Lawn Equip., cordless, battery

[SaltyTiger 7,795]

My Stihl gas blower of 20 plus years is about in need of replacement. Thinking about going battery powered with replacement. My understanding is that battery powered seems to be the trend on replacement today including mowers, etc. The benefits are obvious but have not talked to anyone that has used battery powered lawn care equipment for any length of time.

I have used cordless drills for several years and they are great. Any experience here? 

[SaturdayGT 719]

   I have a Kobalt battery powered lawn mower I got 2 years ago. Its just as powerful as a gas operated mower. I have mostly centipede, but I have a patch of this Zoysia coming in that would bog down the Gas mower, but the Electric goes right through it.  It takes me 30 to 40 minutes to mo my entire lawn without bagging. The mower came with 2 batteries, and originally,   1 battery would get me about 90% of the lawn done.....Fast forward 2 years to last Saturday......2 and half hours to get my lawn done!....Im no battery expert, but I think I killed some cells in my batteries by leaving them on the charger too long or something.  I really dont know whats going on. When I charge the batteries, they will charge up, but once they charge to full, the charger turns from green to red and the batteries start to drain away. You have to take them off at just the right time now. Once charged, they last about 10 or 15 mins, so I can get part of the lawn done, then have to let them charge for 30-45 minutes....mow a little more of the yard....charge for 30-45 minutes....mow a little more......Got to do it again Saturday. New batteries are close to 100 bucks each for my lawn mower last I checked, but Im not going to pay 200 bucks every two years for two batteries!. Maybe things have come along better over the last 2 years  as far as charging and batteries go, but right now, Im not to happy!!

[gr82be 14,423]

12 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

My Stihl gas blower of 20 plus years is about in need of replacement. Thinking about going battery powered with replacement. My understanding is that battery powered seems to be the trend on replacement today including mowers, etc. The benefits are obvious but have not talked to anyone that has used battery powered lawn care equipment for any length of time.

I have used cordless drills for several years and they are great. Any experience here? 

I have a Ryobi lithium weed eater going on my third summer now. I will never go back to gas engine. I love it and it has as much power as any gas weed eater that I ever used. Last summer my wife wanted to get the tiller attachment. To say I was skeptical is an understatement since I have used garden tillers before. I gave in and was glad I did. I figured it would have to be used on ground that was previously broken up. Wrong. It worked great in the place she wanted to plant flowers, firm ground and grass too. I'm waiting on my electric blower to give out so I can buy the blower attachment. Also no more inhaling fumes from the gas and oil mix. Win/win in my book. 

[SaltyTiger 7,795]

1 minute ago, gr82be said:

I have a Ryobi lithium weed eater going on my third summer now. I will never go back to gas engine. I love it and it has as much power as any gas weed eater that I ever used. Last summer my wife wanted to get the tiller attachment. To say I was skeptical is an understatement since I have used garden tillers before. I gave in and was glad I did. I figured it would have to be used on ground that was previously broken up. Wrong. It worked great in the place she wanted to plant flowers, firm ground and grass too. I'm waiting on my electric blower to give out so I can buy the blower attachment. Also no more inhaling fumes from the gas and oil mix. Win/win in my book. 

Thanks 82, I am tired of pulling cords for gas operated. 

[Mike4AU 1,739]

Greenworks. I have the blower, trimmer and hedger and pleased with all of them.  I got sick and tired of getting worn out from trying to start my gas models and went all electric a couple of years ago.  That said I still have to use my Stihl blower when all the leaves fall.  I have a bunch of trees on my lot and need the power of the Stihl once a year. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

I have Stihl weedeaters and have used their commercial models for years. I have tried a battery powered weed eater and I thought it was a piece of crap to be honest, and I didn’t understand the reasoning for only having one twine wacking tbe weeds. Maybe if there wasn’t a lot of thick weeds in a lot of places, I’d have kept the battery battery powered weedeater. The instructions clearly said if you run the weedeater at full throttle, there is only 15 minutes of runtime, so I knew it wouldn’t work out I guess. As for my other equipment, I have a makita 4 cycle blower that I got on Amazon, and a very durable Cub Cadet lawnmower at Tractor and Supply.  

[alexava 6,973]

I'm all gas. Echo is the way to go. weedeater is about 5years old and never fails me. Chainsaw is 7 years old and i rebuilt carb about 2 years ago, its like new. my troy built blower will not last that long, my craftsman blower lasted about 5 years then completely dismantled. TODAY i just bought a Ryobi pressure washer with a HONDA motor. Got a killer deal at the Home Depot. I will not use gas with ethynol in any of this equipment or my boats. Toward late September i will not use it in my mowers either.

My neighbor just bought a Ryobi electric mower. It looked like it was strong enough for sure. Sounded great. He said he could not finish on one charge. But two easily.

[SaltyTiger 7,795]

9 minutes ago, alexava said:

I'm all gas. Echo is the way to go. weedeater is about 5years old and never fails me. Chainsaw is 7 years old and i rebuilt carb about 2 years ago, its like new. my troy built blower will not last that long, my craftsman blower lasted about 5 years then completely dismantled. TODAY i just bought a Ryobi pressure washer with a HONDA motor. Got a killer deal at the Home Depot. I will not use gas with ethynol in any of this equipment or my boats. Toward late September i will not use it in my mowers either.

My neighbor just bought a Ryobi electric mower. It looked like it was strong enough for sure. Sounded great. He said he could not finish on one charge. But two easily.

Thanks Alex. I like Echo,  had a Echo blower one time that we used on a construction site. Stihl by preference for me. Had a Stihl weed eater that was stolen and replaced it with a Ryobi that has served well around the house. Just need to know the combination to crank them. Do have a Troy Built mower which has been great.

I see the positives on battery but about talked myself into staying gas. I do believe in getting things done and doing it quickly. Not convinced you get the power needed from batteries.