4 ms·

Switched all my outdoor tools (push mower, weed eater, leaf blower, chainsaw )To electric, and it has saved so much yearly messing with small engines. Huge win

Switched all my outdoor tools (push mower, weed eater, leaf blower, chainsaw )To electric, and it has saved so much yearly messing with small engines. Huge win for me. Some of these tools I only use a few times a year, so ends up being near a 1:1 using the tool and doing maintenance. Riding mower is the only gas engine I have to mess with. Counting down the years until a more competitive battery riding mower is sold.

athenot 6y ago
I did the same, with the EGO line of tools. It's so much more enjoyable to do landscaping tasks without the noise. I recently got the Ryobi riding mower, which is a glorified golf cart (lead-acid batteries) but works really well as a rough cut. When the blades are in action, it makes the sound of a box fan, and when the blades are off, it's totally quiet. For the tools that I haven't electrified (my Mantis tiller and Trucut reel mower), I stick with Honda engines. They are a marvel of reliability compared to the others. Only exception is my shredder which has a Kholer engine and does seem to be good too. All these start on first pull after a winter in storage.
- vardump 6y ago
  Also have EGO mower and trimmer. Amazing, very powerful tools. The 5A battery (280 Wh) charges really fast, empty to full in maybe 40 minutes.
mattrp 6y ago
Same here - I’ve been considering the Ryobi riding mower. Cub Cadet has an electric rider as well. It’s interesting, if you can mod your kids power wheels, these riding mowers are basically the same concept. All you’d need would be the electric motors —- which are plentiful — and a 48v 100ah battery. The later is around $2500 on Amazon... which even though you could retrofit/build your own, the retail pricing of the finished mower product isn’t so bad by comparison. I’m not sure of the extended warranty availability but given the battery is easily 80% of the value of the mower that would be my chief concern if it ends up only lasting a season or two.
DavidPeiffer 6y ago
I purchased a Dewalt weed eater last year. Absolutely my favorite yard tool to use now. * The battery is the same as my drills, giving me added battery capacity for the whole Dewalt system. Vendor lock-in...but they're a solid system. My dad's Dewalt batteries from 2012 finally just hit an unacceptably low battery capacity. * I clean it after use but have had no other maintenance required. * It's better for the environment * It's silent when I'm moving across the yard. Having no idle sound is so nice. I actually value this very highly and am seriously considering buying all electric going forward. Last week I saw a guy mowing the yard with an electric mower. You could hardly hear it from 50 feet away.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  I don't know about DeWalt, but for ryobi one+ systems, you can buy generic batteries online which are like 1/3rd the price of the Ryobi ones.
  - thesmok 6y ago
    Generic batteries are often much worse quality than brand ones, but you can get adapters on eBay that convert between almost any tool brand battery connectors. Just have to match voltage. That removes battery vendor lock-in.
    - sokoloff 6y ago
      Partially. For a drill or screwdriver or other tool where the battery is integral to the tool's case, you don't really want some dangling field-fabricated adapter flopping around while you're trying to work.
Shivetya 6y ago
Greenworx 60v user here, they certainly are getting better. I had all sorts of hell with an older Ryobi line and had written off battery outdoor tools for awhile but was gifted the Greenworx and have not looked back. Electric leaf blowers have so many uses! Though a push mower you need amperage if you are letting you lawn get tall and the 60v 4a battery I have is good for around 6-8 thousand square feet of lawn before I have to swap. As for riding, the deep cycle variants are getting competitive with gas powered but lithium is a ways off. fortunately with most deep cycle models batteries can be purchased in many places. I have kept an old push gas mower around for high grass and light brush clearing a common area that is not regularly maintained. they still have more oomph than electric mowers.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  I had a couple of plug in leaf blowers that were handy, but have nowhere close to the power of my secondhand gas blower that I bought later. If I had it to do over, I’d have skipped the electric blowers entirely. The surprising win for plug-in electric is a small, cheap single-stage snow blower. For snows in the 1-4” range at under 25°F, it’s hard to beat the speed and convenience. I bought it just as a cleanup tool behind my “real” snowblower (a 2-stage can’t clear down to clean pavement), but I find I’ll often use it as the only blower I use for a light, fluffy snow.
  - fignews 6y ago
    There’s a limit to how much power you can get out of an outlet. Batteries less so.

athenot 6y ago

I did the same, with the EGO line of tools. It's so much more enjoyable to do landscaping tasks without the noise. I recently got the Ryobi riding mower, which is a glorified golf cart (lead-acid batteries) but works really well as a rough cut. When the blades are in action, it makes the sound of a box fan, and when the blades are off, it's totally quiet. For the tools that I haven't electrified (my Mantis tiller and Trucut reel mower), I stick with Honda engines. They are a marvel of reliability compared to the others. Only exception is my shredder which has a Kholer engine and does seem to be good too. All these start on first pull after a winter in storage.

vardump 6y ago
Also have EGO mower and trimmer. Amazing, very powerful tools. The 5A battery (280 Wh) charges really fast, empty to full in maybe 40 minutes.

mattrp 6y ago

Same here - I’ve been considering the Ryobi riding mower. Cub Cadet has an electric rider as well. It’s interesting, if you can mod your kids power wheels, these riding mowers are basically the same concept. All you’d need would be the electric motors —- which are plentiful — and a 48v 100ah battery. The later is around $2500 on Amazon... which even though you could retrofit/build your own, the retail pricing of the finished mower product isn’t so bad by comparison. I’m not sure of the extended warranty availability but given the battery is easily 80% of the value of the mower that would be my chief concern if it ends up only lasting a season or two.

DavidPeiffer 6y ago

I purchased a Dewalt weed eater last year. Absolutely my favorite yard tool to use now. * The battery is the same as my drills, giving me added battery capacity for the whole Dewalt system. Vendor lock-in...but they're a solid system. My dad's Dewalt batteries from 2012 finally just hit an unacceptably low battery capacity. * I clean it after use but have had no other maintenance required. * It's better for the environment * It's silent when I'm moving across the yard. Having no idle sound is so nice. I actually value this very highly and am seriously considering buying all electric going forward. Last week I saw a guy mowing the yard with an electric mower. You could hardly hear it from 50 feet away.

oh_sigh 6y ago
I don't know about DeWalt, but for ryobi one+ systems, you can buy generic batteries online which are like 1/3rd the price of the Ryobi ones.
- thesmok 6y ago
  Generic batteries are often much worse quality than brand ones, but you can get adapters on eBay that convert between almost any tool brand battery connectors. Just have to match voltage. That removes battery vendor lock-in.
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    Partially. For a drill or screwdriver or other tool where the battery is integral to the tool's case, you don't really want some dangling field-fabricated adapter flopping around while you're trying to work.

Shivetya 6y ago

Greenworx 60v user here, they certainly are getting better. I had all sorts of hell with an older Ryobi line and had written off battery outdoor tools for awhile but was gifted the Greenworx and have not looked back. Electric leaf blowers have so many uses! Though a push mower you need amperage if you are letting you lawn get tall and the 60v 4a battery I have is good for around 6-8 thousand square feet of lawn before I have to swap. As for riding, the deep cycle variants are getting competitive with gas powered but lithium is a ways off. fortunately with most deep cycle models batteries can be purchased in many places. I have kept an old push gas mower around for high grass and light brush clearing a common area that is not regularly maintained. they still have more oomph than electric mowers.

sokoloff 6y ago
I had a couple of plug in leaf blowers that were handy, but have nowhere close to the power of my secondhand gas blower that I bought later. If I had it to do over, I’d have skipped the electric blowers entirely. The surprising win for plug-in electric is a small, cheap single-stage snow blower. For snows in the 1-4” range at under 25°F, it’s hard to beat the speed and convenience. I bought it just as a cleanup tool behind my “real” snowblower (a 2-stage can’t clear down to clean pavement), but I find I’ll often use it as the only blower I use for a light, fluffy snow.
- fignews 6y ago
  There’s a limit to how much power you can get out of an outlet. Batteries less so.