# Cordless Electric Mower



## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

My wife and I are considering purchasing a cordless electric lawnmower. We were wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience with them? Which model and how do you like it compared to gasoline?

[I realize that a money forum is an odd place for this question, but I find that the people on this forum are well informed about a variety of topic].


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

I had a gas powered one the very first year we bought a house.
Absolutely hated it from my bottom of my guts.
It broke exactly after one year.

I dumped it, and promptly bought a good quality manual reel mower.
Been using it for ~ 8 years now.
Would never switch to anything else.

Sorry, can't help you, other than highly recommending a manual reel mower.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I definitely 2nd the reel mower option...

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/mow-the-lawn-and-get-in-shape/

I've never heard of a battery operated mower. I guess my concern would be the weight and how long the battery lasts. I find most rechargeable batteries lose their recharging ability over time.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Depends on the yard size. How big is the space? I have a half acre, and it's too big for any electric mower. It would take about 3 fresh batteries to cut the grass. My buddy has a smaller lot in the city, probably about 1/10 -1/8 of an acre. He gets a cut to a charge. Something you have to keep in mind with a reel motor is you have to keep your speed up (not a run, but more than a saunter) and the longer the grass, the harder it gets.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Actually we discussed this at length last year - please do a search and you'll find the thread. As always, lots of insightful discussion resulted. Though it may not have been so specific as to identify an actual model recommendation as being best.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

Thank you for the replies. I searched and found the old thread and somebody said they liked the Black and Decker cordless.

I should have provided more details in my first post. We have an average size lot that is about 70 x 120 feet (guess) with many trees. Our gas powered 6.5 HP craftsman works but the pull start is getting to be a problem due to a medical condition. A human powered reel mower is out of the question for the same reason. 

We've decided that we'll need a gas mower with electric start or a cordless electric. The cordless electrics look good on paper and should be better for the environment but my Google search for information on them came back with mixed reviews.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

We've had gas for years, and I really liked it. (Yes, I've mowed my fair share of lawns). The gas ones, especially to good ones, are more powerful work better in my opinion. However, they take more work to maintain. To be honest, I'm not sure what happened, but I think ours needed a tune up, and hubby, just didn't feel like it, so he gave it away, and bought an electric battery.  

The friend we gave it too says it works great. (The gas one)

Our electric is quieter, which I guess is good if you have kids sleeping, but doesn't keep a charge as well. I hate ALL of our Black and Decker battery tools, as the charge and batteries keep dieing or losing their charge.

We have Canadian Tire one, can't remember the brand, it's Green, I think it may be yardmaster, and that one has been pretty good. Our friend has the lower version, and their battery died. Ours has been still running.

I would have to agree with the push reel. That's the one I want next. It's more environmentally friendly, and in our lot, it's easier to move around.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

With mowers it is worth it to pay more for a better quality product. Make sure replacement parts are available - it's annoying to have to replace your mower because a $5 part is not available. With a good quality gas mower you should get 20+ years from it. Not sure about the electrics, but I imagine there are varying levels of quality and I suspect parts replacement is an even larger issue than with the gas powered mowers.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

For electrics, I think research the battery life is probably the biggest area where they need to be replaced. Those things are expensive.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

If you were smart you'd just buy a goat, it'll eat all your grass and you'd have nothing to cut and free milk too.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Gas lawn mower with electric start is what we had at the old house but now my husband is fishing for a John Deere Tractor lol


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

marina628 said:


> Gas lawn mower with electric start is what we had at the old house but now my husband is fishing for a John Deere Tractor lol


When we had an acreage, we had a lawn tractor with a little trailer. The kids would ride in the trailer while I cut the grass. Good memories.  I no longer have the acreage or the tractor so I ride a motorcycle on the weekends instead. The John Deere is probably a lot safer - and a lot cheaper. 

We are still undecided between a cordless electric lawnmower or gas with electric start.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Well I have a friend who ran over his cord cutting the grass ,that put a end to his love of the electric mower lol.We have a cottage with a lot 35 X100 and we use the electric mower there .The cottage is 20 ft x 60ft and we have a 12ft x 14 shed so not much grass to cut really.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

I ran over mine once too, Marina! I hated that mower after that and could hardly wait to get back to a gas one. Now that I'm older I use that as an excuse to pay someone to look after my lawn.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

This thread is three years old, but I am reopening it to share our experience. My wife and I chose the Black and Decker 1936 rechargeable self propelled mower. We are still happy with it after three years. 
- Maintenance free and trouble free operation. 
- No gas, no oil. 
- Ni-Cad rechargeable battery has held up with no noticeable degradation. 
- Immediate push button start.
- We would say that the self propelled model is worth the extra cost.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

marina628 said:


> Gas lawn mower with electric start is what we had at the old house but now my husband is fishing for a John Deere Tractor lol


Good for Hubby..as they say, nothing Runs like a Deere...and he will be so happy.. mabey you should consider surprising him on Father' Day?


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

It's funny that John Deere doesn't make consumer mowers, they just sell rebadged mowers from other manufacturers.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Timely thread - I just used our new purchase for the first time yesterday. Seemed to work well. It's a Canadian Tire Greenworks 16". We were skeptical as well, but in need of the change so we bought it when on sale ~a month ago. It's had some good reviews: http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0601782P/greenworks-greenworks-40v-16-in-cordless-lawn-mower-reviews/reviews.htm 
The 40v li-ion battery is priced at $150 and apparently used to power other greenworks tools, so hopefully that means it will remain available long into the future. It is the size of a pound of butter and we'll just bring it each time rather than leave it in the shed w the mower. Mower was light, easy to manouver, easy to adjust height, seems well built, we like the folding handle that allows it to fit well into a small storage area.
Time will tell if we remain happy with it. :stung: Our yard is now just below avg size since we expanded the veggie garden last fall. The 21" gas mower seemed like overkill, so it found a home at the d's place where the corded electric mower was somewhat of a pain because of the large yard. Then the corded electric mower found a home at the s's place which was in need of more than the cheap reel mower. 
As I cut the gas though I marveled at technology. Grandpa (the farmer) would have shook his head at such a contraption - a lawn mower that runs on a small battery, who'd of thought. It does make one wonder how far off common, everyday battery-powered commuter cars are.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

It does make one wonder how far off common, everyday battery-powered commuter cars are. 

They are available now from several companies. Thank the developments in batteries and electronics from the cell phone and similar devices. No one would have ever developed a $50 battery for a $5 flashlight but they did for a $500 phone. The same technology has grown better and cheaper and now we have practical electric cars. They had good electric cars 100 years ago, the only holdup was the batteries.


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## Tom Dl (Feb 15, 2011)

Just a very quick rant on reel mowers. I have three of excellent quality, eventually gave up on them a few years after a major accident, so I might still be using them today if not for that. But, the problem with them was that my local municipality does not enforce the weed laws. The province banned herbicides, and people took that to mean a total holiday on weed removal. Over time the reel motor just didn't work. We were out there every day cutting out weeds. Every year I would try the latest and greatest tech for that. But we lost the battle, the lawn is not cutable with a reel mower. So one day, I went a couple of blocks over where a guy fixes mowers, bought one for 40 bucks, and I have been spewing smoke ever since.

The minor rant on electrics is probably partially the same as the above, no running them over trees an brush to get rid of that stuff. But also, the ones from a few years back were really heavy, my parents got one so they wouldn't have to start a mower, but it is too heavy for them now. The other thing is that electric energy comes from nukes, fracked gas, and coal, it isn't clean energy, except where it is burned. You are ruining someone else's life. We have kept the family farm in NB but with all the fracking planned for there, I am going to sell up and leave.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Tom Dl said:


> Just a very quick rant on reel mowers. I have three of excellent quality, eventually gave up on them a few years after a major accident


You had an accident with a reel mower?
How did you manage that? It is one of the safest mowers because you control the direction, speed, and torque.
I'd think the probability of accident is far higher with electric or gas mowers.



> But, the problem with them was that my local municipality does not enforce the weed laws. The province banned herbicides, and people took that to mean a total holiday on weed removal. Over time the reel motor just didn't work. We were out there every day cutting out weeds.


Chemical weed killers are banned even in our municipality.
You don't need chemicals to keep your lawn weed-free.
There is not one weed in our lawn.

Occasionally, one may have the temerity to raise its ugly head, but it is dealt with quickly and decisively 

Come to think of it, even grass is a sort of weed, yet we nurture it, spend hundreds of $$ of products on it, waste precious water on it, admire it, etc. :biggrin:

Anyhow, I know what you mean about folks letting their lawns and yards taken over by weeds, but it doesn't have to be so.
With a little bit of care, common sense, and timely action, it is not difficult to have a relatively weed free lawn.



> The minor rant on electrics is probably partially the same as the above


Since we are ranting, LOL, here is my rant/pet peeve for the day:
I am aghast that perfectly able-bodied folks would need powerful gas/electric lawn mowers to mow postage-stamp sized lawns.

When municipalities banned weed-killers, they ought to have banned gas/electric mowers, too (unless you can prove disability and get a license for one, LOL).
Esp. for typical suburban homes with barely 10x10 ft. lawns.

Instead of huffin' and puffin' on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day, just bend your back root out some weeds and mow your lawn with a reel mower.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Tom Dl said:


> Just a very quick rant on reel mowers. I have three of excellent quality, eventually gave up on them .


Ten years ago I bought the best one they had in one of the big stores, and gave up on them after a year, since then I have been using gasoline one and what took me an hour it now takes me 5 minutes. Once this one dies (and it has been problem free for a about then years) I will try the electric once to be a bit more friendly for the environment, but sorry Harold, I am not going back to reel mower ;-)


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

hi:

I have used reel mowers for years. They can be excellent for small typical city lots with a few accepted facts:

You must keep them sharp and properly adjusted. I gas or electric has about 2HP, you about 1/10th HP and some of that is driving the wheels. Lee Valley sells a sharpening kit which is basically an abrasive paste you wipe on, then use a handle to turn the unit manually and let the paste work its magic.

They are a bear when the grass is too long. This is my chief complaint. When it is wet out in the spring and fall, the cut period (for effective cutting) is as little as 4 days. If you are not around and let another 2 or 3 days go by, it takes 3 times the effort.

My preferred grass cutter now is the kind with a teenager attached to it. Don't care if reel, electric, or gas. Unfortunately, the one I tried to engage last year just would not show up to do the job.

So now my plan is to get an electric. However I don't want to buy new as pretty much everything manufactured these days is junk (Not specific to lawnmowers I mean products of every kind. The number of things I buy that don't work effectively the very first usage, or fail within hours is staggering). So I am hoping to find a nice 20 or 30 year old model. Or fix the one I have. It needs a belt, but I have had it 30 years and it was old when given to me, so parts may not be available.

hboy43


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