Re: (ET) Related electric mowers/edgers

["Joel Parks" <et jpjt net>]

I bought a Neuton for my mother (now 77) in 2003.  She loves it.

I had been using a Ryobi 24V "Mulchinator" push mower powered by a
Sealed-Lead-Acid (SLA) battery that I bought new from Real Goods in 1996.
(They were offering it with a "solar-charge option" which I also got, which
left a little to be desired - but with some added hardware to connect and
mount above the mower, works as a range extender if mowing in the middle of
a sunny day.)  It has an on-board charger that had an internal fuse that 
was
sensitive to voltage surges (I guess), and by some luck I figured that out
when the charger stopped charging, and rewired it to an external fuse
holder.  Since then I've had to replace the fuse 3 or 4 times, and the
battery once (I used two 12V batteries of 1/2 the form factor since I
couldn't find the appropriate replacement 24V battery from any on-line
source).  With the new battery it'll mow about 8,000 sq. ft. of (not
overgrown) lawn before needing a charge.  One can't let the growth get out
of control, the mulching mower just bogs down in heavy overgrowth.

Now I've got the E-15/Alltrax/snowblower/dozer/mower, I'm not sure how much
use the Ryobi will be getting...

But back to the Neuton - my mother had been struggling with a cheap
pull-start ICE mower, and finally mentioned to me that it was a bit of a
pain.  I had seen the ads for the Neuton somewhere and went to the website.
It looked like a decent alternative to the Ryobi which seemed to be no
longer available, so I took the plunge.  When I ordered it for her, they
were offering a special deal on an accessory pack including free shipping, 
a
little plug-in edger attachment, and a second battery, for what seemed to 
me
a reasonable upcharge.  I guess I spent $499.  When it arrived I looked it
over and it seemed like a well-built unit.  Since then she's used it to mow
about 10,000 sq.ft of lawn for a full season, and she reports that if she's
doing the whole lawn she switches batteries before she's done, but it still
has power left in the second battery.  Of course she also doesn't have to
mow the whole lawn at the same time, so she sometimes plugs it back in
before the first battery is expired.  She can easily handle the battery
exchange, it's mostly a lift-straight-up-by-the-convenient-handle 
operation.
I don't actually know if she bothers much with the edger, but she did tell
me it works... The edger is a string-trimmer doo-dad a little bigger than a
hair-dryer, that plugs into a couple of dedicated sockets on the front of
the unit.  I guess it disconnects the main motor when in use? I forget the
details.  Maybe you get to select one or the other or both.  Anyway, this
edger is not stand-alone.

Let me know if you have other specific questions and I'll see if I can't
find out any answers I don't already know.

By the way, I also have a Ryobi cordless electric string trimmer, bought 
new
in about 1998 or 1999.  My main complaint is that leaving it on the
wall-hanger-cum-charger over the first winter killed the SLA battery(ies? I
forget), and it was a significant fraction of the original purchase price 
to
get replacement.  And I shopped around!

Joel

----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen & Carol Welch" <welches paonline com>
To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 9:01 PM
Subject: (ET) Related electric mowers/edgers


> Hi all,
>
> If you'll permit a brief diversion slightly off-topic,
www.neutonmowers.com
> lists another interesting cordless electric mower alternative.  (When you
> follow this link, they'll ask you for your contact info to send sales
> literature.  If you leave it blank and just click the "Submit" button,
> you'll get in anyway...)  This unit seems to offer a couple of advantages
> over my Black & Decker:  a removable battery, and an innovative edger
> attachment.  They also offer the edger as a separate two-wheeled unit.
>
> Anyone know anything about the Neuton?
>
> Steve
>
> Alltraxed E-20
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elec-trak mailing list
> Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak