Electric Lawnmowers

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#978109 31-Jan-2014 14:24

Dynamic: Has the OP considered adding some weight to the push mower? A secondhand diving weight belt or similar may be enough to satisfy the requirements as long as looks are not important.

No, I haven't thought of that, but there's so little of the actual mower (mainly just a frame) that I might have trouble finding somewhere to put the weight!

Here's the one I bought, cost me $45 (was on special at the time, current price is $79). Only used it once, anyone want to buy it cheap?

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#978112 31-Jan-2014 14:27

Shoes2468: I have an Ozito (bunnings $169) which is going on three years old now, and generally it is pretty good, if you were using a push mower an electric mower will make it a breeze, plenty of power and does a good job, sure it you are going to be mowing lots of stones you may break the plastic after a while, but I have hit a few in my time and its been pretty good, only comment is if your lawn is quite long you have to empty the catcher lots as it fills fairly quickly. if you are going to spend $500+ for an electric mower you are better off with a petrol mower. Our one came with a 2 year replacement warranty but have not needed to use it.

Yeah I looked at the Ozito and compared it to the Flymo ($299). The Flymo seemed to get better reviews, although some people said they'd used an Ozito for a number of years without any problems.

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#978116 31-Jan-2014 14:32

itxtme: You get what you pay for. The cheapies struggle with long grass- in fact this will burn them out. Generally they have inserts to change their heights (the cheapest ones). A *good* electric one will cost you $500+

I really don't want to spend more than $300 on this stupid little lawn. I see there are some cheap petrol ones around, i.e. The Warehouse have an EAZI Mow Petrol Lawnmower on sale for $199 (save $100).

I think I'd prefer to buy new rather than second hand, simply to get the warranty and to have the ability to return it if it's totally unsuitable (wish I had returned my hand mower, but I put it away over winter and I've now had it for about 7 months, even though I've only tried using it once).

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#978117 31-Jan-2014 14:34

timmmay: I've had a Victa Lawnkeeper ESP360 for six years. It was recommended by Consumer magazine back then. It's been a great tool for me, it's still working fine, in that time I've replaced the blade once as it's not much more expensive than sharpening it. Mine's a bit banged up, but that's because it's so light I used to use it as a hedge trimmer. In that time I've run over one cord, but I was pretty hung over at the time. Get an RCD to keep yourself safe, but I mow my lawn in light rain if I need to.

So long as your lawn isn't like a field it should be fine. Once the grass gets over say 10-15cm high it takes a bit longer but still works. Note that the catcher isn't huge so you empty it more than with an electric model. It's nice and quiet too, which is the primary reason I bought it. Buying now for my 160 sq m lawn I'd probably try to get a bigger one, but I like the Victa so I may buy another of those.

For sale here. I got mine from an independent store somewhere in Lower Hutt.

Hmm, interesting. Shame I can't see that Consumer report, it has a couple of the models that I've been looking at in it, would be handy to see how they were rated.

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#978119 31-Jan-2014 14:35

We have an old style mower for our 25 m2 of lawn. Works well. Only real issue is it doesnt work well with moist soil in that the friction between the wheels and ground creates the force to turn the cutting blades and if the ground is damp sometimes the wheels slide overthe ground/grass and dont turn so dont turn the cutter blade either.

A.

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#978121 31-Jan-2014 14:37

itxtme: You get what you pay for. The cheapies struggle with long grass- in fact this will burn them out. Generally they have inserts to change their heights (the cheapest ones). A *good* electric one will cost you $500+

I have an older 900 Watt electric that has been in service for years. A friends petrol blew because of long grass - over-heated and blew the connecting rod (was a Briggs and Straton 2 years old).

My electric Morrison did it fine but it took three passes at different heights to get it back down to a lawn not a jungle. You just have to mow them slower if you're that lazy at cutting lawns.

But if you're giving the grass a quick zip each week (no further apart) then an electric is worth the money. No petrol, no need for ear muffs and much easier than a hand mower. 900 Watts does me, if I bought a new one I'd look at the 1200-1400 Watt one's probably.

Mine's plastic except for the bolts for the wheels and the handle. The only thing that ever broke was mowing a ridiculous long lawn and hit a piece of concrete which broke the plastic fan the blade attaches to (the engine was stronger than the fan). I still fixed it with a drill by moving the screws to a new drilled hole.

I have never had an electric die from over-heating and I've abused them in that regard. Something a hot combustion engine won't be forgiving with.

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#978129 31-Jan-2014 14:50

timmmay: . In that time I've run over one cord, but I was pretty hung over at the time. .

Hmm, you mow your lawn when hung over, most impressive!

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#978130 31-Jan-2014 14:50

kiwirock: I have an older 900 Watt electric that has been in service for years. A friends petrol blew because of long grass - over-heated and blew the connecting rod (was a Briggs and Straton 2 years old).

My electric Morrison did it fine but it took three passes at different heights to get it back down to a lawn not a jungle. You just have to mow them slower if you're that lazy at cutting lawns.

But if you're giving the grass a quick zip each week (no further apart) then an electric is worth the money. No petrol, no need for ear muffs and much easier than a hand mower. 900 Watts does me, if I bought a new one I'd look at the 1200-1400 Watt one's probably.

Mine's plastic except for the bolts for the wheels and the handle. The only thing that ever broke was mowing a ridiculous long lawn and hit a piece of concrete which broke the plastic fan the blade attaches to (the engine was stronger than the fan). I still fixed it with a drill by moving the screws to a new drilled hole.

I have never had an electric die from over-heating and I've abused them in that regard. Something a hot combustion engine won't be forgiving with.

Thanks for the advice, it's encouraging to see someone that has used electric for ages with no problems.

I've just remembered that my local library used to have the Consumer Magazine and I see on their website they did a review of electric mowers in November last year, so I'll pop down and see if they have that issue.

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#978133 31-Jan-2014 14:52

the higher the V the more torque you'd get.

the higher the torque the tougher/longer your grass is allowed to get.

then there is battery life and charge time. try to get one with Li ion battery.

if you let your grass get too long it won't work (petrol territory).

have fun!

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#978134 31-Jan-2014 14:55

joker97: the higher the V the more torque you'd get.

the higher the torque the tougher/longer your grass is allowed to get.

then there is battery life and charge time. try to get one with Li ion battery.

if you let your grass get too long it won't work (petrol territory).

have fun!

Thanks for the info. My grass isn't all that long, mainly it's just the tall paspalum that makes it look untidy. Also the lawn is close to the house so a 20-30m cable should be fine.

Niel

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#978159 31-Jan-2014 15:07

For the first time in 15 years I have to mow my own lawn, all 160 m2 of it. After lots of searching I've settled on an EnviroMower. Not for the environment as such, energy still comes from somewhere and needs to be transported there, but because I could get one with dead batteries for $50 and then make my own LiFePO4 battery pack taking up half the space and 1/4 the weight while running 3 times longer. I would use only LiFePO4, but everyone use rubbish (!) lead batteries or maybe cell phone LiPo technology batteries (too many disadvantages in both to discuss on a Friday afternoon).

I did not want to bother with petrol, and mains power mowers use cheap motors with not enough torque. EnviroMower on the other hand (apart from the battery weakness) has a DC motor with a lot of torque and very easily maintainable/fixable. Even the motor bearings are stock standard bearings.

The only negative I've got is the mower is a bit small. But while establishing my new lawn I fill up the catcher 3-4 times per cut, which is cutting 3-5cm off 160 m2 of tall fescue in one pass. I know the original Pb battery would struggle with that and lasts only 1h, but LiFePO4 is amazing especially when I got some samples for free ;-).

You can never have enough Volvos!

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#978163 31-Jan-2014 15:09

PS: Only the very first EnviroMower had issues because they used a solid state relay to power the motor (and short it out to stop the blade instantly). Virtually all models still out there however use a massively oversized relay for reliability.

You can never have enough Volvos!

timmmay

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#978170 31-Jan-2014 15:18

MurrayM:
timmmay: I've had a Victa Lawnkeeper ESP360 for six years. It was recommended by Consumer magazine back then. It's been a great tool for me, it's still working fine, in that time I've replaced the blade once as it's not much more expensive than sharpening it. Mine's a bit banged up, but that's because it's so light I used to use it as a hedge trimmer. In that time I've run over one cord, but I was pretty hung over at the time. Get an RCD to keep yourself safe, but I mow my lawn in light rain if I need to.

So long as your lawn isn't like a field it should be fine. Once the grass gets over say 10-15cm high it takes a bit longer but still works. Note that the catcher isn't huge so you empty it more than with an electric model. It's nice and quiet too, which is the primary reason I bought it. Buying now for my 160 sq m lawn I'd probably try to get a bigger one, but I like the Victa so I may buy another of those.

For sale here. I got mine from an independent store somewhere in Lower Hutt.

Hmm, interesting. Shame I can't see that Consumer report, it has a couple of the models that I've been looking at in it, would be handy to see how they were rated.

Summary: it mows the lawns well. Don't overthink this, it's not a complex job. It's worked very well for me. Get the larger one, and two 10m extension cords - bright yellow are more visible on grass. Don't buy anything with a battery.

tdgeek:
timmmay: . In that time I've run over one cord, but I was pretty hung over at the time. .

Hmm, you mow your lawn when hung over, most impressive!

Not often!

kiwitrc

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#978192 31-Jan-2014 15:56

If you had mixed Whiskey with the lawn seed in the first place, the grass would have come up half cut.

hashbrown

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#978196 31-Jan-2014 16:02

FWIW Wolf Garten is a premium brand. They have some very expensive but high quality garden tools. I'd choose their 900W over a more powerful Ozito any day.

I have a "flying" flymo, but it is a PITA if the lawns are left too wet/long and sprays grass all over our paths which then needs cleaning up. Letting someone else do it at the moment :)

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