videobruce
Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2019
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 42
Background;
Coming from a 23 year old Black & Decker CMM1200 Lead-Acid (Gel Cell) battery powered mower, I started looking for a replacement a year ago. I never had any intention of even remotely considered a gas powered mower. This mower has seen 5 battery changes, 3 blade changes and 3 wheel changes along with 2 safety recalls that updated the charger circuit and the dead-mans switches (that I never had a problem with). The mower is still fine, I clean it after most uses, especially in the Spring. It gets taken in the basement for the Winter from a detached garage (the batteries are not easily removable). My city properties lawn (measured in feet, not acres) is about 3500 sq. feet.
I have always been mechanically & electrical/electronically inclined, in this case my concern was and is the battery packs. I have literally read hundreds of one & two star reviews (mostly thru Amazon, I ignore 5 star) and found that the battery and run time is the number one issue. Being somewhat familiar with Li-Ion packs, thou I never had any of this capacity, I was aware of the shortcomings including the do's & don'ts which according to those reviewers probably 75% of them do not. Since these replacement packs run from $100 up to around $400 (depending on capacity), the concern is valid.
I have also worked in the maintenance department of a local, private high school for a few years that included 'grounds' work using gas powered tools including trimmers, push & riding mowers.
Having stated that, THE place to go for some needed battery education (thou somewhat advanced) is BatteryUniversity courtesy of Cadex Electronics;
https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/
Summing that up;
1. Fully charging and discharging a Li-Ion pack is one of the worse things one can do. Especially draining it down to the point the device in use shuts down.
2. Charging it fully when it will sit, unused a long period of time is the 2nd bad practice. Storage condition should be around 40% (between 30 & 50%)
Anyway, attached are two spreadsheets one is a list of common, popular and initially 'interesting' choices for mowers. All but a few are NOT self propelled since I feel these are light enough, it's not needed. That and the fact the self propelled feature;
adds around $100 to the cost,
is extra weight,
more of a draw on the battery pack,
something more to go wrong.
I have include the very newly introduced Toro cordless 60v mowers (2 basic models with slight variations) to the list and the ones under the Craftsman name now sold thru Lowes. I have NOT included the 'Kobalt' name since these are being discontinued thru Lowes.
I will add; "Global Tool Works" (Group China) is the actual manufacturer for the names of Snapper, Greenworks, Kobalt and Stihl (among others). Greenworks is NOT a manufacture.
Also, Snapper discontinued their 60v line in favor of a 48v replacements.
The sources for all of this are from;
Manufactures web sites,
Manuals & parts lists,
Retail sites (Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.)
Actual phones calls to the various importers confirming data and tiring to fill in the blanks (easier said then done).
The 2nd list shows various battery packs for these mowers and some generic Chinese no-name substitutes. Yes, I know, these are risky, but may be worth a try since the cost of the 'brand' version is kinda expensive. Note the prices are the lowest common prices I found and the watt hour figure came from multiplying idle voltage by amperage (except where noted). W/Hr is the most important number, not voltage. Voltage is more of a selling point. There actually are at least 2 models that are listed at 120 volts DC which in my opinion is overkill and really unsafe. (It's called marketing). Watt hour is more important relating to run time.
Please note:
Since this forum limits file types, the Windows extension of these two spreadsheet files has been changed to .txt (text format). These are in the OpenOffice ".odt" spreadsheet format (a free open source office suite better than Office & Excel).
It's compatible with MS Office by;
changing the extension to .odt,
right click & choose "Open with" Excel (or whatever spreadsheet program you use).
Coming from a 23 year old Black & Decker CMM1200 Lead-Acid (Gel Cell) battery powered mower, I started looking for a replacement a year ago. I never had any intention of even remotely considered a gas powered mower. This mower has seen 5 battery changes, 3 blade changes and 3 wheel changes along with 2 safety recalls that updated the charger circuit and the dead-mans switches (that I never had a problem with). The mower is still fine, I clean it after most uses, especially in the Spring. It gets taken in the basement for the Winter from a detached garage (the batteries are not easily removable). My city properties lawn (measured in feet, not acres) is about 3500 sq. feet.
I have always been mechanically & electrical/electronically inclined, in this case my concern was and is the battery packs. I have literally read hundreds of one & two star reviews (mostly thru Amazon, I ignore 5 star) and found that the battery and run time is the number one issue. Being somewhat familiar with Li-Ion packs, thou I never had any of this capacity, I was aware of the shortcomings including the do's & don'ts which according to those reviewers probably 75% of them do not. Since these replacement packs run from $100 up to around $400 (depending on capacity), the concern is valid.
I have also worked in the maintenance department of a local, private high school for a few years that included 'grounds' work using gas powered tools including trimmers, push & riding mowers.
Having stated that, THE place to go for some needed battery education (thou somewhat advanced) is BatteryUniversity courtesy of Cadex Electronics;
https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/
Summing that up;
1. Fully charging and discharging a Li-Ion pack is one of the worse things one can do. Especially draining it down to the point the device in use shuts down.
2. Charging it fully when it will sit, unused a long period of time is the 2nd bad practice. Storage condition should be around 40% (between 30 & 50%)
Anyway, attached are two spreadsheets one is a list of common, popular and initially 'interesting' choices for mowers. All but a few are NOT self propelled since I feel these are light enough, it's not needed. That and the fact the self propelled feature;
adds around $100 to the cost,
is extra weight,
more of a draw on the battery pack,
something more to go wrong.
I have include the very newly introduced Toro cordless 60v mowers (2 basic models with slight variations) to the list and the ones under the Craftsman name now sold thru Lowes. I have NOT included the 'Kobalt' name since these are being discontinued thru Lowes.
I will add; "Global Tool Works" (Group China) is the actual manufacturer for the names of Snapper, Greenworks, Kobalt and Stihl (among others). Greenworks is NOT a manufacture.
Also, Snapper discontinued their 60v line in favor of a 48v replacements.
The sources for all of this are from;
Manufactures web sites,
Manuals & parts lists,
Retail sites (Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.)
Actual phones calls to the various importers confirming data and tiring to fill in the blanks (easier said then done).
The 2nd list shows various battery packs for these mowers and some generic Chinese no-name substitutes. Yes, I know, these are risky, but may be worth a try since the cost of the 'brand' version is kinda expensive. Note the prices are the lowest common prices I found and the watt hour figure came from multiplying idle voltage by amperage (except where noted). W/Hr is the most important number, not voltage. Voltage is more of a selling point. There actually are at least 2 models that are listed at 120 volts DC which in my opinion is overkill and really unsafe. (It's called marketing). Watt hour is more important relating to run time.
Please note:
Since this forum limits file types, the Windows extension of these two spreadsheet files has been changed to .txt (text format). These are in the OpenOffice ".odt" spreadsheet format (a free open source office suite better than Office & Excel).
It's compatible with MS Office by;
changing the extension to .odt,
right click & choose "Open with" Excel (or whatever spreadsheet program you use).
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