Feedback on the new wave of battery mowers

[videobruce]

Have you ever considered the many dangers associated with the use of gasoline and other volatile flammable and explosive fuels ?
A can of gasoline in a hot garage is far more likely to catch fire or explode than a lithium ion battery.

One is 'green', the other is not.
Just like coal, neither are environmental friendly. Never was!

AFA battery powered tools, no, lawnmowers for contractors or 2nd ring suburbanites that have football field lawns, gas is the only practical option, at least for now.
BUT, at least with Ryobi (I haven't looked at the other manufactures) who came out with a 6ah pack last year, now has a 7.5ah 40v pack for their mowers & trimmers. Their mid end model that had a 5ah last year now comes with 6ah at the SAME price.

(Of course they had to do that a year after I bought mine )

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Are battery powered equipment "green"? Ultimately they are powered by fossil fuel or possibly nuclear. How efficiently they make use of the energy from the power plant is up for debate but if you want a battery powered tool or piece of equipment for convenience that is fine but if people think they are saving the planet they are just fooling themselves. I love my battery powered tools and my gas powered equipment. When aftermarket companies sell quality aftermarket batteries the battery powered mower market will take off.
My friend has a Nissan Leaf with a dead heater that will cost $2k to fix and the battery pack is starting to fail. He can't give the car away. Dealer doesn't want it as a trade in.

 

[cruzenmike]

As with all things cordless, the durability and longevity lies on the technology that the manufacturer chooses and in doing so, the cost that is passed along to the consumer. A battery is not to be considered a "fuel" source, but rather a source of "power." Electric-powered motors can outperform fuel-powered engines in means of torque and hp, but both rely and a continuous supply of power or fuel to keep them running continuously. It is simply more convenient to acquire, store and use "fuel" than "power." While all of these are not without some harm to the environment, the electric-powered equipment has one major benefit of being quieter and for the majority of consumers practical.

I drive 500 miles a week and take long trips in a State where there is not infrastructure for on-the-road recharging. I own 3 acres of property which is maintained as a hobby farm and electric-powered equipment would be impractical to use. This is just my situation, but each and every person has to evaluate their needs, wants and equipment options.

As for the equipment being asked about, they are coming a long way! Toro is offering a steel deck Recycler that is no different than their normal recycler with the exception of the power plant. It even includes their Personal Pace self-propelled system. At GIE, Toro also showcased a "commercial" cordless mower that was heavy duty for commercial use.

If you are a commercial lawn care business, you may find that some customers would prefer a contractor that operates electric-power equipment. Whether it be a noise issue or simply the feeling that they get from knowing that their lawn isn't being cut using "fuel." This is obviously more practical on a smaller scale operational.

 

[bertsmobile1]

One of the greatest myths perpertrated by people who are as passionate about as they are ignorant of the environment is that battery power is green.
It is not, never has been and never will be cleaner than burning a fuel.
The energy effiency of an electric motor is substantially higher than a combustion engine but the effiency of the battery is very low and the effiency of the charger is even lower + power losses in the transmission system .
The add to that the batteries that can not be economically recycled are around 2000 % more toxic than anything associated with a combustion engine .
However you can not open the eyes of those fixated on a single item , CO2 , so they happily ignore everything else but CO2 emissions.
Then we have the copper & cobalt problems.
The mining and refining of both of them is again highly dangerous and both produce more toxic waste of a much higher toxicity that anything associated with a petrol engine.
And the amount of both of them is very limited which is why one of the biggest copper miners ( BHP ) is currently doing a lot of touchy feely nice PR advertising because they are about to reopen some really filthy mines that have killed thousands from the toxic waste.
Th only truely green way to cut grass is with a sythe or perhaps a push reel mower and we are way too lazy to do that.
If we really want to be environmentally responsible then we would return all of the millions of acres of grass into heath or scrublands and limit the grass to an area just big enough to provide a space to hand the washing out in the sunlight & for the kids to play on. Doing that alone would be substantially better for the environment than any fancy dancy battery powered anything.

 

[cruzenmike]

Improving the efficiency of the internal combustion engine or use of alternative fuels will be our salvation!!!!

 

[bertsmobile1]

cleaner electricity like from Thorium salt reactors will go a very long way to cleaning the environment.
They were abandoned in the 60's because they did not produce waste Plutonium which of course could only be used to make atomic weapons .
we can do clean engines and these use Hydrogen as the fuel so produce only water as the exhaust .
The hydrogen can be distilled from the atmosphere using direct solar power.
The only real technical snag is the safe transportation & distribution of Hydrogen .
All the other problems are political & financial .
However batteries have captured the imagination of the public so batteries is what is being demanded so batteries is what we will get.

Getting off topic but the ultimate solution is to stop making garbage that ends up in landfill.
Thus everything must have a long service life and then when no longer useable must be able to be broken down into the base materials for reuse or recycling.
The opposition to that is purely financial coming from the directors & shareholders who make the stuff we throw away .
For the mower companies they make more money by selling you a new cheap ( low profit margin ) mower every 5 years than selling you an expensive ( Higher profit margin ) mower then parts for the mower for the next 30 years.
To the customer the end cost is almost the same a new cheap mower every 5 years or a much more expensive mower to start with and regular servicing for the next 30 years.
The main difference is whose pockets the money ends up in and those who control the system have decided they want it all so it is junk all the way .

 

[tom3]

Getting off topic but the ultimate solution is to stop making garbage that ends up in landfill.
.

I'll stay off topic a bit. I remember as a kid going to a place just out of town. Big gulch, maybe 60 acres, real deep. Us kids spent many days on our old Hondas hill climbing, ridge running, tearing up stuff, getting filthy dirty, having a ball. Turned into a landfill. Today the whole area is sort of a mound, completely full of garbage and covered with some dirt. Hate to think of all the rotting stuff, chemicals, paints and thinners, industrial disposal products that are leaching into the ground in that place. Maybe a million tons of it? And this is just one little forgotten spot on the whole earth.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yes we have done things exactly the wrong way.
Nature can generally handle any pollutant in small quantities, break them down & carry on .
We "smart" humans decided to combine it all into massive heaps so big , nature will take thousands of years to break it all down if it actually can.
But of course , like moving the homeless on from pretty parks, out of sight is out of mind & f you can not see it ti does not exist.

 

[cruzenmike]

I was thinking a bit about this thread as I like the "idea" of battery powered equipment while it is not practical in my current situation. In my immediately family there are at least 7 household where cordless equipment is not only possible but practical. In fact, I would think that if they utilized equipment with 7.5 Ah batteries they could mow, trim and blow their lot on a single charge.

Now, while all of these people already own gas powered and corded electric tools, I would not expect nor encourage them to "toss" their old equipment. All machines should ideally be used until they can no longer be repaired. Any new, first time homeowner, as with any other person in the position of needing a new piece of equipment, can then decide which option is best for them.

In today's day and age, consumers have to realize that products are built utilizing a cost/quality/feature "model". You pay more for more features and for higher quality. You sacrifice features and quality for a lower cost. Very rarely do you find that you get high quality, feature rich products at a low cost. If you can find a balance of the three.

As for the original question about these new mowers the best that you can do is 1) comparison shop all options that fit your needs and wants, 2) sit back and wait for others to report their reviews, and 3) check with your local dealer to see if you can demo the equipment to see if the equipment meets your expectations, considering cost/quality/features.

I think that says it all!

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Remember when Makita came out with the 9.6v battery powered drill? I still have one. It was a game changer. Now we has battery powered tools that will out work corded tools. I have a DeWalt 60v circular saw that is awesome. As long as there is a market the manufacturers continue to develop battery powered equipment and they will get better and better. If a battery powered piece of equipment suits your needs then go for it. If gas powered equipment suits your needs then go for it. Just don't be that i'm saving the world tree hugging self righteous Prius driving smug jerk that looks down at people like me with 30+ things with a gas engine on it. Oh wait.....that kinda sounded like a rant.