RE: (ET) cordless mowers

["Dave & Deb" <daveb drizzle com>]

I rescued a nice looking Sears from the dump.  bought a charger and new
batteries for it.  My tenant uses it and complains that it doesn't run
very long between charges, although it did seem to be getting better as he
put more cycles on it.  2 weeks ago he said it popped and started smoking
right after he turned it on.  I've got the circut card right here in front
of me and can see the burn marks.  Not having used it much myself I can't
really say yea or nay.  And so far I haven't been able to find a new card
for it.  all i've done is look on the web, I haven't called sears.  but if
I can't find a card and get it running again I'd have to say stay away
from the sears mowers unless they are free and you are only buying
batteries which could be moved to a different mower.
Dave

> I have picked up 2 Ryobi's out of the trash and 2 weeks ago got a 6 year
> old sears electric.   One Ryobi had a bad charger the other a bad
> battery.  The Sears had a bad battery.  All mowers were 24 volt 18 ah
> battery setups.  All are mulching mowers.  The Sears had the blade
> changed out with a standard mulching blade so I don't know what the
> original blade was.
>
> The Sears took there gas mower and dumped on batteries and an electric
> motor.  The mower is very heavy with a cast aluminum deck and sheet
> metal. The Ryobi is all plastic and very light weight.  The Ryobi also
> has a funky looking blade that looks like it takes less power to spin
> vs. the heavy mulching blade on my sears.
>
> I would guess the Ryobi is 10-15 years old, but even with the age
> differences, both mower are pretty much the same.  The Ryobi has a built
> in charger where the Sears has a external charger.  Ryobi has a battery
> power gage the Sears has a low power light and a high load light.
>
> It is hard to do a fair comparison because the both mower have
> questionable batteries.  The Sears cuts better but the Ryobi blade is in
> bad need of sharpening.  Currently the Ryobi runs longer but why?  Could
> it be the batteries are better or is it the heavy mulching blade on the
> Sears?  I have only mowed once with the Sears where I have used the
> Ryobi for 2 years now.
>
> The only real conclusion is, the Ryobi is easier to use because of the
> light weight.  It is not a big difference because my yard is flat.  It
> could be a major difference if I was lugging it up and down hills.
>
> I let Dave Reuter take the Ryobi with the bad battery.  He has replace
> the pack with a new pack and completely cleaned and sharpened the Ryobi
> before use.  From what I here, he is happy with the mower.
>
> My recommendation is look for a junk Ryobi and plan to put in a new pack
> (around $60) and clean it up and enjoy.   Although, if it is free it's
> hard to complain about the Sears.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu
> [mailto:elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu] On Behalf Of Thon Basom
> Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 9:59 AM
> To: elec-trak
> Subject: (ET) cordless mowers
>
> I realize it's an ET list  ;-)  but I'd like to get a cordless mower to
> use where my E12M isn't practical.  Don't see anything in the archives
> about the ELF.  Anyone have one, or comments about what to look for (old
> Ryobi, etc.)? If you think not appropriate here, please reply off list.
> Thanks.
> Thon
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