New 40 volt lithium-ion battery self-propelled lawn mower from Greenworks

[dougmacm]

Well they answered the question on the site AND sent me a PDF copy of the manual.

Site FAQ Answer:

Self-propelled adjustable speed is a slow walk to a brisk walk. it's approximately 1.5km to 3.0 km; so guessing they meant KPM = 0.93 to 1.86 MPH
This make no sense and is way off of what the other manuals stated that I posted yesterday.

MO40L02 Manual says:

0.5-1.4 meters per sec (1.6-4.6 FPS) = 1.09 to 3.14 MPH

Which fall in line with what other manuals stated; same slow speed as the Kobalt 20" 40V & GW 21" 60V just a tad slower on the top end.

I could probably live with 3.14 MPH

Doug

 

[dougmacm]

I've been watching the price on this MO40L02 40V Self Propelled mower on Amazon for the past month. It had dipped just below $300 at one point a few weeks ago and I was tempted to order one up. Well since then, it has been over $340 then dipped down to around $310 for a day or two then back up over $340 some time between so I thought … if it goes below $300 again, I should jump on it.

Well, it dropped to $258.37 yesterday so YES at 26% off of the $349 MSRP … I ordered one up. They offered me another $60 off if I applied for an Amazon store card, so I did that too and got it for under $200 before tax ($211.39 with tax).

Price is still at $258.37 today if anyone else wants to jump on this deal !!


Bottom line is I only paid $11.30 more than I paid for the MO40L01 pusher version.

UPS is delivering it tomorrow so I'll use it this weekend and write a review.

Doug

 

[SidecarFlip]

Guess if you have a postage stamp lawn, it's all good but if you mow as much as I do (4 acres), only a gas engine wide cut machine will do. Even a 60" deck takes a couple hours.

 

[dougmacm]

Guess if you have a postage stamp lawn, it's all good but if you mow as much as I do (4 acres), only a gas engine wide cut machine will do. Even a 60" deck takes a couple hours.

My yard is about a 1/3 acre and takes me about an hour with my 21" cut / 3.5 MPH Self-Propelled Lawn-Boy.

Don't know anyone who would cut 4 acres with ANY sort of push mower … self propelled or not. Really anything over a 1/2 ACRE most people would have a rider, and many people with smaller yards than mine use a rider.

With the 21" Deck (20" cut) Greenworks non-self propelled version of this mower I was able to cut my whole lawn on 1-1/2 4Ah batteries. I've got (3) 4Ah, (1) 2.5Ah, and (1) 2Ah batteries so I'm pretty sure I have more than enough battery to cut my complete lawn with the Self Propelled version … the self-propel motor would need to use more battery than the blade motor for me to not get the job done and that is highly unlikely.

Grass was not very long or thick when I cut it with the pusher with 1-1/2 batteries, so taller and/or thicker grass will definitely go through batteries faster. Times like that (typically Spring and Early Summer or after heavy rain) would be when I'd just use the Lawn-Boy … times where it is less of a job (typically later in the Summer or when there has not been much rain) would be when the battery powered mower would be ideal for the job.

Like everything else in life, it's all about using the right tool for the job at hand … cordless tools definitely are useful as long as you know their limitations and don't expect them to do jobs that are beyond their capability.

99% of negative reviews are likely people who expected too much out of a product … yes, there is a lot of junk product out there that deserves bad reviews but so far none of the Greenworks 40V G-MAX product line that I've purchased and have been using for the past 3 months falls into that category.

I've been buying Lithium Ion powered tools since 2012 including Ryobi 18V & 4V, Craftsman Nextec 12V, and Menards Masterforce 12V (same mfr. as Nextec) and have had only one battery failure and one tool failure to date. Battery failure was a Ryobi 18V still under warranty and they sent me a new one no charge ... tool failure was a Nextec Drill but it had a ton of use in the 3 years before it died.

Had a lot of 9.6 & 14.4V Makita NI-CD & NI-MH before I jumped to lithium, these were great tools for their time and are still acceptable performers with "good NI-MH" batteries … just got tired of constantly buying new batteries.

Doug

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

Doug - is that non-SP version too heavy to push around? - been kinda thinking about a new mower - the twinforce leaves stragglers and is beginning to show it's age - nicks out of the plastic deck and some odd intermittent delay in starting. I have .39 acres minus the the house and driveway footprint.

 

[dougmacm]

Doug - is that non-SP version too heavy to push around? - been kinda thinking about a new mower - the twinforce leaves stragglers and is beginning to show it's age - nicks out of the plastic deck and some odd intermittent delay in starting. I have .39 acres minus the the house and driveway footprint.

It's not bad, actually as easy if not easer to push than the mid 80's Lawn-Boy 21" Aluminum deck mower it replaced.

The GW has sealed ball bearing wheels and only weighs 60.48 lbs. with a 4Ah battery and mulch plug.
The old LB has the bronze bushing mod done to it's wheels so it rolls decent (but not as well as ball bearings) and weighs 58.4 lbs. with a much plate and half tank of gas.

When I bought this house in 1992 at the young age of 29, I used my 1977 Lawn-Boy 7024 21" Aluminum Deck pusher (avatar) until 1999 when I bought the 10323 Self Propelled. I would still switch back-in-forth between my two mowers as the 7024 is just such a joy to use especially now that it has commercial BB wheels on it. Had more yard then too as we had a 20x22 garage and now have a 24x48 garage, wider driveway, and a back patio that displaced quite a bit of lawn.

I do like to push mow my yard every once in a while (got 3 plain push L-B's), but not every week ... more like once or twice a summer. Our lawn is somewhat hilly too, so more reason I prefer self propelled at my age.

You definitely have less grass to cut than me and if it is relatively flat, all the more easier.

I got my pusher direct from GW on a 20% off 4th of July Sale … maybe wait and see if they have a LABOR DAY sale.

Doug

 

[dougmacm]

REVIEW:

UPS dropped off my MO40L02 around 2:00 and I just got done mowing my complete 15,000 sq-ft. yard with it.

Self Propel Speed on MAX the whole time, grass was long in spots, brown in others so not too much of a load … cutting motor kicked into high speed maybe 6-10 times in the thicker areas but quickly dropped back down to 2800 RPM once I was back into thin. I would say it was very similar mowing to when I used the pusher version.

Took 1 hour 7.5 minutes
First 4Ah battery died at 26:58
Second 4Ah Battery died at 54:41 (close to the same)
Third 4Ah Battery had 2 bars (1/2 a charge) left when done

So since the pusher used 1.5 batteries to do the same work, the Self Propelled drive motor required 1 whole extra battery to get the job done … not bad at all.

Weight comparison with 4Ah battery and mulch plug:
MO40L01 Push … 60.48 lbs.
vs.
MO40L02 S-P …. 64.48 lbs. (only 4 LBS. heavier)

I'm used to Lawn-Boy Duraforce Self Propel (both 1-speed and 3-speed) and the Greenworks lever works similarly (pull bail up to GO / release to STOP), so no big learning curve there. Just like the Lawn-Boys, you need to release the bail before you actually stop the mower to turn as it needs to roll forward a bit to release the drive wheel clutches. Only difference is there is a slight dwell to the propel kicking in on the GW where the LB's belt drive is instant. And since the GW is just an electrical on/off switch, you obviously can't feather the speed with bail movement / pully tension like you can on the LB's belt drive system.

The Greenworks self propel system has minimal drag when not activated too, so it can be pushed almost as easy as the pusher version.

Not quite as fast as the 3-Speed in 3rd Gear as was expected, but not annoyingly slow like a factory stock 10323 1-Speed Duraforce … LB 3rd gear is 3.5 MPH per drive system manual where the GW is supposed to go up to 3.13 MPH per owners manual.

My 10323 has 10550 Gears in it so it is faster than stock, but not quite as fast as the 10525 3-Speed.

I'll have to do some timed tests when I get a chance to see just how fast everything really is in comparison.

Doug

 

[XxHaimBondxX]

Hi everybody, I bought this same mower on sale, but from Amazon Warehouse Deals for a little over $200 with two batteries and all accessories. It looks new, however, I think I know why it was returned. The rear axle is not even, so all 4 wheels do not touch the ground. It's not bent, just looks poorly welded at the factory. Rather than return it, I decided to start the warranty process, however, it will probably take a couple of weeks, since they are out of Canada. Meanwhile, I don't have any welding tools, can I twist the axle somehow, so that both wheel brackets are in the same direction?

If I need to make a new thread, I apologize.

 

[MowerMike]

To the previous poster, I don’t think you can fix this problem by twisting the axle. It will remain elastic until it suddenly yields too much or fails. I had a similar problem with an Earthwise lawn mower, and simply used it that way without any real problems. If this really bothers you and still want to keep the mower, you can buy the complete axle assembly from the Greenworks Ordertree website, using the part number shown in the parts list at the back of the manual.

 

[XxHaimBondxX]

They are sending me the axle, no problems there, it'll just take a while. But this morning I mowed most of my lawn on three wheels and it did a superb job even on tall moist grass, where earthwise mower would clog up every few minutes. Very happy with it.