Battery Power for Lawn equipment -- is it time?

Waiting for it

 

Ooops

 

Upper left corner, I see a bit of extension cord, and that is the side where it plugs into on my Greenworks.
Why is the plastic still on the handle? It's been awhile Since I got my mower, but I think there was a piece of packaging to keep the blade from moving in transit. Was it removed?

There should be a safety switch to shut down the motor if it overheats, and defects do happen.

 

I'll bet it would have been a lot more exciting if it would have had an ICE / gas tank involved

.

 

My post was more tongue in cheek.

Gas power equipment is notoriously likely to flame away.

my experience on social media is that if anything “electric” is mentioned you get thousands of coal burner, car on fire, outlet on fire and crashed Tesla autopilot
misinformation filling the feed.

 

prevent-laptop-fire-burning-house

 

i had a corded mower at our 5,000 foot lot on cape cod. it drove me crazy getting the cord out, arranging it properly, mowing away from the plug, trying not to trip on it or run it over.

picked up a b&d 20" rechargeable, plenty of power and run time, one button height adjustment. that was the best thing since sliced bread.
then, after 8 or 10 years, b&d recalled it, went through it top to bottom, and i got a nearly new mower back.
and that was almost 20 years ago

 

A fair number of the fires due to dust build-up. When the grills on our computers get really fuzzy, I disconnect everything, take them out to the driveway with the cover off, use the wet/dry vac on blow. With any luck everything works, when you plug stuff back in.

 

Woke up our gas mower from the hibernation. Although we have 12 acres of land, most are untouched forests. I only have small grass areas to mow around our house. I think we had about a half acre of "lawn" when we first moved here, but I have been slowly converting them to a meadow with wildflowers over the years. I cut grass only 2-3 times a season, but some areas are easier to cut with a lawn mower than using a brush cutter or a string trimmer.

Our trusty 8 years old Husqvarna 7021P push mower with a Honda GCV160 engine started without a problem even though it was stored since last fall without maintenance. It still had some gas from last year. I haven't changed the oil or filter for several years, and never changed the spark plug. I decided to change the oil, plus the air filter, spark plug, and dull blade. Now no chock engine starts with a gentle tag on the first pull, runs super smooth, and cuts extremely clean. I believe I spent ~$250 8 years ago on this mower. It replaced a short-lived heavy and bulky self-propelled Toro gas lawn mower which cost more than twice as much.

Yeah, this lawn mower is not electric, but I use probably less than a gallon of gas per season. It has been the most cost-effective yard power tool I have owned so far. If it stops running, I might buy an electric mower next... but I really don't think that is going to happen any time soon. And when it does happen, I will be likely spending at least 2-3 times more on the E-mower and battery plus electricity.

 

I like to hit the mower, especially the underside, with the leaf blower, after each use.

 

that's a good idea, washing just causes rust. but it is harder on a rider

 

Yeah, my previous fancier Toro self-propelled mower had the garden hose attachment on the deck to wash the underside. I never used that function. But that mower lasted less than 6 years and the engine died.
https://www.jackssmallengines.com/diy/how-to-clean-the-deck-of-a-toro-recycler-self-propelled-mower/

My current Husky mower was less than half the price. At the time I was shopping for a replacement mower, it was the least expensive lawn mower with a Honda engine. A genuine Honda-made mower, even the least expensive one, would have cost three times of this one. I am happy with this simple push mower. It takes all kinds of abuse like running over tree stumps and rocks every time I use it. It has never been serviced except for very minimal maintenance (just did the second oil change and first-time air filter, spark plug, and blade replacement).. and still gets going strong after 8 years.

 

i think toro has gone to the dogs. instead of competing well, they've given in to apathy.

 

We had a Toro mower before the one died young. The first Toro lasted over 15 years. I was quite happy with it. The Husky mower we currently use is our third mower. I also have our first snow blower which is a Toro model. So far it is working fine, but it is only 6 years young.

 

Most consumer mowers are Chinese junk. The older Lawn boy 2-cycle mowers were long lived (the deck wore out before the motor). Now the Honda mowers (I have one) and some commercial brands are still well made.

JeffD

 

That's seems to be the case with a lot of motorized products. We have a decades old window-insert fan, works fine still. Wanting a second one, I ordered the same make/model on Amazon. It worked fine for about a week before it started to make a lot of noise. Exchanged it for another, the same, and it also went off in short order.

 

honda isn't manufacturing in china?

 

Maybe not the country so much as the company, their management.

 

Most Honda lawn mowers are made in the US. There is a small engine manufacturing facility in China, but I think almost all of US sold law mower engines are made in the North Carolina plant.

Honda Engines | Manufacturing Locations

 

We have a Husqvarna rear tine tiller for turning over the garden. It is our only gas powered yard tool. We paid extra to get the Honda engine on it. I have had it quite awhile now. Usually starts on the first couple of pulls each year. It probably only runs about 3 hours each year but is always dependable and never balks at starting or running. I have left gas in over the winter and thought for sure it was going to have trouble starting in the spring but to my surprise it started fine. The extra money for the Honda engine was a good investment for us.