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Cool commercial... But these comparison insurance websites are shit. They say they save you money, but it's really just a way for them to have target ads at you for insurance and other products.
7:45 - if you start at 100% and mow 2 acs, then you do the single charge and then mow the 2 acs more, then you did 4 acs on a single charge. Pure math, you are welcome.. 😉😁🤣😂 /s
I would LOVE to see you upgrade this mower to LiFePO4 if you've got the cells, can get a decent BMS, and the existing controllers will work. Any of these could be deal-killers and I don't want you to waste a lot of money on a high-risk, low-reward project, but the fact that you've already got some batteries on hand makes this sound reasonable from my perspective as a mere viewer ;).
I was just going to say this. I don't know what size the batteries are on there but there are 12v LFP batteries similar to car starting ones. There are also cylindrical ones like the Headway that Battery Hookup sells. Probably would need a new charger also. I think the blade motors would have more power with LFP too.
Using lithium based cells also opens up on overvolting the motors - but i'd first check that the lead-acid battery arrangement didn't undervolt them in the first place.
We ALL know that you want to do the lithium swap, you've got the experience, creativity, and the resources. It'd make a great series to see how you disassemble the mower, figure out optimal packaging of the lithium power packs, and then the side-by-side comparisons of the old lead-acid set up versus the lithium ion setup, as you race former yourself on a circuit.
Yea, but he doesn have the time ... while hes good at all those things ... he aint good at being "fast" about hes project haha. *Caught" Bus *caught* :P
At $5K Ryobi took the short cut, which will now cost them sales/reputation from all those in the know, thanks to this video and other reviews. Short term thinking yet again from a company which should know better.
I've lithium swapped a few of my cordless tools and I notice a big difference in power and reliability,I would have to say go for it,I think a lithium swap on that Ryobi would make it a beast!
I enjoy thinking about how our viewers would possibly never believe how much time we all spend trying to get through a shot without noise in the background from our small critters, etc. And I particularly love those of us -- you, Beau, Snubs, me, etc -- who have resigned to the fact that there is going to be the occasional bird squawk or dog bark or cat litter scraping in the background and folk just have to deal with it. 😎
It's not just you fancy videos stars that have issues with noise pollution mate, I've got severely degraded hearing, and it's crazy how even quiet sounds (Like a fridge compressor, or a distant lawnmower) right in the middle of my remaining hearable frequency range totally annihilates my ability to hear someone's voice if their pitch is on the periphery of what I can hear. In my case, it tends to be higher pitched female voices that get lost the easiest, and a lot of woman think I'm an arrogant git because of this. Anyway kids, Always wear ear protection whenever you're in noisy places, because being semi deaf REALLY scr*ws with your love life ! :D
isolate, invert, mask. Dither the results. Discoverable in a court of law inspection but not on youtube. works even better if you drop another mic near the door when you're recording and you can pull that signal, inverted, directly into the mix, and since the relative volume of the noise is opposite the other mic, you'll reduce the side noise way more than your target noise. the hard part is not being distracted by the side noise even though you know it's not significantly effecting your results.
I want to see the battery swap, or at least a video explaining what a battery swap would require, how much it would cost, and why that cost isn't worth it.
Holy smokes, that was a completely honest review! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to produce such a helpful review. I'm currently using a gasoline cub cadet garden tractor which has a 46" mowing deck. I feel like it's not quite doing the job on the two acres we have and I'm considering upgrades. My research led me here.
I’m a longtime viewer of this channel. I also happen to work at Home Depot. Reviews like this help me know what these products are really like and can sell (or not sell) them better.
@@agingwheels Product reviews in the lawn mowing space rarely do long term testing. It's mostly about how well it mows a lawn, how it maneuvers around the yard and how long the battery lasts when new.
Just know that it's the batteries, not the "Electric" itself, that's making the (awful) difference in electric yard tech. If it's lead, it's crap. Don't sell lead crap. Try and push the purchasers to acquire lithium tech! It's way past high time to stop selling antiquated gas-engine yard crap! With the price of lithium batteries having been cut in nearly 1/10th over the past decade, the only reason to still be selling lead-based crap is ignorance. Better electric tools are out there!
@@FalconFour Gas engine mowers are going to be around for longer than you think. Anyone with a yard even approaching the top end of these claims is likely to end up in the same situation having to mow in multiple sessions. Lithium has drop off too, just not as drastic as lead acid. My yard is just over 4 acres, and I won't be giving up my gas powered zero turn any time soon. Professional lawn care companies can't even consider using electric tools. They need equipment that can run all day and be refueled/recharged in minutes, not hours. It's the small engines that are going to be going away in the near future for nearly every domestic user. Chainsaws, leaf blowers, string trimmers, etc. are all easily powered by electric motors for most home uses. I made the switch to electric for all my small engines and I enjoy them immensely. I remain skeptical that an electric riding mower can accommodate my yard in one session for as many years (14) as my gas one has. They're a great option for people with smaller yards, though, and I look forward to the batteries advancing to a point where they're a reasonable option for myself in the future.
@@NJRoadfan I guess we have similar tastes in TH-camrs, I remember seeing you on Uxwbill’s channel years ago. We get “product spotlight” videos about products but they aren’t ever too far in depth. Like you said, always about the capabilities on the newest stuff, never anything long term.
I can hear it in my head already "So I decided to build an incredibly over-engineered replacement battery pack that took way too long and is only half as good as I expected, here's how I did it!" And I'll watch every second of it.
I like what EGO does. They have a range of powered yard equipment that uses the same battery. You can plug the mower as he did with the Ryobi, or you can pull the batteries out and use a separate charger. And ALL the yard equipment uses the same batteries, which are like the rechargeable batteries from a cordless drill.
You joke, but back in 1983 I worked on a small Honda car that the owner had raised and put on 15" rims with wide tires and stuffed an extra wide mower deck under to mow his 20 acres. AC and stereo with a fairly quiet ride despite the blades cutting.
@@honorharrington4546 Jeep Wrangler with three 48" self powered pull behind trail mowers. I thought my father would have a cow when he saw that set-up. 2nd gear in low range would idle all day long. Keeping the gas filled in the mowers was the only down side. I think the Honda was a much better option though. That is pretty cool!
I’ve had my ryobi 48 inch ,not a zero turn, for over 3 years I live in LA (Lower Alabama) meaning we get away from mowing for about 31/2 to 4 months a year. During the summer I mow my 11,000 sq ft lawn twice a week and so far I have had zero issues with this mower love it thank you
I'm on team "lithium swap your current mower" - aside from the joystick I'll bet things like the deck are stamped, etc as a way to cut costs when adding the lithium cells to the new model. This way you have an over-engineered starting point with familiar controls. Hell, you may be able to uprate the blade motors yourself too lol
I wonder if there is space to add belts to the mower deck. It would provide the assistance of all the blades momentum and knock up the torque available
@@MarcusHawksley It would only borrow energy from one spindle to another, not increase the total, actually lose some to friction. The real problem is that the total power available is less than a decent gas engine provides, even accounting for losses in its PTO drivetrain.
If he upgrades the batteries those issues may go away because the lithium batteries will hold there voltage and provide more current then the lead acid.
@@davidquinn9676 Except momentum. More spinning mass will tend to bog down less if it is not a constant higher load. It will also take longer to return to full RPM. Nothing is free and I agree that generally an appropriate engine on a gas mower, solves this.
Wow! Brian and I just bought an electric Cub Cadet Friday. I hope the guy at Home Depot is watching. He told us ALL electric mowers have lithium batteries. We knew better and he looked it up and learned the Ryobi does indeed have lead acid batteries. Great video.
Never believe what any of the schmucks at Home Depot or Lowe's tell you. They almost universally have no training or experience on the types of projects they sell materials and tools for.
You didn't mention how hard it is to change out the batteries. I have the 42 inch of this and I LOVED it - until it started having problems after 2 months. They swapped it out, and I LOVED that one - but it's now 13 months later and it won't even come on. Ryobi said "just pull out the batteries and charge them" except that is incredibly hard to do (hint - you can't just pop open the hood and hook up a charger). It's a procedure I don't have the tools or ability to do (and I'm pretty handy). Ryobi and Home Depot are playing games with me and I'm furious.
Is it weird that I knew this was going to center around the '48V' emblazoned around the mower, without knowing the battery issue? I mean, who in their right mind, in the last few years, would use 12V lead-acid batteries in a yard tool of any kind? Even deep-cycle batteries are kind of the same stripe.
I mean, I get where they are coming from. Just looking at the prices makes me wanna consider lead acid. I can get a LiFePO 12v for $250-$299 or a DCLA 12v for $100-$120. Times that by 4 and my wallet is crying lol It would be cool if now they offered a first party lithium swap out, but I doubt it.
Agreed, but they're sometimes useful. I bought a deep cycle lead acid battery and some solar panels to recharge my robot mower because I didn't know exactly how much power I'd need the battery to store and you get more leeway for your money with lead acid. 20Ah 12v lifepo4 might be fine, but if I need 30Ah one day a 100Ah SLA will cover that while the lifepo4 won't.
You mean like DeWalt does for their hand tools? Friggin' crazy, the battery packs are usually 80-90% of the cost for a new device designed to operate with the higher voltages. Nah, I'm picturing him buying a whole lot of ebay/amazon batteries, building battery packs and being very happy with the results. Dreaming? Yea, I know.
Lifepo4 seems best since it'll probably be in the heat and cold on the regular, plus they fit better the 12v multiples Edit: better than the common 3'7v cells, might I add
either swap $130-200 batteries (thats just price for one cell) every year or two on a $5000 mower, or change the $10 oil of a gas powered one every year or two. even free considering you can use the left overs of car oil changes. why does he care about the noise? he doesnt live in middle of LA
The two kinds of comments I see: 1- people that know a thing or two about mowers 2- people that know a thing about ZERO TURN ZERO TURN ZERO TURN ZERO TURN (we love you cs188)
Used both the single stick control and the double push/pull bars and I can say that using a single stick is the way to go until the day your mower deck gets caught on something immovable while you are traveling at a high rate of speed. ( such as a pipe, rebar, or road sign post broken off at ground level and firmly attached to a concrete anchor ) * Yes all three of these I have experienced in the past * At that point as you are flying out of the seat and over the front of the mower towards the ground you'll realize that driving around by pushing two metal bars away from your chest for a few hours is a small price to pay for ensuring your ass stays connected to the seat. The bent Rebar I hit while using a Craftsman riding mower at maximum speed. Resulted in a broken rib and punched a hole into the stamped steel deck. The Road sign snapped at the base sent me flying off the front end of a stick controlled "bad boy" mower and into the overgrown parking lot surface and gave me a bit of road rash on my left side which was already tender from sun exposure. The pipe at ground level was a central anchor point for two swinging gates which I discovered did not move after my deck caught it and I continued moving forward into the two control bars of a Snapper zero turn. The bars were bent out of shape and needed to be realigned and the left bar had to be bent into proper shape. Personal damage was minimal but it did knock the wind out of me.
@@minecraftchest1 For what it's worth, I believe you are only supposed to use seatbelts when you have a ROPS bar and it is up. Most people drive with them down due to tree branches.
I've had my MTD built zero turn for 4 years now, and over 200 hours. I've performed 4 oil changes, and 1 hydrostatic oil change. I would argue my total is $2400 for the mower and maintenance is $75 or less. The lower uses 1 gallon of gas mowing 2 acres, mowed once a week. Hard to beat gasoline still.
Lithium would be nice for a smaller yard in the city, but outside of that I'm unable to see the massive advantage of an electric mower. They're more expensive, over complicated, and have a 'Best By Date'. Putting gas in a mower, stabilizer before off season, and oil changes are not difficult tasks.
@@OhPhuckYou Huh? If you have a smaller yard, that much less an ICE mower would cost, maybe not even need a riding mower, that much gas consumed, that fewer hours operation so fewer oil changes and less wear on the mower too. Any way you look at it, if percentages instead of just dollars, it ends up costing twice as much to get same work done. Some people have this mental block about taking 30 seconds to put gas in, or 10 minutes to change oil, yet they are on a mower for multiple hours riding around in grass clippings and dust and insects. I don't see their argument as valid. I'd rather put gas and oil in a robotic mower and let it mow by itself, than not put these in an electric mower and have to ride around on it for hours. :)
I also own this mower. You're right on nearly every level. And, I'm sorry so many people buy this thing without realizing that they're not LiFePO4 or similar. Here are some things I have learned: - Desulfation is key to maintaining useful operating endurance. Ryobi should have both installed a BMS to manage overall balance, AND that BMS should have also introduce individual battery desulfation. - I've installed Desulfation onto each battery, in the hopes that I can reach the ephemeral "200 hours" of use. SO far, on my second year, I still mow 1.5 Acres to 65% charge. Sadly I only have just over 50 hours of operating time. We'll see about that........:P - The SLA's installed on this mower are actually "Deep Cycle". While I understand that in most cases hearing the term deep cycle doesn't mean much, these are actually warranted for discharge to 15%. Being conservatively minded, I'm going to assume that actually means maybe down to 30%. - Lastly, The provided charger DOES NOT provide a full charge to entire series!! IN fact, even when brand new, the 3rd battery in the chain would sit at 87% or so charge when the 48V charger moved to float. This is not good, as you're already seeing fade. SOLUTION to keep the Deep Cycle Batteries fresh: - Purchase [yes I know that sucks] Qty 4, Battery Minder Model 2012 chargers. Attach to each battery. [BTW support from Minder is really nice and they recommended the 2012, and NOT the 2012AGM for this] - Top up the entire Mower with the Ryobi Charger. Once full, move to the 2012's. THe 2012's will carefully bring all batteries to their individual stable maximum, and will float while also desulfating. I mow weekly, so that means one night the mower gets a Ryobi charge, and then the next day, I unplug the Ryobi charger, and connect the 4 other connectors for a full charge and leave it that way. Got questions?? Hit me up :) Oh!!!! There is OIL! You have to check it. Manual doesn't say anything about it, but the rear motors contain gear oil and it may need to be changed every couple years, and the front casters need greasing, or at least a clean and repack every year too. Moving parts - so you maintain them just like any other ZTR. Cheers
Battery operated equipment, anything larger than a DRILL, should BE CORDED, OR GASOLINE POWERED. ALL that fumbling around, baby-sitting 3 or 4 batteries, waste of time. Earth is going to hell anyway.....we humans got no choice anymore. Gas is POWER IN A MOWER....ELECTRIC is just making the very few, ALOT MORE RICHER. (money-wise, not brain smarter )
Was wondering about whether they were deep cycle, since if not that would be hilarious; non-deep cycle aren't really even meant to be discharged almost at all.
Thanks for the report, I have had the 42" version for a couple of months and it does well on 3/4 acre, usually has 70% charge remaining so I'm hoping to get reasonable battery life. A couple of days ago I drove it on the street 2km to a friends house to cut her lawn and it surprised me to only use 5% for the drive. Mowed her acre and drove home, arrived with 60% left.
So I run a small engine shop and by pestering my regional parts supplier I was able to weasel my way into cub cadet electric school last year. I can say I'm less than impressed. First off, the electric deck motors aren't weak. They're just not what is meant to be used for mowing. A motor produces most torque at low rpm, but draws more power. In heavy grass they slow down and pop the circuit breaker. Then you have to shut them down and reset them. Happens all the time. Next, the lithium ion battery is very expensive. Last year the replacments listed for $1500. I'd imagine with the demand of lithium continuing to rise with little increase in supply, that'll get worse. Back to the deck motors, the blades are bolted directly to the motor shaft. Don't hit something while you're mowing, sound like a profitable day for guys like me. Lastly, keep in mind that these things operate via CAN communication network, all deck motors, wheel motors, control panel, power distribution system, and even the battery communicate with each other on this network, same way a car does. Automotive techs will be able to diagnose em but most homeowners won't have a clue. I imagine they will hold up ok for awhile but once the weather and elements start to take a toll they will be a money pit like any other cheap mower.
I own a Cub Cadet gas version; I'd never buy another CC no matter what powers it. Nothing but problems. No problems with the engine itself, but the electronics are unreliable. The push to start computer module is junk, and over kill just to start the damn thing. The main reason I wanted it was for the locking differential due to a steep hill I need to mow. It worked great for awhile but now shuts the blades down when I engage it...on a hill, which is why I bought it in the first place. I've not had a chance to troubleshoot what's going on there as I've been dealing with, yet another, no crank scenerio. Maybe the 2nd starter button/computer I'm putting in it will solve that as well...POS.
@@twocyclediesel1280 Well cub cadet was originally a Case / IH product until MTD bought them in the late 80s. They earned their reputation in the 70s and 80s and now they are the same as any other MTD, with a different paint color. Not sure what model you have that's got a push to start, haven't seen one. But all safety switches and keyswitches are usually made by Delta or Indak. Which make switches for probably 95% of the industry. Electrical is a big problem coming out of winter so i can't imagine electrics lasting.
@@DrDLightful Mine's an XT-2, GX-54. It has an electronic "key" that plugs into the computer module/display to activate it. Then you push a start button to engage the starter. EVERYTHING runs through that little module. It also tracks your oil/filter changes and hrs. I don't really care about that. I just write the hrs on the oil filter with a Sharpie 🤷♂️ The CC guys here say they replace alot of those modules. After talking to the customer about battery and the basics, they say "yep, another start module". Actually, the key is the start button as well.
I have a Ryobi 38 inch 100AH electric ride on mower, and have used it for three seasons now. I use it to mow about 1/2 acre at our remote off-grid cabin. _Positives:_ never have to haul gas out to the land, always starts, very quiet when just used to haul stuff towing a cart, customer support was wonderful when I had to replace a failed reverse switch and battery gauge (later discovered when I was fixing that the wiring had been chewed through by mice), handles mowing high weeds when I want to turn some field into lawn. _Negatives:_ rides like a tank, 30PSI tires are too small for the weight and leaves marks in the lawn, compared to the JD garden tractor it replaced. So far, very pleased, 9/10
Also on the list of negative (no pun intended) traits of lead-acid batteries are their tendencies to make an explosive gas while charging and catch fire if an internal short occurs between cells. Ask your nearest World War II submarine sailor about those fun bonus features! I would only accept the lawn mower joystick if it came with an ostentatious flip-up safety cover over a thumb trigger that activates the mower deck, so that I can yell "FOX TWO" every time I engage grass slaying mode.
Is that explosion hazard still a thing with sealed AGM batteries? That's what this mower has. Although you can still hear is bubble and sizzle while charging
@@ZGryphon Open any Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with failing batteries, and the same AGM Sealed Batteries are either: swollen to the point of being stuck inside or the housings are cracked and you have some crusty battery juice to contend with.
@@zznet2 Can confirm; IT guy at a manufacturing plant, and I've had to shimmy out my fair share of swollen "sealed" lead acid batteries. I'm just thankful we have a hazardous waste staff on site to deal with the leftovers. Lead acid is a technology that needs to go away, IMO. Sealed or not.
My neighbor has one. He’s all electric. Two Tesla’s, all electric lawn equipment including that mower BUT he’s had so many problems with the mower he went and bought a gasoline cub cadet to replace it. That should tell you something.
I prefer the combination of hydraulics and electric. There is a pretty much everything available in a hydraulic format with centuries of experience and reliability. Adding a clean power source is a smaller engineering step. Additionally the same tech is backwards compatible, pretty much all hydraulic driven machines are convertible to electric.
He’ll have the same problems out of the Tesla’s eventually. I’m 100% all for electric power but Tesla has struggled with Quality. Every single unit they’ve sold has had a recall of some sort. It’s too early to say how things will turn out but I’m not too optimistic. I wish I was and I would love to have one to drive too and from work since I drive about 90 miles per day round trip.
@@richevans7214 What never happened? Hydraulic machines have been around for centuries. Electric hydraulic pumps are around and available in the size needed for small machinery
Hey, just look at the most efficient vehicles on earth. For the last 40 years. Trains. Basically a generator charging a huge battery bank. The traction motors expend their power from the battery bank.
The 27-horsepower gas variant of the Gravely 60-inch mower goes for about $7,000. Even with Biden's gas price inflation, I don't think I would have hit the break-even point to justify buying the electric version.
I own the OG ev-zero turn, the Hustler Zeon, since 2014. Same deal, 48v lead acid. After they expired after about 3 years, I swapped them out for two Tesla Model S "60"-type modules. They work great. Smaller yard, but I estimate around 2.5 hours runtime @ ~70 Amps avg draw. Really easy swap. Two stacked modules are around same area/volume/dimensions of 4 deep cylce lead acids, and around half the weight.
I bought a gas zero turn last year for $2,500. The $2,500 I saved over the cost of an electric mower will be more than enough to pay for gasoline and oil changes for many years. Maybe my next mower will be electric, but I'm not satisfied that the current models are up to the job, as you've pointed out here.
I've mowed extensively with with a gas zero-turn mower that had a joystick and LOVED it. I found it incredibly intuitive, but it might just be my love of arcade games bleeding over.
@@Jehty_ I doubt it. I'm not saying a leftie couldn't drive right-handed, I just feel like if doing that for 2 hours I'd be more comfortable left-handed.
I've a Gravely Pro 160 62" ZT gas hydraulics. All of my other lawn tools are lithium (Kobalt 80v and 24v), and I pretty much have every Kobalt electric tool sold. I mow roughly 6 acres, chunking it up into 1/4's (back yard and around pond, 2 side yards, and 1 front yard with an island) so it takes about 4 days start to finish, total run time of around 4 hours. I keep watching these type reviews, as I want these electric mowers to succeed, but so far, nothing can compete. I switched to electric tools years ago after finally getting frustrated with the never-ending spring startup (or lack thereof) of my various implements. I'm very happy with all of my electric tools, and Kobalt's service has been second to none (lost an oil cap off my chainsaw...they sent me an entire chainsaw as a replacement without asking for the original to be returned). Economical, takes punishment, and easily equal to gas products, but I don't think the ZT's are up to snuff.....yet. The direct drive motor to blade setup has me a bit concerned too....I wonder if any of them have a clutch brake system so you don't bend shafts or misalign shafts.
A couple years ago my son and I went in halfsies on a 50-year-old GE Elec-Trak E20, an old school lead-acid electric garden tractor, the largest of the line. We're about to pop out the existing, crazy heavy LA batts to replace with a single LI battery that, by itself, has more capacity than the entire pack while weighing 200 pounds less. Steering gets lighter, range goes up, etc. No downsides. The ONLY downside is the cost of the new battery and oh yeah, it was marked down on Battery Hookup, so it was significantly less expensive than repowering the tractor with more of the specified golf cart batts. Like, $300 cheaper. No downsides.
You might want to add weights to make up the weight difference. A significantly-lightened tractor might not be able to pull as well as a heavier one, everything else being equal
@@derrickfoster644 No denying, but this change will keep batts in the rear, above the drive wheels, and remove over 130 lbs from the front. Even with LI batts this tractor will still weigh in around 800 lb, pretty solid for a garden tractor.
I went from “go go” sticks to the joystick set up on my skid steer and its really nice. Much more intuitive to control, multiple functions on one stick is nice.
100% agree, I used to work for a Cat dealer, and all their skid steers had joystick controls for both drive and bucket. I occasionally had to drive Bobcats with the two sticks for drive and foot controls for the bucket and it was super tricky and unintuitive.
The go-go sticks are still much better for fine control. Not everyone needs that, but if you do, stick with sticks. I work in construction and we use skidsteers to lift and position heavy things, whether on the forks attachment or a longer boom attachment, and we can never get enough fine control.
This is crazy for me to read because I’ve never liked anything but the sticks. I can’t understand how anyone would prefer a joystick. That’s fine though
@@PinkPandaKatie ya your full of shit, cat joy sticks crap out all the time. Bobcat is a far better machine and much easier to use then silly joy sticks.
My father had the same issue with his. Replaced the batteries with Dakota lithium 14 ah batteries. Half the weight and cuts his 2 acres easily taking battery down to only about 50%. About $160 per battery, you'll need 4, but the mower is well made and IMHO worth the investment.
I just picked up my Craftsman T2400 yesterday and did my first test mowing today. I used to have a Troy Bilt Bronco with 42" deck and 20hp Kohler. The T2400 is a 46" with 23hp v-twin Kohler and a super tight turning radius, almost as good as a zero turn. I hadn't mowed in 3 weeks because I was told I'd get the mower in a couple days....... So I sold my Troy Bilt...... The T2400 muscled through my damp 18" tall grass without blinking. The tight turn meant I spent less time backing up and fidgeting around and more time mowing. My test ended up cutting 3/4 of my yard in an hour, the Troy Bilt would take over 3 hours for this condition. I have about 3/4 acre of grass in a 2.2 acre yard. All with the low low cost of $2500!!!! If I use a gallon of gas per mow the money saved on an electric (roughly $2500) will buy me about 27 years worth of gas..... I'll keep gas thanks.
Good point on the price of gas vs increased cost of electric mower. I prefer gas engine solely because I like the maintenance and I am confident in fixing nearly every problem that comes up.
1. The battery-swap sounds fun 2. I would go for the $7K instead of the $6K mower, Rayobi have shown to not be trustworthy and the joystick sounds like a liability rather than a benefit.
I like what EGO does. They have a range of powered yard equipment that uses the same battery. You can plug the mower as he did with the Ryobi, or you can pull the batteries out and use a separate charger. And ALL the yard equipment uses the same batteries, which are like the rechargeable batteries from a cordless drill.
@@Subangelis that's the same with the lithium ryobies, they use a mix of 40 volt and 80 volt batteries, not sure if you can independently charge the 80 volts but they are removable so I'd assume so, the 40 volts of the standard consumer line for push lawn mowers blowers string trimmers chainsaws etc so are obviously chargeable independently
My first zero turn was a Snapper with a joystick. I own Scag’s now. The joystick is very simple to use. You will feel right at home in :30 mins of using it.
Well I just had one of these mowers delivered yesterday, we'll see if mine does better over the next couple years. As a Lithium replacement, are you talking about LiFePo4? I would be *very* interested if you saw that through, as I have zero doubt I would do the same to ours when the time comes.
The less yard you have to mow, the better. If you are only draining the battery 30% it should last a few years, I wouldn't even want to drain it to 50, it's just too deep of a cycle, too often. And keep it plugged in, or charge it and plug it in for a day every month over winter. Depending on the charge circuit it could also be taking life away from the batteries by constantly topping them off, which really takes it's toll over a winter... Just saying that because I've had battery tenders (cheap ones) that killed batteries coming on waaay too often, unlike the battery tender brand.
I own this mower. Bought it in June last year. I have 4 acres of mowing and I can’t tell any difference or degradation. I have 22 hours on it. One thing that makes a huge difference is sharpening the blades!
Lead acid batteries in electric tools are just as dense from an atomic standpoint as the people that design the tools. If I were in your shoes and liked the mower, I would look into doing a Lithium mod, even without the Coda battery packs. Not knowing the form factor of the batteries, I'd wager they are either small equipment batteries or car batteries. More than likely you could find a pre-built lithium pack with protection circuitry built in. That way if you hit something that stalls one of the motors you don't over amp the battery pack.
There is no way they are car batteries. Deep cycle or traction batteries for sure. Car batteries are great when you need high current for a starter motor, and when the battery is constantly recharging when the car is running. They make no sense in a mower. It are probably generic traction batteries as used in pellet jacks and forklifts.
@@slome815 lead acid batteries seem like dumb idea in a mower... definitely deep cycle. I'm just wondering if he could just swap out for the same/similar type of battery for now to allow continued use...? Not ideal...I know....
@@stuartd9741 I meant there are deep cycle lead acid batteries, as used in forklifts and electric pellet jacks. They are fine as long as you don't discharge them entirely. Much, much cheaper then a Lithium battery, and as long as you dont discharge them entirely multiple times they will last for years. The manufacturer should have given a more accurate number for acre size this mower can mow without fully discharging.
I have the EGO 52" zero turn Z6. On a single charge mowing one acre on a hill (not wet) uses about 16 to 20%. Wet it uses 20-24%. Mulching leaves with max blade speed, with a thick layer uses about 55%, but that does involve two sweeps over the leaves. Two times over even thick leaves pretty much pulverizes them to the point they almost look like they are gone. I recommend EGO although be forewarned some people have had issues with their warranty system. For all battery tools, I recommend learning how to repair them yourself as after a 5 year warranty runs out you are kind of SoL as the cost of repairs will be crazy. As more local electric tool repair shops appear, that will change but that is still a few years away! Most repairs are cheap, it is the cost to ship the unit back to specialized facilities. A multimeter and a youtube video with a handful of other tools in most home garages, is all you need to fix almost all electric tool and their battery problems. Loved the review! Very thorough!
I've got Ego stuff and so far it's been great (nothing ride on tho, just general stuff for a regular house). I think everything they do is 56v. I wonder if the Ego ride-on has stronger motors on the blades which give it the "lower" range? Would be interesting to actually compare the actual technical specs of the motors, battery capacity, etc, rather than some obscure brochure numbers like "x acres". Have to agree on electric being quieter too - still noisy sure but the sound "drops off" a lot more (i.e. much quieter at a distance, so good for the neighbours). As well as being easier. Slap on a battery and go. No mixing fuels, ripcords, maintenance, all that. So 100% agree on your praises for electric.
This video popped up in my Suggestions- my Folk's gas rider mower was stored outdoors this past Winter, where the local nice had a field day. The Shop that had maintained it from New went out of business this past year. I gave it to their neighbors as a project as a Thank You for helping them out when I'm not available. I was looking for electric options with a smaller footprint that were low maintenance (read: preferably Lithium powered). Sent it to my Dad, as he was looking at a similar unit. Thank you for the bluntly honest (and humorous) review, it saved us some headaches down the road!
The EGO is actually pretty good. I have the push mower and 14" chainsaw, and weed trimmer. The fact that the batteries are cross compatible is slick, and the fact the big riding boy can take 6 batteries and each can be up to 12ah at that 56v I think would whip any two acres pretty easy to 80% discharged unless it's perhaps incredibly hilly. I can push mow my neighbor's yard and mine on one charge of a 7.5ah in the self propelled push mower, and it's a fair size with about half hill. Build quality of every battery and tool I've got from them seems fantastic, too. Life hasn't really dropped in several years, and I might even get that snow blower some day when I get a concrete driveway. Also it was on sale recently at Lowes for $4999 so make of that what you will.
Definitely battery swap it. The joystick seems like it would suck. I have an ego push mower that I love and I would like to get their smaller zero turn but I can't justify the expense as my yard isn't that big but it does take me an hour and a half with the push mower which sucks. If ego came out with a smaller rider I think I'd have to get it. Having the ability to bring the batteries inside for storage is nice especially in the winter since I'd likely store it outside in a unheated shed.
I wish someone would make a 30 inch electric mower, like the Toro Timemaster. There's definitely a market for something bigger than a push mower without stepping up to riding mowers.
@@Jehty_ I had one on a riding floor cleaner. it sucked! It's broke down once a week, sometimes for a weeks waiting for parts. Also cutting the grass at a school campus for 9 years with a zeroturn. I can tell you a joystick would have been hell with the ground was very uneven, & steep hills... No thanks!
@@maintenanceman4800 but just because the one on your floor cleaner constantly broke doesn't mean that the one on the lawn mower also breaks. Was your floor cleaner even a Ryobi?
Thanks for your review! I’ll have you know I just bought the 54” I-Drive RYOBI riding mowers with the lithium batteries and I love it. I cut my 1.5 acres and had 52% battery left. My only problem is getting used to the zero turn functions and the limitation on the inclines in my yard.
“I don’t have to change oil” lol my dad never changed the oil on any lawn mowers or other appliances, and never uses fuel stabilizers. That being said he is slowly migrating to electric yard tools
Was actually considering one of these last year when they were $5200 at HD. Did my research and found out about the Lead Acid batteries - one of the big deal breakers for me. Electric tech really isn't there yet for lawn equipment.
Yes it is. Electric mowers work great. He's making a mountain out of a molehill. I'm sorry the stock lead-acid batteries didn't hold up for him, but he can fix that by simply swapping to deep-cycle marine batteries.
It is there, just not for 5-7 grand! I just looked at commercial (mind you different class of mower) Gravely 60" Lithium powered mower for 6 1/2 acres. 28,000 that beast was!! But from the test spin I was allowed on it, It is worth every penny!! I am afraid that 3.5 acres is going to give any box store/tool maker/discount zero turn mowers hell !! That is a little more grass than they can handle on the regular IMHO.
@@deusexaethera I have a 42" Ryobi that I've had for almost four years. He's right about losing 1/2 the range after one year. I took care of that this year, I just use the Ryobi around my 20 apples and then I switch to my new John Deere x354. No just cutting 1/2 my lawn and waiting the next day to finish. That Kawasaki motor in the JD really kicks ass mulching. Loved my Ryobi at first. I'd sell it but I'm sure it's worth next to nothing with those crap batteries.
It's there but just not actual ZTs or ride on Mowers until everyone starts using lithium batteries like tools, (which Ryobi has done with all of thier equipment now) but tbh I'd probably just get a push mower unless i acquire 4 corn fields.
I have a battery push behind. It is great as I use it around the house for trimming and the dog run. It is more than enough power for that. I have considered one of these as a replacement for the Z turn mower I have now as it is wearing out. Thank you for your presentation and knowledge.
I came mighty close to buying one of these a few months ago. But when I learned of slow, "hope you'll give up and go away" warranty service and that the lead-acid cells are in costly proprietary packaging, I shelved the Ryobi purchase. I would buy it if inexpensive, readily-available GC-2 batteries were used, but those bespoke batteries take away the lone desirable trait of lead, low price. Update: I have since learned that the batteries used aren't in plastic plug-in boxes, but are a square prismatic AGM cells which may be purchased from multiple sources. This changes my conclusion to a somewhat more favorable one.
I wouldn't ever buy a zero turn with lead acid because of weight. Zero turns are already prone to getting stuck on wet patches and hills and such. Adding that mush weight just makes it worse, plus deeper ruts and more likely to tear up the grass
@@davidquinn9676 I'm sure you can find some that are similar enough. There is charts that have all the dimensions of different lead acid batteries and you can find what works best and swap them
EGO is really good because you can use the batteries on ANY of the equipment, and if you did happen to run out of juice mowing, you can just put more batteries in, even with the zero turn I believe, which is why it was that dino looking back.
So instead of spending $5000 you spend thousands more for other equipment that uses same battery packs to have more of them? No thanks. I very much do not want any electric mower with such a low capacity battery that I have to swap it between recharges and uses. Heck if that's fun to do, he can even do that with his mower, just buy a 2nd set of lead acid batteries and swap them back and forth, lol.
I have a 42" gas Snapper Yard Cruiser and it has a joy stick. I like it. It steers great, just think which way you want to go and your hand does the work. I have had it for over 24 years. It still works fine. Maybe Ryobi will give you an upgrade to a newer mower. I would write a old fashion letter to some of the top people at Ryobi and see what they say. You never know.
Yeah, I'll keep my 20hp 46" cut gas rider I bought new in 2010 that still cranks right up as I actually enjoy doing maintenance on it. I bring the battery indoors to my utility room in winter and trickle charge it occasionally with a manual charger and I don't use gas with ethanol in it so I have no need for fuel stabilizer either as the Co-Op gas stations here (Countrymark) sell non ethanol gas. I've only had to change the belts on it once in the last 12 years and I change the oil and filters once a season. It's on it's 2nd spark plug now and it's 2nd battery which I only just bought 2 seasons ago, so I got 10 years out of it's first one. I did buy a 58v push mower to do trim work and while it is lithium ion I don't like it as much as my old gas push mower because the frame is a lot larger and that makes it difficult if not impossible to get into tight areas that my old gas push mower went through with ease. I'll soon be selling it and buying a new gas push mower. The old gas one still runs, but at 22 years old the old deck is just about shot. The only regret I think I'll have is that the new ones don't use side valves anymore like my old one.
I’ve owned this mower for a little over a year now the 54” ZTR Ryobi, (bought it the day they were available). We have almost 3 acres to mow, it mows all 2.5 acres with about 50-60% battery left. My experience is quite good and batteries still are at 100% capacity, however I store the mower inside the house which means the batteries are in climate controlled all winter. No issues, still have full battery capacity.
I had to source a huge UPS rack for a really weird application in a manufacturing plant. They are very, very insistent on the room they go in being thermally controlled, else the entire expense may as well be saved as they aren't going to be reliable as an uninterruptible power supply. That was just a fleet of lead acid batteries, nothing special. Was going to be ridiculously expensive to AC just this one rack with it's batteries in a huge complex with no AC, at least in the conventional way. In the end, a small room was built inside the larger building and a window AC unit was installed. Max jank.
Be interesting to see what the cell fluid level and specific gravity look like. Maybe the charger was boiling off fluid all winter and now you're running cells dry(er).
@@clownbooface2624 Also overcharging them can be bad too. I had a battery for four years on my one tractor and it wasn't age that killed it, it was me dropping it and cracking its plastic shell. I tried charging it, it did charge but it leaked the electrolyte all over my work bench. Luckily baking soda neutralised it.
@@clownbooface2624 That’s somewhat my assumption here, the charger isn’t of great quality and it bakes the cells over the winter venting it off. Granted it’d be much harder to test with glass mats.
I have the 42" Ego and on my 2 acre it can mow the entire yard if under ideal conditions (though I did purchase two more 10A batteries, and this is TN). If I let the grass get too tall or if it's wet I have basically run it twice, and the charge time is about 2 hours most days. The cushioned ride is excellent for the price point, and being able to change the control style and the blade speed gives me plenty of options, not to mention the mulch plug and bagger, of which both are pretty standard. I also hope the Ryobis have a wash port, too. Regardless, nothing but praise for the Ego from a technophile country boy like me.
Not exactly related but I have the 20 inch ego push mower and love it ! I have a 50x100 lot with a 1000 sq foot house, and probably 600 square feet under tree canopy. So maybe 3000 square feet of grass. I can cut the front and part of the back on a charge as long as it is not too tall and dry. No pull cord to break- win No gas to store - win No plug to foul - win I can even mow at night and not bother my neighbor.
Just made a video about this mower and my experience with it for one mowing season and came to the same conclusion. I wanted to love it when I got it but found the range slowly diminishing so much so that the area I used to mow and have 60-70% battery life when completed now leaves me with 30%. Other than that I honestly like the mower.
I'm so glad I found this video. I bought the 42 in deck version and when I mowed for the first time.. it would not charge.. searched TH-cam... Found your vid... Returned the mower. Imma stick with my gasser for a few more years until lithium ion is more mainstream in price.
I've used a gas-powered country clipper with a joystick for the last ten years, and it may just be a matter of personal preference or familiarity, but I think a joystick is the pinnacle of lawn mower control.
hmmm..... I've only had experienced a joystick setup on a front end loader from Case. it was the best, but it only controlled the the arms moving up and down and tilt, release.Way better than the Volvo, with the complicated 4 stick setup . Still had a steering wheel. the two arm pincer style I've have tried is the skid loader from Bobcat and my dads Cub cadet zero turn. Which is also great. Though i am curious how it would do on a zero turn.
@@braniganshoemaker2686 yeah i used a joystick on a snapper years ago. my hand kept going numb non stop. maybe from vibration from single cylinder briggs. I switched to Walker brand mowers. 1 hand drive from 2 levers. more relaxed hand and arm position. used them 20 years now.
A typical homeowner, non-commercial user mows 50 hrs per year. This equates to one oil change per per year, and a hydro fluid change every 4th year. The oil change takes 20 minutes if you are not used to the process, 10 minutes if you are. Gas can be a hassle for sure, but I just do not see the inconveniences of it to outweigh the overall poor performance of these EV units. Taking 2 days to mow your yard is way more of an inconvenience in my book than adding gas would ever be. I guess if you are big into noise reduction, that is a positive, but I would be wearing muffs and listening to music while mowing no matter what unit I had, so the higher noise level is just not a factor for me. I am sure the tech will get better, but for now, I just do not see the "advantages" of a large electric ZTR being worth the risk.
So for the last 4 years I was the ground keeper of an abandoned 8 acre farm property and I was volunteering for lack of a better word to maintain the grounds with push mowers this would have been a lifesaver because I am a typical homeowner with non commercial use yet I had to tackle this project That would take me 3 days with The typical home owner set up. Even trying to get more appropriate duty equipment on a budget, A new 8 $900 Craftsman 21" dual blade Push mower and a used $300 writing more from the eighties that was a hassle to get going, And alternating between a couple of other free push mowers the craigslist special if you know what I mean, Could have been solved and probably the money that I spent maintaining them would have been At the very least perhaps I could have broke even if I had just gotten one of these from the git go.
I've also found that electric mower range depends heavily on how thick your grass is, and the temperature outside. I have a 80v Kobalt push mower that mows my whole yard on one battery, provided I mowed the week prior and temperatures are mild. Otherwise, I'm going through 2, sometimes 3 batteries.
I have the self propelled version of that same mower. This will be summer number 4 for it. It's hot here (think Las Vegas temps), so I have St. Augustine lawn. My only gripe with the 80v Kobalt is that you can't control when the blades switch to high speed. The normal (low) speed of the blades isn't enough to stand the stiff (and wide) bladed St. Augustine up well enough to get an even cut, nor does it provide adequate vacuum. The high blade speed provides both, but again... no way to manually control when it goes into high speed blade mode. I'd truly *love* my Kobalt 80v mower if it had the ability to manually adjust the blade speed.
As far as the electric mowers work for me, I definitely recommend the Greenworks 60v mowers, the riding mower uses (6) 60v, 8 amp-hour batteries. With (3) dual port chargers so you can plug them all in at the same time as needed. It's about $4k brand new. My first electric mower was a Greenworks 21in mower purchased over five years ago and it's still running great, although some of its metal frame has been patched from small rusting sections. I even use Greenworks 60v batteries for my electric mountain bike which is running on a 48v engine but I have it souped up with the bigger 60v battery. Replacement 60v batteries of various amp-hours are commercial-grade and very competitively priced with any other brand out there.
As someone who works at a certain orange hardware store, I played with the steering wheel version while it was on the floor. And kept pondering what it would take to put a proper battery in it - and how large a battery I could mount underside a trailer for whatever reason. Also, the Cub Cadet zero turn, at least last year's, is just as twitchy on the inputs as that Ryobi is.
Alternate idea: More chickens! Keep increasing your chickens until they take over enough acreage that your mower can handle the rest in one charge. I mean, who doesn’t love more chickens?
I love the Ego 42" Z6 zero turn. Expensive but I have been using Ego yard tools for 4 years, BMS and batteries still perfect, and all batteries are interchangeable across all tools, less expensive 8n the long run.
If the batteries are"deep cycle" lead acid type the lead plates are much thicker and supposedly can be pulled down to full discharge without damaging them. There are also gel and agm (advanced glass mat) types as well which have some advantages and disadvantages.
It still damages them. Just not as fast as one that is not deep cycle because the plates are thicker and don't dissolve completely. There are likely larger gaps between them too, so dendrite formations are less likely to short it out. Even in a deep cycle the battery life is hugely reduced by discharging below 50%.
So I bought this mower about 2 years ago and the SLA batteries lasted about a year before drastically weakening. I bit the bullet and replaced them with $1200 worth of LiFePO batteries (yeah, I know). After solving a couple of minor issues it is going great (so far). The plus side of this mower over the Ego is if a battery craps out you can replace it with any 12V battery - guaranteed to be a little cheaper.
It’s (almost)always cheaper to keep what you own and fix it. I can’t imagine replacing the four regular old batteries to be that much money and of course converting to lithium seems to be the best option if it’s feasible. You own it, you like it, fix it, keep it.
On the topic of the joystick, ill say that my gas mower has a joystick control for movement, and i find it to be miles better than the normal handles, its nice to sit there and barely move around one of your hands to run the entire mower
I like gas mowers because it can mow as long as you want with only gas fill-ups and not waiting for a recharge, but mostly because I like working on them.
@@agingwheels yeah plus selling lawnmowers can be a mess. Unlike a car, you have to find someone who has a truck or trailer that can carry it back, as well as sell it at a massive loss due to the capacity.
@@BrendenPragasam The massive loss would be a concern, as im sure the knowledge to fix this is still limited. With that said someone in the market for a mower like this probably has a trailer or access to one.
Ditch the headache and just get the Ego. I went all in after my sister tried them out when she bought a new house. Sold everything that used gas or gave it away and got rid of my plug in lawn equipment too. Love that I never need gas. I don’t have as big of a property as you so I have a push mower but I can mow my lawn with a 5ah battery and depending how long grass is I can mow it twice on a charge. Heard nothing but good things from others too.
Thank you for this video. Am considering an electric mower, as I too am tired of ICE mower maintenance, and appreciate your honesty. So surprised about the non-lithium batteries in an electric mower! Agree with most, would be quite interesting to see if you can do a batt swap yourself and have a proper improvement instead of investing in a(nother) new mower.
Where have you been hiding? Any mower needs oil changes, typically every 50 hrs (sometimes less often for liquid cooled tractor style mowers), and similarly, the transaxle fluid on tractor style should be changed every few seasons to protect your investment, while the cheaper riding lawn mowers are often just considered lubed for life but like automobiles, that doesn't mean you won't get a lot longer life, ignoring that and replacing fluid. Riding mowers also need other maintenance that you failed to mention like cleaning and lubricating all moving parts if you want them to last a long time. Also if there are belts, you probably have spindles and those need greased. Not sure on this ryboi, might only use sealed bearings or even direct motor shaft driven which is a downgrade for long term owners.
I have their two-stage blower… it’s a monster. As is their big chainsaw. I’ve seen videos on their mower and apparently it just goes through pretty much anything. They warranty their batteries for 5 years.
I did my comparison research and went with the EGO 42” last year with 4 ten amp lithium batteries. It was close to 10% on my 1 acre. I bought 2 more ten amp batteries since it holds 6. Now it’s a beast and I usually have at least 40% left over. It fully charges in around an hour and I’ve done zero maintenance. It’s always ready to go when I am. Since then, I bought the blower, chain saw, combo weed eater, pole saw, etc, and several miscellaneous size lithium batteries. All EGO batteries are interchangeable with everything they make. Chargers come with every device so I have extra chargers wherever I take it. Even the chainsaw is quiet, powerful, and has a quick chain adjuster if it comes off. No tools required. I highly recommend the entire EGO line of products because they are well engineered and thought out.
@@wildoutdoorsandmore I completely agree. Don't be fooled by flashy marketing. The EGO line is engineered well. I would love them to come out with an "EGO-PRO" line with higher torque models for bigger work. (Everyone always wants more power, lol)
As a a forklift mechanic. First issue usually with lead acid batteries is that they are low on water. 2nd l.a. batteries that are for depth are usually gauges to show dead at 80% discharge to help battery life. If you can put a la battery on a very low amperage charge for a long period of time and watch the specific gravity of the cells, you can bring it around a decent amount. Equalizing charges do this to a reasonable degree.
I own this same mower. I just started my second year with it. I LOVE that it is not only zero turn, but (practically) zero maintenance as well. I would still recommend it, as I have not suffered any battery degradation yet. The best part is I am not burning $4 gallon gas to mow! No expensive fuel, no excessive pollution. Thanks for making this video! Cheers!
@@peacefieldfarm_mn How is solar clean when it takes 3 400 ton haul trucks to produce the material for 1 1500 watt panel? And lets not get into the material for an electric car.
I have the same mower in the 42". This the fourth year with the original batteries and they are almost as good as the first year. After charging the next day it is unplugged until the next mowing. In the winter I will charge it about once a month. I know this is not what RYOBI says to do but it works. I cut about an acre and a half at a time.
@@ducewags Where did you get the numbers for that? PV systems have a break-even point on energy required/produced within 1-4 years of manufacture. They also can be readily recycled.
![EGO Z6 Zero Turn Riding Lawn Mower Review [52-inch 56 Volts]](/img/n.gif)
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This is pretty much the only channel where I don't skip over sponsored sections.
Probably your most insane video intro.
I loved it!!!!
Cool commercial... But these comparison insurance websites are shit. They say they save you money, but it's really just a way for them to have target ads at you for insurance and other products.
I'd toss li ion batteries in this one. You can do a lot with $7000, why spend money on a new mower when the only issue with this one is the batteries
7:45 - if you start at 100% and mow 2 acs, then you do the single charge and then mow the 2 acs more, then you did 4 acs on a single charge. Pure math, you are welcome.. 😉😁🤣😂
/s
I would LOVE to see you upgrade this mower to LiFePO4 if you've got the cells, can get a decent BMS, and the existing controllers will work. Any of these could be deal-killers and I don't want you to waste a lot of money on a high-risk, low-reward project, but the fact that you've already got some batteries on hand makes this sound reasonable from my perspective as a mere viewer ;).
And if he hasn't, USA got really cheap batteries available. Add a BMS from Daly and all set
It would probably be cheaper than a new mower though and he’ll get a video out of it
I was just going to say this. I don't know what size the batteries are on there but there are 12v LFP batteries similar to car starting ones. There are also cylindrical ones like the Headway that Battery Hookup sells. Probably would need a new charger also. I think the blade motors would have more power with LFP too.
Using lithium based cells also opens up on overvolting the motors - but i'd first check that the lead-acid battery arrangement didn't undervolt them in the first place.
I would love to see that too
We ALL know that you want to do the lithium swap, you've got the experience, creativity, and the resources. It'd make a great series to see how you disassemble the mower, figure out optimal packaging of the lithium power packs, and then the side-by-side comparisons of the old lead-acid set up versus the lithium ion setup, as you race former yourself on a circuit.
the problem is he still needs to mow his lawn, so making a long project out of it now is not an option. only during next winter.
Yea, but he doesn have the time ... while hes good at all those things ... he aint good at being "fast" about hes project haha. *Caught" Bus *caught* :P
@@Igeltod in the mean time put a gas powered generator on the back 😋
Not to mention the fact there's up to a 6 month wait to get the cells from China, unless you want to pay the full US price. 50-100% more.
At $5K Ryobi took the short cut, which will now cost them sales/reputation from all those in the know, thanks to this video and other reviews. Short term thinking yet again from a company which should know better.
I've lithium swapped a few of my cordless tools and I notice a big difference in power and reliability,I would have to say go for it,I think a lithium swap on that Ryobi would make it a beast!
I enjoy thinking about how our viewers would possibly never believe how much time we all spend trying to get through a shot without noise in the background from our small critters, etc. And I particularly love those of us -- you, Beau, Snubs, me, etc -- who have resigned to the fact that there is going to be the occasional bird squawk or dog bark or cat litter scraping in the background and folk just have to deal with it. 😎
I swear my rooster knows when I’m filming 🤣
I, for one, enjoy the occasional intrusions of reality in videos. Indicates a trustworthy chap....
It's not just you fancy videos stars that have issues with noise pollution mate, I've got severely degraded hearing, and it's crazy how even quiet sounds (Like a fridge compressor, or a distant lawnmower) right in the middle of my remaining hearable frequency range totally annihilates my ability to hear someone's voice if their pitch is on the periphery of what I can hear.
In my case, it tends to be higher pitched female voices that get lost the easiest, and a lot of woman think I'm an arrogant git because of this.
Anyway kids, Always wear ear protection whenever you're in noisy places, because being semi deaf REALLY scr*ws with your love life ! :D
I like the critter sounds in the videos. I live in the city and a lot of my videos have sirens in the background.
isolate, invert, mask. Dither the results. Discoverable in a court of law inspection but not on youtube.
works even better if you drop another mic near the door when you're recording and you can pull that signal, inverted, directly into the mix, and since the relative volume of the noise is opposite the other mic, you'll reduce the side noise way more than your target noise.
the hard part is not being distracted by the side noise even though you know it's not significantly effecting your results.
I want to see the battery swap, or at least a video explaining what a battery swap would require, how much it would cost, and why that cost isn't worth it.
he bought it and now he can upgrade it to lithium ion battery's
Holy smokes, that was a completely honest review! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to produce such a helpful review. I'm currently using a gasoline cub cadet garden tractor which has a 46" mowing deck. I feel like it's not quite doing the job on the two acres we have and I'm considering upgrades. My research led me here.
Get a 54" zero turn gas powered and thank me later.
I’m a longtime viewer of this channel. I also happen to work at Home Depot. Reviews like this help me know what these products are really like and can sell (or not sell) them better.
I never imagined my videos being used in this manner, but cool!
@@agingwheels Product reviews in the lawn mowing space rarely do long term testing. It's mostly about how well it mows a lawn, how it maneuvers around the yard and how long the battery lasts when new.
Just know that it's the batteries, not the "Electric" itself, that's making the (awful) difference in electric yard tech. If it's lead, it's crap. Don't sell lead crap. Try and push the purchasers to acquire lithium tech! It's way past high time to stop selling antiquated gas-engine yard crap! With the price of lithium batteries having been cut in nearly 1/10th over the past decade, the only reason to still be selling lead-based crap is ignorance. Better electric tools are out there!
@@FalconFour Gas engine mowers are going to be around for longer than you think. Anyone with a yard even approaching the top end of these claims is likely to end up in the same situation having to mow in multiple sessions. Lithium has drop off too, just not as drastic as lead acid. My yard is just over 4 acres, and I won't be giving up my gas powered zero turn any time soon. Professional lawn care companies can't even consider using electric tools. They need equipment that can run all day and be refueled/recharged in minutes, not hours.
It's the small engines that are going to be going away in the near future for nearly every domestic user. Chainsaws, leaf blowers, string trimmers, etc. are all easily powered by electric motors for most home uses. I made the switch to electric for all my small engines and I enjoy them immensely. I remain skeptical that an electric riding mower can accommodate my yard in one session for as many years (14) as my gas one has. They're a great option for people with smaller yards, though, and I look forward to the batteries advancing to a point where they're a reasonable option for myself in the future.
@@NJRoadfan I guess we have similar tastes in TH-camrs, I remember seeing you on Uxwbill’s channel years ago. We get “product spotlight” videos about products but they aren’t ever too far in depth. Like you said, always about the capabilities on the newest stuff, never anything long term.
I can hear it in my head already "So I decided to build an incredibly over-engineered replacement battery pack that took way too long and is only half as good as I expected, here's how I did it!" And I'll watch every second of it.
I could hear that with his voice in my head and I'd watch it as well hahaha
self built battery packs are better than manufactured ones
@@Blox117 "can be better"
@@gatorspike if you are a shitter who doesnt know what they are doing.
Hahaha
I like what EGO does. They have a range of powered yard equipment that uses the same battery. You can plug the mower as he did with the Ryobi, or you can pull the batteries out and use a separate charger. And ALL the yard equipment uses the same batteries, which are like the rechargeable batteries from a cordless drill.
i like how you can get that 2 acre charge with 2 batteries i believe, but you can put up to 4 i think.
I think the Coda-conversion is the way to go. There's certainly enough space under those cars for a mower attachment.
You joke, but back in 1983 I worked on a small Honda car that the owner had raised and put on 15" rims with wide tires and stuffed an extra wide mower deck under to mow his 20 acres. AC and stereo with a fairly quiet ride despite the blades cutting.
@@honorharrington4546 That’s amazing.
@@honorharrington4546 Jeep Wrangler with three 48" self powered pull behind trail mowers. I thought my father would have a cow when he saw that set-up. 2nd gear in low range would idle all day long. Keeping the gas filled in the mowers was the only down side. I think the Honda was a much better option though. That is pretty cool!
@@honorharrington4546 What a legend.
Aging Wheels has showed off his 42-inch deck, thanks to cs188.
Theres an Aging Wheels TH-cam poop? I'm gonna go look this up~!
Although it's expandable to 54 inches.
I’ve had my ryobi 48 inch ,not a zero turn, for over 3 years I live in LA (Lower Alabama) meaning we get away from mowing for about 31/2 to 4 months a year. During the summer I mow my 11,000 sq ft lawn twice a week and so far I have had zero issues with this mower love it thank you
I'm on team "lithium swap your current mower" - aside from the joystick I'll bet things like the deck are stamped, etc as a way to cut costs when adding the lithium cells to the new model. This way you have an over-engineered starting point with familiar controls. Hell, you may be able to uprate the blade motors yourself too lol
I wonder if there is space to add belts to the mower deck. It would provide the assistance of all the blades momentum and knock up the torque available
@@MarcusHawksley It would only borrow energy from one spindle to another, not increase the total, actually lose some to friction. The real problem is that the total power available is less than a decent gas engine provides, even accounting for losses in its PTO drivetrain.
If he upgrades the batteries those issues may go away because the lithium batteries will hold there voltage and provide more current then the lead acid.
new 80v 54" is a 10gauge fabricated deck
@@davidquinn9676 Except momentum. More spinning mass will tend to bog down less if it is not a constant higher load. It will also take longer to return to full RPM. Nothing is free and I agree that generally an appropriate engine on a gas mower, solves this.
Wow! Brian and I just bought an electric Cub Cadet Friday. I hope the guy at Home Depot is watching. He told us ALL electric mowers have lithium batteries. We knew better and he looked it up and learned the Ryobi does indeed have lead acid batteries. Great video.
Never believe what any of the schmucks at Home Depot or Lowe's tell you. They almost universally have no training or experience on the types of projects they sell materials and tools for.
You didn't mention how hard it is to change out the batteries. I have the 42 inch of this and I LOVED it - until it started having problems after 2 months. They swapped it out, and I LOVED that one - but it's now 13 months later and it won't even come on. Ryobi said "just pull out the batteries and charge them" except that is incredibly hard to do (hint - you can't just pop open the hood and hook up a charger). It's a procedure I don't have the tools or ability to do (and I'm pretty handy). Ryobi and Home Depot are playing games with me and I'm furious.
Is it weird that I knew this was going to center around the '48V' emblazoned around the mower, without knowing the battery issue?
I mean, who in their right mind, in the last few years, would use 12V lead-acid batteries in a yard tool of any kind? Even deep-cycle batteries are kind of the same stripe.
I mean, I get where they are coming from. Just looking at the prices makes me wanna consider lead acid. I can get a LiFePO 12v for $250-$299 or a DCLA 12v for $100-$120. Times that by 4 and my wallet is crying lol
It would be cool if now they offered a first party lithium swap out, but I doubt it.
I'm guessing they are using up their spare parts 🖖
Agreed, but they're sometimes useful. I bought a deep cycle lead acid battery and some solar panels to recharge my robot mower because I didn't know exactly how much power I'd need the battery to store and you get more leeway for your money with lead acid. 20Ah 12v lifepo4 might be fine, but if I need 30Ah one day a 100Ah SLA will cover that while the lifepo4 won't.
It's weird too because Ryobi already has a 40V battery system. Why didn't they just take 4 of them and parallel them for the needed amperage?
You mean like DeWalt does for their hand tools? Friggin' crazy, the battery packs are usually 80-90% of the cost for a new device designed to operate with the higher voltages. Nah, I'm picturing him buying a whole lot of ebay/amazon batteries, building battery packs and being very happy with the results. Dreaming? Yea, I know.
I would definitely consider the lithium swap as your best option.
Yup!!! It’ll cut 4ac with lithium
Lifepo4 seems best since it'll probably be in the heat and cold on the regular, plus they fit better the 12v multiples
Edit: better than the common 3'7v cells, might I add
Make. It. Hybrid. :-D
That's why they make a lithium one now.
either swap $130-200 batteries (thats just price for one cell) every year or two on a $5000 mower, or change the $10 oil of a gas powered one every year or two. even free considering you can use the left overs of car oil changes. why does he care about the noise? he doesnt live in middle of LA
The two kinds of comments I see:
1- people that know a thing or two about mowers
2- people that know a thing about ZERO TURN ZERO TURN ZERO TURN ZERO TURN (we love you cs188)
And CS188 did a ytp of this. Congratulations
Either do the swap or get the Ego. I can't imagine that iDrive being fun to use.
Used both the single stick control and the double push/pull bars and I can say that using a single stick is the way to go until the day your mower deck gets caught on something immovable while you are traveling at a high rate of speed. ( such as a pipe, rebar, or road sign post broken off at ground level and firmly attached to a concrete anchor ) * Yes all three of these I have experienced in the past *
At that point as you are flying out of the seat and over the front of the mower towards the ground you'll realize that driving around by pushing two metal bars away from your chest for a few hours is a small price to pay for ensuring your ass stays connected to the seat.
The bent Rebar I hit while using a Craftsman riding mower at maximum speed. Resulted in a broken rib and punched a hole into the stamped steel deck.
The Road sign snapped at the base sent me flying off the front end of a stick controlled "bad boy" mower and into the overgrown parking lot surface and gave me a bit of road rash on my left side which was already tender from sun exposure.
The pipe at ground level was a central anchor point for two swinging gates which I discovered did not move after my deck caught it and I continued moving forward into the two control bars of a Snapper zero turn. The bars were bent out of shape and needed to be realigned and the left bar had to be bent into proper shape. Personal damage was minimal but it did knock the wind out of me.
@@btwbrand Personally, I thought that is what seat belts were invented for.
@@minecraftchest1 For what it's worth, I believe you are only supposed to use seatbelts when you have a ROPS bar and it is up. Most people drive with them down due to tree branches.
@@mrinquisitive7240 Learn something new every day.
That joystick looks like a tremendous way to induce carpal tunnel at an early age.
I've had my MTD built zero turn for 4 years now, and over 200 hours. I've performed 4 oil changes, and 1 hydrostatic oil change. I would argue my total is $2400 for the mower and maintenance is $75 or less.
The lower uses 1 gallon of gas mowing 2 acres, mowed once a week.
Hard to beat gasoline still.
Lithium would be nice for a smaller yard in the city, but outside of that I'm unable to see the massive advantage of an electric mower. They're more expensive, over complicated, and have a 'Best By Date'. Putting gas in a mower, stabilizer before off season, and oil changes are not difficult tasks.
You can't talk logic with these people. Apparently they all have unlimited time, money, and patience.
Wait till $10/g gas
@@JK-sf3vg If gas does that, electricity will likely at least double or more probably triple in price from the present levels.
@@OhPhuckYou Huh? If you have a smaller yard, that much less an ICE mower would cost, maybe not even need a riding mower, that much gas consumed, that fewer hours operation so fewer oil changes and less wear on the mower too. Any way you look at it, if percentages instead of just dollars, it ends up costing twice as much to get same work done. Some people have this mental block about taking 30 seconds to put gas in, or 10 minutes to change oil, yet they are on a mower for multiple hours riding around in grass clippings and dust and insects. I don't see their argument as valid. I'd rather put gas and oil in a robotic mower and let it mow by itself, than not put these in an electric mower and have to ride around on it for hours. :)
I also own this mower. You're right on nearly every level. And, I'm sorry so many people buy this thing without realizing that they're not LiFePO4 or similar. Here are some things I have learned:
- Desulfation is key to maintaining useful operating endurance. Ryobi should have both installed a BMS to manage overall balance, AND that BMS should have also introduce individual battery desulfation.
- I've installed Desulfation onto each battery, in the hopes that I can reach the ephemeral "200 hours" of use. SO far, on my second year, I still mow 1.5 Acres to 65% charge. Sadly I only have just over 50 hours of operating time. We'll see about that........:P
- The SLA's installed on this mower are actually "Deep Cycle". While I understand that in most cases hearing the term deep cycle doesn't mean much, these are actually warranted for discharge to 15%. Being conservatively minded, I'm going to assume that actually means maybe down to 30%.
- Lastly, The provided charger DOES NOT provide a full charge to entire series!! IN fact, even when brand new, the 3rd battery in the chain would sit at 87% or so charge when the 48V charger moved to float. This is not good, as you're already seeing fade.
SOLUTION to keep the Deep Cycle Batteries fresh:
- Purchase [yes I know that sucks] Qty 4, Battery Minder Model 2012 chargers. Attach to each battery. [BTW support from Minder is really nice and they recommended the 2012, and NOT the 2012AGM for this]
- Top up the entire Mower with the Ryobi Charger. Once full, move to the 2012's. THe 2012's will carefully bring all batteries to their individual stable maximum, and will float while also desulfating. I mow weekly, so that means one night the mower gets a Ryobi charge, and then the next day, I unplug the Ryobi charger, and connect the 4 other connectors for a full charge and leave it that way.
Got questions?? Hit me up :)
Oh!!!! There is OIL! You have to check it. Manual doesn't say anything about it, but the rear motors contain gear oil and it may need to be changed every couple years, and the front casters need greasing, or at least a clean and repack every year too. Moving parts - so you maintain them just like any other ZTR.
Cheers
Battery operated equipment, anything larger than a DRILL, should BE CORDED, OR GASOLINE POWERED. ALL that fumbling around, baby-sitting 3 or 4 batteries, waste of time. Earth is going to hell anyway.....we humans got no choice anymore. Gas is POWER IN A MOWER....ELECTRIC is just making the very few, ALOT MORE RICHER. (money-wise, not brain smarter )
so much for no oil changes
@@francisphillipeck4272 right? I mean, even my electric car’s motor-gearbox has oil. It will have to be changed…
Was wondering about whether they were deep cycle, since if not that would be hilarious; non-deep cycle aren't really even meant to be discharged almost at all.
I hate it when the manual doesn't say when things need oiling and greasing. They just want you to break it and buy another...
Thanks for the report, I have had the 42" version for a couple of months and it does well on 3/4 acre, usually has 70% charge remaining so I'm hoping to get reasonable battery life. A couple of days ago I drove it on the street 2km to a friends house to cut her lawn and it surprised me to only use 5% for the drive. Mowed her acre and drove home, arrived with 60% left.
Your tenacity is unwavering.. and that's awesome.
So I run a small engine shop and by pestering my regional parts supplier I was able to weasel my way into cub cadet electric school last year. I can say I'm less than impressed. First off, the electric deck motors aren't weak. They're just not what is meant to be used for mowing. A motor produces most torque at low rpm, but draws more power. In heavy grass they slow down and pop the circuit breaker. Then you have to shut them down and reset them. Happens all the time. Next, the lithium ion battery is very expensive. Last year the replacments listed for $1500. I'd imagine with the demand of lithium continuing to rise with little increase in supply, that'll get worse. Back to the deck motors, the blades are bolted directly to the motor shaft. Don't hit something while you're mowing, sound like a profitable day for guys like me. Lastly, keep in mind that these things operate via CAN communication network, all deck motors, wheel motors, control panel, power distribution system, and even the battery communicate with each other on this network, same way a car does. Automotive techs will be able to diagnose em but most homeowners won't have a clue. I imagine they will hold up ok for awhile but once the weather and elements start to take a toll they will be a money pit like any other cheap mower.
This electric push will end once common sense comes back.
I own a Cub Cadet gas version; I'd never buy another CC no matter what powers it. Nothing but problems. No problems with the engine itself, but the electronics are unreliable. The push to start computer module is junk, and over kill just to start the damn thing. The main reason I wanted it was for the locking differential due to a steep hill I need to mow. It worked great for awhile but now shuts the blades down when I engage it...on a hill, which is why I bought it in the first place. I've not had a chance to troubleshoot what's going on there as I've been dealing with, yet another, no crank scenerio. Maybe the 2nd starter button/computer I'm putting in it will solve that as well...POS.
@@twocyclediesel1280 Well cub cadet was originally a Case / IH product until MTD bought them in the late 80s. They earned their reputation in the 70s and 80s and now they are the same as any other MTD, with a different paint color. Not sure what model you have that's got a push to start, haven't seen one. But all safety switches and keyswitches are usually made by Delta or Indak. Which make switches for probably 95% of the industry. Electrical is a big problem coming out of winter so i can't imagine electrics lasting.
@@DrDLightful Mine's an XT-2, GX-54. It has an electronic "key" that plugs into the computer module/display to activate it. Then you push a start button to engage the starter. EVERYTHING runs through that little module. It also tracks your oil/filter changes and hrs. I don't really care about that. I just write the hrs on the oil filter with a Sharpie 🤷♂️ The CC guys here say they replace alot of those modules. After talking to the customer about battery and the basics, they say "yep, another start module".
Actually, the key is the start button as well.
Do the electric mowers now have OBD2 ports just like cars are legally mandated?
You've got to lithium swap it. Maybe a slight increase from 48v to 54/60v would work well too! :)
you should not have to do shit to a mower thats still under warranty
I have a Ryobi 38 inch 100AH electric ride on mower, and have used it for three seasons now. I use it to mow about 1/2 acre at our remote off-grid cabin.
_Positives:_ never have to haul gas out to the land, always starts, very quiet when just used to haul stuff towing a cart, customer support was wonderful when I had to replace a failed reverse switch and battery gauge (later discovered when I was fixing that the wiring had been chewed through by mice), handles mowing high weeds when I want to turn some field into lawn.
_Negatives:_ rides like a tank, 30PSI tires are too small for the weight and leaves marks in the lawn, compared to the JD garden tractor it replaced.
So far, very pleased, 9/10
Also on the list of negative (no pun intended) traits of lead-acid batteries are their tendencies to make an explosive gas while charging and catch fire if an internal short occurs between cells. Ask your nearest World War II submarine sailor about those fun bonus features!
I would only accept the lawn mower joystick if it came with an ostentatious flip-up safety cover over a thumb trigger that activates the mower deck, so that I can yell "FOX TWO" every time I engage grass slaying mode.
Is that explosion hazard still a thing with sealed AGM batteries? That's what this mower has. Although you can still hear is bubble and sizzle while charging
@@agingwheels They claim not, but I dunno, I mean, the chemical reaction is the same, and the gas has to go somewhere...
@@ZGryphon Open any Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with failing batteries, and the same AGM Sealed Batteries are either: swollen to the point of being stuck inside or the housings are cracked and you have some crusty battery juice to contend with.
AGMs have a catalyst to recombine the hydrogen and oxygen into water. Works most of the time (hence the swelling sometimes)
@@zznet2 Can confirm; IT guy at a manufacturing plant, and I've had to shimmy out my fair share of swollen "sealed" lead acid batteries. I'm just thankful we have a hazardous waste staff on site to deal with the leftovers. Lead acid is a technology that needs to go away, IMO. Sealed or not.
The man's made it. He's been YTP'd by a legend. Time to channel some of that Drug DeMuro energy
Few minutes into the video, never seen this channel before, totally got Doug vibes
Who did it? 😯
@@jetstream454 Probably cs188 ytp it
@@PovidisII Yeah I found out after watching this 😂
But not really
I can't imagine spending $10,000 on mowers in less than 2 years. I also never would have expected lead acid batteries from Ryobi or for the price tag.
But he's saving money on gas 😆
@@rayamat01 🤯🤣
My neighbor has one. He’s all electric. Two Tesla’s, all electric lawn equipment including that mower BUT he’s had so many problems with the mower he went and bought a gasoline cub cadet to replace it. That should tell you something.
I prefer the combination of hydraulics and electric. There is a pretty much everything available in a hydraulic format with centuries of experience and reliability. Adding a clean power source is a smaller engineering step.
Additionally the same tech is backwards compatible, pretty much all hydraulic driven machines are convertible to electric.
@@MarcusHawksley no, this never happened.
He’ll have the same problems out of the Tesla’s eventually. I’m 100% all for electric power but Tesla has struggled with Quality. Every single unit they’ve sold has had a recall of some sort. It’s too early to say how things will turn out but I’m not too optimistic. I wish I was and I would love to have one to drive too and from work since I drive about 90 miles per day round trip.
@@richevans7214 What never happened? Hydraulic machines have been around for centuries. Electric hydraulic pumps are around and available in the size needed for small machinery
Hey, just look at the most efficient vehicles on earth. For the last 40 years. Trains. Basically a generator charging a huge battery bank. The traction motors expend their power from the battery bank.
You do have a fourth option, the Gravely 60 inch electric! They claim 15.5 acres on a charge, and it's only $32,000!
What a steal, I'll take two! Here, take my money!
Woah, its only worth 10x my car! I'll one up Tony and get 3!
At that cost it would need to take me back and forth to work too.
@@BG322 it will.
The 27-horsepower gas variant of the Gravely 60-inch mower goes for about $7,000.
Even with Biden's gas price inflation, I don't think I would have hit the break-even point to justify buying the electric version.
I own the OG ev-zero turn, the Hustler Zeon, since 2014. Same deal, 48v lead acid. After they expired after about 3 years, I swapped them out for two Tesla Model S "60"-type modules. They work great. Smaller yard, but I estimate around 2.5 hours runtime @ ~70 Amps avg draw. Really easy swap. Two stacked modules are around same area/volume/dimensions of 4 deep cylce lead acids, and around half the weight.
I bought a gas zero turn last year for $2,500. The $2,500 I saved over the cost of an electric mower will be more than enough to pay for gasoline and oil changes for many years.
Maybe my next mower will be electric, but I'm not satisfied that the current models are up to the job, as you've pointed out here.
Gas is probably still the best opinion I agree lol it takes less than 2 days and it can cut thick grass and or trees and other junk
yea honestly I can't even begin to see the point of an electric ride on lol.
This is the point ive been saying Electric is underpowered and overpriced... Tbh I dont understand why they even make these especially zero turn ones
It will be a couple of decades until electric powered power equipment comes close to gas and diesel power. And perhaps they never will.
@@doncarlton4858 probably just a few years, cordless tools were usless junk 3 or 4 years ago now lots of pros use em they are brutally expensive tho
I've mowed extensively with with a gas zero-turn mower that had a joystick and LOVED it. I found it incredibly intuitive, but it might just be my love of arcade games bleeding over.
Good to know.
I would hate that it's on the right side, I'd be more comfortable using it left handed
Gas movers are just better
@@ian3580 I wonder if Ryobi thought about that and made it possible to change the side for the joystick.
@@Jehty_ I doubt it. I'm not saying a leftie couldn't drive right-handed, I just feel like if doing that for 2 hours I'd be more comfortable left-handed.
I've a Gravely Pro 160 62" ZT gas hydraulics. All of my other lawn tools are lithium (Kobalt 80v and 24v), and I pretty much have every Kobalt electric tool sold. I mow roughly 6 acres, chunking it up into 1/4's (back yard and around pond, 2 side yards, and 1 front yard with an island) so it takes about 4 days start to finish, total run time of around 4 hours. I keep watching these type reviews, as I want these electric mowers to succeed, but so far, nothing can compete. I switched to electric tools years ago after finally getting frustrated with the never-ending spring startup (or lack thereof) of my various implements. I'm very happy with all of my electric tools, and Kobalt's service has been second to none (lost an oil cap off my chainsaw...they sent me an entire chainsaw as a replacement without asking for the original to be returned). Economical, takes punishment, and easily equal to gas products, but I don't think the ZT's are up to snuff.....yet. The direct drive motor to blade setup has me a bit concerned too....I wonder if any of them have a clutch brake system so you don't bend shafts or misalign shafts.
A couple years ago my son and I went in halfsies on a 50-year-old GE Elec-Trak E20, an old school lead-acid electric garden tractor, the largest of the line. We're about to pop out the existing, crazy heavy LA batts to replace with a single LI battery that, by itself, has more capacity than the entire pack while weighing 200 pounds less. Steering gets lighter, range goes up, etc. No downsides. The ONLY downside is the cost of the new battery and oh yeah, it was marked down on Battery Hookup, so it was significantly less expensive than repowering the tractor with more of the specified golf cart batts. Like, $300 cheaper.
No downsides.
When the economies of scale shift w/newer generations, some of the older stuff gets pricey enough to replace.
Weight in a tractor be it garden or otherwise can have it's own advantages
You might want to add weights to make up the weight difference. A significantly-lightened tractor might not be able to pull as well as a heavier one, everything else being equal
@@derrickfoster644 No denying, but this change will keep batts in the rear, above the drive wheels, and remove over 130 lbs from the front. Even with LI batts this tractor will still weigh in around 800 lb, pretty solid for a garden tractor.
@@leifhietala8074 ya that should do most of what you would want it to do
I went from “go go” sticks to the joystick set up on my skid steer and its really nice. Much more intuitive to control, multiple functions on one stick is nice.
100% agree, I used to work for a Cat dealer, and all their skid steers had joystick controls for both drive and bucket. I occasionally had to drive Bobcats with the two sticks for drive and foot controls for the bucket and it was super tricky and unintuitive.
The go-go sticks are still much better for fine control. Not everyone needs that, but if you do, stick with sticks. I work in construction and we use skidsteers to lift and position heavy things, whether on the forks attachment or a longer boom attachment, and we can never get enough fine control.
This is crazy for me to read because I’ve never liked anything but the sticks. I can’t understand how anyone would prefer a joystick.
That’s fine though
@@PinkPandaKatie ya your full of shit, cat joy sticks crap out all the time. Bobcat is a far better machine and much easier to use then silly joy sticks.
My father had the same issue with his. Replaced the batteries with Dakota lithium 14 ah batteries. Half the weight and cuts his 2 acres easily taking battery down to only about 50%. About $160 per battery, you'll need 4, but the mower is well made and IMHO worth the investment.
Does he use the charger that came with it or did he have to change the charger as well
I just picked up my Craftsman T2400 yesterday and did my first test mowing today. I used to have a Troy Bilt Bronco with 42" deck and 20hp Kohler. The T2400 is a 46" with 23hp v-twin Kohler and a super tight turning radius, almost as good as a zero turn. I hadn't mowed in 3 weeks because I was told I'd get the mower in a couple days....... So I sold my Troy Bilt...... The T2400 muscled through my damp 18" tall grass without blinking. The tight turn meant I spent less time backing up and fidgeting around and more time mowing. My test ended up cutting 3/4 of my yard in an hour, the Troy Bilt would take over 3 hours for this condition. I have about 3/4 acre of grass in a 2.2 acre yard.
All with the low low cost of $2500!!!! If I use a gallon of gas per mow the money saved on an electric (roughly $2500) will buy me about 27 years worth of gas..... I'll keep gas thanks.
Good point on the price of gas vs increased cost of electric mower. I prefer gas engine solely because I like the maintenance and I am confident in fixing nearly every problem that comes up.
1. The battery-swap sounds fun
2. I would go for the $7K instead of the $6K mower, Rayobi have shown to not be trustworthy and the joystick sounds like a liability rather than a benefit.
Ryobi*
My ? Is how much can you mow before the battery dies
I like what EGO does. They have a range of powered yard equipment that uses the same battery. You can plug the mower as he did with the Ryobi, or you can pull the batteries out and use a separate charger. And ALL the yard equipment uses the same batteries, which are like the rechargeable batteries from a cordless drill.
@@Subangelis same with ryobi
@@Subangelis that's the same with the lithium ryobies, they use a mix of 40 volt and 80 volt batteries, not sure if you can independently charge the 80 volts but they are removable so I'd assume so, the 40 volts of the standard consumer line for push lawn mowers blowers string trimmers chainsaws etc so are obviously chargeable independently
My first zero turn was a Snapper with a joystick. I own Scag’s now. The joystick is very simple to use. You will feel right at home in :30 mins of using it.
Well I just had one of these mowers delivered yesterday, we'll see if mine does better over the next couple years. As a Lithium replacement, are you talking about LiFePo4? I would be *very* interested if you saw that through, as I have zero doubt I would do the same to ours when the time comes.
Yep! I theoretically have plenty of lifepo4 cells lying around waiting for a use. And I hope you like yours!
The less yard you have to mow, the better. If you are only draining the battery 30% it should last a few years, I wouldn't even want to drain it to 50, it's just too deep of a cycle, too often.
And keep it plugged in, or charge it and plug it in for a day every month over winter. Depending on the charge circuit it could also be taking life away from the batteries by constantly topping them off, which really takes it's toll over a winter... Just saying that because I've had battery tenders (cheap ones) that killed batteries coming on waaay too often, unlike the battery tender brand.
I own this mower. Bought it in June last year. I have 4 acres of mowing and I can’t tell any difference or degradation. I have 22 hours on it. One thing that makes a huge difference is sharpening the blades!
Lead acid batteries in electric tools are just as dense from an atomic standpoint as the people that design the tools. If I were in your shoes and liked the mower, I would look into doing a Lithium mod, even without the Coda battery packs. Not knowing the form factor of the batteries, I'd wager they are either small equipment batteries or car batteries. More than likely you could find a pre-built lithium pack with protection circuitry built in. That way if you hit something that stalls one of the motors you don't over amp the battery pack.
There is no way they are car batteries. Deep cycle or traction batteries for sure. Car batteries are great when you need high current for a starter motor, and when the battery is constantly recharging when the car is running. They make no sense in a mower. It are probably generic traction batteries as used in pellet jacks and forklifts.
@@slome815 lead acid batteries seem like dumb idea in a mower... definitely deep cycle.
I'm just wondering if he could just swap out for the same/similar type of battery for now to allow continued use...?
Not ideal...I know....
@@stuartd9741 I meant there are deep cycle lead acid batteries, as used in forklifts and electric pellet jacks. They are fine as long as you don't discharge them entirely. Much, much cheaper then a Lithium battery, and as long as you dont discharge them entirely multiple times they will last for years. The manufacturer should have given a more accurate number for acre size this mower can mow without fully discharging.
@@slome815 Yeah, I meant the form factor. Lots of deep cycle batteries are in a typical "car battery" form factor.
I have the EGO 52" zero turn Z6. On a single charge mowing one acre on a hill (not wet) uses about 16 to 20%. Wet it uses 20-24%. Mulching leaves with max blade speed, with a thick layer uses about 55%, but that does involve two sweeps over the leaves. Two times over even thick leaves pretty much pulverizes them to the point they almost look like they are gone.
I recommend EGO although be forewarned some people have had issues with their warranty system. For all battery tools, I recommend learning how to repair them yourself as after a 5 year warranty runs out you are kind of SoL as the cost of repairs will be crazy. As more local electric tool repair shops appear, that will change but that is still a few years away! Most repairs are cheap, it is the cost to ship the unit back to specialized facilities. A multimeter and a youtube video with a handful of other tools in most home garages, is all you need to fix almost all electric tool and their battery problems.
Loved the review! Very thorough!
I've got Ego stuff and so far it's been great (nothing ride on tho, just general stuff for a regular house). I think everything they do is 56v. I wonder if the Ego ride-on has stronger motors on the blades which give it the "lower" range? Would be interesting to actually compare the actual technical specs of the motors, battery capacity, etc, rather than some obscure brochure numbers like "x acres".
Have to agree on electric being quieter too - still noisy sure but the sound "drops off" a lot more (i.e. much quieter at a distance, so good for the neighbours). As well as being easier. Slap on a battery and go. No mixing fuels, ripcords, maintenance, all that. So 100% agree on your praises for electric.
This video popped up in my Suggestions- my Folk's gas rider mower was stored outdoors this past Winter, where the local nice had a field day. The Shop that had maintained it from New went out of business this past year. I gave it to their neighbors as a project as a Thank You for helping them out when I'm not available. I was looking for electric options with a smaller footprint that were low maintenance (read: preferably Lithium powered). Sent it to my Dad, as he was looking at a similar unit. Thank you for the bluntly honest (and humorous) review, it saved us some headaches down the road!
The EGO is actually pretty good. I have the push mower and 14" chainsaw, and weed trimmer. The fact that the batteries are cross compatible is slick, and the fact the big riding boy can take 6 batteries and each can be up to 12ah at that 56v I think would whip any two acres pretty easy to 80% discharged unless it's perhaps incredibly hilly. I can push mow my neighbor's yard and mine on one charge of a 7.5ah in the self propelled push mower, and it's a fair size with about half hill.
Build quality of every battery and tool I've got from them seems fantastic, too. Life hasn't really dropped in several years, and I might even get that snow blower some day when I get a concrete driveway.
Also it was on sale recently at Lowes for $4999 so make of that what you will.
Definitely battery swap it. The joystick seems like it would suck. I have an ego push mower that I love and I would like to get their smaller zero turn but I can't justify the expense as my yard isn't that big but it does take me an hour and a half with the push mower which sucks. If ego came out with a smaller rider I think I'd have to get it. Having the ability to bring the batteries inside for storage is nice especially in the winter since I'd likely store it outside in a unheated shed.
I wish someone would make a 30 inch electric mower, like the Toro Timemaster. There's definitely a market for something bigger than a push mower without stepping up to riding mowers.
What makes you think that the joystick would suck?
@@Jehty_ my bumpy yard and a joystick sound like a bad combo to me
@@Jehty_ I had one on a riding floor cleaner. it sucked! It's broke down once a week, sometimes for a weeks waiting for parts. Also cutting the grass at a school campus for 9 years with a zeroturn. I can tell you a joystick would have been hell with the ground was very uneven, & steep hills... No thanks!
@@maintenanceman4800 but just because the one on your floor cleaner constantly broke doesn't mean that the one on the lawn mower also breaks.
Was your floor cleaner even a Ryobi?
cs188 brought me here
Thanks for your review! I’ll have you know I just bought the 54” I-Drive RYOBI riding mowers with the lithium batteries and I love it. I cut my 1.5 acres and had 52% battery left. My only problem is getting used to the zero turn functions and the limitation on the inclines in my yard.
“I don’t have to change oil” lol my dad never changed the oil on any lawn mowers or other appliances, and never uses fuel stabilizers. That being said he is slowly migrating to electric yard tools
Was actually considering one of these last year when they were $5200 at HD. Did my research and found out about the Lead Acid batteries - one of the big deal breakers for me. Electric tech really isn't there yet for lawn equipment.
Yes it is. Electric mowers work great. He's making a mountain out of a molehill. I'm sorry the stock lead-acid batteries didn't hold up for him, but he can fix that by simply swapping to deep-cycle marine batteries.
@@deusexaethera you do realize that deep cycle marine batteries are still lead acid technology and your still limited to about 50% of rated capacity?
It is there, just not for 5-7 grand!
I just looked at commercial (mind you different class of mower) Gravely 60" Lithium powered mower for 6 1/2 acres. 28,000 that beast was!! But from the test spin I was allowed on it, It is worth every penny!!
I am afraid that 3.5 acres is going to give any box store/tool maker/discount zero turn mowers hell !! That is a little more grass than they can handle on the regular IMHO.
@@deusexaethera I have a 42" Ryobi that I've had for almost four years. He's right about losing 1/2 the range after one year. I took care of that this year, I just use the Ryobi around my 20 apples and then I switch to my new John Deere x354. No just cutting 1/2 my lawn and waiting the next day to finish. That Kawasaki motor in the JD really kicks ass mulching. Loved my Ryobi at first. I'd sell it but I'm sure it's worth next to nothing with those crap batteries.
It's there but just not actual ZTs or ride on Mowers until everyone starts using lithium batteries like tools, (which Ryobi has done with all of thier equipment now) but tbh I'd probably just get a push mower unless i acquire 4 corn fields.
I have a battery push behind. It is great as I use it around the house for trimming and the dog run. It is more than enough power for that. I have considered one of these as a replacement for the Z turn mower I have now as it is wearing out. Thank you for your presentation and knowledge.
How much would it cost for you to replace the batteries with a generic lead acid equivalent?
Honestly this is what I'd do, it would probably only be a couple hundred bucks
@@jordanabendroth6458 A couple hundred bucks _every year_ sounds expensive to me.
@@mjc0961 and yet I've never replaced the Kawasaki engine in my zero turn, that things 23 years old
@@tacomas9602 yeah but it's gas. that's crude, old and dirty with the exhaust fumes and messy oil etc that is trash
There are also Car Batteries made with lithium
I came mighty close to buying one of these a few months ago. But when I learned of slow, "hope you'll give up and go away" warranty service and that the lead-acid cells are in costly proprietary packaging, I shelved the Ryobi purchase. I would buy it if inexpensive, readily-available GC-2 batteries were used, but those bespoke batteries take away the lone desirable trait of lead, low price.
Update: I have since learned that the batteries used aren't in plastic plug-in boxes, but are a square prismatic AGM cells which may be purchased from multiple sources. This changes my conclusion to a somewhat more favorable one.
I wouldn't ever buy a zero turn with lead acid because of weight. Zero turns are already prone to getting stuck on wet patches and hills and such. Adding that mush weight just makes it worse, plus deeper ruts and more likely to tear up the grass
Ugh, proprietary lead-acid? Can he just modify the structure to take some car batteries?
@@davidquinn9676 I'm sure you can find some that are similar enough. There is charts that have all the dimensions of different lead acid batteries and you can find what works best and swap them
EGO is really good because you can use the batteries on ANY of the equipment, and if you did happen to run out of juice mowing, you can just put more batteries in, even with the zero turn I believe, which is why it was that dino looking back.
So instead of spending $5000 you spend thousands more for other equipment that uses same battery packs to have more of them? No thanks. I very much do not want any electric mower with such a low capacity battery that I have to swap it between recharges and uses. Heck if that's fun to do, he can even do that with his mower, just buy a 2nd set of lead acid batteries and swap them back and forth, lol.
I have a 42" gas Snapper Yard Cruiser and it has a joy stick. I like it. It steers great, just think which way you want to go and your hand does the work. I have had it for over 24 years. It still works fine.
Maybe Ryobi will give you an upgrade to a newer mower. I would write a old fashion letter to some of the top people at Ryobi and see what they say. You never know.
now the need to invent away to not even be on it
Yeah, I'll keep my 20hp 46" cut gas rider I bought new in 2010 that still cranks right up as I actually enjoy doing maintenance on it. I bring the battery indoors to my utility room in winter and trickle charge it occasionally with a manual charger and I don't use gas with ethanol in it so I have no need for fuel stabilizer either as the Co-Op gas stations here (Countrymark) sell non ethanol gas. I've only had to change the belts on it once in the last 12 years and I change the oil and filters once a season. It's on it's 2nd spark plug now and it's 2nd battery which I only just bought 2 seasons ago, so I got 10 years out of it's first one. I did buy a 58v push mower to do trim work and while it is lithium ion I don't like it as much as my old gas push mower because the frame is a lot larger and that makes it difficult if not impossible to get into tight areas that my old gas push mower went through with ease. I'll soon be selling it and buying a new gas push mower. The old gas one still runs, but at 22 years old the old deck is just about shot. The only regret I think I'll have is that the new ones don't use side valves anymore like my old one.
I’ve owned this mower for a little over a year now the 54” ZTR Ryobi, (bought it the day they were available). We have almost 3 acres to mow, it mows all 2.5 acres with about 50-60% battery left. My experience is quite good and batteries still are at 100% capacity, however I store the mower inside the house which means the batteries are in climate controlled all winter. No issues, still have full battery capacity.
I had to source a huge UPS rack for a really weird application in a manufacturing plant. They are very, very insistent on the room they go in being thermally controlled, else the entire expense may as well be saved as they aren't going to be reliable as an uninterruptible power supply. That was just a fleet of lead acid batteries, nothing special.
Was going to be ridiculously expensive to AC just this one rack with it's batteries in a huge complex with no AC, at least in the conventional way. In the end, a small room was built inside the larger building and a window AC unit was installed. Max jank.
Be interesting to see what the cell fluid level and specific gravity look like. Maybe the charger was boiling off fluid all winter and now you're running cells dry(er).
Pretty sure they'll be agm, tho they also do lose electrolyte over time
@@clownbooface2624 Also overcharging them can be bad too. I had a battery for four years on my one tractor and it wasn't age that killed it, it was me dropping it and cracking its plastic shell. I tried charging it, it did charge but it leaked the electrolyte all over my work bench. Luckily baking soda neutralised it.
@@clownbooface2624 That’s somewhat my assumption here, the charger isn’t of great quality and it bakes the cells over the winter venting it off. Granted it’d be much harder to test with glass mats.
He deeply discharged them over and over. Nothing to wonder about. Don't do that.
May we all take a moment to appreciate the man is back to deliver us the amazingly entertaining video. Man thank you very much
I’m a new subscriber and I just love the way you narrate a story and present information.
Came from the YTP, stayed for why I shouldn't buy this electric mower. 11/10
I have the 42" Ego and on my 2 acre it can mow the entire yard if under ideal conditions (though I did purchase two more 10A batteries, and this is TN). If I let the grass get too tall or if it's wet I have basically run it twice, and the charge time is about 2 hours most days. The cushioned ride is excellent for the price point, and being able to change the control style and the blade speed gives me plenty of options, not to mention the mulch plug and bagger, of which both are pretty standard. I also hope the Ryobis have a wash port, too. Regardless, nothing but praise for the Ego from a technophile country boy like me.
Not exactly related but I have the 20 inch ego push mower and love it !
I have a 50x100 lot with a 1000 sq foot house, and probably 600 square feet under tree canopy. So maybe 3000 square feet of grass.
I can cut the front and part of the back on a charge as long as it is not too tall and dry.
No pull cord to break- win
No gas to store - win
No plug to foul - win
I can even mow at night and not bother my neighbor.
That intro was straight out of a cartoon😂 love it😭😭
Just made a video about this mower and my experience with it for one mowing season and came to the same conclusion. I wanted to love it when I got it but found the range slowly diminishing so much so that the area I used to mow and have 60-70% battery life when completed now leaves me with 30%. Other than that I honestly like the mower.
I'm so glad I found this video. I bought the 42 in deck version and when I mowed for the first time.. it would not charge.. searched TH-cam... Found your vid... Returned the mower. Imma stick with my gasser for a few more years until lithium ion is more mainstream in price.
I've used a gas-powered country clipper with a joystick for the last ten years, and it may just be a matter of personal preference or familiarity, but I think a joystick is the pinnacle of lawn mower control.
I used a joy stick for two years with two different snappers... never liked it...
hmmm..... I've only had experienced a joystick setup on a front end loader from Case. it was the best, but it only controlled the the arms moving up and down and tilt, release.Way better than the Volvo, with the complicated 4 stick setup . Still had a steering wheel. the two arm pincer style I've have tried is the skid loader from Bobcat and my dads Cub cadet zero turn. Which is also great. Though i am curious how it would do on a zero turn.
@@braniganshoemaker2686 yeah i used a joystick on a snapper years ago. my hand kept going numb non stop. maybe from vibration from single cylinder briggs. I switched to Walker brand mowers. 1 hand drive from 2 levers. more relaxed hand and arm position. used them 20 years now.
I have a snapper with joystick control. Actually the parts from country clipper will fit the snapper. The joystick is the only way to go.
A typical homeowner, non-commercial user mows 50 hrs per year. This equates to one oil change per per year, and a hydro fluid change every 4th year. The oil change takes 20 minutes if you are not used to the process, 10 minutes if you are. Gas can be a hassle for sure, but I just do not see the inconveniences of it to outweigh the overall poor performance of these EV units. Taking 2 days to mow your yard is way more of an inconvenience in my book than adding gas would ever be. I guess if you are big into noise reduction, that is a positive, but I would be wearing muffs and listening to music while mowing no matter what unit I had, so the higher noise level is just not a factor for me. I am sure the tech will get better, but for now, I just do not see the "advantages" of a large electric ZTR being worth the risk.
So for the last 4 years I was the ground keeper of an abandoned 8 acre farm property and I was volunteering for lack of a better word to maintain the grounds with push mowers this would have been a lifesaver because I am a typical homeowner with non commercial use yet I had to tackle this project That would take me 3 days with The typical home owner set up.
Even trying to get more appropriate duty equipment on a budget, A new 8 $900 Craftsman 21" dual blade Push mower and a used $300 writing more from the eighties that was a hassle to get going, And alternating between a couple of other free push mowers the craigslist special if you know what I mean, Could have been solved and probably the money that I spent maintaining them would have been At the very least perhaps I could have broke even if I had just gotten one of these from the git go.
The most honest review in the history of YT. Cheers!
I've also found that electric mower range depends heavily on how thick your grass is, and the temperature outside. I have a 80v Kobalt push mower that mows my whole yard on one battery, provided I mowed the week prior and temperatures are mild. Otherwise, I'm going through 2, sometimes 3 batteries.
I have the self propelled version of that same mower. This will be summer number 4 for it. It's hot here (think Las Vegas temps), so I have St. Augustine lawn. My only gripe with the 80v Kobalt is that you can't control when the blades switch to high speed. The normal (low) speed of the blades isn't enough to stand the stiff (and wide) bladed St. Augustine up well enough to get an even cut, nor does it provide adequate vacuum. The high blade speed provides both, but again... no way to manually control when it goes into high speed blade mode.
I'd truly *love* my Kobalt 80v mower if it had the ability to manually adjust the blade speed.
Fit a 72v bldc controller with e throttle, simple and inexpensive
@@clownbooface2624 the lawn wouldnt exist anymore
cs188 brought me here :D
As far as the electric mowers work for me, I definitely recommend the Greenworks 60v mowers, the riding mower uses (6) 60v, 8 amp-hour batteries. With (3) dual port chargers so you can plug them all in at the same time as needed. It's about $4k brand new.
My first electric mower was a Greenworks 21in mower purchased over five years ago and it's still running great, although some of its metal frame has been patched from small rusting sections. I even use Greenworks 60v batteries for my electric mountain bike which is running on a 48v engine but I have it souped up with the bigger 60v battery. Replacement 60v batteries of various amp-hours are commercial-grade and very competitively priced with any other brand out there.
As someone who works at a certain orange hardware store, I played with the steering wheel version while it was on the floor. And kept pondering what it would take to put a proper battery in it - and how large a battery I could mount underside a trailer for whatever reason.
Also, the Cub Cadet zero turn, at least last year's, is just as twitchy on the inputs as that Ryobi is.
Alternate idea: More chickens! Keep increasing your chickens until they take over enough acreage that your mower can handle the rest in one charge. I mean, who doesn’t love more chickens?
We all do, even the foxes, wolfs and so on.
I love the Ego 42" Z6 zero turn. Expensive but I have been using Ego yard tools for 4 years, BMS and batteries still perfect, and all batteries are interchangeable across all tools, less expensive 8n the long run.
If the batteries are"deep cycle" lead acid type the lead plates are much thicker and supposedly can be pulled down to full discharge without damaging them. There are also gel and agm (advanced glass mat) types as well which have some advantages and disadvantages.
It still damages them. Just not as fast as one that is not deep cycle because the plates are thicker and don't dissolve completely. There are likely larger gaps between them too, so dendrite formations are less likely to short it out. Even in a deep cycle the battery life is hugely reduced by discharging below 50%.
The stock charger probably doesnt support EQ mode charging, needed to keep the weakest cell from ringing the whole pack run time down.
They'll be agm for sure, but a generic qaulity, because moh profits, just needs to last past the warranty which they will easily
@trump won Well, you can replace the stock lead wet lead acid with AGM but man they are pricey! I just stick with stock for a fraction of the price.
deep cycle only means you can go lower in state of discharge not fully discharge them
You can borrow my gas mower. It's 20 years old and still works as good as the day I bought it. Probably last another 20 years.
So I bought this mower about 2 years ago and the SLA batteries lasted about a year before drastically weakening.
I bit the bullet and replaced them with $1200 worth of LiFePO batteries (yeah, I know). After solving a couple of minor issues it is going great (so far).
The plus side of this mower over the Ego is if a battery craps out you can replace it with any 12V battery - guaranteed to be a little cheaper.
It’s (almost)always cheaper to keep what you own and fix it. I can’t imagine replacing the four regular old batteries to be that much money and of course converting to lithium seems to be the best option if it’s feasible. You own it, you like it, fix it, keep it.
I’d just figure out a way to put a regular motor on it 😂
On the topic of the joystick, ill say that my gas mower has a joystick control for movement, and i find it to be miles better than the normal handles, its nice to sit there and barely move around one of your hands to run the entire mower
I like gas mowers because it can mow as long as you want with only gas fill-ups and not waiting for a recharge, but mostly because I like working on them.
I think the lithium ion swap would be the best option (not to mention if you do buy a new one, what are you going to with the other lawnmower?)
given the history, i'm going to guess that it will be turned into a go-kart :)
You bring up a valid point. Someone along the line will end up getting a raw deal no matter who I sell it to.
@@agingwheels yeah plus selling lawnmowers can be a mess. Unlike a car, you have to find someone who has a truck or trailer that can carry it back, as well as sell it at a massive loss due to the capacity.
@@BrendenPragasam The massive loss would be a concern, as im sure the knowledge to fix this is still limited. With that said someone in the market for a mower like this probably has a trailer or access to one.
@@agingwheels we want a lithium swapp :)
Hope this won’t get YTP 😂
It's too late my friend 😄
he going daytona on it
Ditch the headache and just get the Ego. I went all in after my sister tried them out when she bought a new house. Sold everything that used gas or gave it away and got rid of my plug in lawn equipment too. Love that I never need gas. I don’t have as big of a property as you so I have a push mower but I can mow my lawn with a 5ah battery and depending how long grass is I can mow it twice on a charge.
Heard nothing but good things from others too.
I do not own a house with grass to cut, yet I love hearing about this.
Cs188 made a YTP of this. Figured I'd let you know.
the turkeys are being noisey turkeys🤣🤣🤣🤣
All those reasons are why I love my walk behind reel mower. Super simple.
I only found this channel from the YTP, and I'll be honest I had no idea the lawnmower community was so big online
Thank you for this video. Am considering an electric mower, as I too am tired of ICE mower maintenance, and appreciate your honesty. So surprised about the non-lithium batteries in an electric mower!
Agree with most, would be quite interesting to see if you can do a batt swap yourself and have a proper improvement instead of investing in a(nother) new mower.
I have never heard of a mower needing fluid changes. The only maintenance I have known a mower needing is a blade sharpning and belt maintenance.
Where can I get one of them mowers that doesn't use oil?
Where have you been hiding? Any mower needs oil changes, typically every 50 hrs (sometimes less often for liquid cooled tractor style mowers), and similarly, the transaxle fluid on tractor style should be changed every few seasons to protect your investment, while the cheaper riding lawn mowers are often just considered lubed for life but like automobiles, that doesn't mean you won't get a lot longer life, ignoring that and replacing fluid.
Riding mowers also need other maintenance that you failed to mention like cleaning and lubricating all moving parts if you want them to last a long time. Also if there are belts, you probably have spindles and those need greased. Not sure on this ryboi, might only use sealed bearings or even direct motor shaft driven which is a downgrade for long term owners.
"No I'm going to comparison shop my existing car insurance..."
_[three hours laterrrr]_
"Hey, I can't find a 1980 Trabant in the vehicle list!"
I would suggest the battery swap on your current mower. It's probably cheaper and you can make a video out of it.
Seriously you did not know that the mower had led acid batteries when you bought it? It’s one of the reasons I would never buy it.
You ever watched the video??
@@override7486 Certainly did, why would I randomly comment on a video I had not watched?
@@MikesManCave he said he knows it comes with Lead Acid batt. and why decided to buy it anyway...
They’re good if you’re doing small yards, in my case, mowing 3-10 acre estates, it’s best for me to use gas
I'd get the Ego. I ended up getting their entire line because the design is just better than the others. Every tool I own works well.
I have their two-stage blower… it’s a monster. As is their big chainsaw. I’ve seen videos on their mower and apparently it just goes through pretty much anything. They warranty their batteries for 5 years.
I did my comparison research and went with the EGO 42” last year with 4 ten amp lithium batteries. It was close to 10% on my 1 acre. I bought 2 more ten amp batteries since it holds 6. Now it’s a beast and I usually have at least 40% left over. It fully charges in around an hour and I’ve done zero maintenance. It’s always ready to go when I am. Since then, I bought the blower, chain saw, combo weed eater, pole saw, etc, and several miscellaneous size lithium batteries. All EGO batteries are interchangeable with everything they make. Chargers come with every device so I have extra chargers wherever I take it. Even the chainsaw is quiet, powerful, and has a quick chain adjuster if it comes off. No tools required. I highly recommend the entire EGO line of products because they are well engineered and thought out.
@@wildoutdoorsandmore I completely agree. Don't be fooled by flashy marketing. The EGO line is engineered well. I would love them to come out with an "EGO-PRO" line with higher torque models for bigger work. (Everyone always wants more power, lol)
As a a forklift mechanic. First issue usually with lead acid batteries is that they are low on water. 2nd l.a. batteries that are for depth are usually gauges to show dead at 80% discharge to help battery life. If you can put a la battery on a very low amperage charge for a long period of time and watch the specific gravity of the cells, you can bring it around a decent amount. Equalizing charges do this to a reasonable degree.
I own this same mower. I just started my second year with it. I LOVE that it is not only zero turn, but (practically) zero maintenance as well. I would still recommend it, as I have not suffered any battery degradation yet. The best part is I am not burning $4 gallon gas to mow! No expensive fuel, no excessive pollution. Thanks for making this video! Cheers!
@Peacefield Farm_MN No excessive polution? Where does power come from to charge it then?
@@ducewags Small engines produce excessive pollution. But we have a solar array. We power everything from that including our car.
@@peacefieldfarm_mn How is solar clean when it takes 3 400 ton haul trucks to produce the material for 1 1500 watt panel? And lets not get into the material for an electric car.
I have the same mower in the 42". This the fourth year with the original batteries and they are almost as good as the first year. After charging the next day it is unplugged until the next mowing. In the winter I will charge it about once a month. I know this is not what RYOBI says to do but it works. I cut about an acre and a half at a time.
@@ducewags Where did you get the numbers for that?
PV systems have a break-even point on energy required/produced within 1-4 years of manufacture. They also can be readily recycled.