New mower

[Grant Lamontagne]

Maybe this is a power tool, maybe not, but I'm going to post about it anyway! 

Last month my mower decided it was going to retire, and didn't bother to inform me, so I had to go out and buy a new one.  Fortunately, one I'd had my eye on was on sale, a battery powered one from Worx.

It was regularly $500, marked down to $360, and I had enough store points to knock it down quite a bit more.  In the end, with taxes it ended up costing me $280, which seemed like a reasonable amount to gamble on a new doodad I've been curious about.

I don't have a picture handy, but it is the Worx 40V 5 Amp 3 in 1 mower, which I believe has been discontinued- hence the sale price.

I brought it home, and a minimal amount of assembly later it was ready to go.  We charged up the batteries and Megan decided she wanted to try it, so, being the generous sort I am, I graciously let her mow the lawn.

With the old Briggs and Stratton behemoth we used to have, Megan would do one or two sections of lawn before the beast tired her out and I'd have to take over, but she was able to chase this nimble little battery mower all over the yard, and, at the end of it, the batteries were still showing two out of five little LED's worth of power! 

Not too shabby!

I haven't been allowed to mow since, as she enjoys it so much, and we ended up also picking up a trimmer from the same line with- get this- the same battery in it!

Granted the battery is a slightly smaller capacity, but they are all interchangeable, which is awesome!

And, it weighs less than half what my old Troy-Bilt 4 stroke weed whacker does.  It is so light and easy to use that Megan has taken over whipper snapper duties as well!

I know Worx isn't a huge name like Ryobi, Marita, DeWalt etc, but I have to say, I am over the moon with the Power Share series, and not just because Megan is doing all the work! 

The batteries are easy to handle- they are pretty well the same as a cordless drill battery- and in fact, they use the same batteries as their cordless drills, saws, hedge trimmers and so on.

https://www.worx.com/20v-drill-driver-impact-combo-wx944l.html

If you are looking for a decent, versatile cordless tool set, I have to say, I'd be hard pressed to buy something else right now.

Def

[Yadda]

I have Worx trimmer, power washer, drill driver,  and the cordless nailer.  All good items.

[gregozedobe]

I've been converted to battery operated tools.  No electrical leads to worry about, no carbies clogging up with stale, gummed up 2 stroke mix (a common problem with my chainsaws if I didn't drain the carbie at the end of the season ie every year).

Just put a charged battery in the tool and away you go, no fumes and much quieter as well.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I love cordless tools.

Except that I hate cordless tools.

The batteries always crap the bed and are 3 times more expensive than buying a whole new tool.  I have a garage full of great drills and saws that are worthless because the batteries are smurf on them.

At least with this kind of thing there is the possibility of batteries not being too hard to source, or maybe not being too expensive to replace.  With the interchangeability across the whole line they should be easier to source than a 20 year old Craftsman cordless drill battery.

I hate throwing out perfectly good tools just because there's no way to power them anymore.

Def

[gregozedobe]

I love cordless tools.

Except that I hate cordless tools.

The batteries always crap the bed and are 3 times more expensive than buying a whole new tool.  I have a garage full of great drills and saws that are worthless because the batteries are smurf on them.

At least with this kind of thing there is the possibility of batteries not being too hard to source, or maybe not being too expensive to replace.  With the interchangeability across the whole line they should be easier to source than a 20 year old Craftsman cordless drill battery.

I hate throwing out perfectly good tools just because there's no way to power them anymore.

Def

Don't you have people/companies that will pull apart your failed battery pack and replace the old internal cells with some new (and usually better, higher capacity) cells ?  I have had that done to some old Ryobi 12V packs with good results. It isn't cheap because good cells aren't cheap, but still worth doing if you like the tool/s.  I also had the cell type changed from Ni-Cads to NiMh because I was sick of how quick the Ni-Cads self-discharged.
.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Not that I know of, but maybe I will look around for that.

Years ago, when my big Craftsman drill ($300 drill when new) died I bought a set that included a drill, circular saw and reciprocating saw, two batteries and a charger for $300.  Then, I found the same model drill with two batteries and a charger for $100 or so, and I bought that too, meaning I had four tools, four batteries and two chargers.  It was ideal because I couldn't discharge the batteries as fast as they charged, so I always had power.

Then the batteries all died and I swore off battery tools, replacing the drills with a corded DeWalt drill, the reciprocating saw with a corded DeWalt reciprocating saw and the circular saw with a corded no name circular saw from Amazon.

I ended up getting a smaller cordless Black and Decker drill because I quickly developed a hatred for jobs that needed doing that were too far from an outlet, and the remarkably short cord of the DeWalt drill.  The theory was that if i needed the power of the DeWalt then it was worth dragging out the extension cord.

So far the B&D is still going strong, so I'm happy about that, but I am prepared for the day when it craps out too.

Def

[SteveC]

My brother got a Toro battery powered lawn mower this year and loves it. He just added a string trimmer as well that uses a compatible battery. He also added solar power to his house last year and is now saying that the next car they get will be an electric.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, my next will be electric too... I hope.

No solar panels yet though!

Def