Had a Ryobi mower maybe 20 yrs ago. Tons of problems, so I bought a gas mower for my son to use. Think what I currently use is the replacement gas mower - maybe 10 yrs old.
I’ve been seeing more electric mowers lately - wondered if that meant batteries had improved. Might research it when gas mower dies. Or might go to reel mower - tho mulching of grass/leaves in nice.
Corded string trimmer is who knows how old. I use it only a couple of times a summer. Wonder if I’ll be able to find replacement string when this ancient spool runs out.
It really depends on the size of the job(s) whether or not electric makes sense. Recent advances in motor and battery tech have made it a great choice for home-owners with smallish requirements. They require literally no maintenance and are far less expensive to operate. I picked up a great little Makita electric chainsaw a couple months ago and could not be happier with it. Keeping the internal combustion stuff running just gets to be a real PITA in comparison.
Mowers, I doubt it anytime soon. Hilly land almost requires self propelled walk behind mowers. My 10 yr old gas mower has always started with 1 or 2 pulls, and perhaps 2 oil changes. Cutting not only lawn regularly but brush 2x per year, always ‘ridden hard and put away wet’ this mower owes me nothing but keeps on giving. In time if propane becomes a option I might consider it.
String trimmer, I have a battery one, I usually don’t use it, just takes to much effort to actually cut anything but the thinest weeds.
Chain saw, I have battery, corded and 2 stroke. I use all depending on the task at hand. Battery is great for smaller jobs.
Hedge Trimmer. Battery and corded. I really like the battery for quickness and mobility, but again the corded one for raw power.
One thing I hate about the battery tools is that they don’t all have interchangeable batteries. Tools from different manufacturers have different batteries and chargers. A single manufacturer will even have different batteries and chargers as the batteries get more powerful. If you go with battery tools, consider the whole line of tools which use those batteries. You may want to avoid a situation where you have a trimmer from one manufacturer, a chainsaw from another, a blower from another, etc.
After going through 3 gas mowers in one summer (I forget exactly what was going on) I went electric on a whim for the same price as the gas replacement. Back yard is 80x40, front is about half that. The electric mower could almost do it all on one battery so we bought a second battery. It does a fantastic job and I’ve had it for 3 years now. The same old batteries still hold enough charge to get the job done and don’t show signs of crapping out. I do not miss wrecking my shoulder trying to pull start the gas mower. I picked up a string trimmer about a month ago that I’m pretty sure could double as a chain saw in a pinch. Never going back to gas because there is just no good reason to.
I bought some Ryobi 40V yard tools and have a 1/2 failure rate on the chargers and batteries. And the replacements aren’t cheap. I’m not thrilled with how polluting and how much maintenance the gas powered tools are but I have found them to be a bit more reliable and vastly more powerful.
One awesome advantage about electric mowers is that since it’s no problem to restart it, you can stop it at anytime. So if you see some trash or a weed or whatever, you can take care of it right then. With a gas mower, you often try to keep the mower running so you don’t have to pull start it again.
Only my string trimmer. My old one – which I inherited from the previous house owner eons ago – doesn’t dispense string anymore. I have to flip it over and remove the string spool by hand and lengthen the string. I figured it was time for a new one.
As long as I was getting a new one, I decided to go battery to free myself from hauling a long extension cord around. Haven’t regretted that decision.
I can’t use an electric because of hills/size (wish I could) and feel your pain regarding starting/stopping gas mowers. Solved the problem with an electric start self-propelled mower.
Has to be charged once or twice a season but takes a lot of stress out of the whole process.
The first thing I have always done with gasoline powered lawnmowers/tractors has been to defeat all the unnecessary (to me) safety interlocks. Sure, it makes things a teensy bit more dangerous, but in exchange, the device is far more useful.
We had a battery powered string trimmer. I hated it. It didn’t get through the thick vegetation and it only lasted about 30 minutes before it needed to be recharged. It wouldn’t have been so bad in an arid climate with little vegetation and/or a tiny lot, but I used it 3 times and gave it away to someone whose lot was mostly paved and they just needed to do some light tidying with it.
That was about 10 years ago. Sounds like they may have improved, but I would need to see that in person.
I hated the electric trimmers because it would take several heavy cords to get across the acreage, and the weight of the cords kept causing the plug to fall out of the trimmer. So we finally got a gas powered one. I agree the pull start is not only a workout but a pain in the butt. I don’t like it, but at least it’s mobile, it doesn’t quit before you’re done, and it makes short work of thick weeds.
However, we own a battery powered chainsaw and like it a lot. We’re not taking down mature hardwoods with it and we’re certainly not using it for hours at a time, but it does a great job with small trees and all manner of brush.
Here on the rainy, humid east coast, the vegetation gets thick, especially in the spring. Really, it’s a jungle out there in April and May. It’s so thick that I have to coax a gas-powered lawnmower through twice a week just to keep it under some control. I can’t imagine a battery powered mower tackling that. No, I wouldn’t have much faith in a battery powered motor around here in the spring. Not yet, anyway.
I tried a (corded) electric mower for a season or two - I liked the idea of the lack of fumes, relatively quiet operation, no need to mess with gas/oil/etc…in the end dealing with the cord was just too much of a PITA, switched to a gas mower and probably get the lawn done in half the time (I used to have to stop a lot MORE with the cord to re-reoute it around trees/flowerpots, from the front to the back yard, etc. - with gas I can run it anywhere, might have to stop/restart once or twice a session to pick up debris or whatever.)
A buddy of mine had a cordless but it seems like his batteries would only last so long before needing to be replaced ($$), he’s back to gas as well.
I do have an electric string trimmer, shares the battery with my (Makita) cordless drill and works fine for my purposes (smaller suburban lot.)
