Anyone have an electric lawn mower?

[Jay D in Jersey]

I know your looking into an electric LM, but I would suggest a Toro 22" self propelled good old fashion gas powered one, It's hard to beat the Briggs & Stratton engine, mine starts on the first or second pull. Very little maintenance, I change the air filter, spark plug & oil annually & can be had for a little over 4 bills.

Bought a Husqvarna gas mower 5-6 years ago for the small lawn at our beach house. Has a B&S engine and Briggs claims you don't need to change the oil, just maintain the correct level. I haven't changed the oil yet. In winter , I run the tank dry and push it under the steps and it lives there until Spring....rain, humidity salt air. Every Spring I add gas and it fires up on the third pull every time.
It's tough to kill that B&S engine.

 

[LMichaels]

Toro now using Chinese no name engines. (at least on my new snowblower). But the engines are not the issue. BTW I had a Toro Personal Pace, walk behind. Sold it when I acquired the Honda. Which I bought for the Quadra Cut blade system. Which BTW is the best darn thing I have ever used for lawn equip. My reasoning for looking at an electric is regardless of whether I use the Honda or not, I am still maintaining it and storing it (with space in short supply). I also had an old Honda snow thrower. (really old). Forgot the model. It was a 6 or 7 hp one. But parts were hard to come by, it wasn't the best designed chute and would clog easily.
So it was off to CR and see what they recommended (I should have known better). They were fawning all over this Toro 824QXE so off to Home Depot and $1000 later I come home with it. Despite the Chinese engine (that is not the issue). The thing cannot handle the least little bit of heavier snow. Rather than the feed housing staying down the stupid thing has a soft plastic scraper and it flexes and allows the whole machine to go "over the top". If you can actually get snow into the auger housing it throws it 40-60' easily. The trouble is no matter how the shoes are adjusted, it will not clean. Leaving, 2" or more of now hard packed icy snow behind. Absolute worst POS I've ever owned or used.
Now oddly I found a little SnoJoe, 24V, electric "shovel". That little thing cleans down and throws better than my big $1000 pos.
I don't have a lot to actually clear. Just the drive and front walk/patio. So, I will be finding a GOOD (and believe me CR will NOT be consulted), battery electric snow blower. Right now Ego and SnoJoe are at the top of my "hit list". With SnoJoe maybe a little on top since I already have a 24V battery. This will be either augmenting the Toro or replacing it (if I can find another sucker) to buy it.
Oh it also has that Personal Pace feature. Oddly that worked great on the mower I had, but it's horrible on the snow blower. It's grabby, jerks like crazy, hard to control. Truly the thing is a POS and IDK how those people fawned all over such a piece of junk.
Sadly when you buy a machine, you bought it. I bought mine, and got it home. But then did not get a snow for almost 6 weeks. In fairness if you get light fluffy snow it works pretty well and clears really fast. But if we get 15 snow falls we might get 2 of the 15 the machine can handle

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

Toro now using Chinese no name engines. (at least on my new snowblower). But the engines are not the issue. BTW I had a Toro Personal Pace, walk behind. Sold it when I acquired the Honda. Which I bought for the Quadra Cut blade system. Which BTW is the best darn thing I have ever used for lawn equip. My reasoning for looking at an electric is regardless of whether I use the Honda or not, I am still maintaining it and storing it (with space in short supply). I also had an old Honda snow thrower. (really old). Forgot the model. It was a 6 or 7 hp one. But parts were hard to come by, it wasn't the best designed chute and would clog easily.
So it was off to CR and see what they recommended (I should have known better). They were fawning all over this Toro 824QXE so off to Home Depot and $1000 later I come home with it. Despite the Chinese engine (that is not the issue). The thing cannot handle the least little bit of heavier snow. Rather than the feed housing staying down the stupid thing has a soft plastic scraper and it flexes and allows the whole machine to go "over the top". If you can actually get snow into the auger housing it throws it 40-60' easily. The trouble is no matter how the shoes are adjusted, it will not clean. Leaving, 2" or more of now hard packed icy snow behind. Absolute worst POS I've ever owned or used.
Now oddly I found a little SnoJoe, 24V, electric "shovel". That little thing cleans down and throws better than my big $1000 pos.
I don't have a lot to actually clear. Just the drive and front walk/patio. So, I will be finding a GOOD (and believe me CR will NOT be consulted), battery electric snow blower. Right now Ego and SnoJoe are at the top of my "hit list". With SnoJoe maybe a little on top since I already have a 24V battery. This will be either augmenting the Toro or replacing it (if I can find another sucker) to buy it.
Oh it also has that Personal Pace feature. Oddly that worked great on the mower I had, but it's horrible on the snow blower. It's grabby, jerks like crazy, hard to control. Truly the thing is a POS and IDK how those people fawned all over such a piece of junk.
Sadly when you buy a machine, you bought it. I bought mine, and got it home. But then did not get a snow for almost 6 weeks. In fairness if you get light fluffy snow it works pretty well and clears really fast. But if we get 15 snow falls we might get 2 of the 15 the machine can handle

Had a 6HP two stage Murray snowblower that I bought at Home Depot years ago when we were living in our bigger home which had a pretty big driveway. It had that Tecumseh Snow King engine. Thing worked and ran great. Sold it to a neighbor when we moved. He's still using it.

 

[JKalchik]

Had a 6HP two stage Murray snowblower that I bought at Home Depot years ago when we were living in our bigger home which had a pretty big driveway. It had that Tecumseh Snow King engine. Thing worked and ran great. Sold it to a neighbor when we moved. He's still using it.

I used to work for a supplier to Murray of Ohio. I'll just leave it at..... I won't buy anything from them.

When we bought the house 15 years ago, I bought a mower and snowblower from the local dealer. Green paint, pretty sure it's relabelled B&S. The mower has been in storage, been paying a lawn service for the last few years. Both engines start fast. Only issue I've had with the snowblower was a failed case gasket that got engine oil all over the drive belts. Once that was fixed, it's ran well, almost like new.

Me, I'll keep my business local..... and observationally, what I get locally seemed to be built far better than anything out of a box store, *AND* I can get service & parts easily. Shoot, they picked up & returned the blower when fixing the case gasket for $25.

Electric..... yeah, if I'm going down the electric road, I'd be interested in a common battery platform. Buddy of mine picked up a riding Ego a couple of years ago, and loves it.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

The first mower I ever used was a Craftsman self-propelled reel mower that my Dad had. I'm sure someone still makes them.

The Craftsman was just a rebadged McClane reel mower which are still made today. Tru-Cut has one so does Trimmer they cut beautifully on Zoysia and Bermuda. I have owned a McClane and Tru-Cut you have to be dedicated and mow frequently and they need alot of maintenance used to sharpen my own blades.

 

[BPratt]

Toro now using Chinese no name engines. (at least on my new snowblower). But the engines are not the issue. BTW I had a Toro Personal Pace, walk behind. Sold it when I acquired the Honda. Which I bought for the Quadra Cut blade system. Which BTW is the best darn thing I have ever used for lawn equip. My reasoning for looking at an electric is regardless of whether I use the Honda or not, I am still maintaining it and storing it (with space in short supply). I also had an old Honda snow thrower. (really old). Forgot the model. It was a 6 or 7 hp one. But parts were hard to come by, it wasn't the best designed chute and would clog easily.
So it was off to CR and see what they recommended (I should have known better). They were fawning all over this Toro 824QXE so off to Home Depot and $1000 later I come home with it. Despite the Chinese engine (that is not the issue). The thing cannot handle the least little bit of heavier snow. Rather than the feed housing staying down the stupid thing has a soft plastic scraper and it flexes and allows the whole machine to go "over the top". If you can actually get snow into the auger housing it throws it 40-60' easily. The trouble is no matter how the shoes are adjusted, it will not clean. Leaving, 2" or more of now hard packed icy snow behind. Absolute worst POS I've ever owned or used.
Now oddly I found a little SnoJoe, 24V, electric "shovel". That little thing cleans down and throws better than my big $1000 pos.
I don't have a lot to actually clear. Just the drive and front walk/patio. So, I will be finding a GOOD (and believe me CR will NOT be consulted), battery electric snow blower. Right now Ego and SnoJoe are at the top of my "hit list". With SnoJoe maybe a little on top since I already have a 24V battery. This will be either augmenting the Toro or replacing it (if I can find another sucker) to buy it.
Oh it also has that Personal Pace feature. Oddly that worked great on the mower I had, but it's horrible on the snow blower. It's grabby, jerks like crazy, hard to control. Truly the thing is a POS and IDK how those people fawned all over such a piece of junk.
Sadly when you buy a machine, you bought it. I bought mine, and got it home. But then did not get a snow for almost 6 weeks. In fairness if you get light fluffy snow it works pretty well and clears really fast. But if we get 15 snow falls we might get 2 of the 15 the machine can handle

I have a toro 724 that’s a tank. One pull start no matter how long it sits. Cuts thru any type of frozen stuff. Minimal clogging just bang the auger box down and it unclogs.I have an electric toro single stage that’s awesome. It’s a little guy maybe model 1xx

Then I got a toro 824 as a second machine since I am happy with toro. I cleaned it up then sent it to a reputable shop to go through it. Nothing wrong with it all parts present and working. Used it a few times and it didn’t really throw snow. Sent it to brother in law and he complained and sent it back. One more round at the shop. Starts, runs but can only kinda throw powder snow that I could probably move with a leaf blower.

The 724 is old and with a smallish intake and short shute. The 824 has a big intake and long path to discharge. I’m thinking it’s a poor design.

The 824 went to the junkyard as I couldn’t get any of the local snowblower flippers to take it

 

[JKalchik]

I have a toro 724 that’s a tank. One pull start no matter how long it sits. Cuts thru any type of frozen stuff. Minimal clogging just bang the auger box down and it unclogs.I have an electric toro single stage that’s awesome. It’s a little guy maybe model 1xx

Then I got a toro 824 as a second machine since I am happy with toro. I cleaned it up then sent it to a reputable shop to go through it. Nothing wrong with it all parts present and working. Used it a few times and it didn’t really throw snow. Sent it to brother in law and he complained and sent it back. One more round at the shop. Starts, runs but can only kinda throw powder snow that I could probably move with a leaf blower.

The 724 is old and with a smallish intake and short shute. The 824 has a big intake and long path to discharge. I’m thinking it’s a poor design.

The 824 went to the junkyard as I couldn’t get any of the local snowblower flippers to take it

The 824 issues sound an awful lot like what mine was doing with greasy belts.

 

[LMichaels]

I have the Qxe variant. IDK what those engineers were thinking. Like I said. Even the engine is some no name Chinese thing. Likely from same factory that produces Predator and what have you, it's not he engine making me hate the machine. It's the auger. (or whatever the housing is called around the auger) design. Lots of flexible plastic. So rather than digging in, it flexes and floats over the top. To it's credit though, I have never had a chute clog. But then I don't think it can get enough snow into the chute to clog it

 

[Jim C in Denver]

I'm still concerned with range as I would be unwilling to purchase an additional expensive battery. I guess I would just immediately return the mower if it couldn't cut my (1/3 of an acre) yard in one charge.

My five year old EGO is good on my .45 acre lawn. I think the advertised run time on mine was 60 minutes. I'd always be able to finish the lawn, but would not have a lot of juice left over for the trimmer and blower. So I'd take a lemonade break while recharging.

But for convenience/flexibility, I did buy one tool with a smaller battery included. Batteries are not as expensive when you buy the battery bundled with the tool. All the other tools I bought without the battery -- which makes those other tools much cheaper.

I'd start the lawn with the small battery, then cycle in the big battery. By the end of the mow, I'd have a fully recharged small battery for the trimmer and blower, plus some left over juice in the big battery. So basically unlimited run time.

You can use the mower battery for the smaller tools. But it is pretty big/heavy and way more capacity than you'd ever need for the small tool run time.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

EGO will be another hard look. A couple of neighbors have them and they seem to work well, until they let the grass get too tall.

All mowers will struggle if the grass gets too tall/thick.

With my EGO (and also with my prior gas Troy Bilt) I always bag if the grass is extra long. I usually bag in the spring and fall, then mulch during the summer heat.

 

[JSaus]

What will really make electric options take off would be a universal battery. Imagine if we had to use a different fuel for all our machinery. Should not be too hard, especially with companies like Black & Decker owning DeWalt and Craftsman etc. That way, we could buy the best in each type and not be locked into a brand because of the batteries. Same with electric cars-we need universal fast charging stations and plugs.

Just of interest

Tool Brands: Who Owns What? A Guide to Corporate Affiliations

Which company owns which tool brands? Our guide shows which of your favorite tool brands are actually owned by other companies.

toolguyd.com

 

[LMichaels]

Ya got that right. It would be nice if all tools had the same "interface". IOW put the DW battery on a Bosch, Makita and so on. YEah, they might want to use different cells or tech to make one stand out from another. But, if they standardized the connection it would be great

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

What will really make electric options take off would be a universal battery. Imagine if we had to use a different fuel for all our machinery. Should not be too hard, especially with companies like Black & Decker owning DeWalt and Craftsman etc. That way, we could buy the best in each type and not be locked into a brand because of the batteries. Same with electric cars-we need universal fast charging stations and plugs.

Just of interest

Tool Brands: Who Owns What? A Guide to Corporate Affiliations

Which company owns which tool brands? Our guide shows which of your favorite tool brands are actually owned by other companies.

toolguyd.com

Exactly. I'm thinking those various adapters are not the answer either.

 

[DanHoo]

I know your looking into an electric LM, but I would suggest a Toro 22" self propelled good old fashion gas powered one, It's hard to beat the Briggs & Stratton engine, mine starts on the first or second pull. Very little maintenance, I change the air filter, spark plug & oil annually & can be had for a little over 4 bills.

That's what I have.