Buying a forever lawnmower. Lawnmower buying advice.

[GearHead36]

GearHead36, for some reason you insist on personalizing comments. Like most others, I have opinions, not agendas. I don't "evangelize" any more than those who prefer gas or human power.

Then stop giving the wrong advice when it's clearly wrong for the application. I acknowledge that battery equipment CAN be the right answer sometimes. You suggest that battery equipment is always the answer. That sounds like agenda, not opinion.

 

[TonyPrin]

Then stop giving the wrong advice when it's clearly wrong for the application. I acknowledge that battery equipment CAN be the right answer sometimes. You suggest that battery equipment is always the answer. That sounds like agenda, not opinion.

GearHead36, you have a one-track mind. You're right and only your opinion is possible. Anyone with a different opinion must be motivated by some agenda or impure rationale.

I've never suggested that electric is always the answer. I accept it's not right for large property and I'm not a believer yet for riding mowers or zero turn. And I think gas often makes sense for someone interested and/or capable of doing his own maintenance. But for someone in a first home like the OP, electric can be a good solution. For someone with little mower knowledge like the OP, electric can be a good solution as it requires minimal maintenance. Many posts here concern people who have serious problems with gas equipment because they don't understand simple things like changing the oil or not using stale gas.

This is my last response to your posts here so post or not, I don't care. I don't know what the 36 means, but the GearHead explains a lot.

 

[Booshcat]

Toro sucks honestly

And your contribution to the discussion is?

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Approx 25% of push mowers and 50% of other yard equipment (like trimmers and chainsaws) sold today are electric. But you think everyone should stop doing so because your son-in-law didn't like one. Don't be silly.

They are switching to electric so they can continue to sell their crap in California after they ban gas landscaping equipment. Just because "25% of push mowers and 50% of other yard equipment" is electric doesn't mean that it is made to last. They are made to be used, thrown away, and bought again. Also, the batteries are so freaking expensive. Landscapers use their machines many hours a day, and say the batteries lasted 45 minutes, they would need 5+ batteries! And that's just if it's a one person crew, several people working is even more expensive.

 

[Craftsman Garage]

And your contribution to the discussion is?

I am helping the op avoid crap that won't last. What's your contribution? Nothing

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Folks:
I think I see what the real problem here is.
What we have here is another person who has decided to stick with solutions and facts from 50 years ago.

I am a ski instructor. Been skiing for 55 years. Don't tell me that there is no climate change unless you call it what it really is: "Climate Warming" is what it should be called, because that is what is really happening out here in the real world.

My employer has kept statistics that go back to 1958 (when they opened) on snowstorms, seasonal snow totals, daily and temperatures, number of days below freezing (days we can make snow). Days of rain.... and it all points to climate warming. But you are stuck in a mindset that doesn't want to hear, maybe doesn't want to understand.

Ignored

You are a ski instructor...on a mower forum... That says a lot

 

[Craftsman Garage]

I gotta chime in here. You sound like you need to seriously open your mind and welcome yourself to the 21st Century. It's not 1945-75 anymore. Electric battery powered mowers are for now and they are real.

A few of my neighbors have battery powered electrics, and one has had his for almost a decade. One has replaced the battery. One has a rider that's electric (which I don't really like). The only maintenance I've seen is blade sharpening. No fuel, no draining gas, no oil adding or changing oil, no tune ups, no gas spoilage, no mechanic. Maybe that last one is the real problem here.

No, these things are not green cool aid. They work and they work well. No I wouldn't buy a electric yard tractor or zero turn, but mainly due to cost and lack of run time / battery capacity. If all you have is a 1/3 acre or less or a moderate sized suburbanite/urban yard, all you need is a 21 or 22 inch electric self propelled mower.

The manufacturers know it, even gas engine makers know it. Why do you think gas engine mowers ads talk about one pull starting, no oil changes and electric start options? Because they are trying to compete with electrics. The fact is that gas powered mowers are losing market share. Even Honda, who made some of the best small engine mowers has pulled the plug. Pun intended.

Don't assume someone's age, just because we may seem "older" because we know how to judge the true quality of what we are buying doesn't mean we ARE OLD. FYI I am 13, been working on these small engines for 3 years, and have $10000 in the bank account. You may ask how I did this? I am not affected by the liberal wokeness all around me and I simply look at what has been tested and proven for many years. In case you do not know what I am talking about, it is called a gasoline engine. It has been used since 1864 and the reason it has been used to this day because of one phrase. "Complexity will lead to failure" as said above. Gasoline engines are not complex which is why they last a long time. Electric mowers on the other hand...

 

[Craftsman Garage]

GearHead36, let me see if I can summarize your thoughts. Electric is no good. A new mower is no good. Most gas is no good. B&S is no good. And you recommend someone ask a flipper for advice on what to buy. You don't suppose he'll happen to have just what they need in his shop.

he is not saying gas is not good, rather older mowers were built to higher standards than they are today

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Way to, once again, evangelize for battery equipment ("the future is here"), while ignoring almost everything TobyU said.

The OP provided a wishlist for his mower. A few of the key ones were:

- Powerful and strong torque engine that doesn’t stall in knee high grass on a damp Saturday morning

- Commonly found parts

- "Forever" mower

Each of these criteria, by themselves, are sufficient to rule out all battery mowers. Unfortunately, nothing made in the last 5 yrs, gas or battery powered, will meet all of these criteria. Planned obsolescence has been a problem for decades, but only in the last 5 yrs or so in the OPE industry. This means that there ARE gas powered mowers that meet this criteria, but nothing battery powered.

Battery mowers CAN be the right solution in some situations. If the OP wanted something quiet to mow 500 sq ft, I wouldn't recommend a 60" commercial ZTR. I would probably recommend a manual reel mower, with a battery mower as an alternative. Trying to force battery equipment as the right solution when it's not is just foolish, and looks a LOT like pushing an agenda.

And just "commonly found parts" can't apply to a battery mower because, surprise, it's not worth taking the time and money to replace said parts. Which means that parts will fail naturally as they do and the mower will eventually be rendered unusable and potentially dangerous and won't last forever. They need to start teaching "common sense class" at schools.

 

[Rivets]

Once again I say this thread has run its course and should be locked. It’s gotten into I’m smarter than you are and my opinion is the only right solution. The OP’s question has been answered and if you want to argue open up the conversation section, no one’s going to win.