Electrified Yard Equipment


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
As promised:
Current collection. DeWalt 20V blower and 20V lawn trimmer. Love them. Both replaced 2 stroke gas tools. The blower is even more powerful than the Echo blower, but not the trimmer. It's a tad weaker. But, in both cases I love them. Easy to use slap a battery in and go. No stinky exhaust, no keeping separate fuel. Same battery as some of my power tools.
Just bought about 3 weeks ago Toro Super Recycler 60V mower. We have a large lot. So for the bulk of cutting the Kubota gets the nod. (Big Orange). But, I always have times trying to maneuver a large machine with a large 60" deck is a bit tough, and the trimmer is not the right tool. The Mower replaced my Honda HRX216 walk behind (which even had a miniature hydrostatic transmission). Again, tired of storing different types of fuel, maintaining gas engines, that don't really get used but still needing oil changes or special mixes and such. So the Honda got sold.
Next I have a Toro 60V Power Clear snow blower ordered. Takes same batteries as the mower. Currently have Toro QX724 snowblower. Plenty of power, starts easily but doesn't clean worth a plugged nickel. Has to be the worst $1000 I've ever spent. It had replaced my aging Honda snowblower. (HS621). Clogged sometimes (though if you replaced the paddles more often it helped). Cleaned right down to the pavement as well. And being a Honda was powerful and always started. But was getting old. Parts harder to get. Why the new Toro was bought. (Wish I had the Honda back).
Bottom line plan is to see how the Power Clear works in tough snow. Likely will sell the larger QX724.
Slowly then, clearing the need to hold on to gasoline. Our generator will be converted to dual fuel soon. (gasoline/LP_NG). Once it's converted no reason to keep fuel for it. Only remaining gas tool would be the power washer. Once I find a suitable battery one it too will go away.
This way the only liquid fuel I will need to store and use will be good ol #2 Diesel :D
 
I bit the bullet on the 20v blower and trimmer too! I already had the pole saw (GREAT for me) and chainsaw so, I was kind of locked into their power system. I had the drill and driver already.
The trimmer makes it pretty much around the entire lawn. I wish the blower was a wee bit more robust but, it’s fine.
I have three bigger batteries that came with the chainsaw and pole saw which will do the bulk of the (not terribly large driveway)
The smaller ones will get the 12x16 deck and patio clear but, that’s about it. Happy to have a total of five!
 
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Makita blower and line trimmer but we have zero grass now so the trimmer might get sold. All power tools and lights are Makita. Love that we store zero gas at the house. Life is much simpler this way. Even the daughter knows how to use the tools and equipment. I’d call that success.
 
I also got tired of storing and using gas before it went bad. In the fall I'd try to drain my engines after the last use but then winter would sneak up and settle in. The next spring, trying to clean the bad gas out became a real chore. Using True Fuel in the fall solved most of the problems but it's expensive. The worst was the chainsaw. Even on a good day, my back and shoulders hurt before I got it started.

I now have a Dewalt 12" battery chainsaw. It's big enough to cut down a18" tree and by the time the battery runs down I'm more than ready for a break. It only weighs 9 pounds so I can cut higher branches with ease.

It's really nice being able to grab a tool and get right to work without having to spend time fiddling with it first.
 
Yep. Again, I am not under the false belief that I am "being green". It's a farce IMO. These things as with the possibility of the BEV Toyota. Are simply "comfort and convenience" items for me. On tools I use only rarely gasoline power makes no sense to me anymore. If I still owned a gas engine tractor I guess I would feel differently. And the Kubota is so stingy with fuel it's amazing. By this time of year I would have run through many gasoline refills. I have only used about 4 gallons of diesel so far since early spring when I first broke the machine out.
Now if I can find a decent battery powered pressure washer we'd be good. Though even my generator is VERY stingy with gasoline. After the last huge storm here last month daughter borrowed the gen from me. They ran it 3 days straight, on MAYBE 2.5 gallons of gas. Still once I can make the shift away it will make sense for me to convert it to LP/NG (the regulators have a switch on them to swap back and forth). If I need to run the genset on a long term run, I have a large enough gas line outside to run as long as needed
 
I might buy a 40 v Ryobi single stage snowblower yet. I have the 40 v mower, blower and weed wacker.
You buy just the tool you save well over $ 150.00 compared to 2 more batteries and a charger.
Still have my 2 stage 24" troy built but rarely use it with the mild winters lately and it's a pig to use for a few inches.
My late brother had a sno- joe that did a good job on about 3-4 inches.
 
Toro leaf vac/blower and Stihl line trimmer. Love them both.

The leaf vac grinds the leaves up so fine that what used to take 7 or 8 bags in the Fall, now takes a little over 2.

Love that the line trimmer shaft is adjustable. Just extend it all the way and it makes for an edger that's comfortable to use.
 
I’ve debating this for a while now. I have several Dewalt 20v tools. I love my Echo weed eater and blower but like the idea of popping in a battery and just going. I do have the small job site Dewalt blower. It works good on the patio as well as stoking charcoal😀.
 
I have both elecric and gas blowers. The electric blower is great for clearing the patio, but not enough arse to blow the kind of leaves and debris that I deal with in my yard. I love my old black and decker battery powered string trimmer. I have a gas string trimmer that I hate using.... I need to give that thing away this fall. I have quite a few Ryobi power tools and I think they're great for most home-owner DIY projects.
 
I am honestly amazed at the amount of "blow power" the 20V DeWalt has. I get a lot of leaves and it does a good job. Though quite honestly I rely mostly on mulching them with the tractor, and what I can't I blow into the culvert and light up. As long as they're dry they go fast
 
I still have my gas stihl back pack blower just for my neighbors elm leaves. I'll walk down the street three doors down both ways and clear the curb if rain is coming.
That Ryobi 40v is the chit tho. That will blow landscape rocks pretty easily so it has a good amount of force compared to my old worx blower.
This is my first year with it so lets see what it does come fall time.
One of the nice things with a cordless blower in the wintertime is when we have a lite dusting of snow you can blow it off the cars and walks with ease.
 
I live rural and semi rural.
We have couple battery operated yard tools along with a ton of battery operated hand tools and I like them a lot.
I have a 12” Ridgid chainsaw, a Ridgid leaf blower and my son recently got us a Milwaukee weed eater.
We have the top of the line gas engine yard tools too ,it’s just that sometimes a battery unit is less hassle, easier and quieter.

The Ridgid electric chainsaw is a pleasure to operate .
It can do anything my old 12” gas operated chain saw could and we have a ton of those batteries.
It’s just push button easy as opposed to pulling and pulling the cord on a flooded gas chainsaw.

Our place in Washington gets lots of leaves on our decks and the Ridgid blower works so so much easier than my large Echo blower.
I can do 3 fair sized decks in under 10 minutes so I’m good with that.
Our place in California has oak trees and needs the gas blower to move those leaves.

The California place is 3/4 acre with a lot of weeds and the electric weed eater held its own really well.
We have a bunch of beehives here that my son for whatever reason left me that area to finish off so I will get a chance to use it tomorrow.
It sure seems a lot lighter than my Echo weed eater.

The only reason I got into battery operated tools is that it’s easier/more convenient for most of my situations and you don’t always need a xxxx ton of horsepower to do a simple job.
Gas tools have also broken several of our windows and sliding doors throughout the years.
 
I just got tired of the smell and the repairs. Toro is my first foray away from my DeWalt stuff. But only because DeWalt doesn't make a snowblower that I know of. Otherwise I would have stayed on the DeWalt Ecosystem. But overall Toro has good stuff. Except for their QX system snowblowers. Absolute garbage. Sad. Overall great machine poorly designed and executed.
 
I recently had to buy a new trimmer to replace my 20 year old corded electric one
I opted for a cordless one from Harbor Freight as I have a cordless drill and driver from there and already had the batteries
The first time I used it, I immediately looked at the blower
I have a corded electric blower that works fine, but the cordless is a game changer!
But their cordless blower is quite a bit less powerful than my corded one, so I passed on that
 
I'm really pleased with the DeWalt. Even though it's not one of those high voltage ones (60v-80v+) it does a very good job and moves as much debris as the large Echo gas blower I had. Quieter, lighter, no fumes, no leaky gasoline and so on.
Battery life on the Toro mower is not as high as you may see claimed.
My front yard is about 4000 sq ft. Friday I had Blake do the front yard and a little extra down the side of the house. Then I did some trim work with it. Battery was down to one indicator. So, I guess it could handle an entire "in town" lot. Certainly nothing more though. But, so what? You do the yard, stick the battery on the charger. Done.
On days where I use the blower a bit heavier I'll take both batteries (a 4 AH and a 5 AH) with me when I am out. By the time I am done they're usually both spent.
So they simply get recharged. Would be handier if I had 2 chargers but I don't. A tool I bought came with a battery and a charger so I know I SHOULD have 2 chargers but have no clue where I laid the second one. So maybe I'll just buy one. Of course then I will find the lost one
 
Yep, drill, driver, chainsaw, trimmer, blower, pole saw all DeWalt. One battery format one charger in the basement, one in the garage, one in the drill bag. I’m good with that stuff!
Gas mower, gas snowblower. Wife’s ex is an excellent small engine guy and we are on good terms so, maintenance is reasonable. I have not had an issue with bad gas in a very long time. The technique I try to keep in practice is, fill, use, refill the tank! If there is no “dead air space” for condensation to take place, what can go wrong? So far three years doing that and I’ve not had any gas issues. The “up” side of that is I’m always ready to mow or blow.
 
LMichaels said:
Now if I can find a decent battery powered pressure washer we'd be good.
Click to expand...

What about corded electric?

I bought this one over two years ago and it is fantastic for an electric and as good as some gas power washers I've used.

Motor is rated 14 amps so it needs a heavy duty extension cord and a dedicated outlet with no additional loads or it will pop the breaker.

I really like that it is much, much quieter than a gas pressure washer, and when I'm using it it runs a few hours so I don't know how a battery powered unit could handle the run-time.





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It's on sale at best buy.

 
I had a corded electric. I gave it away. I just hate cords especially when I have to deal with 2 things hanging off it (hose and a cord). The hose is enough PIA for me
 
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