Waiting until next year?

[Lohman446]

I was recently in the neighborhood equipment dealer (because who doesn't need new equipment) considering complementing some of my existing gas powered equipment with battery powered stuff - perhaps a battery powered blower and a mower for small areas around the house that the various riders are not well suited for. This is, often for me, a good time to buy things.

Yet I found myself waiting on it. What if next years battery powered stuff is "the next generation"? How much weight does concern about next years changes play when buying battery powered equipment? I think I may have given it too much weight and yet I found myself oddly thinking waiting until next spring was the best move - or non-move as the case may be.

 

[Mad Mackie]

I think that batteries will continue to improve as time passes. In the 70s a local dealer sold an electric garden tractor, but they didn't go over very well, I don't recall what the brand name was on the tractor, I think Electrac.
I see that you have an Ingersoll 4016 listed. I have an Ingersoll 4018 that I repowered with an 18 Vanguard. Are you a member of the Case Colt Ingersoll forum? I've had an assortment of Case/Ingersoll GTs over the years. I mowed for many years with a repowered 1985 448 and a 1989 4018 which I still have. Both machines had Hydrabaggers. I did snow removal with them also, the 448 with a 54" plow and the 4018 with an SB48 snow blower. I sold the 448 in 2010 when I got into ZTRs of which I have two.

 

[MowerMike]

Well, improvements are incremental. More power, longer run times, faster recharge times, lower prices. The only thing you need to remember is to buy something using a lithium-ion battery. Avoid NiCd, SLA or anything else. Also, check the warranty on the battery, which vary widely. Often times the battery is more expensive than the tool itself, yet it is the component most likely to fail first. It used to be that cordless electric blowers were pretty wimpy, but you can now find some that will outperform most handheld gas powered blowers. The downside is that they are just as heavy, if not even heavier, and can be fatigueing to use for extended periods.