lawnmower: petrol vs 36volts

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kaczor47

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#318572 30-Jan-2025 22:37

Our Ryobi petrol mower is dead (well, the subaru engine is fine, but the chassis is completely disintegrated).
Looking for an upgrade and trying to decide between a 36V Ryobi (dual battery) or a Masport petrol (Briggs & Stratton). I am leaning towards the battery one (I already have some 36v Ryobi tools), but living in Wellington I worry how it would cope with wet grass. Our lawn is not large, 150-200m2.

For a question to those with battery mowers, how does it cope with wet/tall grass?

Cheers!

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#3337562 30-Jan-2025 23:11

Have a read of the forum posts below if you have not already done so.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=302239

Shindig

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#3337571 31-Jan-2025 06:38

I have also been looking at purchasing a lawn mower and related line trimmer.

The Ryobi ones had caught my eye and reasonably priced. Mixed reviews across the NZ and Aus consensus as to the quality of Ryobi and longevity.

I have been keeping my eye on the EGO prices and made a decision to 'invest' in that eco system, but part of me feels the equipment is too much for a combined 170m2 grassy section, plus the edges.

I will check out the link @qwertee has posted.

Part of me doesn't actually want any more equipment as such in the garage, and I'd rather pay a gardener.

EDIT

Alot of love for EGO

The little things make the biggest difference.

johno1234

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#3337573 31-Jan-2025 07:07

I’m one of the EGO fans. Fantastic equipment (mower, line trimmer, hedge trimmer)

The really important thing is to get a mower that matches the job. If you have a small lawn you can get away with a small mower. A small mower and large lawn or tall grass will make you hate living.

My friend has a 2x18V Makita mower and it’s just not up to it. The 4.0AH batteries don’t last the mow and it struggles with longer grass.

Dynamic

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#3337576 31-Jan-2025 07:23

One of the advantages of a battery mower is that (for me at least) mowing feels less like a chore so I'm inclined to do it more regularly and not let the grass get too long.

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CYaBro

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#3337579 31-Jan-2025 07:54

We’ve been in the EGO tool family for a few years now.
Have a chainsaw, line trimmer, brush cutter, hedge trimmer and pole saw.
2x 2.5ah batteries.
Just recently saw someone selling an EGO self propelled lawn mower with a 7.5ah battery for $350 so jumped on that quick!

New it would cost about $1500.

As Dynamic said, mowing the lawn now is so much less of a chore that I do it more often so the grass doesn’t get very long at all.
Grass was pretty long when I first got it and it handled it fine, no worse than the old petrol mower it replaced.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Senecio

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#3337602 31-Jan-2025 09:13

CYaBro:

Just recently saw someone selling an EGO self propelled lawn mower with a 7.5ah battery for $350 so jumped on that quick!

New it would cost about $1500.

That was a hell of a deal, the battery alone would be worth more than $350.

I also have a full compliment of EGO equipment (Mower, trimmer, blower and chainsaw). I doubt I would ever go back to petrol unless I moved to a small lifestyle section. I've had my equipment now for over 7 years and I'm still getting good life out of my 3 batteries (2.5ah, 4.0ah & 5.0ah). The mower does struggle if I let the grass get too long or too wet but I just lift the blades for the first mow and then run over it a day or two latter at the normal height.

Gurezaemon

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#3337611 31-Jan-2025 09:37

I have an Ego self propelled mower for use on a lawn that takes me a bit over an hour to mow. the 7.5 Ah it came with and the 5.0 Ah that came with a promotion are exactly enough for the whole lawn.

The mower suddenly stopped last month a couple of months after purchase, but Mitre10 (where I bought it) handled the warranty repair no questions asked.

The much lighter weight of the electric mower, combined with the lack of wrenching my shoulder trying to get stubborn old 4-stroke running are big motivations in not putting off mowing.

I don't need to mow wet grass, as I work from home and can wait until it is dry, but I have been impressed with the sheer torque of the Ego in plowing through thick kikuyu and the like.

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Bung

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#3337616 31-Jan-2025 09:50

johno1234: My friend has a 2x18V Makita mower and it’s just not up to it. The 4.0AH batteries don’t last the mow and it struggles with longer grass.

I have a Makita. It came with 5Ah batteries and the deal at the time included 2 extra. The trick is to mow the grass before it gets long enough to overload the mower and that solves battery life as well. Mowing shorter grass means you can get away with a mulch mow without leaving visible clippings.

mrdrifter

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#3337619 31-Jan-2025 10:03

Bung:

I have a Makita. It came with 5Ah batteries and the deal at the time included 2 extra. The trick is to mow the grass before it gets long enough to overload the mower and that solves battery life as well. Mowing shorter grass means you can get away with a mulch mow without leaving visible clippings.

That's the deal we got and the mower works really well. I am concerned about the quality of the steel deck and rusting (seems to be a bit of a known issue). But the mower itself will get through pretty much anything in the dry, and if it's a bit damp, I just lift the cut height for a pass.

We had a Ryboi 36v prior, and it didn't have the same cutting capability, but the biggest downside was the plastic deck had to much twist in it, making cutting on our hill quite a pain.

Senecio

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#3337624 31-Jan-2025 10:14

This is true for all mowers but is especially important for battery mowers that don't have the brute force to plow through thick grass. Maintaining good blades is important in allowing your electric mower the best chance of dealing with thick grass. When I notice that mine is struggling a quick run over the blades with a dremel to tidy up the cutting surface work wonders for getting the most out of the mower.

richms

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#3337631 31-Jan-2025 11:00

I tried the 2 18v battery ryobi when it was available and it was hopeless. Ended up getting a dual 18v milwaukee which is great at going thru stuff for the cutting, but none of them have the airflow of the old masport so it will not pick up what it cuts or pull up leaves to the same degree as the petrol masport does which is like a vacuum cleaner as far as leaves. I still run the masport around under the trees to get all that up, chopped and in the catcher to get rid of it, but on the lawn that is just lawn the milwaukee does fine.

Richard rich.ms

Bung

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#3337642 31-Jan-2025 11:21

mrdrifter: I am concerned about the quality of the steel deck and rusting (seems to be a bit of a known issue).

I stuck a 50mm wide strip of Aluband flashing tape around the inside of the mower level with the tip of the blade. That and Lanacoting the nooks and crannies seems to be holding so far.

qwertee

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#3337677 31-Jan-2025 12:13

Yes a 'whole lotta love' for EGO.

We had a lawn guy and but he quit the business and the new guy is still learning. So thought its time to give this a go.

I bought the EGO self propelled 47" mower and the blower that came bundled.
I also bought the line trimmer kit . ( price matched by Mitre10 as Sydney tools CHCH had it cheaper)
Very pleased with the results and the EGO gear and I am still learning and getting used to how best to mow my lawns.

Still not proficient with doing the edges with the line trimmer as controlling it without going 'wavy' is what I need to master.
I use long bladed garden scissors for edging and maybe buy a long handled edging shear for a more controlled edging experience.
EGO do sell a bladed edger, but that only sold as an attachment for the multi tool family.

Next is to buy a a hedge trimmer kit as I need another 2.5 battery. Currently my 5A and 2.5A works but the extra 2.5A can help without swapping batteries.
I admit EGO is expensive, but I rather treat this as an investment and buying good quality leaves me from thinking what it would be like if I bought EGO than buy the common less expensive ones.

On the last mow, I never used self propulsion , and only do use it to transport the mower.

Bought a shoulder strap, but I need to fine tune the clasp so that the trimmer is well balanced.

Thanks @jarledb for editing my other post to correct the link.

johno1234

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#3337679 31-Jan-2025 12:23

Senecio:

This is true for all mowers but is especially important for battery mowers that don't have the brute force to plow through thick grass. Maintaining good blades is important in allowing your electric mower the best chance of dealing with thick grass. When I notice that mine is struggling a quick run over the blades with a dremel to tidy up the cutting surface work wonders for getting the most out of the mower.

I must remember to do that. My mower blade must be blunt as hell by now.

Do mower blades need to be balanced?

Interslice

159 posts

Master Geek

#3337727 31-Jan-2025 14:56

My petrol lawnmower died a couple of days before Christmas so I did a lot of YouTube watching about a new lawnmower especially battery ones. I ended up purchasing the Ozito steel deck lawnmower 36v (2 x 18v) and Im really impressed by it. I must have around 300-350sqm to mow and it does awesomely. I can get 2 mows out of one charge on the 4.0ah battery's. Seems to have a bit of grunt too. I must admit it hasn't tackled wet grass yet though. I watched this guy's videos on it and decided to purchase it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AYCsF7X7Uhw

He's a little critical on it but then again it is relatively cheap compared to what he's used. I was looking at the Ryobi but I don't like how they use a different battery for their 36v tools where as Ozito use the same battery that can be used in anything from drills to an electric bike. Also doing research on Ozito before my purchase it turns out they are basically rebranded Einhell tools and came with a 5 year warranty out the box.

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