New Greenworks 20" twin blade Li-Ion battery powered lawn mower !

[MowerMike]

Are you sure the blade are going to fit? Seems that they would make them slightly different for this reason.

Also, I notice Lowes is selling the Twin Force (Under their Kobalt brand) for $40 more. You still get the 4ah and 2ah batteries, same as GreenWorks.

But they don't have replacement batteries listed for sale on their site.

I'm pretty sure the mowers are identical and just re-branded with blue instead of green plastic. I'll find out soon enough when I buy the blades and try them out on my mower. As to the batteries, they had them shown previously and they look physically different, so I doubt they would fit. Lowe's initially sold the Greenworks mower for the same price as the Kobalt, but you can now buy them online from CPO Outlets for $40 less. Anyways, if you need to return the mower due to some defect, CPO Outlets makes you pay the return shipping cost, which can easily be $40, so in the end I would rather buy it from Lowe's in the store, where I can bring it back and get an instant full refund or replacement if necessary.

 

[BrandonG]

I didn't know that about CPO, thanks. I've been looking at their site.

About returning things, I guess it would make it difficult if I needed 2 mowers and 10 additional batteries.

 

[MowerMike]

I didn't know that about CPO, thanks. I've been looking at their site.

About returning things, I guess it would make it difficult if I needed 2 mowers and 10 additional batteries.

You'd probably want several additional chargers as well. Right now it looks like Lowe's has the smaller Kobalt 2 Ah battery and the charger in stock, but they still don't show the 4 Ah battery. No doubt they will show up shortly, since the mowers are already in stock at the local stores.

 

[BrandonG]

You'd probably want several additional chargers as well. Right now it looks like Lowe's has the smaller Kobalt 2 Ah battery and the charger in stock, but they still don't show the 4 Ah battery. No doubt they will show up shortly, since the mowers are already in stock at the local stores.

Do you think the warrany / return system would be better with Lowe's' Kobalt or with the GreenWorks?

I've found out the company who makes GreenWorks, is called Global Tools. They're based in China. I'm sure they're selling Lowes their mowers rebranded.

 

[MowerMike]

Do you think the warranty / return system would be better with Lowe's' Kobalt or with the GreenWorks?

Dealing with Lowe's will be much better than Greenworks. When I got a bad battery with my first Greenworks product, they would not just send me a replacement, and made me drive 30 miles to the nearest Greenworks dealer to get it "repaired." They just laughed at me and said they didn't repair batteries, but would order a replacement. I had to wait 3 weeks for the replacement and another 60 mile round trip to pick it up. Had this been Lowe's, I just would have driven 3 miles to my local store, where they would have given me a replacement or refund on the spot.

Also, the Greenworks warranty is 4 years on the tool and 2 years on the battery, whereas on the Kobalt it is 5 years on the tool and 3 years on the battery. It's written right on the Kobalt boxes. Since Kobalt is a Lowe's house brand, they will handle warranty claims for you without having to deal with the brand's parent company.

 

[BrandonG]

Dealing with Lowe's will be much better than Greenworks. When I got a bad battery with my first Greenworks product, they would not just send me a replacement, and made me drive 30 miles to the nearest Greenworks dealer to get it "repaired." They just laughed at me and said they didn't repair batteries, but would order a replacement. I had to wait 3 weeks for the replacement and another 60 mile round trip to pick it up. Had this been Lowe's, I just would have driven 3 miles to my local store, where they would have given me a replacement or refund on the spot.

Also, the Greenworks warranty is 4 years on the tool and 2 years on the battery, whereas on the Kobalt it is 5 years on the tool and 3 years on the battery. It's written right on the Kobalt boxes. Since Kobalt is a Lowe's house brand, they will handle warranty claims for you without having to deal with the brand's parent company.

That's great to hear.

Now, the warranty on GreenWorks is only 90 days for commercial. Does Lowes differentiate between commercial and residential use as far as warranty and returns go?

 

[MowerMike]

Now, the warranty on GreenWorks is only 90 days for commercial. Does Lowes differentiate between commercial and residential use as far as warranty and returns go?

I have no idea. You'd have to ask them. I use mine only for private residential work, and really don't know how they would stand up under heavy commercial use. One thing to consider is that the smaller 19" single blade model (17.5" blade) has a full steel metal deck and steel brackets connecting the handle to the deck, whereas it is all plastic on the 20" twin blade model (19" cutting path), so it may be more durable. It also offers a side discharge option and more height adjustment positions than the twin blade. You do lose 1-1/2" of cutting path, however. It also costs $50 less.

 

[BrandonG]

There are a few companies who use electric mowers, some using products less durable than this one, such as the Neuton. So I think it could work for smaller properties.

I just have to buy a bunch of batteries, along with a couple of mowers in case one goes down.

Lowes might also offer a 1 or 2 year protection plan. Ill have to look into it.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

Even if the physical configuration isn't compatible, I'd bet the guts in a Kobalt battery could be moved into a Greenworks battery case.

Kobalt could be cheaper/more readily available.

Of course, one would want to be EXTREMELY cautious doing that. A short could cause severe injury.

I doubt I'd try unless the cost differential made it worth the hassle.

 

[MowerMike]

Even if the physical configuration isn't compatible, I'd bet the guts in a Kobalt battery could be moved into a Greenworks battery case.

Kobalt could be cheaper/more readily available.

Of course, one would want to be EXTREMELY cautious doing that. A short could cause severe injury.

I doubt I'd try unless the cost differential made it worth the hassle.

The wiring and circuitry could be totally different. I have both the original Greenworks 40V batteries and the new G-MAX ones. If I measure the voltage across terminals + and - on the G-MAX I get about 41.7 volts on a fully charged battery, but if I do this with the original battery I get zero volts ! No wonder Greenworks made sure you couldn't plug one of the old batteries into one of the new G-MAX tools.

As to pricing, I don't think there's much difference between the Kobalt and Greenworks branded batteries.