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Did a quick check on Lowes.com to see if they had any clearance 60-80V cordless snowblowers and ran across this …
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-80-v...ded/1000486349

I bought into the Greenworks 40V line last Summer and the only tool that has disappointed me so far is the 26272 20" Snowthower … it just does not have enough power to blow anything but light fluffy snow and not too much depth either before tripping out the circuit breaker. We use the snow thrower at my wife's office (just a front & side sidewalk), and she really likes using it but (like me) wishes it had more power.

In this 40V line I've got both pusher and self-propelled 21" mowers, the 16" Chainsaw, the Blower/Vac, 14" Dual Line String Trimmer, 20" Snow Thrower, the 8' Pole Saw, 4 Chargers, (3) 4Ah, (1) 2.5Ah, and (1) 2Ah batteries. The pole saw is the only one without a brushless motor, but it does it's job just fine without it. As I said, everything but the Snow Thrower meets or exceeds my expectations.

Anyway, this Kobalt 80V Max Snowblower is 22" wide (vs. 20"), up to 6" of depth (vs. much less than that), has a metal with rubber paddles impeller similar to a Toro Power Clear (vs. molded plastic impeller assy), HI & LO Impeller Speeds, and comes with a 5Ah battery and charger. Also has a lever for rotating the chute up on the handle similar to the Quick Shoot on my Toro 221QR, which is nice.

I paid $270 for the G-W 26272 w/ 4Ah Battery & Charger … this Kobalt w/ 5Ah Battery & Charger is on sale / clearance for $399 … which is very tempting !!

Also in this new 80V Max line is a Self-Propelled 21" Mower that comes with a 6Ah battery & charger and up to 90 Minutes Run Time.

Pick the Snow Thrower up now and wait for the Mower to go on clearance this fall (vs. $599 now) … hmmmmmm ??

Kind of interesting that Greenworks is making all this impressive stuff for Lowes but I see nothing new in their own Greenworks product line.

Doug

Lowes now has a 10% off Outdoor Power Equipment thru 5/8 when using their CC.

Normally get 5% off with the CC, but that extra 5% would get this clearance 80V Max Snowblower with 5Ah Battery & Charger down to $359.10 before tax.

My local Lowes still has 5 in stock so this is VERY TEMPTING !!

Only other cordless tool I wish I had a more powerful version of is a blower. Can pick up the Kobalt Brushless 400B-06 (tool only, 125MPH/500CFM, new/open box) for $100 shipped on ebay … this makes it even more tempting.
The most current 80V Max Blower puts out 140MPH/630CFM (2580-06 w/ 2.5Ah battery & charger $229.00 or 6380-06 tool only for $144.38) but is too new to be found on ebay yet.

Most powerful GW 40V G-Max axial jet blower puts out 115MPH/430CFM and with 2.0Ah battery & charger is currently $119.20 on amazon. They also show the Elite version (LB-430) of this with the same specs and comes with the 3Ah battery & charger for $219.99.


Anyone interested in the 6080-06 Kobalt 80V Max Self Propelled 21" Lawnmower with 6Ah battery & charger it is on sale at Lowes for $549.00 thru 5/1/19 or $494.10 before tax with the 10% OPE discount … this is a steal.

Doug

They also give veterans a 10% discount on anything. That and free shipping if you work it right really pays off.

tom3 said:

They also give veterans a 10% discount on anything. That and free shipping if you work it right really pays off.

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Vet discount can't be stacked with other offers anymore.

Lowes is discontinuing their line of Kobalt power tools. Replacing them with the 'Craftsman' name they they starting selling last year. When I confirmed the disco of Kobalt I asked about warranty coverage for the Kobalt tools (since Kobalt warranty is thru Lowes) and was told replacements (Lowes policy was replacement, not repair as I was told) will be Craftsman if possible.
Sounded as a wise move since Greenworks & Kobalt are made by 'Global Tool Works' (along with Snapper and Stihl among others), why carry two names from the same source?

videobruce said:

Lowes is discontinuing their line of Kobalt power tools. Replacing them with the 'Craftsman' name they they starting selling last year. When I confirmed the disco of Kobalt I asked about warranty coverage for the Kobalt tools (since Kobalt warranty is thru Lowes) and was told replacements (Lowes policy was replacement, not repair as I was told) will be Craftsman if possible.
Sounded as a wise move since Greenworks & Kobalt are made by 'Global Tool Works' (along with Snapper and Stihl among others), why carry two names from the same source?

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So, I was just at my local Lowe's store to buy some Wasp & Hornet killer on sale, and spotted a pair of Craftsman 60 volt Li-Ion lawn mowers, one push and one self-propelled. They were being sold alongside several 80 volt Kobalt and 60 volt Greenworks lawn mowers. It will be interesting to see how long the Greenworks mowers will be there.

The store I went to, their left over Kobalt models were all the way down at the end of the 'mower row'. The new Craftsman cordless models (w/a 90 return instead of just 30 days) were the the 1st after the anti-environment, outdated gas polluters.
They did have a Kobalt & Greenworks out on the floor up front where one can actually 'see' (and touch) them. The Greenworks model I tried (and returned in favor of Ryobi), had a deal for a free 60v 2ah battery pack, both battery packs date were approaching TWO years old. I see why they wanted to get rid of the spare packs.

videobruce said:

The store I went to, their left over Kobalt models were all the way down at the end of the 'mower row'. The new Craftsman cordless models (w/a 90 return instead of just 30 days) were the the 1st after the anti-environment, outdated gas polluters.
They did have a Kobalt & Greenworks out on the floor up front where one can actually 'see' (and touch) them. The Greenworks model I tried (and returned in favor of Ryobi), had a deal for a free 60v 2ah battery pack, both battery packs date were approaching TWO years old. I see why they wanted to get rid of the spare packs.

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I just can't see spending $500+ on a mower with a potentially short life span. I've had tool Li-ion tool packs that went south in three years and no warranty. With these mower batteries sitting for 5 or 6 months a year I wonder how long they will perform? And sure expensive to replace. I suppose it's like battery autos, solar, etc. You have to just really want it? I suppose at some point the small gas mowers will go the way of two strokes.

tom3 said:

I just can't see spending $500+ on a mower with a potentially short life span. I've had tool Li-ion tool packs that went south in three years and no warranty. With these mower batteries sitting for 5 or 6 months a year I wonder how long they will perform? And sure expensive to replace. I suppose it's like battery autos, solar, etc. You have to just really want it? I suppose at some point the small gas mowers will go the way of two strokes.

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Unused lithium-ion batteries have a very long shelf life, provided they are not stored at extreme temperatures. Have you noticed how the expiration dates on small lithium-ion batteries can be as much as 10 years beyond the manufacturing date ? I’ve purchased old stock lithium-ion tool batteries with date codes beyond 5 years old, and still gotten many years of service out of them. The service life span of lithium-ion batteries is determined more by production quality than anything else. Battery cells manufactured in China are more likely to have a short service life than those manufactured in Korea (LG) or Japan (Sony).

original batteries I got with my GW twin force are still working - 6+ years old. I make no effort to store them at 40% charge (or w'ever the recomm. is) , nor do they get a better environment than an unheated garage for the winter. I never haul a container to the gas station or change any oil or mix any 2 stroke fuel. My wife can easily use the twin force (plastic deck - it is showing its age a little) - I usually use my newer 21".

and every spring I hear from multiple guys at work "trimmer or hedge clipper or pole saw or blower or mower or .... wouldn't start"

In the spring, I put the battery in, push the button and go. Even without any 'tree hugger' concerns, the tools are adequate replacements for most urban/suburban households.

oh yeah, they are a little quieter too.

tom3 said:

I just can't see spending $500+ on a mower with a potentially short life span. I've had tool Li-ion tool packs that went south in three years and no warranty. With these mower batteries sitting for 5 or 6 months a year I wonder how long they will perform? I suppose at some point the small gas mowers will go the way of two strokes.

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Then I guess the $360 I spent 22 years ago on my B&D cordless mower (made in Canada at the time) was a waste of money?
It's well known (to the informed) that the proper storage charge level should be 30-40%. What isn't clear is just how long a period of time is considered "storage". I have read as short as a couple of weeks, but I can't really consider 2 or 3 weeks a storage situation. Six months is another matter.

If it wasn't for the greedy petroleum industry in this country with their polluting devices, anti-environmental dirty gas engines would, or should of been gone decade ago.

videobruce said:

Then I guess the $360 I spent 22 years ago on my B&D cordless mower (made in Canada at the time) was a waste of money?
It's well known (to the informed) that the proper storage charge level should be 30-40%. What isn't clear is just how long a period of time is considered "storage". I have read as short as a couple of weeks, but I can't really consider 2 or 3 weeks a storage situation. Six months is another matter

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So, are you saying that the battery in your old B&D cordless mower lasted 22 years ? :laughing: In any case, that would have been an SLA battery, which is a totally different animal from an Li-Ion battery. Anyway, sometimes Li-Ion batteries are just plain duds, especially those made with Chinese cells. Whether or not Li-Ion batteries will last longer in long term storage if kept only partially charged I couldn't say, but I do know that my eight year old Bosch Tool batteries that were NOT made in China and sit idle for months at a time are still holding a full charge.

1 Lucky Texan said:

...and every spring I hear from multiple guys at work "trimmer or hedge clipper or pole saw or blower or mower or .... wouldn't start"

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That's probably because they used crappy pump gas with ethanol, and didn't properly flush out their tools before putting them up for winter. I've used nothing but canned ethanol-free premixed 2-stroke fuel (Trufuel) in all my gas powered 2-stroke OPE, and never had any problems with any of them. As to four stroke engines, the gas needs to be treated with some sort of ethanol shield, and the fuel tanks and carburetor float bowls should be drained before storage.

MowerMike said:

So, are you saying that the battery in your old B&D cordless mower lasted 22 years ?

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I stated nothing like that only that the mower is 22 years old. Best to re-read the post.
They are gel cells (yes, sealed lead acid the same type many alarm systems still use). If you look around there appears to still be other models available that still use them.

videobruce said:

I stated nothing like that only that the mower is 22 years old. Best to re-read the post.
They are gel cells (yes, sealed lead acid the same type many alarm systems still use). If you look around there appears to still be other models available that still use them.

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Well, you were responding to a post complaining about the short life of expensive Li-Ion batteries, so the mere fact that the mower was 22 years old was irrelevant. Any SLA battery lawn mowers that are still available will be old stock, because virtually all manufacturers have discontinued them in favor of models that use Li-Ion batteries. But if you are interested, I have an old 90+ pound SLA battery push lawn mower that I'll gladly sell to you.

MowerMike said:

That's probably because they used crappy pump gas with ethanol, and didn't properly flush out their tools before putting them up for winter. I've used nothing but canned ethanol-free premixed 2-stroke fuel (Trufuel) in all my gas powered 2-stroke OPE, and never had any problems with any of them. As to four stroke engines, the gas needs to be treated with some sort of ethanol shield, and the fuel tanks and carburetor float bowls should be drained before storage.

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oh, no question about that.

Every Spring a friend of mine goes around picking up string trimmers or mowers, etc. set out for trash pick up. They often just need carb cleaning. Sometimes a screen in the gas tank is covered in debris or an intake cracked, or a flywheel key sheared. I guess some folks just get a coupla seasons or 3-4 out of them, and then toss them out with no attempt at repair?

videobruce said:

Lowes is discontinuing their line of Kobalt power tools. Replacing them with the 'Craftsman' name they they starting selling last year. When I confirmed the disco of Kobalt I asked about warranty coverage for the Kobalt tools (since Kobalt warranty is thru Lowes) and was told replacements (Lowes policy was replacement, not repair as I was told) will be Craftsman if possible.
Sounded as a wise move since Greenworks & Kobalt are made by 'Global Tool Works' (along with Snapper and Stihl among others), why carry two names from the same source?

Click to expand...

If this is truly the case, then you would think that Greenworks would start marketing their own 80V line better. All the NEW 80V stuff in the past year has been Kobalt and the GW 80V line appears stagnant. My guess is this is probably due to Lowes demanding GW not to try and compete or out do the Kobalt 80V line.

Craftsman does not have an 80V line, so IMO their 60V is not in direct competition.

Maybe Lowes plans on re-labeling their 80V line as Craftsman in the near future … and if they were SMART making the batteries interchangeable as to not piss-off all their existing Kobalt 80V customers, many that have quite possibly invested heavily in the platform.

I've got a lot invested in Ryobi 18V & GW 40V, but by comparison very little compared to what I'd have spent on all 80V tools.

It just does not make any sense to come out with all this NEW 80V Kobalt stuff recently and months later kill off the entire product line for a more historic brand name.

Doug

I'm not sure about Lowe's discontinuing their entire Kobalt OPE lineup. When I recently visited my local Lowe's store, the newest Kobalt 80 volt lawn mowers were prominently displayed in the first position, followed by the 60 volt Craftsman, 60 volt Greenworks and older 80 volt Kobalt mowers. Far more likely, Lowe's will remove the 60 volt Greenworks mowers, just like they removed the original Greenworks Twin Force mower when they introduced their 40 volt Kobalt lineup, which included the same mower with different colored plastic. Kobalt has been a long standing Lowe's store brand, just as Ryobi is associated with Home Depot, and I just can't see them dumping it. The problem with Greenworks is that they are not anchored to any brick and mortar stores, and their customer service is flaky at best.

are Kobalt and Ryobi parts also as cheap as GW parts? I was shocked at the low price for the axle I had to buy for my 21" mower - the shipping doubled the total cost! under $16 delivered.

1 Lucky Texan said:

are Kobalt and Ryobi parts also as cheap as GW parts? I was shocked at the low price for the axle I had to buy for my 21" mower - the shipping doubled the total cost! under $16 delivered.

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Well, first off, most replacement parts for Kobalt mowers are interchangeable/same as Greenworks, so effectively yes. For example, the replacement blades for my Twin Force were Kobalt branded. Oh, and the replacement circuit board for the Twin Force was Craftsman branded, and much cheaper than the Greenworks branded part even though they shared exactly the same Sun part number. As for Ryobi, you can find parts online from outfits like eReplacementParts for reasonable prices, but won't be able to buy most of them directly from Ryobi.

man, you got this stuff down - thanx

Now that I've got the 80V Kobalt 22" Snow Thrower w/ 5Ah Battery & charger, I'm thinking of picking up a blower so my battery gets year round usage.

My most powerful cordless blower I have now is a Greenworks 40V 24322 (185 MPH / 340 CFM) and would like a more powerful brushless Jet Blower so getting an 80V Kobalt makes sense.

Can get the old model KHB 40B (125 MPH / 500 CFM) on ebay brand new for $94.99
or
Can get the current model (140 MPH / 630 CFM) at Lowes w/ 2.5Ah Bat & Compact Charger for $198.50 (w/tax) thru 5/29.

$103.51 more sounds like a good deal for a battery & 2nd charger.

Best price I see on e-bay currently for a NEW 2.5 Ah battery is $84.99 and NEW Chargers can be had for $30 (either std. or compact).

So about $10 less getting brand new and more powerful with warranty from Lowes vs. claimed as new or open box from 3 different ebay sellers and likely no warranty.

Don't really "need" a 2nd battery & charger though, so I just got to decide if I want to spend the extra $104.

Doug

dougmacm said:

Now that I've got the 80V Kobalt 22" Snow Thrower w/ 5Ah Battery & charger, I'm thinking of picking up a blower so my battery gets year round usage.

My most powerful cordless blower I have now is a Greenworks 40V 24322 (185 MPH / 340 CFM) and would like a more powerful brushless Jet Blower so getting an 80V Kobalt makes sense.

Can get the old model KHB 40B (125 MPH / 500 CFM) on ebay brand new for $94.99
or
Can get the current model (140 MPH / 630 CFM) at Lowes w/ 2.5Ah Bat & Compact Charger for $198.50 (w/tax) thru 5/29.

$103.51 more sounds like a good deal for a battery & 2nd charger.

Best price I see on e-bay currently for a NEW 2.5 Ah battery is $84.99 and NEW Chargers can be had for $30 (either std. or compact).

So about $10 less getting brand new and more powerful with warranty from Lowes vs. claimed as new or open box from 3 different ebay sellers and likely no warranty.

Don't really "need" a 2nd battery & charger though, so I just got to decide if I want to spend the extra $104.



Doug

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Wonder how Kobalt handles returned items? like cpooutlets or the Amazon Warehouse type stuff. You might find one that's missing original packaging or missing its manual or w'ever for a reduced price,

1 Lucky Texan said:

Wonder how Kobalt handles returned items? like cpooutlets or the Amazon Warehouse type stuff. You might find one that's missing original packaging or missing its manual or w'ever for a reduced price,

Click to expand...

CPO does not handle Kobalt and I've never seen a similar site that does; also no one on ebay selling Kobalt appears to be a CPO type place either ... have no clue what they do with their returns.

Being the last day of the sale, I did order up a KHB 2580-06 Blower Kit this morning and will pick up at my local Lowe's on my way home tonight.

Doug

Used the 80V Kobalt Blower yesterday after cutting grass & trimming. Have had a lot of rain lately so had a lot of tree crap to blow off side walks & street along with the usual grass from mulching.

Definitely heaver than my other two (Ryobi 18V P2180 Jet Blower & GW 40V 24322 Blower/Vac) but it is well balanced with the 2.5Ah battery and with all it's power and air volume just made the task so much quicker than the other two … as I hoped / assumed it would.

After all the blowing that I did, I still had 1 bar lit on the 2.5Ah battery so somewhere below 35% charge left. This amount of blowing would have easily used up a whole 18V Ryobi or GW 40V 4Ah battery.

Kobalt Specs: 140 MPH / 630 CFM
GW 24322 …. 185 MPH / 340 CFM
Ryobi P2180: 100 MPH / 280 CFM

Definitely glad I bought the "KIT" with the 2.5Ah battery as it is about 3.25 lbs. vs. 6 lbs. for the 5Ah. The 5Ah battery is same cross section, just 1-3/4" longer which kinda screws up the balance. I'll still run it with that battery every few weeks just so it gets used during the other three seasons.

Doug

Now some real world spec comparisons:

KHB-2580-06 Blower Manual states 5.84. lbs w/o battery and Lowes site states 8.9 lbs. w/ battery (same as old model that came with 2.0Ah battery) … and Battery Manual states 5Ah and 6Ah are both 5.50 lbs. so I wanted to see what actual weights are.

So I brought the blower & batteries to work this AM to put on UPS Scale to get actual weights.

5.88 lbs. Blower Alone (manual 5.84 close enough)
3.28 lbs. 2.5Ah Battery (don't remember what manual stated)
5.56 lbs. 5.0Ah Battery (manual 5.50 close enough, but doubt 6Ah is exactly the same as the manual states)

9.16 lbs. Blower w/ 2.5Ah Battery (vs. 8.9 on Lowes site)

This is still pretty decent considering the performance difference vs. my other two blowers mentioned in post above.

Only 3.2% Heavier than GW 24322 (8.8 lbs. w/ 4Ah) but has 85% more CFM.
The GW puts out 32% more MPH, but that is to be expected because it is a small nozzle non-Jet Fan type blower.

And 48% Heavier than Ryobi P2180 (6.18 lbs. w 4Ah) but 40% more MPH and 125% more CFM.

There are 4 GAS blowers sold at Lowes and all can beat the 140 MPH air speed of this 80V Kobalt
(range between 170-205 MPH)
… but none can touch the 630 CFM volume
(range between 441-470 CFM)
I'm sure there are better GAS blowers out there that Lowes does not sell that can beat both air speed AND volume, I just did not search them out.

Only found ONE review of this Kobalt 80V Blower and it could have been treated better ...
https://www.leafblowerguide.com/blowers/kobalt/80v-khb-2580-06/
… said there was a TORO F700 51624 blower that put out more CFM but when I looked it up come to find it is a 12 Amp CORDED blower which is NOT a fair comparison as it is NOT the same category. The TORO is lighter too at 6.6 lbs., but again an unfair comparison since it does not have a battery adding to it's weight. Add the weight of dragging around a 100 ft. 12-3 cord and weight load on the user's arm may be closer or more than the Kobalt's 9.16 lbs.

This looks like one of those sites that only compares specs and does no actual testing, so need to wait for real reviews.

Doug

Hi Doug.
I'm in charge of the above-mentioned website.
I do agree with you that comparing cordless and corded blowers was totally unfair. It was due to a bug on our side ,which has now been fixed.
And yes, as you rightfully mentioned, we only compare the specs for the following reasons:
1) It would be absolutely impossible to individually test close to 300 products
2) This prevents us from having a bias for/against any specific product or brand. Many "Review" sites get products for free in exchange for a review that will obviously tend to be more towards the positive side. We do not conduct such practice and every product or brand on our website is treated the exact same way. Yes it could lead to inaccuracies, as we all know that all manufacturers tend to exaggerate their product specs.

Thank you again for this remark as it helps us offering more accurate comparisons.
Don't hesitate to let us know if you have further remarks or suggestions for improvements.

Best,
Patrick

Was bored today and looking thru treads here and realized I never posted a review of the Kobalt 80V 21" Self Propelled Mower that I bought in July 2020.

I did mention the purchase and discussed using it in post 3 of this thread:
... but never posted an actual review that I can find.

So, better late than never ...

Kobalt KMP 6080-06 80V 21" Self Propelled Lawnmower review:

It came with the 6Ah battery, Fast Charger, Rear Bagger, Mulch Plug, and Side Discharge Chute and I paid $473.50 before tax.

Having been used to a bail lever for self propel function on Lawn-Boy's my whole adult life as well as a Greenworks 40V MO40L02 that I bought in August of 2018 I did not know if I was going to like the thumb actuated SP lever on the Kobalt. Well, this ended up being a non-issue as my hands & brain adapted to this configuration without much effort.

The Greenworks MO40L02 is basically the same mower as the Kobalt just 40V instead of 80V and with a normal SP bail lever ... both are a 21" deck with a 20" cutting width. The GW will typically do my whole 15K sq-ft. lawn on (3) 4Ah (146Wh) batteries where this Kobalt can do it all on ONE 6Ah (432Wh) ... this all dependent on grass length / thickness and whether MULCHING or BAGGING.
40V: 3x146Wh = 438Wh
vs.
80V = 436Wh
Pretty mush a wash as far as power consumed doing the job.

Self Propel Speed Closely matches Kobalt Specs and is fast enough for my normal cutting pace:
MAX SPEED with fully charged 2.5Ah Battery (81.8V) 200FT in 42-43 Seconds = 3.17-3.25 MPH (per manual = 4.44 FPS = 3.03 MPH)
and
MAX SPEED with 1/2 discharged 6Ah Battery (72.6V) 200FT in 47-48 Seconds = 2.84-2.90 MPH

The 40V Greenworks self-propel speed is similar, so no benefit to 80V here.

Compare to the Lawn-Boy 10525 in 3rd Gear that I'm used to ...
(3260 RPM at no load): 200FT in 35-36 Seconds = 5.71-5.56 Ft-Sec = 3.83-3.78 MPH (Per manual = 3.8 MPH @ 3000 RPM)


Where the 80V excels is running the Greenworks HD Blade (2908902) that has more lift and offers a better cut. Problem is, it appears this blade may have been discontinued. I ran this blade two weeks in a row and bagged both times:

First week the grass was not too long in that it ran at the normal 2800 RPM and never kicked up to high speed however it did deplete the battery faster than the standard blade. I was running at cutting height # 3 (2-1/8").

Second week I again ran at cutting height # 3 and grass was really long and thick and mower kicked in & out of high speed mode.
I had also bought a generic 6Ah HYG brand 6Ah battery off of e-bay from Battery World ($147.00) and this was it's first test run.

I ran the 6Ah HYG Generic battery 1st and it lasted 27.6 minutes ... the Genuine Kobalt 6Ah went in 2nd and lasted 33.6 minutes. The HYG was fully recharged by the time the Kobalt decided it was done so the HYG went back in and had 2 bars left (1/2 charge) after the final 11 minutes.
Kobalt claims their 6Ah battery should take 180 minutes to charge, so it is hard to believe this HYG battery is a true 6Ah as I'd guess it was fully re-charged in about an hour. Based on the run time's I recorded, the HYG lasted 82% of the Kobalt which would be closer to 5Ah if conditions were identical which is really hard to say. Definitely similar grass length & thickness, but it does vary throughout my yard.
Filled 15 bags ... about 1.86 bushels / 20 lbs. each ... in about 1 hour 11 minutes total run time.

Third week I ran the GW-HD Blade at level 4 (2-5/8" cut) and Mulched this time ... really did a nice job. It jumped up to high speed a bunch of times where it was longer & thicker but not near as often as it did the prior week bagging at level 3 (2-1/8" cut).
Like week two, I started with the generic 6Ah battery and it lasted 37:40 minutes (4 minutes or 12% longer than last week) then ran the Kobalt 6Ah for the remaining 28 minutes and it had 3 of 4 bars remaining on the mower and 2 bars of 3 on the battery @ 77.3V.

YES ... this HD blade consumes batteries faster but cuts & bags better than the standard blade and it will be a bummer if GW had really discontinued it.

The generic 6Ah battery performance is definitely inferior to the OE Kobalt 6Ah battery but at a cost of $147.00 delivered it is a good value as it DOES outperform an OE Kobalt 2.5Ah which normally sells for $199.00 (6Ah is $351).

All in all, I am very pleased with the performance of this Kobalt 80V Mower as well as my 40V Greenworks version.

Doug

videobruce said:

Lowes is discontinuing their line of Kobalt power tools. Replacing them with the 'Craftsman' name they they starting selling last year. When I confirmed the disco of Kobalt I asked about warranty coverage for the Kobalt tools (since Kobalt warranty is thru Lowes) and was told replacements (Lowes policy was replacement, not repair as I was told) will be Craftsman if possible.
Sounded as a wise move since Greenworks & Kobalt are made by 'Global Tool Works' (along with Snapper and Stihl among others), why carry two names from the same source?

Click to expand...

It is almost 2 years later since this post and yes Craftsman is the majority of all OPE on Lowes site but Kobalt still is in 2nd place:
Items online vs. at my local store:
Craftsman ...... 391 vs. 101
Kobalt ............. 249 vs. 51
EGO ............... 143 vs. 18
Greenworks ... 177 vs. 9 (incl GW-PRO)
Worx .............. 126 vs. 4

Kobalt 80V OPE is no longer at stores but is available ONLINE and this is the same story for the Craftsman 60V line and I'd wager this is all due to the new to Lowes EGO 56V needed to be TOP DOG in stores this season. And the numbers below prove it:

CORDLESS OPE online vs. at my local store:
Craftsman ..... 32 vs. 11 (60V only: 7 vs. 0)
Kobalt ........... 156 vs. 16 (80V only: 60 vs. 1*)
EGO ............. 74 vs. 11 (56V only)
GW & PRO ... 68 vs. 2 (60V only: 8 vs. 1*)
WORX .......... 51 vs. 1

* The Kobalt 80V & GW-PRO 60V at my local store are batteries (2.5Ah KB & 2.0 Ah GW-PRO), notice my store no longer stocks ANY Craftsman 60V OPE.

Kobalt also introduced some improved 80V models this season which further shows it is not dead yet:
6080D-06 & 2180D-06 (w/o B&C) SP mower now has 2 battery slots and auto switch over
4080-06 18" Chainsaw with 50cc gas equiv. power (they claim it is the most powerful cordless chainsaw available)
Could likely be others, but these are just the two I noticed.

Lowes had an 80V sale a couple weeks back and I snapped up the 4080-06 Chainsaw with 5 Ah Battery & Fast Charger for $284.05 before tax. The 5Ah battery alone goes for $299.00, so I had to jump on it. It is currently in transit to my store for pick up. I'll post a review once I've got it and had a chance to use it. My 16" 40V GW GMax Brushless Chainsaw I bought in June 2018 works real well but is a little underpowered so I've also got a comparison to do.

Doug

It looks like Kobalt is taking control of the 80 volt tool market, since Greenworks has not made any advances in their 80 volt products for years now. Instead, they are focusing on their 60 volt tools. As to Lowe's dropping Kobalt, that is simply impossible since Kobalt is truly their house brand in much the same way that Ryobi belongs to Home Depot. Craftsman is a late comer to the electric OPE market, and they are struggling to compete with the established brands. It wouldn't surprise me to see them completely gone in five years. EGO seems to be having a hard time finding a home. First they were at Home Depot, now they are at Lowe's, maybe Ace Hardware next ? As to WORX, they are strictly a mail order item with some truly clever and unique tools such as their JawSaw.

A friend was in a Lowes store over the weekend looking at cordless OPE equipment and a Lowes employee told him Kobalt is discontinuing the whole 80V line because they had too many problems / warranty issues.

It was a rumor / speculation that Lowes was going to get rid of the whole Kobalt line when they took on Craftsman a few years ago and this turned out to NOT be true.
Again more rumor / speculation that the 80V line was dead when they took on the EGO line this year and pulled all the 80V from the stores (see my post #29) and made available online only.

Searched online for any recent news of Kobalt 80V being discontinued and found nothing newer that what I'd read before ... none of which was anything official.

My guess is the Lowes employee wanted my friend to buy cordless tools that he could sell from store inventory rather than order the 80V stuff online.

Anyone have any insider news ??

Thanks,

Doug