Battery Power for Lawn equipment -- is it time?

I would actually prefer a Lifepo4 solution because then I could use it as a spit can for some solar panels and have some limited emergency aux power in a post-storm environment.

 

Remembering NiCd Nickel–cadmium battery - Wikipedia and NiMh rechargeables, for flashlight, camera, power tools etc. it was often quite frustrating when they would no longer charge up, and even they weren't cheap to replace back in the day. The cheap lithiums are similar. But decent lithiums are like the energizer bunny and given the right mix of battery to appliance have amazing power and run time.
The thing about conversions, is there are lots of pitfalls involved and rarely get talked about. I've have talked with others who have done conversions and others who would like to do conversions, I'm one of the latter group, and I've found that the two groups approach many projects from a way different perspective.

Anyone that's done a conversion and shares their own experiences, typically forgets some of the obvious to them details while sharing. One is the product warranty. The other is being able to observe when something is not working normally in a customized conversion. Obviously, to me anyways, there is always a risk factor in custom conversions, and that risk factor is a big part of owning one of those kinds of toys. And when the project doesn't go as planned, if t here ever even was a plan in the first place, it can be and expensive hobby.
Much more so than buying new.

 

I saw identical size spec lithium iron batteries for my lawn mower but they said not for high constant loads or something. So I got the lead acid agm batteries like it came with. There are more things involved besides size and voltage.

 

The one advantage with the OEM batteries is that there will be no compatibility issues.

 

Here's an instructional (?) tube that I think's an update of one I posted here a couple years ago of a dad running after a kids toy he'd upgraded and the toy was faster than he could run. haha ...
Tons of other kid toy conversions on the tubes now too. Some of um are even funny.

 

OK it isn't quite lawn equipment, but it is lithium-battery-powered and it touches on something we discussed a while ago in this thread.

It's an ultra-high power induction cooktop. The idea is that it runs on a regular 120v circuit, and charges up a big internal battery. Then when you need to cook, it uses both the battery and the line connection to power the induction system for extremely fast high-heat cooking.

Several pages back in this thread, I'd anticipated this sort of arrangement in the context of a snowblower. You aren't going to get enough power out of a 120v extension cord to power a real two-stage snowblower. But you might maybe get enough with a hybridized utility + battery system, and for less money than an all-battery system.

I'm not sure I love the idea of a cooking range that costs >50% more than other already-expensive induction cookers and requires periodic battery replacement, but it's still progress.

 

Do the two stage battery snow blowers available now not work?

As for the cook top, I can see the value for homes that will be off grid, but not ones where supplying more current to the stove would be an issue.

 

The extra price of the cooktop might not be a lot more than what I'd need to have an electrician upgrade my service and panel and run a 240V branch to the kitchen. It looks like they're counting on me not being the only person in that situation.

I see that it also contains a grid-tied inverter so that it can "help stabilize the grid" and/or cooperate with other battery appliances they have in development to store energy for the house. But that only works if it is connected to a 240V branch. I can imagine code officials waiting for a lot of new guidance on this idea of backfeeding from a branch circuit.

 

That raises the question, what are the ratio of gas to electric stoves in American homes? I've only had electric, so the electric supply is already in place.

You will be stuck with a gas stove.

 

I think there are "a lot" of gas stoves and non-240V-wired kitchens.

There are some provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to provide some assistance with electrical upgrades for people who would like to move to induction.

I am not sure whether the same provisions could be used for help with an Impulse cooktop, in lieu of big electrical work,

 

Incentives for an induction cooktop itself should apply.

 

I have not attempted to use a two-stage battery electric blower, but everything I've read has suggested that they just aren't there yet. All of them are smaller- specifically the scoop, auger and critically the impeller.

I haven't seen any that are boasting about their raw power- if they had it, why wouldn't they market on that? So if I see one capable of expressing around 5kW across a reasonable duty cycle, then I think it would be fair to expect performance like what I get now from my middle-of-the-snowy-road gas rig.

 

I have an old Tecumseh 5 HP (about 4 KW) two stage snow blower and it is somewhat underpowered for heavy snow. You need at least 7 HP (5+ KW) for good performance in a gas powered snow blower, so Leadfoot is correct about battery requirements for this application.

JeffD

 

See what you mean about a power rating. Same with lawn mowers from my little window shopping of them. Just did a quick look at gas mowers and blowers for comparison, and they only advertise engine displacement these days. I remember them switching from horsepower to torque last time I actually shopped for a gas mower. Dug into a Lowes listing of a Ariens blower, and found a torque rating, but Ariens' own site doesn't list it.

This should probably be in the vent thread. You have to do some digging to find these specs for both gas and electric, and then you might not find it.

Greenworks did. This blower is 6.7kW.
60V 24" Cordless Battery Two-Stage Snow Blower W/ Two (2) 8.0 Ah Batteries & Dual-Port Charger | Greenworks Tools

 

Have the Bauer works great for smaller jobs. Does leak bar oil, but...
kris

 

Sounds great! I'd love to check it out but their website is furiously re-directing me to the French version where they don't even sell snowblowers.

Thinking it over a bit more?

I'll probably just keep that gas-burner snowblower forever.

It's a good Ariens, 250cc with a differential drive axle and I even added handgrip heaters. I've already learned the ins and outs of repairing it.

Snow is becoming less common on my driveway- I didn't even use the machine once during 2022-23.

But when it hits, it can be pretty deep and messy- and that gas rig is great for that.

Electric snowblowers need much bigger batteries than any other power tool I own or am considering.

So... if I'm going to have a tool that needs/uses much more power than all the others, but sometimes sits a year+ unused, there's not much upside for a battery-electric rig in my situation.

 

The few I looked at were using the same batteries that the lawn mowers used. Just two instead of one, and probably the higher amp/hr ones.

If you already got a gas whatever that is only rarely used, it is hard to justify paying for a battery powered replacement. I didn't toss the 20" Craftsman chainsaw when I got the 14" Worx. Haven't looked at it in years. Looks like I'll need it for a dead maple trunk.

 

I plan to fell a dozens maple trees in behind and side of our house to allow direct sun to the roof for the solar panels. A few are over 50 feet mature trees of DBH 24 to 30 inches. I am going to hire an arborist to fell the trees, but planning to DIY delimbing and bucking to save money.

I don't think my Husky 353 gas chainsaw has enough power (and bar length) to buck the bottom part of those trees. Thinking of buying a larger gas chainsaw with at least 24 in bar and 4kW power, unless there is an electric chainsaw that can do the job. But I doubt there is an electric chainsaws on markert that is up for the task.

Do any one have any suggestions for the chainsaw?

 

Would the wood be of value to wood workers? Maybe not worth the hassle?

 

We have a bunch of these around us.