Is electric the way to go now?

[nc10]

What ever happened to the fire retardants that are in all of us?

Rhetorical question, but will answer anyways....The worst offenders that tended to bioaccumulate and had tox issues are no longer produced. Most new halognated flame retardants are polymeric or compounds too large to bioaccumulate, or are reactive compounds that bond with the base polymers, and again, won't bioaccumulate. Companies are finding ways to formulate mineral based FR's in some of the more stringent applications, as they are perceived safer than some of the organic and phosphorus based flame retardants. But it takes more of the mineral FR's, which hurts the other desired properties of plastics (moisture resistance, electrical properties in electrical applications, mechanical strength, etc). Companies use more naturally flame resistant materials in some applications (notably Apple) than less expensive but flammable polymers.

 

[vap0rtranz]

She said "good for that guy, he wants to learn and look to the future".

Yea that's how I read the beginning of this thread.

But then after some of the negative (and kind of ignorant if we're being honest) comments, you seem to have caved to the idiocy of anti-technology people who think that ICE tech has been around for a thousand years

Mmhmm. Herr Otto was from the late 1800s if I remember right. Plenty of folks back then thought the Black Belching Beasts of ICE were a terrible idea. Like farmers with draft ox/horse. So to hate on electric just because it's new is silly.

I run a 1967 Cub Cabet 12HP gas garden tractor. I also run a 2019 Dewalt 60V LiOn push power. Both have their uses on my land.

Electric lawn stuff isn't rocket science or crap. The motors are still rotor+strator wound and that's been around since the 1900s or before. Basically bearings are the only moving parts to replace. Most don't even need their brushes replaced anymore, aka. brushless. Bearings will go bad -- that ain't hard. It took me a couple hours to dissaemble, inspect, and repair a 1956 Kirby vacuum motor. I still vacuum with it. Suction is great. The difference in lawn gear is the motors absolutely must be sealed. But who hasn't needed to repair seals and gaskets in transmission or gear boxes? Again, it ain't rocket science.

Batteries are what are giving folks grief. LiOn is the weakest link. Sure. But everyone poo-pooing on this, like on this forum, already uses LiOn. In your freakin hands man -- smartphone and laptop batteries are all LiOn. LiOn fails when people try to force them to charge fast and they overheat. There's the short life problem.

And all batteries take mining minerals. Even lead acid. Are we gonna go back to recoil start on lawn mowers?? No.

So buy good batteries. Miwaulkee? Ryobi? "E-Rider" ... WTH even makes batteries for "E-Rider". Hah. I just bought Battery Born. Made in USA. 10yr warranty. 10 years man! We never got that out of lead/AGM. I've also not had a Dewalt battery die on me. Oldest Dewalt LiOn battery I have is 8 years old now.

Finally, what repair shop actually worked on old batteries for ICE? When I have gone to a shop, the answer was always "dead battery; get a new one". (And then I go home, top off the cells with water, put it on a high voltage solar panel, it de-sulfurs, and I get another couple years out of it So it shouldn't matter. If the repair shop really wants to repair batteries, there's shop classes that train techs on HV (high voltage) cell repair. Maybe there's money in it.

 

[adam1991]

Just more green agenda being shoved down our throat in my opinion ,
Doubtful any battery powered mower or other lawn equipment will hold up for very long , then they've got you over a barrel for parts etc.

But the cheap Chinese internal combustion crap has been doing the same thing for many many years. No repair parts available. Disposable. Buy new.

That being said, Toro does a great job with battery mower. I wouldn't do the tool guys--Ryobi, etc. Or Ego. But Toro made a mower first, and made it battery electric second. They know mowers. Same with snowblowers. You wouldn't believe how well their single stage battery snowblower did for me this past winter, during that year-end stuff that dumped on us in the bitter cold. I was stunned.

 

[confederatemule]

Don't let the regime in control of the U.S.A. push you into failure!!

 

[adam1991]

Haven't seen any pro yard crews running anything battery yet. That will tell you something. Those guys can tear up new anvils.

But the homeowner who runs a mower 30 times in a season for 40 minutes each--he's the target for battery.

 

[SJS]

Well, it appears obvious that you guys all think the switch to EV stuff is as bad an idea as I do. I happen to be involved in an all out, full scale argument with a couple of EV lovers on Facebook. I should stay away from this type of crap on Facebook, but I see a post that just lights me up and I can't refrain from posting a comment.

All my personal OPE is of the "supposedly" antiquated, world destroying, ICE type. I will never own or even rent a battery operated car. That sounds so ridiculous when you say or think it. A battery operated car? I immediately think of a kid's toy when I say that.

Anyway, you all think that battery powered equipment is still a ways down the road from being the predominate type of OPE. That's good. I won't need to worry about stocking any and won't need to worry about learning to fix them. That is the biggest thing to me. I am scared to death of electricity. Yes, I spent 30+ years working on computers, but that is electronic and not electrical. Big difference there.

StarTech mentioned that we'll be dumping the actual battery powered pieces of OPE instead of repairing the stuff, just like printers. That couldn't be a truer statement. I advised many customers to throw away the printer I was called on to try and repair. At that time, Lexmark and HP were in a mini battle for printer superiority. You could go to your local Walmart and buy a brand new printer, with ink included, for $39 to $49. Replacement cartridges would cost a bit more than that. For me to repair what they had that went belly up would cost twice, or more what a new printer cost. Unfortunately, shortly after that time they started flooding the market with throw away computers like the eMachine. I was no longer able to compete with big computer manufacturers. Up to that point I could build a better computer for less money, but when the industry went full blown disposable, I was just out of luck.

So, we really have reached the beginning of the throw away OPE era. So damned sad. I think back to when I was growing up. Every device imaginable was repaired until it was just basically impossible to repair it anymore. That included OPE, appliances, cars, trucks tractors, etc, etc, etc. I've had a few of the cheap, Chinese lawn mowers in the shop and those things sure can't be repaired. Now, the "powers that be" want to force disposable, battery powered OPE on us. Just freaking great.

Well Sir, in the country I live in EVERTHING of this nature is made in China. ...By American Companies! (Time that was addressed, I feel)
And most of it is single-use or fails after a few months and getting service, whether under guarantee or not, is time consuming/frustrating....it invariably involves a waiting period of at least a month whilst "they investigate"...only to issue a credit note and they bin the defective battery tool. (Yet more pollution.)

A lot of my criticism stems from the fact that the mining of Lithium, particularly in Africa is akin to slavery....Yet the BLM and the wokists are very quiet on the subject.
Good short video on YT regarding this disgusting state of affairs.

Then, as others have mentioned: There is the disposal problem. There is already a plague of wind turbine blades that cannot (at least, if profit is the key factor) be recycled.
Then there is the safety aspect: Electric cars are much heavier as a result of their batteries, but the cars themselves are lighter in order to extend range, the net result being the car is a death trap in a shunt.....and that's before you take into consideration the increased fire hazard: A Lithium battery fire cannot be extinguished by current car-carried extinguishers.
Even the responding firefighters will struggle bring the fire under control.
I have seen demonstrations where such burning vehicles were submerged in a tank of water: When removed days later: The fire reignited itself!

If all this seems to be the attitude of a Luddite.... I will conclude with the following:
This Headless Chicken Dash into "Clean Electric" will take decades to safely achieve and at massive cost, not just to the consumer, but also to the planet.
Also: Remember this: Every month, of every year, at least one new Coal Fired Electricity Station is opened in either China or India. Yet we are urged to "Save The Planet".
It's a crock of.......................

 

[mechanizm]

I've been seeing more and more battery powered mowers and trimmers in my neck of the woods. I just got a a Stihl chainsaw in to prep for sale by the owner. He told me he has switched his mower, trimmer, blower, and hedge trimmers to battery powered devices already and plans to buy a small, battery powered chainsaw as soon as he sells this Stihl.

So, is that something we should all be looking to add to our regular repairs? Should we be stocking a couple of battery powered mowers? And my big question is, should we be learning to repair these things? I'm just getting my little repair business going and I'm wondering what the near future holds. Then, if we should be considering learning how to repair this type of equipment, where do we find courses?

Actually, I have been referring to "we" and the truth us I really mean me. LOL! Are there any repair courses available now? I'd be interested in an online course or a good, old fashioned, book type course. If anybody knows of one, or more, I'd be grateful for the info.

why would anyone buy one of these overpriced piles of shiny JUNK? Oh, they'e going to save Planet Earth, I forgot... well guess what?.... the batteries require a lot of rare earth minerals that are so polluting to mine that it's not allowed in the USA. Then when the batteries get weak these mowers will be sitting in a junk yard somewhere leaching these toxic metals into the ground-water because you can't recycle these batteries nor can you separate the elements to reuse. IT'S AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN THE MAKING fueled by left-wing morons who never picked up a wrench in their lives and have no clue about anything mechanical. They're politicians who literally hire people to change their light bulbs.

 

[SJS]

As a private repair shop owner, you have the option to repair or not repair any piece of equipment, period. Therefore, just like after learning about certain gas equipment that you will no longer repair (for various reasons), battery equanimity fall into this category if you do choose. When a customer buys a Kobalt, Rigid, Ryobi, Poulan, etc. battery leaf blower for example, and it takes a crap, good luck finding a shop because these are big box store brands. Kind of like your own personal protest to battery power.

When they say battery will last 5 years, in reality it is often more like 3. Then when you go to buy batteries they are expensive! Then after a period of time, the manufacturer sometimes change the battery pack so it won’t fit the older equipment.
Sidebar: Look up lithium battery mining/disposal on the internet and do some reading.

I agree with you 100%....It is a massive con.
Sadly, the manufacturers you mention all sell their products here in my country: They are all made in the PRC. (& "Not Available in the USA" I'd guess.)
I suppose because USA made products would be too expensive for us! But surely.... these manufacturers could step up their game and turn that around?

 

[SJS]

As a private repair shop owner, you have the option to repair or not repair any piece of equipment, period. Therefore, just like after learning about certain gas equipment that you will no longer repair (for various reasons), battery equanimity fall into this category if you do choose. When a customer buys a Kobalt, Rigid, Ryobi, Poulan, etc. battery leaf blower for example, and it takes a crap, good luck finding a shop because these are big box store brands. Kind of like your own personal protest to battery power.

When they say battery will last 5 years, in reality it is often more like 3. Then when you go to buy batteries they are expensive! Then after a period of time, the manufacturer sometimes change the battery pack so it won’t fit the older equipment.
Sidebar: Look up lithium battery mining/disposal on the internet and do some reading.

I agree with you 100%....It is a massive con.
Sadly, the manufacturers you mention all sell their products here in my country: They are all made in the PRC. (& "Not Available in the USA" I'd guess.)
I suppose because USA made products would be too expensive for us! But surely.... these manufacturers could step up their game and turn that around?

 

[mmoffitt]

I think the consumer will be in for a shock when he see's how much good electric stuff costs...and how much to repair... oh It needs a battery pack ? something simple and when they see the price...they go back to gas ...they get another electric and try again....call somebody to cut the lawn...let it grow or get a couple of goats, no goats? how bout a flock of sheep noe you are probably thinking Astro turf? or just catus and rocks..It's kind of like color TV's when was the last time you saw one of those fixed....they just get a bigger BETTER more expensive one....and charge it!....oh that's for Electric mowers...they chrage them x two!...