One of the most under rated features I’ve found with my mower is that since starting it is just a matter of pushing a button, when I need to pick something up or step away for a minute (ie open a fence, move something) I’m not trying to decide between letting go of the mower and having to restart it vs trying to keep one hand on it to keep it running while also trying to do something else.
Similarly, trying to time running out of gas near the garage so I don’t have to drag the gas can out to the back yard and back (or pushing the dead mower out the garage and back out to the yard) is a thing of the past.
My last place was a fairly narrow 2 acre yard. I had a lawn tractor and it was uncanny how if I did run out of gas, it would be almost all the way in the back almost all the time. Also as the tractor started breaking down, same deal.
I think I would have started to consider just keeping a (well sealed against water ingress) gas can back there.
At least the lawnmower isn’t a big deal to move around when it’s empty. It’s the (two stage, self propelled) snowblower that’s a pain to push around when it’s not running and the full gas can is only slightly less of a pain to carry out to the sidewalk. As soon as that thing starts acting funny, I know I need to make my way back to the garage with it.
I have about a third of an acre. The rare times when I run out of gas partway through, I just declare myself done, and put the mower away.
My first step when mowing is to fill the machine with gas. I’ve never run out.
Mine is, too. And every so often, I do run out.
That’s why I haven’t bought a battery-powered mower. I don’t think the battery will last long enough to complete my lawn, and I am just not willing to deal with changing batteries part way through.
I would imagine my battery mower would handle 1/3 acre. And you may not appreciate how simple changing batteries is on these things. You lift a hinged cover and push a button and the battery is released. You lift it out (weighs a couple of pounds) place it down, pick up the spare, slide it into the slot and press it till it clicks. If I were concerned, I’d have 2 batteries charged, bring them both out and have the spare sitting on a convenient surface - a table or bench.
Someone mentioned the ease of stopping it mid-mow. I could not believe it before the first mow this spring. Didn’t need to remember to get gas, to check the oil/filter, prime it, and wonder how many pulls it would take. Slit the battery in, pull the bar next to the handle, press the button, and off it went!
My lawn is hilly and has lots of complicated stuff i need to avoid. I’m pretty sure the batteries of the last generation i shopped wouldn’t be up to it. And charging and maintaining a bank of batteries of a thing, too.
What i actually got is an electric lawn robot. Like Roomba, with sharp spinning blades. But for reasons, it’s in the shop. Hopefully i can finish setting it up when it returns.
Growing up, my father had a pull-start gasoline mower, which I hated. I could never get it started by pulling on the cord. Although, actually, the engine and handle part lifted off the mower and could be attached to a snowblower, which was a nice feature. Later, he replaced the pull-start mower with one that also could be started with a key (there was a small battery that had to be recharged).
Their house is on 9/10 of an acre but no all of that is lawn, so perhaps we had to mow a half acre. I wonder if the current battery powered mowers would work.
This was very striking for me a couple of weeks ago. I had a tree fall. The guy from the power company came out to clear it off the power lines, and he used an electric chainsaw. He’d pickup the saw, pull the trigger, and make his cut. Then he could move around reposition himself, clear the piece he cut, etc., then pickup the saw and just pull the trigger for the next cut.
A few days later a tree service came out to clean up the rest of the tree. That guy used a gas powered chainsaw of a similar size. He was only ever cutting for a second or two, and in between each cut he had to turn off the saw, and then for the next cut he had to pull the string, usually twice, to get it started. At least one time he was holding a branch with one hand, so he had to call over his assistant for a third hand to pull the cord on the chainsaw.
The electric seemed so much easier.
To add onto this, my mower has a storage slot for a second battery, so you don’t have to go back to wherever for the spare. Just lift the lid and switch them.
My mower had 1.5 out of 4 bars left after mowing roughly 2,500-3,000 square feet of tall grass, so it might have gotten to 4,000 or 5,000 on one battery, 8,000 or 9,000 on two. But I don’t know yet how long a battery will run till it’s completely dead, and my estimate of the area could be off.
BTW, an acre is 43,560 sf (4,327 sq m); a third of that is 14,520 (1,349).
My mower does 5100 sq’ on a battery with some juice to spare. So maybe 5500 per battery. It varies a lot though.
I don’t know about all models, but on my mower, there’s two spots for batteries. One that the mower is using and another for a spare battery for exactly this reason.
So, if some of my yard is covered by house, driveway, garden, etc., but the complexity of the shape means i need to effectively repeat a lot of areas, I’m looking at at least 10,000 worth of land-equivalent, much of it uphill.
(And the lot isn’t actually “1/3 acre”, it’s actually a rectangle of 15,000 square feet. But i think of it as 1/3 acre, because that’s usually the more useful number.)
So i almost certainly wouldn’t get through it in one battery, and probably not in two. At least, it would be uncomfortably close. Especially as the batteries got older.
Our Ego mower will do our 5000 SF almost twice, like short by 200’. It’s self propelled. The lack of noise is very nice (and I’m a motorhead). It’s a 7.5 AH battery, and they sell a 10 AH, but it’s stupid expensive. I bought a leaf blower which came with a 2.5 AH battery, so I can use that to mop up if needed.
Love my EGO mower. The 5 AH battery that came with it will do my 7000-ish lawn no problem, with a dozen minutes left over besides, and has more guts than my old 4 HP gas mower had. My favorite part about it though was unknown till I got it: It’s so QUIET. I’ve had it for 4 years now, the battery is warrantied for 5 years, so it’ll be interesting to see when its actual life is up. Like you, I can still use the 2.5 AH battery that came with my weed wacker.
One of the best purchases I’ve ever made.
I started with a plug in electric lawn mower, and i did love that it was quiet.
What I’m reading is that i may be able to get a practical electric lawnmower in another couple of years. I look forward to it.
Unless the robot works. In which case, wheeee!
I’d be interested in hearing more about the robot mower. We have a large flat grassy area that might be perfect for a robot. It could run day and night, we have no neighbors nearby.
My in-laws have one similar to this: AUTOMOWER® 415X Self-Install | Husqvarna US
It is extremely quiet (it has a couple tiny small sharp blades), and goes about it’s business keeping the lawn tidy. If you want to have a BBQ or use the lawn, you can have it stay in it’s home pod. They are very happy with it.
thank you. That would work perfectly. I’m putting it on my wish list