New Kobalt Li-Ion Lawn Mowers at Lowe's

[MowerMike]

I was checking the Lowe's website for a toilet that I had ordered and has arrived for pickup, and when I perused the cordless electric lawn mowers there were two new "Only at Lowe's" Li-Ion mowers listed under the Kobalt house brand. They appear to be near identical clones of the Greenworks 19" single blade and 20" twin-blade Li-Ion models, other than the change from a green to blue color and the brand name. Even the pricing is the same. Lowe's used to list the Greenworks 20" twin-blade model as a "Lowe's Exclusive", but no longer does, and neither the 19" or 20" Greenworks models have been in stock for many months now. So, I'm thinking that Lowe's went to the Chinese factory that makes the Greenworks mowers and had them make their own house brand models. Given the choice of buying direct from Lowe's and not having to deal with Greenworks customer support when there's a problem is a definite plus. Anyway, the 19" Kobalt is shown to be in stock at my local Lowe's, so I'll check it out tomorrow when I go there to pickup my toilet.

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

They actually look nice! :thumbsup: I like the color scheme. Time will tell if they are the same quality.

 

[MowerMike]

Time will tell if they are the same quality.

I see no reason why the quality should not be exactly the same, no better, no worse. They are no doubt made on the same assembly line in the same Chinese factory as the Greenworks mowers, using the same internal parts. The biggest difference is in the batteries, which will only fit their products or use their charger, so you cannot mix and match with other brands. Home Depot did this with the Ryobi 16" Li-Ion mower, which is a Greenworks 16" mower that is identical, except for the batteries and charger. OTOH, my guess is that other wear items, such as blades are completely interchangeable. Anyway, this is just a marketing ploy by Lowe's, since Greenworks sells their products online mostly.

 

[MowerMike]

Today I saw the 19" Kobalt cordless Li-Ion mower at my local Lowe's store, and it appears to be the same design as the Greenworks 19" Li-Ion mower. They also had a Kobalt 21" corded mower that appeared the same as the Greenworks 21" corded mower. Not surprisingly, they no longer have any Greenworks electric mowers in that store.

 

[4acres]

It looks impressive enough, and the Kobalt brand has a lifetime warranty according to the Lowe's Kobalt support phone no. 888-356-2258.

 

[xdoomsongx]

My riding mower that came with my house finally broke for good last season, and I have been wanting to try electric. I was looking at a Greenworks or Black and Decker, but then stumbled on this one. I like the warranty coverage at Lowes over having to drive some where etc. I just have a couple of concerns, my yard isn't huge by any means, maybe three to three and a half tennis courts (I've never checked the square footage). I have also never had to mow it with a push mower before. Would a cordless provide enough juice to get it all mowed in one go? This is really my biggest concern, I hate yard work with a passion, and I don't want to have to spend more than one day every week or two mowing the yard. I am hoping this mower would be adequate in that regard. Thanks for any help!

 

[MowerMike]

I just have a couple of concerns, my yard isn't huge by any means, maybe three to three and a half tennis courts (I've never checked the square footage). I have also never had to mow it with a push mower before. Would a cordless provide enough juice to get it all mowed in one go? This is really my biggest concern, I hate yard work with a passion, and I don't want to have to spend more than one day every week or two mowing the yard. I am hoping this mower would be adequate in that regard.

Based on your size estimate, it sounds like your yard is less than 1/4 acre, which you should be able to mow on a single charge with either Kobalt mower. I would get the larger 20" mower to reduce the time it takes to mow, due to its wider cutting path. It also has the advantage of carrying both batteries onboard while mowing, so you don't have to stop in the middle of mowing to change the battery when the first one runs out of juice. Both mowers are supplied with 2 batteries.

I think the Black and Decker is too small for your yard.

 

[BrandonG]

From everything I've read, including hundreds of reviews, sounds like the 4Ah battery lasts approximately 35mins in "mulching mode" and 45 mins otherwise, depending on if the grass is tall or wet. I'm guessing 1/4 acre is about how long the battery would last. The 2Ah battery doesn't last as long.

Greenworks (same thing as the Kobalt, just rebranded and slightly modified) claims 75 minute runtime for both batteries that it comes with, the 4amp hour and 2 amp hour.

So that would be like 50mins and 25mins.

I'm going to be using this Kobalt mower and the other "Max" tools (where the battery is interchangeable between all the equipment), in my new commercial startup. I just won't be able to do larger properties until I make enough to consider an electric battery powered zero-turn for larger properties. I'll just stick to properties around 1/4 acre or so and less.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

From everything I've read, including hundreds of reviews, sounds like the 4Ah battery lasts approximately 35mins in "mulching mode" and 45 mins otherwise, depending on if the grass is tall or wet. I'm guessing 1/4 acre is about how long the battery would last. The 2Ah battery doesn't last as long.

Greenworks (same thing as the Kobalt, just rebranded and slightly modified) claims 75 minute runtime for both batteries that it comes with, the 4amp hour and 2 amp hour.

So that would be like 50mins and 25mins.

I'm going to be using this Kobalt mower and the other "Max" tools (where the battery is interchangeable between all the equipment), in my new commercial startup. I just won't be able to do larger properties until I make enough to consider an electric battery powered zero-turn for larger properties. I'll just stick to properties around 1/4 acre or so and less.

there's no reason you couldn't take multiple batteries to a larger property. As long as you have charged batteries, you can mow.

 

[BrandonG]

Absolutely.

For just starting out, 6-8 extra batteries could last the mower for all my lawns for the day, plus the fact that they recharge quickly, PLUS the fact that the batteries will work with the mower, trimmer, blower and a hedge trimmer.

But the fact is, for larger properties, time is an issue. Someone can do an acre or 2 with a large zero turn and charge $60-$80 or whatever, while I'd have to charge like $300 for 2 acres because it would take me 6 hours on a push mower.

Of course it's not as time efficient as gasoline either, but I'll take the trade off any day.

Time will only improve the efficiency of these batteries, and I believe this is the future of lawn care.