Makita battery powered mower. Makita DLM462Z Cordless Brushless Lawn Mower…

Makita DLM462Z Cordless Brushless Lawn Mower 460mm (18″) 18V x2 (36V) LXT Li-Ion (Bare Tool)

HIGHLIGHTS: Durable steel deck. Self propelled: On/off switch lever for self-propelled function Powered by two 18V Li-ion batteries in series to supply energy to the powerful 36V DC motor drive system. Read more

INSTALLMENT payment is available via BILLEASE (Click for Details).

Frequently Bought Together

• Durable steel deck.
• Self propelled: On/off switch lever for self-propelled function
• Powered by two 18V Li-ion batteries in series to supply energy to the powerful 36V DC motor drive system.
• Four 18V LXT Li-Ion batteries can be fitted to the machine with manual battery selection switch to select which pair of batteries to use
• Brushless motor
• Soft start
• Constant speed control
• Electronic 2-speed selection.
• Soft no load function automatically reduces the motor speed during idling to suppress the vibration of the machine body.
• Low noise mode provides rotation speed (2,500 RPM) by constant speed control
• Single lever cutting height adjustment
• Child lock key
• Electric brake
• Grass box with grass level indicator
• Handle height adjustment (2 stages)
• Wheels with built in ball bearing for additional durability
• IPX4 Waterproof Design

Blade, Mulch Plug, Socket Wrench, Rod

SPECIFICATIONS:

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DELIVERY OPTIONS are available depending on your location and preference based on available modes of transport. You may avail of the following services (click HERE to see complete details):

DELIVERY RIDER within GMA (Grab/Lalamove/others). Same Day Delivery for on-stock items (cut-off 12nn)

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REGIONAL FLEET SERVICE within GMA (Lalamove/Transportify/others). Next Day Delivery (on-stock items)

PERSONAL PICKUP (Store Visit) Please confirm stock availability prior to store visit.

GET IN TOUCH

Quezon City. Main Branch 299 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Brgy. Doña Josefa, Quezon City, 1113

info@gigatools.ph

0917 5877077 (CALL) (02) 79177186 VIBER US (Click Me)

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. Ryobi 40V Mower: Which One Wins?

Makita and RYOBI are popular names in the landscaping market. The former produces dependable and commercial-grade power equipment. The latter has long been seen as a budget option for homeowners, but the brand improved its range of products in recent years. So, can RYOBI lawnmowers compete with Makita? See how the Makita self-propelled lawn mower vs. Ryobi 40V mower compare to find it out.

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. RYOBI 40V Mower: Side-by-Side Comparison

Historically, Makita has carried a pros tag. Equipment and tools from the Japanese corporation are expensive, but they withstand heavy-duty use and deliver the promised performance. RYOBI – not to be confused with its Japanese namesake – is a Chinese power equipment brand belonging to Techtronic Industries (TTI). Outdoor power equipment and power tools manufactured under the RYOBI name are primarily designed for residential use. However, RYOBI lawnmowers bring similar features to Makita at a more attractive price tag.

• Folding handles for easy storage
• Zero emission and lower noise
• Up to 40 minutes runtime per charge
• Quick height adjustments

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. RYOBI 40V Mower: What’s the Difference?

Comparing Makita and RYOBI lawnmowers often comes down to finding the best balance between price and performance. From a construction standpoint, Makita pays particular attention to craftsmanship. Lawnmowers from the brand are well-made, capable of withstanding heavy use, and resistant to less favorable conditions. RYOBI lawnmowers are lighter and feel flimsier. They might not last as long as Makita, but they are often easier to maneuver around obstacles. RYOBI might be your best bet if you need a good mower but don’t want to go over the top. Otherwise, you should opt for Makita.

Deck and Cutting

Makita self-propelled lawn mower and the RYOBI 40V mower both feature a 21-inch cutting deck that can help you complete the chore quickly and effortlessly. Both mowers come with a single, dual blade, but if you have tougher grass, RYOBI has a 21-inch lawnmower version with a cross-cut, multi-blade system similar to the one seen in the EGO 56V mower.

When it comes to cutting tough grass, though, Makita excels despite its single blade. This self-propelled lawn mower can slice through tough and wet turf without ripping or damaging your lawn. Makita is also at an advantage as far as the cutting heights are concerned.

Its cutting height adjustment varies from 1.25 to 4 inches. You can choose from 10 different height settings, so matching the height to the type of grass and season is generally effortless. This makes Makita a better choice for certain turf types, including Bentgrass, Bermudagrass, and Zoysia, which often require cutting heights under 1.5 inches.

The RYOBI mower features cutting heights between 1.5 and 4 inches. These heights are ideal for most cool-season turfs but could be too long for some warm-season grasses. If you don’t mind leaving the grass longer, this mower won’t disappoint. Just keep in mind that it only comes with seven height adjustments, so fine-tuning it might be more challenging compared to Makita.

Power and Runtime

An important difference between the Makita self-propelled lawn mower and the RYOBI 40V mower is the battery pack and runtime – and RYOBI seemingly wins this round. This happens thanks to the 40V battery that powers the RYOBI. Sure, this battery has a nominal voltage of 36 volts, which brings the power to Makita’s level. On this battery, the mower has a runtime of approximately 35 minutes, a bit shorter than Makita.

The true selling point is the second 40V battery that comes as standard in the RYOBI mower box. Because the mower runs on only one battery, the spare brings the total runtime to about 70 minutes, just as advertised. A bit more disappointing is the torque. RYOBI’s torque can’t match Makita, despite the brand using batteries with a higher capacity (6Ah in RYOBI vs. 5Ah in Makita).

While both mowers can cut most grasses satisfactorily, the differences are visible when the self-propelled function is enabled. In this case, RYOBI loses both runtime and torque, and you may notice some lag from when you push the start button to when the mower starts moving. If you need a more powerful tool and are set on RYOBI, you’ll have to upgrade to the 80V mower model.

Makita doesn’t have these issues even though it has weaker batteries. The Japanese tool runs on two 18V batteries for a total nominal voltage of 36 volts. The runtime is about 40 minutes when the self-propelled function is enabled. It could go down in challenging situations, but you may also get more runtime by disabling the self-propelled function or choosing a slower cruise speed. Torque is also fantastic, the mower handling whatever you’re throwing at it.

Waste Management

Another difference between Makita and RYOBI 40V mower is how each tool discharges grass clippings. Makita features rear discharge, which isn’t very popular in residential mowers. However, that is better than the side discharge seen in the RYOBI and most other self-propelled mower types.

Rear discharge means that the mower throws the clippings behind it. This feature allows you to plan and take the most efficient path, even around flowerbeds, driveways, or other obstacles you wouldn’t want to cover in grass.

RYOBI features side discharge. While it keeps the clippings off your feet, it might throw them right onto a flowerbed, fence, or driveway. For this reason, you might have to plan a less efficient route. Apart from this difference, both mowers offer bagging and mulching capabilities. Both can shred grass blades to very fine clippings, but Makita is superior in mulching and bagging performance.

Maneuverability

While Makita is a better choice for waste management, RYOBI is the more maneuverable machine. This mower weighs 74 lbs, quite heavy compared to other self-propelled lawnmowers but much lighter than the 88.4 lbs of Makita.

A lighter mower is usually easier to maneuver around obstacles and a better choice for yards with many flowerbeds and trees. However, not all is lost for Makita. A heavier mower might be harder to maneuver, but it brings more stability. This makes it a better choice for challenging terrains and inclines.

Both mowers have adjustable speed controls. Makita’s cruise speed varies from 1.5MPH to 3MPH, with infinite adjustments in this range. RYOBI doesn’t disclose the actual cruise speeds, but the range is more or less similar to Makita. This mower, too, has infinite speed controls in its range. A nice touch compared to Makita is the presence of bright headlights that makes it possible to mow in low-light conditions.

Build Quality

Another essential difference between RYOBI and Makita is the build quality. Both mowers are designed to withstand the test of time, but Makita is made of alloy steel. RYOBI has a steel deck, but the rest of the body is made of ballistic plastic. Powder-coated alloy steel is much more resistant than plastic if maintained correctly.

You won’t have to worry too much about bumping into rocks or other obstacles. Wile this might lead to scratches and other cosmetic defects, it won’t crack the housing. The only plastic parts on the Makita’s body are the battery housing – which features a see-thru lid – and the front bumpers. The battery housing stays open on its own, making it easy to extract the batteries with one hand. RYOBI features a similar battery housing design, but extracting and replacing the battery is less intuitive.

A point in RYOBI’s favor is the oversized wheels that glide smoothly over all terrains. As a commercial-grade mower, Makita also has wide wheels, but they are smaller than RYOBI’s.

Price

The driving factor when buying a lawnmower is often the price. If you’re on a budget, RYOBI is undoubtedly the better choice. The 21-inch 40V mower from the brand is not cheap compared to other options, but it is cheaper than Makita. The mower plus a battery pack comprising two 40V 6Ah batteries and a Rapid charger costs 550.

Makita, the bare mower, costs 759. The mower plus two batteries and a charger can set you back 988, or even more, if you opt for the four-battery pack – in this case, the mower usually features a 4-bay battery system that delivers increased runtime.

While Makita often runs discounts, the price discrepancy is still there. However, if you need a commercial-grade tool, this mower is definitely worth the extra premium.

New Makita Cordless Lawn Mower

Makita has come out with a new 18V X2 cordless lawn mower, XML03, which features a heavy duty steel deck with 18″ cutting capacity.

The new Makita cordless mower is described as a welcome solution for efficient grass cuttings, and as with other battery–powered outdoor power tools, there are zero emissions, lower noise, and reduced maintenance compared to gas-engine models.

Features include 18″ cutting capacity, folding handles, weather-resistant construction, and a “quiet mode” that sets the speed to a lower setting.

• Heavy duty steel deck
• Brushless motor
• 3300 RPM no-load speed
• Quiet mode sets speed control to 2500 RPM
• Single lever cutting height adjustment
• 10 height settings, from 13/16″ to 2-5/16″
• Folding handles
• 16 gallon capacity grass bag
• Plug for mulching operation
• Wet Guard weather resistance, IPx4 rating
• Weighs 60.46 lbs with batteries, 57.76 lbs without

Makita says that the XML03 cordless mower is recommended for yards of up to 1/3 acre.

The mower is available as a bare tool, XML03Z, or as part of a kit, XML03PT1. The kit comes with a dual port charger and (4) 5.0Ah batteries. Both come with the mulching plug.

Compared to Makita’s previous model, XML02, the XML03 looks to have a wider cutting capacity, 18″ vs. 17″, but fewer height settings, 10 vs. 13. The new XML03 is also heavier, at 60.46 lbs vs. 40.8 lbs for the XML02, which would be attributed to the newer model’s steel deck.

Price: 449 for the bare tool, 599 for the kit

Buy Now(XML03Z Bare Tool via Tool Nut) Buy Now(XML03PT1 Kit via Tool Nut)

Compare(XML02Z Bare Tool via Amazon) Compare(XML02PTX1 Kit Angle Grinder via Amazon)

Note: Bundling the older model in kit format with an angle grinder is an unusual promo, but I suppose it makes sense.

First Thoughts

On paper, the new Makita cordless lawn mower (XML03) has similar specs and features to the previous model (XML02), but if you take a closer look, it’s a completely different tool. It has a steel deck vs. plastic, a different height adjustment mechanism, a different motor housing, a bigger grass collection bag, the introduction of a lower RPM “Quiet Mode,” and IPX4 weather-resistant construction.

I can’t be certain, but it also looks like the front wheels are larger on the new model. The XML03 parts diagram says the new mower has 8″ rear wheels, and 7″ front wheels. According to an online product listing pace, the XML02 is said to have 6-5/16″ rear wheels, and 5.5″ front wheels.

Aside from maybe the general design of the handles, the new Makita cordless mower looks to have been completely redesigned. The downsides are that it weighs more and costs more, and I would guess that with a slightly larger cutting capacity, it could potentially have shorter running time. Perhaps that is why the kit comes with (4) 5.0Ah batteries.

As a reminder, with this being a Makita 18V X2 cordless power tool, it requires (2) batteries at a time to operate.

See Also: DeWALT 2x20V Max Cordless Mower Review

Compared to this new Makita cordless mower, the DeWALT 2x20V Max cordless mower has a slightly wider cutting width. The DeWALT has fewer cutting deck height positions. It cannot cut grass as short as the Makita, but can cut it longer. The DeWALT is priced at 399 for the 2-battery kit.

See Also: EGO 21″ Cordless Push Mower Review

Note to Makita: Thumbs up on advertising the mower according to its cutting width (18″), rather than by its “deck size.”

32 Комментарии и мнения владельцев

I have a lot of Makita cordless tools. Just wish it were self propelled. Make it use 4 batteries and another electric motor. My 1/4 acre lot has slopes and no way I’m pushing a mower. My Honda will last a long time.

Surprisingly, these battery powered mowers glide over the grass because their so light. I bought the DeWALT 40v Max mower last year (Couldn’t wait on Makita) and I love everything about it except the charge time (140 minute Charge time. It has very similar specs to this Makita, but the best thing about it is Makita’s quick charge time, while using their dual charger.

Your dreams have been answered…mower now available with 4 batteries…steel deck.18inch or 21 inch wide cut.self propelled…

angle grinder to help sharpen the blades? seems reasonable on paper – in line with the others on the market. If you’re in the Makita realm – it would be something to consider. My only thing is I seem to like having my OPE on a different battery than my power tools – and I think I would keep doing this. But I see the appeal of using the same batteries everywhere.

Smart of them to package with 4 x 5.0Ah batteries and a dual charger. That’ll basically allow for continuous use on a regular size 1/2 acre lot. Seems a bit overpriced still but an okay deal if you’re heavily invested in Makita 18V and you need a bunch of new 5.0 batteries anyway. 4 x 5.0s would usually cost around 400 alone, so that’s pretty solid. The bare tool is just plain overpriced. I can get a 21″ Ego mower with a battery and charger for less than that. 180 watt-hours of onboard capacity is really not bad, especially for an 18V-based tool. The question I have is whether the mower has any kind of built in load sensing. All of the main competitors in this space seem to have it — Ego, Greenworks, Kobalt. And to me, this is where DeWALT’s mowers fall down. They go full blast all the time, and runtime suffers greatly as a result. They overpower everything else in the class by a mile, which is great when you’re mowing an overgrown small area, but is really unneccessary for the run of the mill weekly inch and a half mow of the yard. It’s like using a sledgehammer to build a birdhouse.

I’ll throw out the opposite opinion. I find the load sensing on my Echo mower pretty annoying. For one thing, the constant up/down/up/down noise is aggravating and I just don’t find it as pleasant when mowing as a constant drone at the same frequency. From a functional perspective it isn’t great either, because it takes it a second to sense the load and apply the extra power, which means that it has already “folded over” the grass by hitting it too slowly. Whenever I hit a thick spot in the lawn I have to pause and wait for the blade to catch up, even then it is a crapshoot if it will be able to lift the folded over grass and cut it. I really wish it had a basic Rabbit/Turtle lever like a gas mower where I could set the power level manually. I am sure it would drain batteries faster but it would make it more pleasant and functional.

I want my mower to go full blast, that is why Ego, kobolt and greenworks cutting is subpar because it doesn’t cut well with slower speed, I know you sacrifice runtime but DeWALT should have packaged their mower with 9amp or 12amp batteries or at least the 6amp 20v battery

I have herd most of dewalts brushless motor have some sort of sensor. Including the mower. And I do see a difference In battery life from long grass to short grass.

I have the previous model, and this one doesn’t seem much of an improvement. I prefer the plastic deck which means lighter weight to push up the hills. Weaknesses of the previous model are the wheel mounts are flat steel, and bend fairly easily. I intend to weld some bracing on them. Also, the handle doesn’t fold quickly for stowing in the garage. It’s light enough that you could put it on a shelf, but the handle keeps me from doing that. I guess the IPX4 rating is for hosing it off, because who mows in the rain?

The improvement on the new one is that it’s Brushless. wider deck made with steel to keep the mower from jumping around giving you a cleaner cut.

Not to dogpile but the reason DeWALT mower doesn’t do load./speed variance is that the pro model 40V doesn’t. When they demo’d them pro landscapers wanted it to run wide out for the reasons posted above. IE it needed to work exactly like their Husqvarna, snapper, Exmark push mower. Also changing the speed – eats current too – so the runtime difference isn’t that much vs running full out. I do agree though it would be nice on any of them to have a simple fast/low setting. The Echo cordless trimmer does this and it’s great.

Maybe this is just in my area, but I haven’t seen any pro landscapers running a 21″ push mower at all, much less a cordless one. Even if they did, it seems highly impractical to be changing out 6 Amp-hour 40 Volt batteries every 15-20 minutes when they have an hour and a half charge time. I can’t tell if your post is sarcastic or not. The ellipsis makes me think yes. I apologize for my online ineptitude.

Some towns are implementing noise ordinances that might require electric. It’s very limited right now (obviously).

I’m glad I didn’t wait for Makita to bring out this mower. I almost did, but bought my Ego mower instead. In 2014. I love my Makita 18v tools but I have no faith that their X2 36v platform is as good as Ego’s 56v platform for powering larger OPE.

I just saw the “quiet mode” on a second read-through. Perhaps that will function as a manual implementation of the energy save mode I’m looking for. That would seem reasonable to me. I have found that the load-sensing on my Kobalt works very well, and typically there’s not much up or down throughout the course of the mow. When the grass is wet or overgrown, it constantly runs at the highest speed and drains the 2 Ah battery in about 20 minutes. When the grass is dry and normal height it constantly runs at the lower speed. The lower speed has been sufficient to cut the dry grass in my experience, and the mower will last about 40-45 minutes.

I’m now tempted to sell my DeWALT 40v Max mower to buy this. Which I actually really like the mower, except for the insane 140 minute charge time with the 6 Amp battery. I’ve got two choices this year, buy a second battery to be able to mow the backyard the same day or sell the DeWALT, and then buy the Makita. Humm…

Buy another battery or something else you might need that is bundled with a battery charger. I’d go that route unless you already have Makita 18v and want to expand that line and add more bats.

As far as I know, the 40V Max DeWALT batteries are only compatible with the 40V DeWALT outdoor line, so you’re a bit limited on other equipment you could buy to somewhat economically increase your battery and charger inventory. It’s not like you could expand it with a new drill kit or something. Basically, all you’ve got to pick from is a string trimmer, hedge trimmer, or blower. It also looks like DeWALT just released some 60V FlexVolt OPE stuff, so I think they may be preparing to phase out the 40V collection. No official news on this but just reading the situation. I’ve also noticed that DeWALT OPE has essentially vanished from all local Lowe’s and HDs within 10 miles of me. The 40V stuff seems to still be at places like Grainger and CPO, but it’s not discounted at all. On the one hand, I’d be hesitant to invest big money into expanding a DeWALT 40V Max OPE collection where it looks like it may be hitting the end of the road. On the other hand, if you can find some stuff on clearance, it could be a good opportunity to just stock up on the cheap and carry yourself for the next 4-5 years on it. I did this with Kobalt 80V last fall and got my blower, mower, and trimmer on clearance for about half of what they’d cost new. A little different because it looks like the Kobalt 80V platform will still be going for a while and they’re cross-compatible with Greenworks if you’re handy with a Dremel, but you’re already in DeWALT. Keep in mind that the Makita is only 18″, which doesn’t sound much smaller than 21″, but will increase your mowing time and number of passes by 15%. Not a big deal if you have a small yard and it only takes 20 minutes to mow, but a bigger problem if you’re out there for an hour. I’m with the guys above in that unless you already have a bunch of Makita 18V tools and need more batteries, I don’t think it’s a great value for the mower. I’d look at Ego, Greenworks, Kobalt, and even the new Craftsman cordless stuff before diving in on a 600 18″ push mower kit. You can get a 21″ push mower from each of these brands plus a blower or trimmer with 2-3 fast charge batteries and chargers for the same price as just the Makita with the 4 batteries and dual charger. If I were you and I could get 200 or more for the used 40V mower, I think I’d move to a different brand.

You will need 2 new batteries for any machine that is 2x 18 or 20 v… equals 36 or 40 v. If your deck is low enough It’s because if you have one 9 and one 5… the 9 will not take on additional dutys for power or heat for the smaller mating battery. So you cant keep running just on the bigger battery. lts also less of an issue if the blade is on a hi setting. This is why bigger cells and bigger bats and higher brushless voltage is better… more and more bigger tools that are more efficient. I think DeWALT knew 2 5 were to keep price down… because they dont sell bare tool for us guys who already have 9s. And any body with no DeWALT tools who by a mower will now maybe buy some tools to fit the 2 5s from mower.

For me: Any battery powered mower = HARD PASS. I have a reasonably normal sized yard, no battery powered mower will cut it for me, no pun intended. I will not buy any OPE you walk behind that’s not gas, period. Hundreds of dollars for a battery powered mower, hundreds more for additional batteries, no thanks. You have very long charge times and require very high Ah batteries for a mower and it’s still not self propelled, there are a few but that cuts into run time. If I exhaust all my batteries before finishing I’m stuck for hours. Then after 4 or 5 years you’re replacing those really expensive batteries for hundreds more. I love hand held battery powered OPE as gas and corded replacement, as long as it’s 40V and 4Ah minimum, but for mowers and snow blowers, I’ll stick to gas, thanks.

I used to think this as well, but I think your assessment is based on a lot of generalizations that are no longer applicable across the board. If you have over an acre of land, I would say I could see the appeal of a larger commercial grade tractor or self-propelled 36″ mower. But that really has more to do with mower width than propulsion method. In any case, at 3/4 of an acre or less, I think electric is hard to beat. I’ll give you my scenario to try to explain how it works for me. I have what I consider to be a reasonably normal sized yard. I think it’s about a third of an acre but I haven’t measured it. It takes about 40 minutes to mow at a reasonable pace with a 21″ push mower if that’s any indication. My Kobalt 80V mower with a 2Ah battery finishes it under normal conditions (grass under 4.5 inches tall and not wet) in less than a single charge. If my lawn was larger, it would still not be an issue, as the charge time for the battery is less than the runtime for the mower, so I can continuously cycle 2 batteries from the mower to the charger without interruption. I could see this perhaps being an issue if I were a lawn professional, but I’m not, and for me, I can usually get by with just one battery change throughout my entire Saturday morning to take care of mowing, weedwhacking, and blowing off the driveway and sidewalks. My Kobalt batteries charge in a half hour (EGO and Greenworks 80V charge times are also similar) and all that really matters is that they charge in less time than they mow for. I’ll concede that some battery platforms (Ryobi, DeWALT, and Greenworks 40V come to mind immediately) do not charge this fast and would present problems for larger yards. If the battery goes, I’ll probably get something else in the 80V range that I need (snowblower, hedge trimmer, etc.) that comes with a new battery at a discount, or I’ll suck it up and just buy a new battery for 120. I have done away with spark plugs, seasonal oil changes, carb cleaners, 2-stroke mixing, and buying 5 gallons of gas each year. I could not be happier about that. The cordless mower itself would be about 350 retail without the battery and charger, so it’s basically at price parity with a mid-range gas push mower. I wouldn’t bother with the 200 or less gas stuff anymore because I’ve seen too many die within 3 years. So really, the difference is between the price of batteries and electricity versus the price of gas, oil, spark plugs, and the value of your time. The battery is warrantied for 3 years, so let’s assume it will actually last 4 years. I think it will last longer but I’ll be conservative. If it lasts less than 3 years, it’s replaced for free under warranty, so 4 years seems a fair estimate. So each year, gas will cost you 15 bucks, stabil will cost you 5, Oil will cost you 10, carb cleaner will cost you 5 (a can is 10 and I can usually get a can to last 2 years), and a new spark plug will cost you 5. I do air filters every 2 years or so, and a new filter costs 10, so add 5 a year for those. For the sake of fairness, I won’t get into the value of time and frustration, because everyone weighs that differently. So, end of the day, it costs about 50 bucks a year in running costs for a gas mower. Maybe you think my maintenance routine is overzealous, but I have found that skipping any part of it is basically a guarantee of problems. A new battery costs 120. It’s effectively a lot less if you get one packaged with another piece of equipment, but again, we’ll be conservative. Because someone would otherwise mention that electricity isn’t free, my electric costs are in fact negligible. Let’s be conservative and say it takes 2 full 2.0 Ah 80V Max (72 Volt Nominal) batteries each week to mow. That rounds up to 300 watt-hours a week. My mowing season spans about April 15-October 1, or 24 weeks. That’s 7200 watt-hours total each year, or 7.2 kWh. I’ll even account for charging inefficiencies and conservatively round that up to 10 kWh. At the national average of 13 cents per kWh, it would cost me at most 1.30 to charge the batteries for all of my lawn equipment each year. So over 4 years, a gas mower costs 350 for the mower (50 per season x 4), which comes out to 550. Over 4 years, the electric mower costs 400 for the initial mower with battery and charger package 5.20 for electricity 120 for a replacement battery in the 4th year. Total cost of 525.20. Having a second battery to cycle in does not change the math because you reduce the number of charges each battery goes through, and double the expected life of the packs. Sure, you could get a 200 gas Bolens small displacement Briggs Stratton mower, which would theoretically bring the 4 year cost down to 400. However the price delta is still not that large, and I’d be willing to bet that the cheapo gas mower will need repairs or replacement at or before the end of 4 years, which brings your total cost up to 600. In my view, lawn mowers are like good dress shoes. Pay more now to save more later. Long story short, new cordless electric mowers are not nearly as expensive as people perceive them to be, the batteries of some models charge way faster than you think they do, and the running costs basically make them equivalent in price to a gas mower, even if you assume that the battery will need replacement just after the warranty ends, the worst case scenario. People balk because of the one-time cost of batteries, but at the end of the day, you’re spending just as much on gas and maintenance at the end of the day, you might actually save money, and you’ll certainly save yourself a lot of hassle and frustration. Just my take.

While I’ve not been interested in lawnmowers for many years (paying others to do lawn maintenance for me) – I was interested in your calculation. This sort of calculation works best when there is not a huge disparity between the first costs of the options and the annual OM costs. So your lawnmower calculation is on-target. The other more rigorous calculation would be the attempt to calculate the NPV (Net Present Value) of the 2 options. We’d often do this when looking at buying new machinery or construction equipment – especially when there was a big disparity in first costs (capital investment) versus OM costs and potential revenue streams from different options. Considering these plus variables like our opportunity cost of capital, and discount rate – we’d often put tolerance bands on our results – giving us a range of expected costs and revenue streams associated with the investment. Way too much for a lawnmower! But if you were looking at some options for capital improvement in a shop – it could be worth the effort. Naturally we were usually looking for options that provided payback in a few years – not stretching out into the decade range – with its concomitant uncertainties.

Hey fred, thanks for the feedback. I’m not in professional construction or anything, I just like to build and fix stuff in my time off. I also like to think about marketing and design decisions that companies make. I have no idea why this interests me tbh. I understood about half of what you said about Net Present Value calculations on a very surface level. I’m guessing what you’re talking about is kind of cost versus productivity impact while accounting for depreciation. I like to think I have an idea of how to think about these things but don’t really know what to call them. My very surface level attempt to understand this would be to think of myself as a lawn professional (just to stick with the same example) trying to decide whether it’s smarter to buy a 5000 48″ ride on or a 1000 30″ walk behind. Sure, the ride-on is way more expensive up front, but maybe it lets you cut an extra 3 lawns a day, so you make an extra 150 bucks or so each day, and it pays itself off in a few months. In contrast, if you’re a kid mowing 3 lawns a weekend as a side gig, and you’re not turning customers away because of capacity issues, the 4000 extra might save you 20 minutes on each lawn, but doesn’t really open up any profit streams. My frankly way too long post about the cordless electric mower cost of ownership is part of a little bit of a mission I’ve found myself on recently. About a year ago, I bought a Chevy Volt, and I freaking love the car. I buy gas for the 10 gallon tank every couple of months, I have not yet needed an oil change (I’ll probably get one this summer before it’s technically due), and I don’t anticipate having to change my brake pads during my ownership of the car. I plug into a standard outlet overnight, and it’s just great. What I’ve found is a lot of people have preconceptions about what they need out of cars specifically and products more generally, and they have deeply ingrained beliefs about why a certain kind of product won’t work for them based on problems that used to exist but generally no longer apply. For electric cars and OPE, the criticisms are generally the same: 1) It’s too expensive; 2) It takes too long to charge; 3) What happens when the batteries die; 4) The batteries are too expensive to replace; 5) Because the vehicle/mower is tied into a grid that is partially powered by coal, it is just as bad for the environment as a gas car/mower; 6) Doesn’t your electric bill go up? My response, similar to the mower has always been: 1) After you consider fuel and maintenance savings, it’s actually cheaper. 2) If you have a normal work commute of less than 50 miles a day, you can very easily refuel overnight even without a charging station. If you have a pure BEV with a 250 mile range, you can make a 400 mile trip (which most of us do way less often than we think) with one 30-45 minute stop for lunch at a Rapid charger. And for mowers, you can literally swap batteries on and off the charger until the cows come home. 3) The batteries are way more reliable than the lead acid batteries you’ve known for most of your life and are even significantly improved over EV batteries from 9 years ago. 4) It’s rare that you will ever need to replace an entire battery, but you may need to replace a module of one, just like you may occasionally need to replace a strut or sway bar or motor mount. And even in the odd event that they do fail, they are covered by very long warranties, and even outside of warranty, the batteries are again, after considering the savings you get by using them, no more expensive than having to replace or overhaul a gas engine. 5) This is just not true. Yes – electric cars are not perpetual motion machines that defy the laws of physics and the “zero emissions” catchphrase is arguably misleading, even less efficient EVs in regions where coal is the main grid fuel produce less carbon dioxide than even the most efficient gas hybrid vehicles. The Union of Concerned Scientists has studied this and found that plug in hybrids create about half of the CO2 emissions that gas vehicles do while pure EVs create about a third. https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-emissions-tool. By way of example, a Chevy Bolt EV produces the equivalent amount of CO2 as a car that gets 95 miles per gallon in my area. I haven’t analyzed power production in my area (southeastern PA) versus the nation, but I know there are several coal plants around me. I’d think it’s probably close to the national average, maybe a little dirtier. 6) Yes. My electric bill has increased by approximately 23 per month. But I have reduced the money I spend on gas by about 90 per month, so I’ll live with the electric increase. I’ll never tell someone what kind of car or product to buy, as people have different needs that they have to cater to. People who need huge cargo hauling ability, room for 7 people and other considerations like these really don’t have a viable affordable EV option at the moment (though the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid is very close to it). However, when I hear people complain about issues that I know are no longer true, I want to jump in and let them know how these things actually work. I certainly went off on a tangent here and I apologize for getting into a long discussion about cars on a tool blog, but I just wanted to share my background on these issues.

Thanks for the feedback. In its simplest form a NPV calculation take into account the “time value of money”. The idea is that as time moves on a dollar’s buying power decreases. This can be significant in period of high inflation – or even catastrophic if a country (like Venezuela) undergoes what’s called hyperinflation. So as an example if I buy a machine that costs me 100,000 and my net profit per year (gross profit minus annual OM expense) is expected to be a steady 10,000 per year – you might think that the machine would have break-even point some 10 years hence. But that is not true – since 10,000 a year from today is worth less to me than having 10,000 today – and 10,000 paid to me in year 10 is worth very much less – diminished by inflation. Add in the uncertainties about how OM costs might increase over time, and how your profits might change – then you might have a range of possible paybacks for the machine. Its a bit like deciding on how you would like your payback if you happen to win a lottery. Would you like 1 million up front or 50,000 per year for 20 years. Its also why you should do your own calculations about paybacks on things like home improvements. We were sometimes asked by a prospective client about what we thought would be the payback in energy savings for something like new Windows (when they already had decent Windows). Some had been given, what we thought were exaggerated claims from others. We’d suggest that they talk to their local utility – or take our advice that you may make some improvements because they improve the quality of your life (or feeling about your house) rather than based on the expectation of a big payback.

Alright, let’s do the real math, the math that’s pertinent to me. I have about 1/3 of an acre with dense grass in the back that would really reduce battery life. I use about 15 a year in gas, 2/QT for oil, which usually does about 2 years worth of oil changes. 5 filter that lasts about 2 years and a 3 spark plug that lasts several years. So I’m somewhere around 20 a year in operating costs, not 50. If I was replacing my mower, which I’m not, and gas mowers last at least 10 years for me, it would cost me about 300, there are several self propelled options at that price point with BS or Honda engines. So we’re at 400 5 year cost, 500 10 year cost. With battery, 550 is the lowest price you can get for a 40V self propelled mower and 2 4Ah batteries, and that’s the Ryobi Spring Black Friday special at HD, and the Ryobi 40V chargers have horrible reviews (fhigh ailure rate). So I’d likely have to go to another brand meaning 600. Now batteries, I would have to have 2 incase one round out mid-mow, since I can’t just add gas, I’d need the second ready to go. Now all batteries can only be expected to last 4-5 years before they degrade in performance or die, they could very well go longer, but you can’t bank on it. Time and the summer heat will take their toll, even with low cycles. Now here’s the other concern, what if in 5,6,7 years time those batteries are no longer made and are hard to come by? What if the mower dies and they no longer make the mower for that platform? Even if the batteries are available you’re talking 300 for the batteries. So I’m looking at start up cost of about 600 and ~5/ year electric cost. 5 year cost 625 ten year cost 950 assuming I’ll have to buy replacement batteries somewhere in there. That’s to save 15 annually. Pass. We’re talking close to double over all. Even in the best case scenario you might get those to slightly overlap in the mid 500s, and that’s for a mower that I’m not sure will make it through my yard on a single charge. I’ll still pass on battery powered walk behind stuff.

Acmetools.com is listing this Makita lawnmower for 524, with a dual charger, and four batteries. For some, seeing is believing, but let me tell you, battery powered walk-behind lawnmowers are superior to gas. The time savings goes beyond just replacing the filter and oil, but with a plethora of priceless variables, such as: Instant start up – No more priming, choking, or tearing a tendon while attempting to start your mower for the first time in four months Instant shut-off – See a tree branch? Go ahead and move it without having to waste energy restarting the mower Hate Noisy Mowers? – You can now practically mow the lawn at anytime without waking up the neighbors or newborn babies. Your neighbors will love you! No Loss of Performance – Adjusting your air/fuel mixture is a thing of the past, without an air filter or carburetor to clog up Frustration Free – Mowing should be relaxing, not frustrating. Now that you don’t have to pull out your DIY repair book to figure out why won’t your lawnmower start Batteries Made to last Eons! – Nowadays, Makita uses one of the best Lithium-Ion cells that money can buy. With proper care, these batteries can handle 5,000 charge cycles before their energy capacity begins to fade. Invaluable Convenience – Do you enjoy making that special trip to the gas station to refill your gas container? I didn’t think so! Space Saving – Done mowing? Go ahead, easily lower the handles, and store it vertically Self-Propelled a Thing of the Past? Hard to fathom, but these 60 pound mowers glide over the grass, unlike their 100 pound plus counterparts. Still uncertain. Yes, I know that you’re stuck in your ways, apprehensive that battery technology has FINALLY reached that pinnacle past the hype, where battery powered equipment can supersede in every which way, the long titan of industries 4-stroke engine.

I have the NZ version of this mower – the only difference I can tell from the US model is we only get 2x 5ah batteries, not 4, because Makita NZ dont think their customers have internet access and will realise we are getting shafted compared to other parts of the world…. anyway I digress…. I was fairly nervous that a battery mower wouldn’t cut it… but have been more than pleasantly surprised by the power, run time and general fit and finish of the mower. Yes it smartly speeds up and down automatically, annoying on one level but seemingly effective and very quick to change up when needed. I mowed a very long, wet lawn of approximately 400m Sq in size, using only the mulch function – approximately 40 mins of continuous mowing and the (freshly charged) batteries where down 2 two bars on the battery and 1 bar on the mowers display. ie plenty of life left in them afterwards. It cuts beautifully, which I think is down to the shear speed of the blade rotation. Loving it so far. Would totally recommend.

It seems pretty clear at least in my area of the world that DeWALT cordless mowers (and probably trimmers, blowers, and other OPE) are being phased out and replaced by Craftsman. There was not a single DeWALT mower in my Lowe’s this past week and there was a sea of red Craftsman OPE, both gas and electric. They also discounted the DeWALT mowers they did have down to 150 (from 400 retail) at the end of fall 2018. DeWALT cordless mowers are not available either in store or for delivery on the Lowe’s website at all. They are available for delivery on the Home Depot website, but they are not in stock at any stores within a 10 mile radius of me. Overall, I think it’s a Smart move from a branding perspective for SBD. The Craftsman name has been in the homeowner lawn game for many many years and is a known commodity there. DeWALT has not. DeWALT is or should be known for professional/commercial grade products, and their lawn equipment was “prosumer” at best.

DOUBLE THE MOWING AREA WITH BATTERY-POWER

DLM532 is a battery-powered self-propelling lawn mower, designed to mow large areas at a time. Mowing area can be doubled up to 2300 m², thanks to four 18 V battery ports. The mower can also be used with only two batteries. Strong steel frame of the machine makes it durable, and large tires makes mowing easy even in muddy or bumpy yard.

DLM532’s many features make it versatile and convenient. The mowers cutting height can easily be set between 20. 100 mm with just one pull of lever. Cutting width of 530 mm and self-propelled speed of 2,5. 5,0 km/h make mowing your yard quick and easy. Brushless motor delivers up to 2800 RPM, and the motor automatically varies its speed depending on load conditions of the blade for longer runtime. Silent mode lowers the rotation speed to 2300 RPM making mowing quieter, therefore DLM532 is an excellent choice for residential areas.

FEATURES

Cutting, collecting, mulching or side discharging — choose your way of mowing

DLM532 is equipped with popular mulching head for bio-cutting. The mower is also equipped with 70 L grass box with grass level indicator for collecting grass and side discharge to avoid clogging.

Powerful convenience

No Load speed varies up to 2800 RPM on standard mode, and on low noise mode the speed is constant at 2300 RPM.

Easy lawn mowing with self-propelling

Self-propelling feature makes mowing more comfortable and lighter. Propelling speed can be adjusted between 2,5 5,0 km/h.

Adjust cutting height with one lever

Centralized cutting height adjustment allows selecting the cutting height with just one pull of a lever! Height can be set between 20. 100 mm.

While DLM532 can run with only a pair of 18V LXT® batteries, it can be used with two pairs of batteries to double the runtime and mowing area. The mower is equipped with battery selection switch, which allows the user to choose which pair of batteries is being used. This makes managing the battery charge level easier, when not all of the batteries are used at the same time.

Each battery’s charge can be easily checked from the LED indicator on the handle of the lawn mower.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS