Electric mower and chainsaw- happy camper (and mower)

[POD]

My 30+-year-old rover mower has been misbehaving for the last couple of years so i decided to look at getting a new mower. The thought occurred to me that I could maybe get one of the newfangled battery lawnmowers plus get a chainsaw to run off the same battery for camping trips, save carrying a tin of two-stroke fuel which is a total pain. I was figuring they would both be seeing only light duty, as I have a 3-cyl diesel Kubota mower that does most of my lawn and I do just a few small areas around the house with the hand mower so there are no clippings to walk into the house, as there's no catcher on the big mower.
After looking at a couple of different options and viewing some internet reviews, I ended up buying the eGO 56-volt 40cm lawnmower which comes with a 4 amp-hour battery, plus their chainsaw with 16" bar as a 'skin'. There was a deal going for the month (July) where if you bought two of their products, they sent you a free 2.5 amp hour battery also. The dealer threw in 3 extra chains.

I am now convinced that petrol powered mowers and chainsaws are obsolete.

I was very pleased with the mower first time I used it but that was late July and the grass was pretty thin.
I had some logs about 20" diameter that I had not yet finished cutting up for firewood after felling. I took the new toy (or so I thought) saw up the back and got through those things at least as easily as I would have with my trusty Husky saw that has cut every piece of firewood we have burned in the last 15 years. What I thought was going to be a secondary saw suitable for docking small branches, turns out to be a serious saw suitable for any job on my property and then some. We went on a brief outback trip in August and took the new saw, no stinking tin of two-stroke to worry about- just a container of bar oil, and it kept us in firewood with ease, not to mention a minimum of noise. It's actually hard to see the Husky getting much of a run now.
When we got home, the bonus 2.5 amp-hour battery was waiting at the post office. There was a definite pre-spring growth spurt in the lawn so I decided to experiment and see if the smaller battery would get the mower through my small lawns, total about 200 square meters from memory. When I had got through the usual hand-mowing area, I decided to keep going until the 2.5 amp-hour battery gave up. It gave up after about the same area again, on an area of lawn that I usually do with the Kubota. I had to lift the deck two notches as the kubota deck is set pretty high, this lawn has never had a grass catcher on it plus the grass was over 6" long in some areas. The power is probably about the same as the 4-stroke Rover had.

So, two batteries and a charger I can run off my inverter, powerful motors that run quietly and need no stinky fuel and no pulling on starter cords, I can't see why I would ever buy a tool with a two-stroke engine again. Only real issue I can see with these things is someone could get seriously hurt treating the chainsaw with less respect than they would with something that's screaming at 120 decibels.

[goingbush]

Im hearing you , who wants to cart stinky 2 stroke around.

I bought a Victa 80v mower 2 years ago , hands down best mower I've ever had , and power ,
same battery fits my weed whacker . Charge one whilst I use the other.

Im just sorry I didn't buy their 80V chainsaw whilst I could. All I can find now are their 40V models.


Doh, I just googled , the 80V chainsaw was recalled due to kickback brake issue,
well they sure as hell would not be getting mine back if I'd have bought one.

[AK83]

couple of years back I bought my dad a 54v(or maybe 56v .. can't remember exactly) AEG whipper snipper. Fantastic beast!
Dad loved it, he reckons more powerful than the 2 stoke Mitsubishi powered whatever brand monster he used to have.
Only difference in terms of usage was that dad got about 1 hr of use on his nearly 2 ac block, all sloping and too much fallen timber to do by ride on.
But at 80+ the 1 hr was about all he could manage per shift anyhow, and as he said, usually did 30min sessions.
What he couldn't do was pull start even the most domesticated of edge trimmers .. hence why I got him the electric.

He's now off the property, and has handed it back to me, but I have no need for it whatsoever for my 20sq mt turf area.

I've thought to sell the AEG cutter off, but then I'm thinking, beign electric it can basically sit for the next 80 years without any degradation whatsoever .. unlike a ICE powered version!
So it's staying now.
I may look into replacing my 4stroke mower if I can find an AEG battery powered mower for reasonable $s.

[gromit]

[QUOTE=AK83;2839418]

I've thought to sell the AEG cutter off, but then I'm thinking, beign electric it can basically sit for the next 80 years without any degradation whatsoever .. unlike a ICE powered version!
QUOTE]

But....... after 80 years the battery would be dead, the manufacturer would have long stopped making replacement battery packs and re-populating the pack would be more expensive than a new whipper snipper so you'd probably throw it away.

I have a couple of older cordless drills that use NiCad battery packs and the batteries (after about 10 years) are at the end of their lives. I know battery technology has moved on but the drills are OK and have a feature not found on drills now. Re-populating the packs is about $60, NOS battery packs are about the same so it's now either throw away the drills (there are 2 of them ) or take a punt with some Chinese copies of the batteries.

I can see all the advantages of electric tools but built in obsolescence is my concern (and cost).

I guess an ICE powered whipper snipper has the same built in obsolescence if something breaks, spare parts after 5-10 years will not be available.
My whipper snipper I'm using at the moment ( I have a few) is an ancient Ryobi purchased for $5 that looked like it had sat in a shed for 10years. I replaced the fuel lines which had gone brittle ($4 via China) and it starts & runs fine and will be used later today. I didn't even check the spark plug.

When I can't pull start and if the kids have finally left home (so there's no one else to pull start it for me) I guess I'll go electric and by then the built in obsolescence won't worry me.......


Colin

[AK83]

[QUOTE=AK83;2839418]

I've thought to sell the AEG cutter off, but then I'm thinking, beign electric it can basically sit for the next 80 years without any degradation whatsoever .. unlike a ICE powered version!
QUOTE]

But....... after 80 years the battery would be dead, the manufacturer would have long stopped making replacement battery packs and re-populating the pack would be more expensive than a new whipper snipper so you'd probably throw it away.

.....

Yeah, of course, but that's all pre planned.
They use the std 18650 type cells(2100mAh rating), so as long as that cell type is still available, easy fix.

And that's really my only misgiving for such systems so far.
If in normal usage, the battery lasts about 4-5yrs, the cost of a replacement battery probably works out to be higher than the 4 year running cost of an ICE 'tool'(ie. mower/chainsaw/brush cutter).

Those AEG batteries cost approx $400(currently), but the one thing I really liked about the AEG battery compared all other batteries I've had dealings with is that they make them very easy to pull apart. All screw system [thumbsupbig] no annoying clip together shell that's impossible to separate without cracking, and no gluing.
I've only opened it up for now, not taken the battery grid out, as I don't to muck anything up. When battery dies, I'll then weigh up the cost of replace/rebuild.
Cells are arranged in a 'sandwhich grid' setup, between two boards, which I assume is pulled out like a cartridge, the two boards separated which releases the batteries. They don't appear to be soldered, just captive between the two boards.

[Chops]

Having recently bought the AEG 18V drill set, I'm really impressed with how far these units have come over the years. I've had others, many years ago which have long since given up, and didn't do well when in use anyway.

So with a stuffed back now, I'm seriously looking at the chainsaw option myself. My current chainsaw which is very large, is getting beyond my limitations for usability [bigsad], and with the upcoming planned trip, I'm not really wanting to cart it/fuel around on the pretense we "may" need it occasionally for getting us through some bush tracks. But I will need something for firewood, albeit I'm not sure how the Nat Parks will except "any" saw being on board in certain areas. (A whole nother discussion on its own I'm sure).

I'm pretty sure that between the car/winch/elec-saw and a bit of ingenuity, I'll be more than capable of getting us through something big should the need arise.

Just got to find the right one, seeing as the larger battery pack means a whole new unit to the set up that I now have,,means I don't actually need to go through AEG to keep everything inline so to speak. Ahh, of course, then I'll need to fit the inverter too [bigwhistle]

[weeds]

Having recently bought the AEG 18V drill set, I'm really impressed with how far these units have come over the years. I've had others, many years ago which have long since given up, and didn't do well when in use anyway.

So with a stuffed back now, I'm seriously looking at the chainsaw option myself. My current chainsaw which is very large, is getting beyond my limitations for usability [bigsad], and with the upcoming planned trip, I'm not really wanting to cart it/fuel around on the pretense we "may" need it occasionally for getting us through some bush tracks. But I will need something for firewood, albeit I'm not sure how the Nat Parks will except "any" saw being on board in certain areas. (A whole nother discussion on its own I'm sure).

I'm pretty sure that between the car/winch/elec-saw and a bit of ingenuity, I'll be more than capable of getting us through something big should the need arise.

Just got to find the right one, seeing as the larger battery pack means a whole new unit to the set up that I now have,,means I don't actually need to go through AEG to keep everything inline so to speak. Ahh, of course, then I'll need to fit the inverter too [bigwhistle]

There are 12V Chargers for some manufacturers of 18V as we use them for work. Be interesting to see if there is a 12V charger for the 36V series. I’m not keen to install an inverter.

I have a perfecting good petrol chainsaw and struggle with the idea of ditching it based on cordless getting better. I store mine either on the spare wheel or roof rack as there is zero chance of it traveling inside the car.

[AK83]

I got Ryobi's 12v charger for the One+ system. Got their 18v chainsaw, for camping. Got a few of their tools, to keep it as much 'inline' with each other .. or so to speak .. as possible.
12v charger works very well.
Charges the 2.0Ah batteries quickly too. About 45mins from when I feel the tool going gutless(as opposed to totally dead).
With the chainsaw tho, I and or brother have never had to use the charger when camping.
Brother's camping setup is for about 4-5 days, chainsaw for firewood only, as as minimal as possible.
So for 4 nights firewood supply 2x 5.0Ah batteries on this 18v chainsaw appears to be plenty. The One + chainsaw was chosen for both it's common battery to mine(and his) tools, but more importantly it's smaller size(for camping).
Needs more time to cut timber of course, we expected that .. but for a leisure situation time is not an issue.

[gromit]

[QUOTE=gromit;2839506]


Those AEG batteries cost approx $400(currently), but the one thing I really liked about the AEG battery compared all other batteries I've had dealings with is that they make them very easy to pull apart. All screw system [thumbsupbig] no annoying clip together shell that's impossible to separate without cracking, and no gluing.I've only opened it up for now, not taken the battery grid out, as I don't to muck anything up. When battery dies, I'll then weigh up the cost of replace/rebuild.


Wow.....$400. That would buy a lot of fuel & oil.
I'm on an acre and I recon I mix up 5 litres of 2-stroke maybe once per year.

I know where I can get the packs re-populated, the company has the st/st straps and a spot welder. The fact that you might be able to replace individual cells yourself would make it a cheaper rebuild option.

I think I'd stick with ICE for the time being.........


Colin

[AK83]

...

Wow.....$400. That would buy a lot of fuel & oil.
I'm on an acre and I recon I mix up 5 litres of 2-stroke maybe once per year.

I know where I can get the packs re-populated, the company has the st/st straps and a spot welder. The fact that you might be able to replace individual cells yourself would make it a cheaper rebuild option.

I think I'd stick with ICE for the time being.........


Colin

Yeah! $400 buys a lot of petrol/oil/tuneups.

I think for me tho, it's the convenience/ease factor.
If battery charged, just plug in and go scenario as opposed to the typical ICE workflow of .. pull(nothing!) pull(nothing!) pull(nothing) .. till you realise that the carby may need a slight tweak, the air filter is probably blocked, spark plug probably black and wet .. and there's wasted 2 hrs trying to figure out why the blasted thing won't start.
I have the battery now, so all I'd need is the $400 mower(AEG in my case as that's what I'm tied too), so in 20mins I've loaded the battery and cut my knee high lawn. I may have mentioned that I'm fairly lazy about gardening stuff .. haven't cut my lawn for 6+ months [tonguewink]

But when it comes to camping tho, the battery chainsaw is pretty much unbeatable as an overall comparison to a 2 stroke version. I reckon the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

[gromit]

Yeah! $400 buys a lot of petrol/oil/tuneups.

I think for me tho, it's the convenience/ease factor.
If battery charged, just plug in and go scenario as opposed to the typical ICE workflow of .. pull(nothing!) pull(nothing!) pull(nothing) .. till you realise that the carby may need a slight tweak, the air filter is probably blocked, spark plug probably black and wet .. and there's wasted 2 hrs trying to figure out why the blasted thing won't start.
I have the battery now, so all I'd need is the $400 mower(AEG in my case as that's what I'm tied too), so in 20mins I've loaded the battery and cut my knee high lawn. I may have mentioned that I'm fairly lazy about gardening stuff .. haven't cut my lawn for 6+ months [tonguewink]

But when it comes to camping tho, the battery chainsaw is pretty much unbeatable as an overall comparison to a 2 stroke version. I reckon the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

I'd agree, maybe, to the advantages but just can't justify the costs involved.

My petrol mower (4-stroke) is now 18 years old.
Purchased new it's had maybe 2 oil changes in that period and I just replaced the rear wheels because one broke. The only time it's seen a mower shop was when I purchased it.
My ride-on is from the '60's, every year I carry out repairs but it was cheap and so far after 16 years or so it still cuts the grass.
Whipper snippers.......... I've worn a cheap Ryobi out (12 years and the clutch disintegrated) and have been on secondhand ones since then. One from the local tip shop for $10, cleaned the carby and it ran perfectly.
My $5 Ryobi mentioned earlier plus a couple of freebies that once petrol pipes were replaced and carby's cleaned run perfectly.

I really don't want to waste money on gardening tools but each to their own.....

Colin

[Chops]

I'm a bit like you Arthur, somewhat lazy as far as the garden goes,, but I do have my back problems too which stops me a lot.
I have been fortunate enough though with my petrol options,, they have never really let me down or held me up time wise. But, onwards and upwards, I guess it's time to try the "new ways" of the world with some much upgraded technology and hopefully, some lighter tools to handle.
I'm already half deaf, so noise doesn't really bother me, although I do feel for others that get annoyed with mowers going off most of the weekend, when they might be entertaining, or perhaps just wanting some peace and quiet to relax with.
Certainly when out camping, the last thing I want to hear is chainsaws going off, or generators running,,, now there's a thought, someone needs to invent/build an electric genny,, it'd even be self charging [thumbsupbig] ,,, hmm,, maybe I should do some research on that one.

[POD]

The convenience factor was the major thing for me, my old Rover mower was easy enough to start for the first couple of years of it's life (I was thirty years younger then too) but it got to the stage where it was taking nearly as long to start the mower as to mow the grass. I've had spinal surgery and I have to protect it where I can. For years I've been emptying the catcher with the motor running cos it's too hard to start the thing again, safety squint and get covered in flying debris while taking the catcher off and on- with the new mower, let go of the handle and it stops, I can even put my hands in the chute and clear clumps of grass if I've let the catcher get over full, put the catcher back on and away you go again. Makes it hard to get motivated to get the trimmer and blower out and start pulling on cords again though. I've got a log splitter with a pull-start honda engine and I'm thinking about putting a starter motor on it.
The mower is actually surprisingly noisy; a different noise to a petrol engine but not as quiet as you might expect.

[trout1105]

Not bei g a fussy gardener I just use my 17.5hp ride on mower to mow my 2 acre lawn But my sister who is a fussy gardener has had a rechargeable lawnmower for 5 to 6 years now and swears by it.
I did buy a cordless chainsaw last year as a bit of a novelty as it uses the same batteries my other cordless tools use and I now don't bother to take my 2 stroke saw away with me because the cordless saw will do everything I require from it and it is a bloody good unit and much more user friendly than the 2 stroke saw.

[DoubleChevron]

I just see batteries as a PITA that I'll need to replace before I get any use out of the item.... the tools sure seem to be brilliant these days though. early this year I purchased one of those cheaper brushcutters with different heads ( lopping saw, hedge trimmer etc)... only it has a genuine honda gx35 engine. I just pulled it down yesterday. 1/8th of a tank of stale fuel in it ... pressed the primer a few times and it started the first pull of the string.

bloody grass. I dont' do lawn mowers.... I use a tractor with a 2.25meter finishing flail these days. Waaaayyyy better than sneezing and wheezing while a mower throws plumes of pollen and grass at you [bighmmm]

seeya
Shane L.

[ADMIRAL]

My 30+-year-old rover mower has been misbehaving for the last couple of years so i decided to look at getting a new mower. The thought occurred to me that I could maybe get one of the newfangled battery lawnmowers plus get a chainsaw to run off the same battery for camping trips, save carrying a tin of two-stroke fuel which is a total pain. I was figuring they would both be seeing only light duty, as I have a 3-cyl diesel Kubota mower that does most of my lawn and I do just a few small areas around the house with the hand mower so there are no clippings to walk into the house, as there's no catcher on the big mower.
After looking at a couple of different options and viewing some internet reviews, I ended up buying the eGO 56-volt 40cm lawnmower which comes with a 4 amp-hour battery, plus their chainsaw with 16" bar as a 'skin'. There was a deal going for the month (July) where if you bought two of their products, they sent you a free 2.5 amp hour battery also. The dealer threw in 3 extra chains.

I am now convinced that petrol powered mowers and chainsaws are obsolete.

I was very pleased with the mower first time I used it but that was late July and the grass was pretty thin.
I had some logs about 20" diameter that I had not yet finished cutting up for firewood after felling. I took the new toy (or so I thought) saw up the back and got through those things at least as easily as I would have with my trusty Husky saw that has cut every piece of firewood we have burned in the last 15 years. What I thought was going to be a secondary saw suitable for docking small branches, turns out to be a serious saw suitable for any job on my property and then some. We went on a brief outback trip in August and took the new saw, no stinking tin of two-stroke to worry about- just a container of bar oil, and it kept us in firewood with ease, not to mention a minimum of noise. It's actually hard to see the Husky getting much of a run now.
When we got home, the bonus 2.5 amp-hour battery was waiting at the post office. There was a definite pre-spring growth spurt in the lawn so I decided to experiment and see if the smaller battery would get the mower through my small lawns, total about 200 square meters from memory. When I had got through the usual hand-mowing area, I decided to keep going until the 2.5 amp-hour battery gave up. It gave up after about the same area again, on an area of lawn that I usually do with the Kubota. I had to lift the deck two notches as the kubota deck is set pretty high, this lawn has never had a grass catcher on it plus the grass was over 6" long in some areas. The power is probably about the same as the 4-stroke Rover had.

So, two batteries and a charger I can run off my inverter, powerful motors that run quietly and need no stinky fuel and no pulling on starter cords, I can't see why I would ever buy a tool with a two-stroke engine again. Only real issue I can see with these things is someone could get seriously hurt treating the chainsaw with less respect than they would with something that's screaming at 120 decibels.

I had a similar dilemma, but related to chainsaws. My preference was not to go down the petrol path, as we tend to go to parks where these saws are frowned on. Regardless, I looked at the Stihl range in petrol and battery, but finally decided on the Victa ( Briggs & Stratton ) 82volt chainsaw. It came with a 2amp battery, which I thought was inadequate. The assumption was correct, but you would get away with the small battery for around home use. I cut up a huge amount of old power poles for firewood. These logs were hardwood, and approx. 180 to 320mm in diameter. What a revelation ! The saw worked beautifully and despite needing a few recharges, exceeded my expectations by miles. I have since acquired a 4amp battery ( fathers day came in handy ) and have enough capacity for firewood procurement trips. The Victa 82 volt mower is next on my list, as my lawn mower is getting on, and the lawn area I have has decreased. i would say give them a go, just keep in mind you get what you pay for, and the lower voltage appliances are better used for pruning and lighter work.

[ramblingboy42]

I just see batteries as a PITA that I'll need to replace before I get any use out of the item.... the tools sure seem to be brilliant these days though. early this year I purchased one of those cheaper brushcutters with different heads ( lopping saw, hedge trimmer etc)... only it has a genuine honda gx35 engine. I just pulled it down yesterday. 1/8th of a tank of stale fuel in it ... pressed the primer a few times and it started the first pull of the string.

bloody grass. I dont' do lawn mowers.... I use a tractor with a 2.25meter finishing flail these days. Waaaayyyy better than sneezing and wheezing while a mower throws plumes of pollen and grass at you [bighmmm]

seeya
Shane L.

I am a good example of what you are saying about batteries. I have a good B&D, (thats black and decker for you kinky buggers) cordless hammer drill 13mm chuck tons of guts. But the batteries are not holding charge any more. So I thought I'd go and buy an additional battery tool or two that I would use and also be able to use the batteries on my drill. Not so, the drill and the accompanying batteries are out of date now and no product that I could find in hardware stores uses similar fitting batteries. $129 per battery to repack....sounds expensive but seek out 24 good quality c cell rechargeable batteries to do the job and you can appreciate the cost.
Dilemma.....for $260 I can get my good drill going again .....or I can buy a multi-tool pack eg drill , saw , blower or similar with 3 or more batteries included for a few more dollars.
It's such a modern world we live in.........
An acquaintence who owns one of Qld's leading battery businesses recommends I go all out and buy a Makita multi tool kit of my choice and hang the expense as he tells all the tradies to buy this brand as he says it leaves the others for dead.
$260 or $500 or $1000?

[bee utey]

On the subject of batteries, I recently unearthed a box full of quality A123 lithium rechargeable cells in a cupboard after 10 years not being touched, a project that got shelved and forgotten. Surprisingly all bar two cells came up like new with a single charge. They are quite different to your Ni-Cd cells that die just sitting around for six months unloved.

[DoubleChevron]

I am a good example of what you are saying about batteries. I have a good B&D, (thats black and decker for you kinky buggers) cordless hammer drill 13mm chuck tons of guts. But the batteries are not holding charge any more. So I thought I'd go and buy an additional battery tool or two that I would use and also be able to use the batteries on my drill. Not so, the drill and the accompanying batteries are out of date now and no product that I could find in hardware stores uses similar fitting batteries. $129 per battery to repack....sounds expensive but seek out 24 good quality c cell rechargeable batteries to do the job and you can appreciate the cost.
Dilemma.....for $260 I can get my good drill going again .....or I can buy a multi-tool pack eg drill , saw , blower or similar with 3 or more batteries included for a few more dollars.
It's such a modern world we live in.........
An acquaintence who owns one of Qld's leading battery businesses recommends I go all out and buy a Makita multi tool kit of my choice and hang the expense as he tells all the tradies to buy this brand as he says it leaves the others for dead.
$260 or $500 or $1000?

I'd love the latest corldless/battery kit from any of the major brands. They are bloody incredible. If you can afford it ... Go for it! I doubt battery technology in cordless tools is going anywhere for the next 10years. If you buy something from the major brands (ie: makita/dewalt/etc...) you should be able to get batteries into the future. Eg: I just purchased a battery for my old makita 18volt drill for about $40bucks delivered.

Eg: my air compressor. It might not get used for 16months .... Then I'll work that bastard to death for hours a day, for weeks at a time (eg: you have a car to paint .... or something to sandblast). If it was battery operated, I'd have something unusable ( same goes for chainsaws, mowers, slashers, cut off saws, grinders, drop saws, edgers, brush cutters, welders, drills, tech guns etc..). Unless I have a reason to use that sucker all the time, I am going to avoid anything with batteries like the plague... Because the day I need it ... it simply won't bloody work for me unless I spend its purchase price again on bloody batteries. Yeah petrol power stuff is a right PITA. But at least a quick carby strip down and clean usually gets them up and running again!

seeya,
Shane L.

[PhilipA]

I had a Ryobi 18+ drill for 15years. When the batteries died I changed to Lithium, until one day the drill fused and took out the battery also.
I bought a new one and my other 2.5 amp Lithium is still going after at least AFAIR 7-8 years.
I bought a 5AH lithium battery to replace the blown 2.5 and also bought a copy battery about 8 months ago.
I have a Ryobi blower and I can do the whole driveway, decks etc on one charge of the copy 5AH or the real one.

I bought a Ryobi 18v mower off ebay at the end of last year as my 1977 Rover was bloody heavy to lift up and down stairs, even though it started perfectly. The mower will do front and back yards with one and a bit 5AH batteries.

I also have a Ryobi 18+ vac and a Ryobi 18+ rattle gun. I loaned my 1/2 air rattle gun and my Ryobi to a mate recently and he tried both to remove a cross threaded wheel nut, and while the air gun would not move it the Ryobi did.
I also have an ALDI 32 volt chain saw which works really well for cutting fire wood or small trees. I use it all the time as it is a PITA to pull out and fill my 2 stroke saw.
I charge them on the road using my 300watt pure sine wave inverter and the stock chargers.

I love the convenience of the battery tools and would not go back to ICE particularly since you don't have to pack 2 stroke petrol/oil mix..

Regard s Philip A