Back in mid May I was just sick of having starting problems with the old gasoline lawn mower. So I went out looking for a new mower. We have 3.75 acres here but only have about 1/2 acre to mow so when I found out that a cordless battery operated lawn mower would run for an hour on one charge I knew it was something we needed. Meg and I are always looking for greener ways to live our lives and not having to deal with the carbon and pollution released by a gasoline mower seemed to fit our lifestyle perfectly. So I bought the 20 inch Homelite 24 volt cordless battery operated Lawn Mower.
After 2 1/2 months of testing it once a week or so, I thought I'd fill you in on the pros and cons of having a cordless.
Pros:
#1 Starting it is way too easy, just pull out the handle, it does have a safety key in case you have children. To stop it just let go.
#2 it is light and moves easily over level ground, edging with it it does well.
#3 The battery does last an hour if the grass is not too high. Deeper grass will reduce the mowing time on the battery.
#4 Meg lets me store it in the basement, no gas fumes or fire hazards.
#5 We don't have to buy gas or worry that it gets water in the gas. Also no trips to buy gas and deal with the gas can in your car.
#6 No emissions virtually pollution free.
Cons:
#1 It will only mow about an half acre a day on one battery charge.
#2 The battery takes 15 hours to get a full charge. You can get about a 70% charge in 5-6 hours.
#3 Seems rather cheaply made, how available would parts be to get it fixed?
#4 It cost about $100 more than gas mowers of it's size.
#5 Not self propelled.
#6 You have to charge it and remember to unplug the charger after it is charged.
Starting the mower is easy just pull the trigger below. Notice the plastic key for safety.
So you might ask what are those tall grass like plants I've mowed it through?
Bamboo Grass, Microstegium vimineum Our worst nightmare here in North Carolina. This patch of it was dirt after we re did the septic field in the woods a year ago. Now it grows 2 foot tall in about a month. Our garden has it everywhere, it creeps up and grows 4 times faster than anything.
We pull this by the wheelbarrow full all season when we have the energy. Since our garden is organic we don't use Roundup or anything like it. I have a friend that used Roundup on it and shortly after it all died it just came back.
