Non-OEM battery for lawnmower/

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

You made a couple mistakes... if you already have the platform (batteries and charge), you need to compare the cost of a bare tool to the ICE.
Then you compare a battery tool warranty to a history of an ICE tool... but the warranty on the ICE tool was also short. This is failing logic that suggest the battery tool will not also last 10-15 years.

The math between these things is not as clear as many propose them to be.

The question really becomes do we need the new platforms, or would banks of the old platform be better.

Currently, someone that buys an electric mower using only their 18v/20v systems... will usually get the mower, two/four batteries, and the charger for the price. They will not need to buy batteries or another charger for the other items... just the bare tools.

But the real secret is to adjust the landscape. You'll use the tools a lot less after that.

Isn't a main problem that in fact battery mowers don't last 10-15 years, whereas a good gas mower does last that long?

Also, I do expect to have to upgrade my battery if I buy a snowblower. What runs a drill isn't going to run a snowblower.

I certainly agree about adjusting the landscape!! My property is ridiculous. I actually have a map with 15 different sections that need to be maintained. And of course we need to rethink our landscaping practices for environmental reasons. I also notice that a neglected property will eventually turn into vegetation that grows faster and needs more maintenance. I find it difficult to think of allowing sections to revert to unmowed fields. There's this compulsion to think that an entire property needs to be mowed grass.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Isn't a main problem that in fact battery mowers don't last 10-15 years, whereas a good gas mower does last that long?

Also, I do expect to have to upgrade my battery if I buy a snowblower. What runs a drill isn't going to run a snowblower.

I certainly agree about adjusting the landscape!! My property is ridiculous. I actually have a map with 15 different sections that need to be maintained. And of course we need to rethink our landscaping practices for environmental reasons. I also notice that a neglected property will eventually turn into vegetation that grows faster and needs more maintenance. I find it difficult to think of allowing sections to revert to unmowed fields. There's this compulsion to think that an entire property needs to be mowed grass.

Equipment tends to last very long. I still have a blue and yellow Ryobi drill/driver, compound trim saw, flashlight, etc. - they all work.
The change from the NiCad to the Li-Ion meant that the old charger would not work with the newer batteries, but the newer charger could charge the older batteries.

Any part of the system can wear out and need replacement... but only the snowthrower worries me. That is an item that when it is needed... it is needed.
Electric brushless (newer tools) tend to have pretty long reliable lifespans... batteries can vary... and chargers we never seem to notice until it doesn't charge (but I have so many back ups that we just swap them out).

The biggest thing I noticed, when I went to clover... the amount of mowing dropped dramatically - so the bigger threat to the mower is rust out of the deck, varnish build up in the carb, or just old gas.

It was the problem I was having with the gas powered string trimmer... I just didn't use it enough after working out some of the landscaping issues.

I was using the gas powered because the corded was driving me insane with extension cords and the limits imposed by those.

For the snowblower... this last season, I only remember using it a couple times.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

It was the problem I was having with the gas powered string trimmer... I just didn't use it enough after working out some of the landscaping issues.

I noticed this also---once you've corrected a landscaping problem with, say, a high-wheeled mower trimmer, you won't need that machine again for awhile. However, when my lawnmower died on Friday I got out the 20-year-old Craftsman mower-trimmer that had not been used in 10 years, put in a bit of gas, and it started! Amazing that a spark plug could last that long in a humid garage.

Originally Posted by John Mercier

I was using the gas powered because the corded was driving me insane with extension cords and the limits imposed by those.

Yes, I'm already tired of the corded dethatcher, now that I've experienced the satisfaction of a cordless machine.

Originally Posted by John Mercier

For the snowblower... this last season, I only remember using it a couple times.

Yes, but as you say, when you need it you need it.

[John Mercier]

Well, a brushless electric motor would most likely outlast anyone on this forum.
It is the other parts that we do not have a real history of.

I have a few years before the Ariens that I use gets to the point that rebuilding it costs more than it is worth... so I have some time to hear of any problems with the Ryobi snowthrower.

For the mower, the first battery powered was created in 1972.
But all the early versions were expensive robotic formats.

Black & Decker released the first battery lawn mower like we use in 2012.
They had created a solar powered one the year before... but felt the recharge rate was too slow.

The modern ones have the advantage of lower prices, longer battery life in a more compact version, brushless motors, etc.

So it isn't like these are new... just they have reached the point to be commercially viable.
Whether they sell a lot of riding lawn mowers will be rather interesting.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

However, when my lawnmower died on Friday I got out the 20-year-old Craftsman mower-trimmer that had not been used in 10 years, put in a bit of gas, and it started! Amazing that a spark plug could last that long in a humid garage.

Try doing that with a battery-operated machine...

Sent from my SM-G990U1 using Tapatalk

[John Mercier]

I do all the time.
Many of my Ryobi tools (blue and yellow) are at least that age.
Pop in a new 18v and away I go.

The new brushless... no one is even sure of how long the motors will last.
Estimates as high as 50,000 hours have been presented.