Cordless (electric) yard gear

hjames

hjames

We are all just walking each other home.
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Back in 2019, one of my coworkers moved to Woodstock, VA and bought a 40v Kobalt cordless mower ($250) from Lowes. He used it once, but found out it would not do his whole yard in one charge.
he doesn't like dealing with Craigslist buyers, so he offered it to me for $100. Basically brand spanking new. I've used it since June 2019 - mows our small yard just fine (basically just the front yard) the back is mulched and wild.

So, our old corded Black & Decker leaf blower died at the end of last year. I'd been trying to get the matching Kobalt $159 one from Lowes, figured having 2 40v batteries and charger would be a good thing. The one I wanted has been discounted to $139, but its sold out everywhere. On a hunch, drove a half-hour out to Lowes in N. Manassas and they had one in stock, a floor model, with no battery or charger. I told the sales guy I had a battery and charger at home and he guy assured me if I got it home and found it was dead, I could return it at FFfx Lowes for what I paid. Then he marked it for $50 (!) Got it home, dropped in the battery from my mower and Wahooah! Works like gangbusters! Tag says its got a 5 yr warrantee!
Didn't realize it before, but the mower has a 5AH battery - it ran the blower for an hour today before it stopped blowing!
So, basically - $400 worth of Lion Yard tools for $150! I should check and see if I can a matched electric chainsaw or something else to get a 2nd batt and charger for this gear!

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I've been pleased with my EGO 56volt, 5Ah, mower for the past three years. One of it's uncommon features is actually useful for me, as I sometimes mow late in the day - it has two bright headlights. Their string trimmer is excellent and uses a lighter battery, although the batteries are all interchangeable with different tools.

It's hard to believe, but more one & two-stage snow blowers are on the market. From what I've read, the EGO models seems to work well and I'd suppose other brands must be good too or the companies wouldn't risk the investment ... would they? :naughty:
 
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We've had Black and Decker cordless tools for many years, but I think most of the older ones are Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) battery, and not the newer Lithium Ion battery gear.
One problem is there are a lot of battery voltages out there - Kobalt has 40v, and 80v as well as 24 volt! And - the higher the Amp Hour (AH) rating, the more charge it carries.
They also have a 40v 6 AH battery on 50% off sale after Thanksgiving - I think that would be the best spare to get.

My neighbor has the Dewalt blower (Home Depot) - looks nice, it's a 20v tool.
I think he has the EGO cordless mower - not sure what volt battery his uses.

No matter what, its really nice to not fool with gas and oil, or power cords that might get cut!
 
I have quite a few Black and Decker 18v tools (NICD/NIMH). I got all the 18v tools for a song at a sale years ago, when LIPO were only on the horizon.

I would like to switch to lipo, but I can get cheap aftermarket 18v batteries that actually have twice the MAH of the stock batts, and work very well. I have also bought Harbor Freight 18v batts cheap, pulled the guts and inserted the cells into dead B&D batts, but the Harbor Freight are only 1300 or 1500 mah. The ones from Amazon are replacements, and are 3600mah and do very well.

Like the energizer battery, my B&D leaf blower, trimmer, drill and work light keep going and going.

I have also considered buying an adapter so 20v lipos fit each tool, but the batteries are expensive.
 
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I have B&D 40V setup for weed whacking and leaf blowing. Love it. get 45-60 minutes on charge. Recommend getting 40 volt and at least one 3.0 or 4.0 amp battery for endurance. Charge takes about 45 minutes so two batteries keeps you humming along. only complaint at 6'2" tall the wacker is a tad short but tolerable.
 
After using my Ryobi electric rider for the summer I'm sold. So much nicer than the old gas that was the same size. Don't ever see going back to IC. Also have a 40 volt Ryobi trimmer/edger that will do the yard 3 times or twice and an edging. Still have the Craftsman 40 volt hedge trimmer from the old house that use to cut the back 150' privet hedge and have enough left to do 3 bushes in front, just an amazing tool. DeWalt 20 volt blower and it's battery tool brothers, hammer drill, impact driver and circular saw. Dropping the gas and cutting the cords has been wonderful.
 
I have several Ryobi tools and have been happy with them. In particular, my chainsaw and sawzall have survived a lot of abuse and are still going strong. No gas, no cord, no compromises in performance. Batteries hold a good charge, even my oldest ones.

The push mower has worked well cutting our dog pen, and I'm hoping that our new snow blower works well clearing our deck and dog pen this winter.
 
15 years ago Los Angeles offered a Neuton Battery powered mower for $100 if you traded in your gas mower. I got one and its been reliable and a real work horse. Still going strong.
 
EGO blower and trimmer. Bought the trimmer more to get a second charger & battery. Superb tools.
We also have two Hoover Lynx floor vacuum cleaners powered by Li-ion batteries that are great for spot duty.
 
dosmalo said:
When I was growing up this was my dad's idea of 'cordless.'
I broke the blade on it one day and thought 'Well, that'll be the end of that!' He took it to town and had it welded and handed it back to me.View attachment 2398617
Click to expand...

We even had and used an old "cordless" mower -- i.e., the non ICE-powered type -- in the Sixites~Early Seventies.
 
My diesel tractor is also cordless.:thumbsup:

I didn't like the 20v weedwhacker from Dewalt. It will do the job for a 1/4 acre or less fairly well if you like cleaning the screen and removing the head. Lacks power and it's just a POS. Better than trying to keep a small gas unit alive in the winter.

The short 20v chainsaw is better than expected for farm duty. My only gripe is the chain lubes itself whether it's excited or not.
 
Love my Dewalt 20V blower. One of the best tools I ever purchased and the price was very reasonable. I want to buy a Dewalt Hedge Trimmer with battery next.
 
The true cost of gas gear is also in the maintenance like oil changes, spark plugs the occasional carb and the time spent to do it. With electric there's no worries about disposing of waste liquids, no need for Stabil or mixing. Turn the key or pull the trigger. As for DeWalt 20 volt tools. I redecked a 16x36 deck with all 20 volt power tools. There was always a fresh battery ready to go. All my batteries were 3ah at the time and a 5ah came with the blower a couple of years ago. The 1.5s are for very light duty not for projects.
 
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audiocrzy said:
15 years ago Los Angeles offered a Neuton Battery powered mower for $100 if you traded in your gas mower. I got one and its been reliable and a real work horse. Still going strong.
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What a hoot - when the architect neighbors down the block sold their place and moved out, they left a Neutron 3-wheel electric Yard Cart on the curb..
Of course, being a tinkerer and scrounge, I grabbed it, used google and found Neutron no longer sells or supports it (2009 gear). I took it apart and found
a lead-acid (motorcycle type) battery inside. Got a replacement at the Suzuki dealer - then found the control switches and logic board were shot.
So power was intermittent, at best. The tubes in the tires were shot so I replaced the tubes 2 years ago, then the tires dry-rotted,
so I found that some hard-rubber wheels I had from a handtruck fit the driven axle, and let me bypass the gearbox
so it's easier to pull. (I still need a replacement for the dryrotted 3rd wheel, but its usable).

It makes a good, stable yard cart - I can haul 5 bags of mulch easily with it!.
Even has the plastic sides and mesh netting to use when hauling leaves and such
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Mystic said:
We even had and used an old "cordless" mower -- i.e., the non ICE-powered type -- in the Sixites~Early Seventies.
Click to expand...
And yes, I still have the cordless Reel mower my Dad gave me - for emergency use only ;)
 

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I have a Ryobi cordless leaf blower, while it wouldn't even come close to blowing the leaves across my yard it does a good job blowing leaves and grass off the deck and patio. I have noticed something going on with the trigger. This summer when I pull the trigger sometimes it doesn't run at full speed for a few seconds but will then kick into high. It's about 3 or 4 years old
 
Maybe a shot of Deoxit. Fixed a drifting PS 4 controller with it.
 
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sanford12 said:
Maybe a shot of Deoxit. Fixed a drifting PS 4 controller with it.
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I tried Deoxit with the Neutron Yard cart controls, but they still acted intermittent at best.
Since they no longer make or support that product, I suspect it was a design issue.
I have the manual, the schematic and even read the support forums at that time,
and it seemed to be a general opinion that it wasn't a good electric cart, not robust for outdoor use.
But it's a good cart with the electric bypassed out ;)
https://www.neutonpower.com/
 
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