Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby Fenlason » Mon May 23, 2016 10:22 am

KennethW wrote:
Fenlason wrote: the front tires don't stay inflated all that well. I haven't bothered to address that yet, I just re-inflate them.

I litttle full strength antifreeze in the tires will seal the cracks in older tires so you can get a few more years out of them. :thumbsup:


Thanks… I will look into that. :thumbsup:
glenn

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby Fenlason » Mon May 23, 2016 10:23 am

Among my older machines, I do have a new Kubota. It's about 5 months old, and is American made… and so far it is pretty sweet.
glenn

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby videographer » Tue May 24, 2016 8:18 pm

I have a cheap Sears mower with the transmission dying. Couldn't find a replacement tranny, so made the leap to electric - ordered an E-go 21" self-propelled from Home Depot. Supposed to be here on June 1. Comes with two batteries. I have hills on my 1/2 acre, so this will be interesting. Will report back.
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby lrrowe » Tue May 24, 2016 8:41 pm

videographer wrote:I have a cheap Sears mower with the transmission dying. Couldn't find a replacement tranny, so made the leap to electric - ordered an E-go 21" self-propelled from Home Depot. Supposed to be here on June 1. Comes with two batteries. I have hills on my 1/2 acre, so this will be interesting. Will report back.


Please keep us posted on ypur results. I should have knocked on wood when I posted earlier that I had little to no problems with my Toro self propelled mower. Well today while mowing I am getting these funny noises coming from the drive train. Geez, wonder what that means?
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby rowerwet » Fri May 27, 2016 5:00 am

I haven't mowed the yard in many years, my wife does it instead of her walk, and recently my oldest two have learned there is money involved if they do it before she can get to it.
We have three mowers, two old craftsman and a toro, I didn't pay for any of them.
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby RonS » Fri May 27, 2016 6:25 pm

daveesl77 wrote:Maybe a year from now I'll feel different, but for now, never another gas job.

dave


Probably. I can't imagine you won't find a way to destroy the electric if you've destroyed that many gas engine mowers.....
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby jstrubberg » Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:15 am

We got off the treadmill by not buying box store quality mowers any more. I'm pretty sure my grand kids will be trying to get rid of my Cub Cadet long after I am gone. Takes me about 35 minutes to mow an acre with an enclosed area for the dogs and a ten degree slope on about half of it.

Electric is interesting, but there's no way I'm hauling a cord around my acre of yard. I would have more invested in the extension cord than my mower.
The more stuff I take along, the more time I spend taking care of my stuff!
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby lrrowe » Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:31 am

I vacuum an indoor shooting range with a special filter. I can tell you IT IS a pain to deal with that 100 foot cord.
Bob

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby daveesl77 » Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:11 pm

Well, for all the "nay-sayers" (laughing), I just finished my second cut on my yard and I absolutely love this mower. The early morning temperature (about 8:30am) was about 80f and the humidity was central Florida crazy. It is like walking, the mower is so light. As I said originally, the lawn portion of my yard is about 1/3 acre and is very steep. I cut side-side, so I'm not having to climb my hill on each pass.

As to the cord, it is no problem at all. What I found is that I cut half of each yard area ( front area, back area), beginning at an imaginary line down the middle of the yard area, from side to side. I secure the cord in the front to a big oak tree, which is the initial split point. I simply walk from the oak tree across the yard, turn and walk back. I hold the cord away from the direction I'm mowing (moving downwards or upwards, depending on the half). After one full cut, side to side, the cord now automatically stays out of the way, as it is laying where I've already cut. You are cutting away from the cord at all times. In the back I do the same, except I loop the cord around a stump for my initial starting point at half-way. I take a break after each half and do one yard area each day, in the morning.

Now, as to the comments on the destroyed gas mowers - yes 3 engines blown, but perhaps I should have clarified that. One happened over a decade ago and was a result of having the deck too low and hitting a short stump of an orange tree I had cut down. The second happened on a rider I salvaged from my neighbor who could not get it to start and after changing oil and filter, tuning it up, I got it to fire up, ran for about 1 minute and the engine seized. So yes, who knows what he did to it or how long it had been out of commission. The 3rd mower was a Craftsman rider with the stupid 20hp B&S aluminum engine design that has a long history of tearing itself apart for no apparent reason.

After the Craftsman blew I searched long and hard for another rider and unless I desired to spend several thousand dollars, they either all suffered from the same "blown motor syndrome" or other mechanical maladies. I looked at the Honda self-propelled, but guess what, the reviews all state that while it is a Honda engine, the manufacturers decided to use either plastic or pot metal drive systems, thus they fall apart. It just made no sense, why throw money down the tube on some junk that while under a name brand is just a rebrand of crap. Troybilt, Cub, Yard King - they are all the same MTD with a different decal, same crap motors.

I just want my yard mowed and look good, I don't want to spend a load of money to find out the week after the warranty goes out that the company, regardless of who they are, decided to short-change some vital part. I have a 5 YEAR warranty on this mower, not 1 year or even 90 days (as is the case with some gas jobs). This is my second electric, the first being about 35 years ago and was only good for, well nothing. This one cuts better than any mower I've ever had and to be honest, it really isn't any more difficult and barely more time consuming, if at all, than my riders. It is a heck of a lot less expensive.

I'm not saying everyone should go to electric, do whatever you want. But start looking at reviews on various models and I think you'll be amazed at how far down the quality has dropped across the board.

dave
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby caseydog » Tue Jun 28, 2016 3:51 pm

I got 26 years out of my old Snapper 2-cycle. When it finally wasn't repairable (no parts available), I bought a Toro E-Cycler battery-powered mower, and I love it. Three trouble-free years, so far.

CD
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby Camp4Life » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:01 pm

Electric mower here too (battery powered) and also black & decker electric weed whacker and electric leaf blower that also run on batteries. I like the low maintenance and not having to deal with gas or oil (buying/spilling and the smell). But I still have an old Murray self-propelled mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine that still starts on the first pull every time.
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby daveesl77 » Wed Aug 31, 2016 9:14 am

It has now been most of the summer and still loving this mower. I cut my lawn about every week to 10 days (depending on if we get rain or not and the grass grows enough). My front yard is very thick Saint Augustine grass and the Kobalt makes short work of it. I can honestly say there is not a single thing I regret about buying this mower. I get some exercise, the setup and cutting are no hassle at all and the cut quality is still far beyond anything I've ever gotten with one of my riders.

So, as my neighbor on one side gets about half way through cutting his yard and runs out of gas only to find he has none and then has to go to the gas station; and the neighbor on the other gets his rider stuck in the mud by the lake, after he destroyed $40 worth of blades hitting rocks by driving too fast; I just lazily push mine along, realizing I'm spending actually far less time and a lot less money with my electric than I ever did with my riders.

And to my daughter and son-in-law - no, I'm not buying an electric car and becoming Ed Begley, Jr. :D

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby videographer » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:43 am

Don't knock the electric car! My Nissan Leaf has just under 45000 all-solar-powered miles on it and it's going great. Plus, in June I drive a Tesla Model S to the east coast and back - an excellent trip.

Oh yeah, lawnmowers. The Ego battery-powered electric is astounding excellent, once you get the big battery in it. I mentioned a few posts back that my mower came with two batteries, but one was back-ordered. The one that came with the mower was the smallest they offer, and it took 4 charges to mow my lawn! Still, the experience is far superior to any gas push mower - relatively quiet, no fumes, and a nice cut to boot. A few weeks later my 2nd battery shows up - and it's the BIG one. This one cuts my lawn with juice to spare. All in all, it's a big win, so much so that I bought their electric weed whacker and am seriously considering their electric snow blower. I'm still editing a video about the experience, will post here when it's done.

PS: here's the real miracle - the Ego is such a pleasure to use that even my wife and daughters are happy to mow! But the dumbest name ever attached to a consumer product.

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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby Tomterrific » Tue Sep 06, 2016 8:38 am

The 20 HP B&S engine needs the intake valve adjusted. There is an automatic compression release on the intake valve. The valve clearance slowly increases until the compression release is no longer effective. The result of too large of valve clearance is backfiring on start and a broken starter motor gear.

Above I described how to fix a push mower that hits an object. Pull the flywheel and reposition it over the key slot. You don't even need a new Woodruff key as the crankshaft taper holds the wheel in position. The blade will be bent so it will need replaced as well. I've tried to bend a blade back straight but have been unsuccessful. If it turns out the crankshaft is bent as well, the engine is not worth repairing further. A good way to fix free mowers.

Tom
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Re: Goodbye Gas Mower, Hello Electric!

Postby gudmund » Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:03 am

3 things I will not do in my adult life time - and that is #1 weed flower beds, cut wood or mow grass - have no flowers - if it can't survive on it own, it don't belong and #2 am 100% all electric (Pacific NW-almost 100% Hydro-electric power sourced) in a 720 sq. ft. house with a fire place that has never been used since I have been here since 1989 - NO FIREWOOD and #3 I "mow" my yard once or twice a year with 'round-up' thus never have ever had a lawn mower and like smoking - I NEVER WILL!! (Yes - I am lazy and Hate Yard Work!!!! The yard is beauty bark w/gravel walkways. Low to "NO" maintenance - More time for TEAR DROPPING now that I am retired)
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