New Greenworks Pro 60 volt outdoor tools

slomo

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Either that, or he's trying to mow foot long grass with the mower set to its lowest cutting height. That will stall out any lawn mower, electric or gas.
I took my 1989 Snapper Hi-Vac over to the neighbors house. Showed him how a real mower can punch through his grass. He is the proud owner of a new Snapper Commercial with the hoss Briggs 8.50 torque monster engine. That sucker is an impressive mower. His foot tall bermuda got slayed with that torque champion. Mine is only a 4hp 190cc Briggs compared to his new big block Briggs LOL.

He threw his one year old EGO $780.00 toy mower to the curb.

My local pawn shop has 6 EGO's, 7 Greenworks, 4 Ryobi's, 6 Black and Decker's and 1 Scott's battery mowers. They have 2 ultra low end MTD gas mowers for sale.

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MowerMike

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Well, I guess we live in different worlds, because my experience is quite different. I used to own a Husqvarna push mower with a Honda GCV160 engine, and it struggled and stalled out in longer grass when I set the deck height to its lower positions. The cordless electric mowers that I’ve owned since then have worked a lot better. Sometimes people use mowers improperly, trying to cut wet grass that quickly builds up on the deck, which prevents the blade from spinning. Also, trying to mulch very long grass requires a lot of power, and it’s better to side discharge in such situations. Most electric mowers have a soft start feature to save on battery usage that takes a few seconds for the blade to get up to speed and won’t work if the mower is sitting on long uncut grass. If you read the reviews for cordless electric mowers, very few complain about insufficient power, mostly it’s about battery runtime and cost.
 

slomo

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Well, I guess we live in different worlds, because my experience is quite different. I used to own a Husqvarna push mower with a Honda GCV160 engine, and it struggled and stalled out in longer grass when I set the deck height to its lower positions. The cordless electric mowers that I’ve owned since then have worked a lot better. Sometimes people use mowers improperly, trying to cut wet grass that quickly builds up on the deck, which prevents the blade from spinning. Also, trying to mulch very long grass requires a lot of power, and it’s better to side discharge in such situations. Most electric mowers have a soft start feature to save on battery usage that takes a few seconds for the blade to get up to speed and won’t work if the mower is sitting on long uncut grass. If you read the reviews for cordless electric mowers, very few complain about insufficient power, mostly it’s about battery runtime and cost.
That Honda or any Honda push mower engine is gutless. Even the Commercial GXV160 has something like 5 or 6 ft lbs of torque. No surprise there.

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MowerMike

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That Honda or any Honda push mower engine is gutless. Even the Commercial GXV160 has something like 5 or 6 ft lbs of torque. No surprise there.

According to the specs for the Honda GCV160 engine, it produces 6.9 lb-ft of torque at 2500 rpm, which doesn't seem all that wimpy to me. What is the torque rating of your B&S engine ? Is it push or self-propel ? In any event, I mow my lawn every two weeks, the grass never gets close to a foot tall and my Greenworks 60 volt lawn mower never gets close to bogging down. Also, I mulch only, which places the most load on a mower. Finally, I only mow when the grass is dry at least one day after sustained rain. After mowing, I clean off the deck to prevent buildup. So, for me and my mowing habits the cordless electric mowers have worked fine.
 

MowerMike

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So, last Friday I received the hybrid pressure washer, and eagerly assembled it. At first everything seemed fine, but then I noticed something strange. The pressure washer pump was resting on top of the detergent tank filler cap, and when I inspected it the entire motor/pump assembly was completely loose inside the housing. It could be moved up and down and rotated freely along its horizontal axis. Now, had I purchased this from Lowe's as I normally do with 60 volt tools, I would have returned it straight away for a refund. However, I purchased this online directly from Greenworks, and didn't want to deal with them as I know from past experience that it would be a nightmare. I decided to take a chance and disassemble it to see if I could fix it myself, and possibly screw myself out of what I had paid for it.

It took awhile to figure out how to open it up. Normally, there would be a top half of the housing that would be removed with all the parts laying in the bottom, but this proved to be just the opposite. I had to first detach the entire assembly from the cart frame, and then flip it over to remove the bottom half of the housing, which is held in place by nine screws that attach it to the top half. Once removed, it was apparent that all components such as the motor/pump assembly and the switch sit in the top half, and are held in place entirely by the bottom half clamping them against the top half. Everything has to be placed very precisely, otherwise it simply won't go together correctly. Also, I noticed that there was some sort of cover or shroud over the motor that was completely loose at the rear where the motor fan resides, a wire from the motor to the PCB was badly mashed with cut insulation and exposed conductor and there were two loose seals of some sort just lying in the cavity. I moved the shroud towards the pump end until it became tight, covered the damaged wire with electrical tape, and through a process of trial and error figured out exactly how the motor/pump assembly needed to be located within the top housing section. As to the mysterious seals, I later figured out that one of these is meant to be placed on the switch shaft on the outside of the housing underneath the switch knob to prevent water entry. So, basically the assembly line worker did an incompetent job and there was no QC done afterwards to intercept it before it was packaged.

While I had the housings apart, I decided to remove the AC power cord, since I will only use this pressure washer in 60 Vdc mode, given that I have several other more powerful corded electric pressure washers. I also removed the no longer needed power cord hook to further reduce the clutter. I then reassembled the housing, installed the switch seal and knob, and ran the motor briefly with two batteries installed to make sure it was operational before mounting the assembly back on the cart frame. Finally, I amazingly found a plastic plug for the hole in the housing vacated by the removed power cord that was a perfect fit. Even the diameter of the plug's head was the same as the flat on the housing, and the color was the same !

Next morning, I tried it out on my car using the soap tip with some Karcher vehicle wash, 25 degree and 40 degree tips, and then used the turbo nozzle on some driveway concrete. I connected it to my house water supply with a garden hose rather than use the siphon kit. The siphon kit includes a priming valve, which is installed between the pressure washer pump outlet and the pressure hose. Greenworks claims in the description on their website that the pressure washer generates 1550 psi at 1.1 GPM in 60 volt cordless mode, however, the label on the washer housing, Operator Manual and box all state that it is only 1500 psi at 1.0 GPM. Regardless, it is sufficient to clean a car and pavement.

Now for the bad news. Two batteries are required for operation, and I used 50% of two 6 Ah batteries in about 10 minutes. This means that even with the largest capacity batteries, maximum runtime is only about 20 minutes. This is sufficient runtime to complete small jobs such as washing a car or cleaning a deck, but don't expect to clean your siding or a large fence.

Quality control issues aside, I am satisfied with this new hybrid pressure washer, and think it is the first practical cordless unit on the market.
 
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MowerMike

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Today I used the 60 volt pressure washer for a second time, and determined that it definitely needs two batteries to operate. It also drains both batteries at the same rate, so if different capacity batteries are used, then the lower capacity battery is depleted first and the pressure washer stops running, even though the higher capacity battery still has some charge remaining.

A minor annoyance is that Greenworks did not supply the pressure hose with a velcro strap to keep it from unraveling when stored. I’m using a large plastic twist tie for now until I can source a velcro strap......or two.
 
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tom3

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I wonder if the washer is running those batteries in series, 120 vDC. Will it run with one battery installed in either slot?
 

MowerMike

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I wonder if the washer is running those batteries in series, 120 vDC. Will it run with one battery installed in either slot?

Well, according to Greenworks, it is a 60 volt system, but the behavior suggests that they are wired in series as you suggest. And, no, it definitely won't run with only one battery installed in either compartment.

Also, remember that this is a hybrid system, that also runs on 120 Vac, so it makes sense that it would have a 120 volt universal motor.
 
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1 Lucky Texan

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I have a 60V Edger. I just barely can not complete edging all my proerty on one charge so, looked around for some other device to get that would come with a second battery. I got the 60V inverter. I figure it gives me a little emergency back-up power, and maybe I could use it to remotely run a box fan on the patio or ???

60V 2Ah does run the fan, but maybe not as long as I'd like.
 

MowerMike

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I have a 60V Edger. I just barely can not complete edging all my proerty on one charge so, looked around for some other device to get that would come with a second battery. I got the 60V inverter. I figure it gives me a little emergency back-up power, and maybe I could use it to remotely run a box fan on the patio or ???

60V 2Ah does run the fan, but maybe not as long as I'd like.

Right now you can pick up a new Greenworks Gen II 60 volt 4 Ah battery for $143.99 with free shipping and no state sales tax >>> https://www.greenworkstools.com/shop-by-voltage/60v/60v-batteries-accessories

Also, Lowe's has a sale on the new Greenworks Gen II 60 volt 21" self-propel lawn mower for $324.35, which includes a 5 Ah battery >>> https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks...21-in-Cordless-Electric-Lawn-Mower/1001768422
 
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