas except where truly necessary, I am not about to go out and buy a gas lawn mower. There are better options now. Electric mowers aren't even a new development and have been standard lawn equipment in the UK especially for decades.
Maybe you're in the same boat, or similar? Maybe you're tired of dealing with pull start gas mowers and the filters, oil changes and various other headaches they entail. I'm right there with you. I used to have to mow my parent's lawn with a gas mower as a common Summer chore, and it has burned into my mind an irreversible hatred of gas mowers.
What are the electric options out there, then? This is by no means a comprehensive list. Rather it's some of the better options I've been able to find, and the ones I'm considering for my particular application: A small, rather flat lawn. If your needs differ, the mowers listed here may not be right for you.
That's not to say there aren't electric mowers of all sizes and power ratings. Powered wheels or push style, some even ride-on(!). I'll cover one of those in a bit just for the fun of it. The rest are models suitable for light duty, chosen for convenience and ease of storage mostly.
Ryobi was one of the first corded models I looked at. Like all the others, it comes in a variety of blade diameters from 14 inch up to 20 inch. I have some Ryobi tools already and generally like the brand. But then, as I already have a bunch of Ryobi batteries, why not go cordless?
Prices for these cordless ones are pretty steep, and for the most part you get what you pay for, so it's unwise to buy the cheapest one. You're looking at between $300 and $500. Not as bad as expected, but still not cheap. On top of that, most models have only 75% or so positive reviews.
Makita was the only brand of cordless mower I could find with only 4 and 5 star reviews. Evidently Makita is a fairly trusted brand, but you'll pay a little extra for that build quality. The one I looked at was $350 without batteries.
Then there's the really weird, fringe stuff. Like hovering electric mowers. Long have these been widespread in the UK, but oddly they're very rare in the US. Why? I don't know, by all accounts they work a treat and and especially maneuverable because of the lack of wheels. Flymo makes these, though there's a gas version that Husqvarna offers.
That brings us to robot mowers. The WorX Landroid was the only one I found on Amazon with a highly positive rating. I used to recommend the Lawnbott Spyder, but it's no longer manufactured. The Landroid, like most robot mowers, requires hammering stakes down to secure a signal wire around the lawn perimeter which tells the robot where not to go.
I saved the Ryobi electric riding lawn mower for last because I have no conceivable use for it. My lawn is simply too small. Apparently it's exceptionally good however. It uses lead acid batteries to keep the price down to an astonishing $2,500 (as low as $1,950 some places) but of course that means you'll be replacing them more often.
Apparently it runs plenty long, has good cutting power and good build quality. I almost wish I had a huge lawn just for an excuse to buy one of these. But really, cutting grass is robot work. I will probably buy a cheap corded mower for the time being, then a robotic one when SBD next surges.
Stay Cozy!
@alexbeyman,
Wow dude this is very interesting! This is the first time I saw an electric option of it! Pretty useful and damn good! Thanks for letting us know!
Cheers~
Upvoted.
I solved my lawn mower problem a few years ago by just getting rid of the grass.
It's all deck and garden now :)
A cordless lawn mover is a lot better than a corded one, the corded one is provided with a limitation that it can bd used for a particular area, but the cordless is free to move anywhere, you really love these electric technology, I myself on the other hand use a mechanical lawn mover at my home.
My favorite one is the robot, but I wouldn’t be able to use it since our lawn is too small. All we need is a manual grass cutter (push-reel mover) and it works perfectly. We just have to sharpen the blades once I a while.
Leave the electric movers aside even the gas operated movers are far a bit of technology in my homeland. Recently my family owned a little bit more land and it meant that my lawn area increased. Now i am feeling for an upgradation as it gets too hectic with the hand driven. As i have seen the option available i will go for electric mover myself.
Good choice. The electric motor is superior. It is quiet, strong, easy to use and needs no maintenance itself (although the blades must be sharpened). The problem was always "how do we power this amazing electric motor?" Batteries were never good enough until very recently. But unless the lawn is very large, an electric mower with a cord is also a good choice because it needs no batteries at all.
Yeah for sure battery driven would had been a much better option but i don't the battery could last upto the completion point because as i already mentioned the lawn is too big. Now it seems irrational to wait for the battery to be recharged again and again. Then there would be no difference between gas driven mover and battery driven. Even in this case gas driven could provide better alternative then battery driven as the lag would be less.
Heyy @alexbeyman anyways i just wanted to ask how much time does the mover driven by battery actually last? Or the area it covers when fully charged?you goy any idea related to this?
Man, why are you lying. You cut the grass with a scissor. I've seen you :p
Yup i just used to cut it with a pair of scissors thats why i thought of an upgradation because it was too hectic to cut it off to same length.. 😂😂
I've got a Black & Decker electric mower that's now ~15 years old, still works great. Have replaced the battery twice and sharpened the blade 2-3 times. Frankly I'm amazed its lasted so long, but having taken it apart for maintenance, the internals are really simple.
People sometimes swear by their brand of power tools, whether its Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch, DeWalt, etc... but here's the ugly, ugly truth - and this is me speaking as someone with a past in high tech electronics manufacturing.
All consumer-grade gear of this type is essentially crap now.
In the race to make their products less expensive, more and more corners were cut - way beyond a reasonable point of cost savings. Chineseum materials and manufacturing dominate virtually all electronics today. It is utter crap. Poor design, no thought for longevity, molds that are used way past their prime for making plastic housings, motors all built by 12 year olds in sweatshops, that's what we've come to.
There really is relatively little left to differentiate the major brands today. Heck, many times the actual internal parts like motors and switches are made by the same vendors in China.
Now, if you're looking at industrial-grade / commercial gear, that's a whole different story for some of these companies. Aside from that, when choosing your mower - I'd say look at the specs, pick your poison & color of choice, and throw the dice.
P.S. For warranty service, be aware most of the big stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, et al... do not help you in any way with facilitating warranty repair/replacement. If you bring a broken tool under warranty to their store they'll usually tell you to contact the manufacturer directly for an RMA number. Customer service has declined across the board in most places, and fast. It didn't used to be this way.
I don't know that I would go for a cheap corded mower. Why, because the cords are a pain in the neck. you have to pretty much keep the cord over your shoulder so you don't run over it. If you have anything that a cord could wrap around, it is going to, I don't care if it is just one small tree in the middle of the yard, it is going to get tangled there. And then if there are flowers that you, your girlfriend or the landlord planted, forget about them still being around after a couple of mowings.
And then there is always the part of running over the cord, of your extension cord being just a little bit to short, and then pulling the plug out. Then the surge to get through that tough clump of grass drawing more power than the circuit breaker can handle and blowing the fuse, or your girlfriend starting the washing machine or dryer that happens to pull on that same circuit breaker. I think if you plan on having a lawn in your future home also, you should go with the middle option and get a mid range quality battery one. You already have some tools from Ryobi check to see if the tool batteries are compatible and go with one of them.
Hm. The lawn is small and the furthest edge isn't more than 20 feet from the house. I really think corded would be fine, but you make some compelling points.
Are you on a long term or short term rental lease, after staying in a "home" versus an apartment complex what are you likely to move into next? Twenty feet for the lawn at this place not bad, but as you need to also,like you do with most of your things, think where am I going to be tomorrow, Three bedrooms, two baths in a modest suburb, or a growing family in the country. You can always rent one for the first couple of mows and see which works best for you, now and might continue to work okay for you in the future.
I have one black & decker electric mowers and its really good. Gas its too much of a hassle and you have to change oil from time to time. Definetely go for an electric one ;)
Some bushes in my countryside house really need a help of a couple of this machines.
Beware of the robotic ones, if Skynet attacks one day, it will eat you.
Skynet would never harm its most loyal servant.
If only it was true. They will probably make you a cyborg then.
I hope it won't be a lawn mower or a vacuum cleaner :D
Upon reading the article, i think the more sensible choice besides being a electric lawn mower will be to go for the Makita.
I like the WorX Landroid but the part that you may have to secure a signal wire around the lawn perimeter which tells the robot where not to go can make it not to be a good choice.