Cordless lawn tools

[DirtMechanic]

Small engines are slowly going into the same box we stored the rotary phones. I have a 7.5 hp chainsaw that operates at 13,500 rpm. They will figure out how to replace it. I have 2 58v 16 inch saws that I enjoy using for most work and save the largest trunks they serve well.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Even Stihl has started putting out electric units.

I had a tree service out here to remove a large and a HUGE maple last year. All the saws they used were Stihl. The pole saws were all Stihl battery electric and they also ran a small chain saw as a Stihl battery electric. I say this because they are a team constantly running Stihl engines so maintaining one two or three more is next to no additional work.

I recently replaced my Stihl string trimmer (possibly was a FS 380) with a DeWalt 20 V Max battery trimmer. The trimmer works great. Big selling factor for me was the battery is interchangeable with my drill and recip saw. I now see DeWalt has a mower out running with the same 20 V battery system and it's been getting good reviews - that has me thinking.

 

[UrbanWild]

I realize this is an older thread but thought I'd comment.

About 5 years ago I decided to go cordless. First, I bought the Kobalt 80V trimmer on sale. Part of the sale was that it also came with a mail in rebate for an extra battery.

Then we got the Kobalt 80V mower about 8 months later. Same batteries so that's good.


Lowes/Kobalt has had a redesign on the mower since I bought in.

If I'm replying to myself is that the same as talking to myself?

I thought I'd update for people who might be taking the plunge to electric.

1) I do not think I'd ever go Kobalt again. While the mower and trimmer have performed well, it's impossible to I bought the Kobalt 80V trimmer. I asked right then if I could buy a spare cap or three. Crickets. Lowe's said talk tpo Kobalt. Over the next few years from Kobalt I go different answers on almost every call. I was told they didn't have any. Then I was told they needed the model numer...you know...because they make such a wide array of different 80V trimmers. When provided with the model number they couldn't find anything. One day I was told they would need the serial number. Provided. Nope...not anything they could help me with. I was pretty sure they werte made either by Greenworks or the same company that made theirs at the time. I tried Greenworks. No help and they tried to refer me back to Kobalt. During that time I frequently also asked at the customer desk in the lawncare section at Lowes. They have rid themselves of all of the department desks now. They valiantly tried. But boiled down, the answer was try Kobalt.

So, I'm finally giving up on them. I am about to try to remove the head of the Kobalt trimmer and put on a different head. I'm still a big fan of electric. LOVE them. I just wouldn't send any more of my efforts Kobalt's way. Also, if you get a trimmer with a bump head...make sure you can get one or two replacement caps AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. If you can't...walk away and buy a different one.

 

[DirtMechanic]

If I'm replying to myself is that the same as talking to myself?

I thought I'd update for people who might be taking the plunge to electric.

1) I do not think I'd ever go Kobalt again. While the mower and trimmer have performed well, it's impossible to I bought the Kobalt 80V trimmer. I asked right then if I could buy a spare cap or three. Crickets. Lowe's said talk tpo Kobalt. Over the next few years from Kobalt I go different answers on almost every call. I was told they didn't have any. Then I was told they needed the model numer...you know...because they make such a wide array of different 80V trimmers. When provided with the model number they couldn't find anything. One day I was told they would need the serial number. Provided. Nope...not anything they could help me with. I was pretty sure they werte made either by Greenworks or the same company that made theirs at the time. I tried Greenworks. No help and they tried to refer me back to Kobalt. During that time I frequently also asked at the customer desk in the lawncare section at Lowes. They have rid themselves of all of the department desks now. They valiantly tried. But boiled down, the answer was try Kobalt.

So, I'm finally giving up on them. I am about to try to remove the head of the Kobalt trimmer and put on a different head. I'm still a big fan of electric. LOVE them. I just wouldn't send any more of my efforts Kobalt's way. Also, if you get a trimmer with a bump head...make sure you can get one or two replacement caps AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. If you can't...walk away and buy a different one.

I like the easy feed style head on my echo 58v. No disassembly just line up the through hole to the line ports and thread the line through. Then wind it up. Surely that style is out there. Shaft diameter and drive connection may well be similiar to others too, but I would measure it in both metric and SAE before researching.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Back to digging up an old thread but here goes.

I bought the 20 V Max DeWalt lawn mower a few weeks ago and it has preformed nicely. This is not the self propelled one but did come with two 10 Ah batteries. The battery power is enough to cut the whole lawn in one charge (0.42 acre lot which is about 1/3 lawn). But is not quite powerful enough to eat through a pile of 7 month old leafs and bag them to be used as garden mulch.

The adaptive power was a little weird at first. I was used to one power level when cutting but this DeWalt has two or three noticable power levels based on what you're cutting through.

The deciding factor for me on this was I had drills, recip-saws, and a string trimmer already using this battery system. Now I have a lawn mower and two more HUGE batteries that work in all my other tools.

 

[mgmine]

When the battery goes, and it will you will wish you could go down and buy a gallon of gas. I just went through the decision process of buying one new 18 volt Dewalt battery for the ridicules price of $109 or buying a Dewalt1.5 amp hr battery and a smaller drill for $99 dollars . When I bought the original drill 5 years ago it cost $100 dollars and came with two batteries. . The 1.5 amp works for what I need it for, which is a drill. It would not power any other tool for very long . Tool companies today are using the same marketing scheme that the inkjet printer companies use. Sell the initial product cheap then gouge you when you need a consumable .Two 8 amp Dewalt batteries are $330 dollars, and that is at todays prices. You can expect that they will be in the neighborhood of $500 when the battery that comes with your new lawn mower need replacement.

 

[DirtMechanic]

When the battery goes, and it will you will wish you could go down and buy a gallon of gas. I just went through the decision process of buying one new 18 volt Dewalt battery for the ridicules price of $109 or buying a Dewalt1.5 amp hr battery and a smaller drill for $99 dollars . When I bought the original drill 5 years ago it cost $100 dollars and came with two batteries. . The 1.5 amp works for what I need it for, which is a drill. It would not power any other tool for very long . Tool companies today are using the same marketing scheme that the inkjet printer companies use. Sell the initial product cheap then gouge you when you need a consumable .Two 8 amp Dewalt batteries are $330 dollars, and that is at todays prices. You can expect that they will be in the neighborhood of $500 when the battery that comes with your new lawn mower need replacement.

I have discovered that tv repair shops are able to "fix" batteries as well as battery stores and that to date none of my li-on batteries that stopped working were bad , rather it was this little power management control board inside that winks out with a bad capacitor or other niggling detail. I suppose there may come a time when I get the proper tools to fix batteries or replace the parts the way I have to rebuild carburators and clutches today.

 

[Mr_Yan]

@mgmine and @DirtMechanic I decided not to engage...

There are several tutorials on rebuilding or replacing cells in tool battery packs. I'd say this is not a standard DIY project but I'm not a typical DIY'er in this case. By training I am an electrical engineer. By profession I spent 8 years in printed circuit board and embedded systems then made a minor career shift. For the last 26 months I have been designing and building the assembly lines for electric vehicle battery modules and battery packs.

I feel confident in repairing battery packs and electronics. You start talking about carburetors, fuel mixing or spark plugs and my eyes glaze over.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Voltage has absolutely nothing to do with it regarding the efficiency of a mower. It's the design of the motor to run on a specific voltage and current that matters. And those EGO things that bragged about 48V batteries were just packed full of AA size ones!!

 

[Amateur Gardener]

Kimo String Trimmer was available on Amazon for sixty dollars. Customer service is responsive. It only takes 45 minutes to recharge the battery and can do a lot of heavy-duty yard work.

 

[Mr_Yan]

...48V batteries were just packed full of AA size ones!!

Small cylindrical battery cells is industry standard. Take apart a battery pack from an Acer laptop, a Dell laptop, E-bike, almost any electric car, or any of the battery power tools.

Some companies are starting to make rectangular cells (DeWalt now has the "power stack" variant) and one of the big car companies is starting to play with this but this is not yet standard.

 

[UrbanWild]

I have one battery down in 6 years. But when they go down, I won't be wishing I could still go down to the station for a gallon of gas. Yes, batteries are high. But as others noted, they can be fixed more cheaply than purchased new...but that holds true for most things, right? I don't miss the oil and gas, gas cans, replacing fuel and air filters, smell, yanking a pull cord, the noise, winterizing, etc. etc. And the same better I have for the mower also run=s my leaf blower (also used for snow), and trimmer. The trimmer allows all the trimmer plus attachments. So that means those same batteries also run my hedge trimmer, pole saw, edger, and another blower. The ship has sailed for gas hardware for me. And I don't know if you can still get the 80V batteries. However, a couple of years ago they were $180 for the Kobalt. You can get off-brand batteries to fit on Amazon for about $90.