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The battery powered options from the good tool brands like Makita and Ryobi are very good. I have a Makita and would definitely recommend. Best part? No small

The battery powered options from the good tool brands like Makita and Ryobi are very good. I have a Makita and would definitely recommend. Best part? No small engine maintenance needed.

ummonk 6y ago
And brands usually use one battery model across their tool lineup so you can swap batteries.
asdff 6y ago
Decent lawncare equipment rarely needs much maintenance in my experience. My dad has had his ryobi mower for at least 20 years now and all that's ever been put into it is gas. Instead, you have different maintenance needs, they aren't gone entirely. Rather than occasionally having to do engine work (which you might never have to do), you now have a wear item to replace: the battery. Eventually, Ryobi or Makita or whoever will stop selling that particularly proprietary shaped battery for that model you bought, eventually forcing your hand to pay for a newer machine where you can still buy new batteries, and leaving you with a lawnmower sized hunk of junk in the form of your old, perhaps functional but unable to charge mower. I don't see this as the end of lawncare equipment maintenance, I see this as the end of being able to keep your equipment going for decades. These companies executive boards must be patting themselves on the back for figuring out how to break consumers out of being able to get by on $50 used mowers forever, and forcing them to pay retail for new models at regular intervals. It's like the printer ink racket.
- Blackthorn 6y ago
  Ryobi has used the same 18v battery for literally as long as they've sold 18v batteries. Before they even used lithium-ion. You're really not in danger of the batteries becoming obsolete. The battery obsolescence concern is demonstrably overblown for some brands.
  - asdff 6y ago
    You are still at the mercy of Ryobi making that battery for the indefinite future. They have done so as of now, but there is no law or regulation stopping them from one day getting some new CEO who wants to make a few more bucks for the shareholders, and roll out a new battery tech all their customers have to buy. Profit is king, not your continued convenience. Even if they keep the same battery format, you are now locked in to Ryobi and can't take your proprietary batteries and use them with a competitor's equipment, like you can with a standardized fuel like gasoline, or a standardized battery like a car battery.
    - Blackthorn 6y ago
      There are third party batteries, and conversion kits between batteries. Not many people use them because, honestly, the first party batteries are actually pretty good (aside from outliers like Dewalt which has shitty batteries) and nobody has abandoned their battery lines yet. It's no different than small engines requiring repair, and the companies that make them not supporting them anymore. Yet we've dealt with that for decades.

The battery powered options from the good tool brands like Makita and Ryobi are very good. I have a Makita and would definitely recommend. Best part? No small engine maintenance needed.

ummonk 6y ago

And brands usually use one battery model across their tool lineup so you can swap batteries.

asdff 6y ago

Decent lawncare equipment rarely needs much maintenance in my experience. My dad has had his ryobi mower for at least 20 years now and all that's ever been put into it is gas. Instead, you have different maintenance needs, they aren't gone entirely. Rather than occasionally having to do engine work (which you might never have to do), you now have a wear item to replace: the battery. Eventually, Ryobi or Makita or whoever will stop selling that particularly proprietary shaped battery for that model you bought, eventually forcing your hand to pay for a newer machine where you can still buy new batteries, and leaving you with a lawnmower sized hunk of junk in the form of your old, perhaps functional but unable to charge mower. I don't see this as the end of lawncare equipment maintenance, I see this as the end of being able to keep your equipment going for decades. These companies executive boards must be patting themselves on the back for figuring out how to break consumers out of being able to get by on $50 used mowers forever, and forcing them to pay retail for new models at regular intervals. It's like the printer ink racket.

Blackthorn 6y ago
Ryobi has used the same 18v battery for literally as long as they've sold 18v batteries. Before they even used lithium-ion. You're really not in danger of the batteries becoming obsolete. The battery obsolescence concern is demonstrably overblown for some brands.
- asdff 6y ago
  You are still at the mercy of Ryobi making that battery for the indefinite future. They have done so as of now, but there is no law or regulation stopping them from one day getting some new CEO who wants to make a few more bucks for the shareholders, and roll out a new battery tech all their customers have to buy. Profit is king, not your continued convenience. Even if they keep the same battery format, you are now locked in to Ryobi and can't take your proprietary batteries and use them with a competitor's equipment, like you can with a standardized fuel like gasoline, or a standardized battery like a car battery.
  - Blackthorn 6y ago
    There are third party batteries, and conversion kits between batteries. Not many people use them because, honestly, the first party batteries are actually pretty good (aside from outliers like Dewalt which has shitty batteries) and nobody has abandoned their battery lines yet. It's no different than small engines requiring repair, and the companies that make them not supporting them anymore. Yet we've dealt with that for decades.