Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: MillCreek on April 21, 2021, 09:31:07 AM
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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.
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I've had some poor luck with cordless mowers so was a little surprised to see a cordless rider. But apparently they have improved a lot. Anyway, I found this "feature" typo on the website and thought it was funny:
Optimized steering system for responsive handling gives a 16 in. turn radius a zero-turn feel
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I bought a cheeseburger from Dairy Queen.
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Cool! I saw some neat attachments that are in the works for the Ryobi electric zero turns. I hope yours does what you want it to do.
Let us know how it works out.
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Not to rain on yer parade, but I was chatting with an old friend who runs a small engine repair shop. He fixes electric mowers, riders and push type as well. He said they break down frequently and they are very expensive to fix.
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^^^In terms of electric riding mowers, there seem to be three brands commonly available in the US: Ryobi, Troy Bilt/Toro/Craftsman, and Cub Cadet/Weibang. The Cub Cadet and Troy Bilt seem to be unavailable now or the model has been dropped. The Toro/Craftsman at Sears and Lowe's get terrible reviews. The Ryobi seems to do better, but I think the sticky wicket will be how long/how many cycles the deep-cycle lead acid batteries last. It would have been much cheaper for me to get a gas JD lawn tractor or the like, but I know my wife would never use it, and this whole hip issue has reinforced to me the value of having a backup plan for the Honda push mower.
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I bought a cheeseburger from Dairy Queen.
I managed to buy a couple boxes of 9mm from Academy. =)
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You can always let the lawn evolve to "natural prairie."
If challenged by HOA or the County or your bitchin' neighbors you can claim your individual efforts to not generate pollutants either on-site or at the power plant will save the planet, and where's their sense of responsibility to the planet?
By the time they're done scratching their heads over that one, you'll be all healed.
Besides, natural prairies have their own beauty.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holemanlandscape.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F06%2FCumulus_Clouds_over_Yellow_Prairie2-1080x675.jpg&hash=90605aaae7eca83fcda2f32b6f6768c8109e2b08)
Terry, Field Representative of the Excuse Finding Federation- Emergency Mission (EFF-EM), 230RN
Pic credit in Properties
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(EFF-EM) Good, subtle yet to the point.
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Let us know how it works. I think that mower would look at my yard and poop those batteries out the back.
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Terry, Field Representative of the Excuse Finding Federation- Emergency Mission (EFF-EM), 230RN
Isn't "Emergency Mission" a bit redundant?
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Doesn't Millcreek live in the Seattle area?
I think that's less prairie and more rain forest...
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Isn't "Emergency Mission" a bit redundant?
No, it's dundant. I only said it once. But it has been pointed out to me that "EM" could stand for
'em, as in "them" and it could be read as EFF-"them," presumably meaning the HOA, the County, and the bitchin' neighbors. Of course, that was not my intent. :innocence: :eye roll: :smirk:
"Natural prairie" was meant as a metaphor for all that is beauteous in the natural world, including "natural rain forest," as in MillCreek's area.
Terry, 230RN
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MillCreek,
I saw a couple of Aging Wheels videos on one of the Ryobi electric mowers. He really liked it until a year into it the lead-acid battery pack started to weaken. I think he was assuming the battery pack was LiFePO4 instead.
How is yours running?
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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.
Keep them charged. Lead-acid batteries don't react well to deep discharges even though some manufacturers try to claim differently.
Brad
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Neighbor purchased a zero turn green energy electric mower. Quiet, functional but lacks the sound needed for macho grass cutting. I asked him if he’ll be adding green energy alternatives to charge his mower as well and he looked at me a bit funny…
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Does it have a cup holder?
And... What size battery does it take? Please tell me that it is 12 volt, or maybe even 24...
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Okay - 48 volt? That would be doable with a battery rack, and you could likely get a bit more than 50ah out of it... Looks like a direct replacement is about $300ish, and weighs in at 70 pounds...
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I follow the Ryobi groups on Facebook, and I have seen reports of premature battery failure. Many of these reports seem linked to the first generation charger. I have had mine for a year now and it shipped with the second generation charger. It is plugged into the charger 24/7/365 except for when I am actually mowing. I have no battery failures and the lead-acid batteries are still holding a full charge according to the meter. I mow 15,000 square feet of thick wet Seattle grass in 60 minutes and the meter goes down a single bar.
HART, the WalMart offshoot of Ryobi, has an identical 30" mower to mine but with lithium batteries for $ 6000. Ryobi has a couple of large zero turn mowers with lithium batteries now. I hope that when my lead-acid batteries fail, there is an easy and quick swap for lithium batteries. Some people on the FB groups have done a swap, and their electrical engineering skills far surpass mine.
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After spending quite a bit of time researching Zero motorcycles prior to buying my new bike and opting to abstain from e-motos at this point, I'm rather astounded that a Ryobi powered by lead-acid batteries is capable of mowing 45,000 square feet of grass in one go.
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You will need a new charger... But that wouldn't be that big a deal, considering battery cost.
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It may be Ryobi branded, but it's made by Homelite. Parts breakout.
https://ryobipower.ordertree.com/catalog/partslist/view/group_id/468331/?assembly=FIGURE%2BA&assembly_id=75085
Hope you don't need to replace batteries any time soon. Four of 'em at $160 a pop.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/12-Volt-50-Ah-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Battery-for-Ryobi-30-in-Riding-Mower-6-EVF-50/319073969
http://www.leoch.com/pdf/motive-power/electric-vehicle/ev-series/6-EV-50.pdf
FYI... the HomeLite part number on the battery was HM-997233001. Everything I can find says it's been superseded by the Leoch part number above.
Brad
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You will need a new charger... But that wouldn't be that big a deal, considering battery cost.
For what the thing costs, it damn well better come with one.
Brad
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For what the thing costs, it damn well better come with one.
Brad
I think Bogie is referring to swapping out the SLA batteries for lithium or lithium iron. Those have different voltages used for charging the battery at different states. Using the wrong charger for a type of battery is a good way to start a fire.
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For what the thing costs, it damn well better come with one.
Brad
The FB groups say it is an EZ-GO 48 volt golf cart charger for the lead-acid batteries.
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I think Bogie is referring to swapping out the SLA batteries for lithium or lithium iron. Those have different voltages used for charging the battery at different states. Using the wrong charger for a type of battery is a good way to start a fire.
Well, considering 50ah Li-ion batteries would run about $1200 for a set of four, they damn well better come with a charger, too. =D
Brad