Electric lawn mowers

[bowtieguy]

!

[ffvben]

I have a john deer 111 riding mower with a blown engine. any ideas on how to convert it to elec? I'm guessing instead of having a pto to activate the blades( that may suck the batteries down fast) i could just use a pulley off a ele. motor that runs the drive and blades at the same time. I wonder how many batteries i need, i could cut the front lawn, charge, then next day cut the rear lawn.

[MetroMPG]

Check evalbum.com for electric lawn tractor examples.

My parents have an electric mower - but AC powered through a plug :)

[96744]

I do have an electric mower, powered through by 110.
Its much quieter, and much cheaper than gas. plus, very little maintenance.
The blade is a couple inches shorter, though, so it might take a little more time to cut.
+I use renewable energy, so it helps keep the carbon in the loop.

[96744]

sorry for the 2x post.
I also meant to say that my friend has a 24V batter mower and it is terrible.
It runs out of power all the time; at best he can cut his yard in two charges.
he does have a larger than normal yard though, but sometimes it takes up to 4 charges to cut the grass.

[skewbe]

My dad had one of them two bladed blue corded ones, I thought it was a great idea.

My grandma had a battery one, it was heavy and didn't run quite long enough to do the whole lawn.

We currently have a fancy push reel on a 1/4 acre lot.

[2TonJellyBean]

If your yard is small enough for a corded lawn mower go for it. Every spring you plug it in, squeeze the lever and it just whirs to life. Outside of blade sharpening they are extremely maintenance free. In 14 years I've yet to cut the cord. The grass is about 65x25' in the front and 24x40' in the back. At 10cents per KWH, my WattsUp meter shows that it costs 1.5 cents to cut the front and a penny for the back and that's going over it twice when I do it.

[WisJim]

We have an older Toro 16inch cut 12 volt battery opowered mower. I got it at a garage sale over 15 years ago, used it a bit, and then it sat in the shed until we started using it again 5 years ago. Used the old battery the first summer, then got a new battery which is now on its 3rd summer. The battery is a small one, almost as smalll as some riding mowers use for the starting battery. We can mow about 20 min to a half hour on a charge. We replaced the original charger with a new maintenance charger which I am sure helps with keeping the battery in better shape. It cuts better with a really sharp blade, of course, and doesn't do real well in very tall thick grass. But, we have acres to mow, including yard, orchard, and around the garden, and the electric one does well for all the trimming and small jobs. I am looking for one of the old GE ElecTrak mowers, though, as I think that would be just the perfect tool for the job at our place.

And we charge with solar and wind generated electricity, too.

[VetteOwner]

you can get new rings and put them in yourself, pretty easy job to do. just so you know, you can get a 20" cut gas push mower for around $60 new. could probably find a used pushmower for less than that.

i know lowes also sells push reel mowers. might want to check into that. its free to run besides the electricity used to sharpen the blades once every 3 years...

[Wazabi Owner]

I've got a corded electric mower that I use on the main lawn in front of the house. Picked it up at Goodwill at the beginning of this season (back in March when the grass started growing). I paid $30 for it - Black and Decker. It's worked great so far.

I use either my tractor w/bush hog (Yanmar 1610D 4x4, 3 cyl diesel) for the rest of the lawn or my little Scotts rider (17hp/42inch deck). The rest of the lawn is about +/- 2 acres. Tractor works best for the mucky portions as well as clearing the acreage in the woods.

All in all, I cut as far as my 100' extension cord will let me cut. Love the electric mower because its quiet and no exhaust fumes to stink up my clothes!!

[jharbert]

We have a corded Black & Decker adjustable-height mower. I love it. Gas mowers need too much maintenance and make a lot of noise. If the edge of your yard is within 100ft or so of your house, go electric.

[michaelburke]

During the gas crisis there was an electric riding lawn mower that was made. I don't recall the name right off, but I think some are still around. You might google electric riding lawn mower. If you can get a look at one you might be able to pick up some useful ideas, such as size of electric motor, batteries, etc

[MetroMPG]

The GE Elec-Trak is probably the best known (among EV nerds, that is).

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/imgm.php?n=527a.jpg&w=300&h=199

Do a search at http://evalbum.com or ... http://www.google.com/custom?site=austinev.org%2Fevalbum%2F&q=mower&sitesearch=austinev.org%2Fevalbum%2F&client=pub-0604986736580708&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&flav=0000&sig=Py9zWxKP0AnU10ms&cof=GALT%3A%230066CC%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23999999%3B VLC%3A336633%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3 AFFFFFF%3BALC%3A0066CC%3BLC%3A0066CC%3BT%3A000000% 3BGFNT%3A666666%3BGIMP%3A666666%3BLH%3A50%3BLW%3A3 30%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fevalbum.com%2Fui%2Fevalbum.j pg%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fevalbum.com%2F%3BFORID%3A1%3 B&hl=en

[MetroMPG]

Depending on terrain/distance/trees where it'll be used, you might be able to make a corded electric riding mower :)

[Ryland]

a corded electric riding mower to me would feel simaler to a bumper car, it would be a great joke tho.

[bowtieguy]

well, with the grass starting to grow again along w/ the lastest rise in gas prices, this subject may need to be revisited.

after determining how much it will now cost(gas and oil) to mow, might make a green decision and buy a cordless E mower.

anyone want to buy my riding and/or push mower(both gas powered) to help fund this purchase?

[roadrunner]

I currently own a 2008 Black & Decker corded mower, and it is perfect for a smaller property. I had been using two older models from Black & Decker, and no problems for many years. I highly recommend the mowers to people who own a smaller property. Easy to use, quiet, and cheap to operate. IMO the perfect mower.

[JanGeo]

If you know how much gas it used to take to cut your yard then you can calculate how much battery power you will need. A rough guess would be 9kwh for a gallon of gas burned and a 100amp hour 12 volt battery has about 1.2kwh in it so you can see you need some big batteries!

[WisJim]

This isn't a lawnmower, rather a small farm tractor for cultivating, but they detail what they did to convert the machine:
http://www.flyingbeet.com/electricg/

Here's info on making an electric (battery powered) walk behind mower, actually a couple of versions:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Vehicles/vhehicles.htm#Tractor

[Nerds laugh at me]

well, with the grass starting to grow again along w/ the lastest rise in gas prices, this subject may need to be revisited.

after determining how much it will now cost(gas and oil) to mow, might make a green decision and buy a cordless E mower.

anyone want to buy my riding and/or push mower(both gas powered) to help fund this purchase?


I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but from what I recall , mowing your lawn produces the same pollution that an SUV produces over something like 100 miles.
Eventhough the engine is tiny, there are no emissions controls on them.
Gas powered blowers are even worse. I swear I can smell gasoline fumes over 100' from the guys at work when they blow the place.

I'll try to provide a valid source later ( bed time now )

Go Green :thumbup:

[VetteOwner]

yea lawnmowers aren't pollution friendly, but they do last an awful long time.

2 cycle engines usually do stink (weed whackers, blowers, hedge trimmers) only because they burn oil along with the gas (hence why the exhaust is blue) so your prolly not smelling the gas fumes persay but more of the burning oil fumes

[RoadWarrior]

Lots of people with older 2 stroke stuff are probably putting too much oil in the mix... because the factory probably said 16:1 or something with mineral oils, but the new synth 2 stroke oils should be fine in just about anything at 50:1

[Nerds laugh at me]

yea lawnmowers aren't pollution friendly, but they do last an awful long time.



All the more time to pollute.



2 cycle engines usually do stink (weed whackers, blowers, hedge trimmers) only because they burn oil along with the gas (hence why the exhaust is blue) so your prolly not smelling the gas fumes persay but more of the burning oil fumes


fumes / pollution .... same thing.

[Jetta90GL]

Here is my electric robotic lawnmower:
http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/robomow/rl1000/

It works great for me since I am gone from home weeks at a time. If I remember right, they claim it costs 7 dollars a year in electricity to operate. The blades become the main expense IMO.

[Lug_Nut]

I've a B&D 19 inch battery electric. I picked it up for free at the town recycling drop off center maybe 5 years ago. The sealed, possibly AGM, PbA batteries wouldn't hold a charge worth a darn, maybe 10 minutes if I exagerate. I swapped them out with a pair of larger capacity, unsealed, jet-ski PbA batteries and now get an hour's cut time before dipping the running voltage into the yellow on the "fuel gauge". It's used mostly in the fenced dog's area and for edge trimming where the biodiesel powered rider can't reach. The dogs love it. They trot along side watching it intently. It flushes out all sort of insects and frogs and an occasional mouse or mole that they then dispatch with abandon.
I've also mounted an inverter on the tractor and have an AC powered string trimmer I use from the tractor's saddle. Does that make the trimmer a hybrid?

[bowtieguy]

well, i've decided to dump the plans to buy an E mower. can't afford it now, nor for a while.

what i plan to do is sell my riding mower to my father-in-law to fund buying a reel mower. this decision is due in large part to comments here about how new tech makes them very user friendly.

there are integrity issues, however...

do i sell the rider(small yard, don't need it) that was GIVEN to me by a friend? and do i SELL it to a family member?

conventional wisdom(and integrity) say no and no. however, money is a major factor. besides, i can charge dad-in-law a nominal price.

thoughts?

[RoadWarrior]

Push reel mowers do a really nice cut, but you've gotta keep on top of the mowing with them. They get kinda difficult when the grass gets over a certain height. I've got two sitting in the barn for my attention, better give 'em it and get 'em working. Though it's over 2 years since I filled up my mower can at a pump, seem to keep topping it off with drainings from changing fuel pumps and filters. But I've only got about one mower tank = 2 cuts left in it, and 1 cut left in the mower.

[roadrunner]

I currently own a 2008 Black & Decker corded mower, and it is perfect for a smaller property. I had been using two older models from Black & Decker, and no problems for many years. I highly recommend the mowers to people who own a smaller property. Easy to use, quiet, and cheap to operate. IMO the perfect mower.


Black & Decker 18-Inch 6.5 Amp Electric Mower #LM175 by Black & Decker

[RoadWarrior]

I'm still trying to figure out those "5HP" electric mowers...

[theholycow]

do i sell the rider(small yard, don't need it) that was GIVEN to me by a friend? and do i SELL it to a family member?

conventional wisdom(and integrity) say no and no. however, money is a major factor. besides, i can charge dad-in-law a nominal price.

First, ask your friend if he'd be offended. Tell him that it's been working well for you but you think you can do your lawn more efficiently and that your dad-in-law needs it more. He may well be the sort who is happy to see that his gift has worked out so well for you, enabling you to get exactly what you need in your difficult time. Obviously, if you think the question itself might offend him, you won't be able to ask.

Then, if you got his blessing, sell it to your dad-in-law for no more than the cost of the reel mower. That's reasonable, if he's willing (and I'd guess from your plan that he is). You're not trying to rake in some dough, just trying to trade the rider for the reel.

If you were financially comfortable it might be different. At that point you'd buy the reel mower, decide you don't need the rider, and then offer it to him for free.

[bowtieguy]

First, ask your friend if he'd be offended. Tell him that it's been working well for you but you think you can do your lawn more efficiently and that your dad-in-law needs it more. He may well be the sort who is happy to see that his gift has worked out so well for you, enabling you to get exactly what you need in your difficult time. Obviously, if you think the question itself might offend him, you won't be able to ask.

Then, if you got his blessing, sell it to your dad-in-law for no more than the cost of the reel mower. That's reasonable, if he's willing (and I'd guess from your plan that he is). You're not trying to rake in some dough, just trying to trade the rider for the reel.

If you were financially comfortable it might be different. At that point you'd buy the reel mower, decide you don't need the rider, and then offer it to him for free.

i appreciate it!

contrary to what some might think of some of my conservative views, i do try to be selfless, while doing what's best for my family.