For six years now, I have been mowing 15,000 square feet of PNW grass with a gas Honda push mower. It takes me about 90 minutes. My wife has been bugging me to buy a riding mower, and her complaints escalated last week when she had to mow the lawn. It took her four hours. Orthopedics does not want me using the push mower until about 6 weeks post op due to the risk of hip dislocation before healing, so that means she has more lawn mowing to do.
I had been thinking about finding a mower that would be as simple as possible for my wife to use, if I am not available, and started looking at electric mowers that are just turn the key and go. No gas, oil, belts or other issues. After reading comparative reviews, a Ryobi 30 inch electric mower from Home Depot will be arriving next month. I was bummed that it was not available with lithium batteries, but the reviews seem to speak favorably of the lead-acid batteries. I should be able to mow the grass about three times for each charge, although it is recommended that you keep the charger plugged in at all times when the mower is parked. Lots of negative reviews on the Craftsman/Toro lithium battery electric mower.
Maybe this will turn out to be the bees' knees, in terms of mowing the lawn quickly, and it will free up more time on the weekends for me.