Electric or Battery Lawnmower? Any opinions ..

[Mapara]

Hi
I currently have a petrol mower that is on its last legs so I am in the market for a replacement and as my lawn area is quite small,
It can be cut is about 15 mins so I am considering an electric or maybe even a battery powered one,
so what would you guys recommend especially if you have had any experience of either the above. I'd be interested to hear pros and cons for either power supply and the different makes and models..

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

Battery powered mowers are great if they can last the full cut. I had one that would get me 90% of the lawn done and then I had to re-charge. So when replacing it I went for a petrol model.

Hauling a cable around and watching to make sure you don't cut it is a PITA. I would never go for one of these again.

"Quite small" could mean anything. What is it in square metres?

 

[PGF2016]

How about human powered push mower? If your garden is small enough and you're well enough to push then it might help burn a few calories. Saves messing about with petrol and cables.

 

[Leo]

I had one that would get me 90% of the lawn done and then I had to re-charge.

On top of that, battery life gets worse with age and use, so 90% one year might be 75% the next, and replacement batteries are expensive! If the area is the size where managing a cable is s problem, a small petrol will be a lot more economical and less hassle over the years.

 

[Zenith63]

I have a fairly small garden, takes maybe 10 mins to mow. I bought a Bosch wired electric a few years back (like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Rotak-Electric-Rotary-Cutting/dp/B00SBN19J4/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=rotak+37&qid=1591099550&rnid=1642204031&s=garden&sr=1-11 (Linky)) on Amazon and like it. Light so you can throw it into the garden shed easily, plenty of power for longer grass, quiet, no smoke, no bottle of flammable petrol knocking around your garden shed, no back breaking pull start so wife can use it, no air filters/plugs to be maintained.

Granted the cable is a slight irritant, but in the scheme of things for a 10-15 minute mow it's not a big deal and if you mow away from the cable rather than towards it you won't have to move it much.

I will probably go for a battery one next time as it would allow me take it out onto the path more easily, and I could charge it from the solar panels, but at 2-3 times the price it's not high on my agenda. You'd definitely want to spec one that will still cut your whole lawn as the battery degrades over time, though from all the reviews this is easily done with modern battery models...

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

If the area is the size where managing a cable is s problem, a small petrol will be a lot more economical and less hassle over the years.

On the other hand petrol mowers require basic maintenance that a lot of people can't be bothered with.

They are also heavier and more difficult to manoeuvre often for women.

 

[Setanta12]

How about human powered push mower? If your garden is small enough and you're well enough to push then it might help burn a few calories. Saves messing about with petrol and cables.

Having a garden for the first time to maintain, I thought this too would be a good way to go. I realised my mistake immediately. Its bl**dy tough - and you cannot let it grow at all. Quickest easiest decision I ever made to ditch the manual one for an electric one. (Electric over petrol as smaller garden and I didn't want to be buying petrol etc)

These days I have a robot lawnmower - my neighbours have top-of-the-range models but I went with cheapest option - still hugely expensive but the time-saving is massive.

 

[Leo]

On the other hand petrol mowers require basic maintenance that a lot of people can't be bothered with.

It really is pretty minimal though. When I bought my current house the gardens were completely overgrown and full of debris and rubbish, so I bought a cheap petrol one knowing it would be subjected to a lot of abuse. The plan was to replace it with something better down the line but 15 years and no servicing later it still works.

 

[Monbretia]

I have the battery version of the Bosch Rotak linked to above, have it maybe 5/6 yrs now (probably more near 10, time goes a lot faster than I think!) . Great little machine, have never had to replace the battery and this mower replaced a battery Flymo that I had about 15 yrs with one battery change. I am in this house 29 yrs although didn't have lawn sorted for first year or two but have always had battery mowers, hard to get back then! Imported the Flymo from UK, got the Rotak in clearance in B&Q one autumn which was a great deal but Aldi had them last year and Argos have them too now.

My lawn is a town garden, front and side and takes me about 15 mins to do but I am on a corner and the path strips on both sides take nearly another 10 mins Full charge has always been enough to do the lot.

The only thing about a battery one is it won't cut very long grass or damp grass so you must keep it trimmed but that's no real problem as it's quick and easy to do. For first cut of season when it might be a little long I usually do it without the box first time which is easier on machine and run around again to pick up the stuff afterwards. Now mind you I could probably increase the height of the cut but couldn't be bothered adjusting it, have left it the same since assembly.

Last year I bought one of the Aldi battery mowers as a present for someone and it's also a grand little machine, not as easy to manoeuvre as the Bosch one but I have circular lawns so it wouldn't be any big deal to someone with straighter lines. The Aldi one was €110 plus extra for battery and charger, around 50 for the two I think, you could always buy an extra battery, they will probably have them again this year.

For convenience and a small lawn you can't beat battery, no petrol needed, no maintenance, no trailing leads, short charge time, I don't leave any of them on continual charge based on advice I was given day one that it shortens life span of battery and whether true or not I haven't had any issue with batteries other than the machine I had for 15 yrs or so which needed a new battery eventually.

 

[Laughahalla]

If the garden is small you can't go wrong with an electric mower.

Petrol too messy and needs maintenance. Push mower too much effort and battery robo mower not worth the expense and worry about battery degradation

 

[Monbretia]

Having used an electric one I borrowed for the first few months I had a lawn I find the battery so much handier, the trailing lead used to drive me mad but I suppose having to do the path edges made it even more of a nuisance. The battery ones are quite cheap now, not sure what an electric ones costs but it's not a big expense for the convenience of battery and I've never had the worry or expense about battery degradation that you mention. In fact with the Lidl/Aldi ones why not just buy two batteries in first place as they are so cheap.

I have switched pretty much everything to battery over the years as they have become more available, strimmer (again used to hate the lead), blower thing, hedge cutter, all drills obviously and recently bought a battery circular saw, small but extremely handy yoke!

The only unsuccessful battery thing I have ironically is my Dyson which was the most expensive, now it is one of the earlier models so maybe they have improved, it's handy but only for small easy jobs, still need to pull out the bigger corded one for proper job.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

I bought an 18V battery-powered strimmer a year ago and would highly recommend. For borders of even a very large lawn it has plenty of power and battery life.

 

[lledlledlled]

I have a fairly small garden, takes maybe 10 mins to mow. I bought a Bosch wired electric a few years back (like this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Rotak-Electric-Rotary-Cutting/dp/B00SBN19J4/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=rotak+37&qid=1591099550&rnid=1642204031&s=garden&sr=1-11 (Linky)) on Amazon and like it. Light so you can throw it into the garden shed easily, plenty of power for longer grass, quiet, no smoke, no bottle of flammable petrol knocking around your garden shed, no back breaking pull start so wife can use it, no air filters/plugs to be maintained.

Granted the cable is a slight irritant, but in the scheme of things for a 10-15 minute mow it's not a big deal and if you mow away from the cable rather than towards it you won't have to move it much.

I will probably go for a battery one next time as it would allow me take it out onto the path more easily, and I could charge it from the solar panels, but at 2-3 times the price it's not high on my agenda. You'd definitely want to spec one that will still cut your whole lawn as the battery degrades over time, though from all the reviews this is easily done with modern battery models...

I have the same Bosch as this link and would also recommend it.
I got it on sale in either Woodies or Homebase. Dragged my dad up with me for a further 10% OAP discount!

 

[lledlledlled]

Having a garden for the first time to maintain, I thought this too would be a good way to go. I realised my mistake immediately. Its bl**dy tough - and you cannot let it grow at all. Quickest easiest decision I ever made to ditch the manual one for an electric one. (Electric over petrol as smaller garden and I didn't want to be buying petrol etc)

These days I have a robot lawnmower - my neighbours have top-of-the-range models but I went with cheapest option - still hugely expensive but the time-saving is massive.

I'd definitely give consideration to a robot mower, assuming the OP has somewhere secure to store it. I've seen lawns cut with a robot and they look like a golf green afterwards!
If you do a bit of research on Google, there are models now which are designed for smaller gardens and these versions are priced competitively.

 

[michaelm]

I have a postage stamp garden and my push-mower (€40 eight years ago) is the job. If the garden is small then a push-mower is worth consideration.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

I did homework on robot mowers and eventually decided against one. There are a few things to think about:

1. You need to lay and maintain a large amount of wire at the boundaries of the lawn. This can be tricky.
2. Outdoor power source needed
3. In effect they need some kind of ad-hoc rain covering
4. They often don't work well on lawns with narrow parts, in effect getting trapped

Our lawn is generally littered with balls, kids' toys, etc and this really interferes with how the robot works.

 

[Setanta12]

I did homework on robot mowers and eventually decided against one. There are a few things to think about:
1.You need to lay and maintain a large amount of wire at the boundaries of the lawn. This can be tricky.

Wire is supplied and trust me, if I can do it - anyone can. If its within budget, opt for robot with guide wire to allow robot to 'self-dock'

2.Outdoor power source needed

Advisable, yes.

3.In effect they need some kind of ad-hoc rain covering

EUR50 via Amazon.

4.They often don't work well on lawns with narrow parts, in effect getting trapped

True. So some planning is required. With ours, we have a drop of a foot at the edge of our lawn where a hedge grows up. This means that the boundary wire has to be set into the ground more than usual to allow the robot to turn away (think of a 3-wheel car), this in turn means the edge is unkempt and you either take the lawnmower out for a 5-minute job once a month, or opt for garden shears and cut/trim the edge yourself. (I opted for the shears)

5.Our lawn is generally littered with balls, kids' toys, etc and this really interferes with how the robot works.

Very true. Good exercise in getting kids to tody-up - however the trampoline posed a problem - the robot got stuck travelling over the bars on the ground stabilising the trampoline. Some plastic guttering laid over these costing EUR50ish sorted this.


All-in-all, am happy with purchase. Huge time-saving.

 

[Thirsty]

For those who purchased the auto mower / robot mower what make did you go for & what is the lawn size?

If you don't mind giving an approx cost that would be really helpful.

 

[AlbacoreA]

I switched from petrol to wired electric a good many years. Small to medium gardens. I wouldn't go back to petrol unless I had a massive garden. Even then I think I'd go robot.