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We’d really let the lawn go. When we tried to use our old Craftsman 6.0 gas lawnmower, it made noises like ball bearings were spinning around inside the engine. And, of course, it spat out a horrid amount of smoke. Seemed like the time to finally consider going green.

After much online research and then thoroughly checking out the items we could find locally (the sales people were truly surprised at just how thoroughly we went about this!), we decided on the Worx Eco.

Before I started to cut the worst of the grass, I had one of my daughters hold a tape measure so we could see just how high the worst tufts of lawn were (22 to 28 inches!). Then I mowed a swath and took more pictures.

The mower never choked on any of the grass, though there were times it did slow way down; when that happened, I backed off a bit and let the blade spin up to speed before going forward again. The mower never stalled.

I went back over it at my preferred height and now the lawn looks great. I’ve been able to mow our entire yard three times and the battery still shows full on its one charge.

I couldn’t be happier.

–John Elliott, Albany, Oregon

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We unpacked the Worx cordless mower from the box and – wow! – it gobbled through that grass! It cuts beautifully, neat and even, and the motor doesn’t complain even when you run over sticks (not that you are supposed to run over sticks, but sometimes it happens). The mulching function makes the clippings literally invisible.

We knew we wanted a cordless electric mower. There are half a dozen choices on the market now; this is one of the more expensive ones, but it’s worth it. As other reviews have noted, it’s very thoughtfully designed. There’s no assembly needed – it unfolds ready-to-go out of the box (and folds back down, with the squeeze of a lever, for storage). Yes, it’s 80 pounds, but the better gas mowers are up there too, and great ergonomics mean you won’t strain yourself pushing it. At 5′0″, I particularly appreciated the height-adjustable handle and easy-to-hold deadman switch. The grass height adjuster is a giant joystick, easy to see and reach. It starts instantly with the push of a button – get used to just letting go rather than letting it idle when you stop to think or sneeze; it’s not like a gas mower where you worry about starting it up again. It’s so quiet you can hear your iPod over it, and best of all – you smell nothing but sweet cut grass.

One great virtue of this model is that it has a removable battery. That means you can charge the battery indoors, if your mower lives in an unelectrified shed. It also means that the battery can winter indoors, where it will be safer and last longer. If you have acres and acres of lawn, you could even buy a second battery and swap it out when the first is spent. The battery compartment is well-designed and easy to access; the battery has a carrying handle (it’s heavy!) and a connector that snaps on in only one way. It’s just like charging your cell phone, only bigger.

The battery has a charge indicator – full, halfway, and empty. Our house sits on a ~7000 square foot lot. I mowed all the grass, front and back, and the indicator light went from full to half. (I don’t know if it really started out tippy-top full, though, because I didn’t charge it – I just unpacked and mowed). The ad copy says it’ll go 17,500 square feet per charge. From what I’ve seen so far, I’m not worried.

The downside: the manual is confusing. It talks about a “mulching attachment”, but really you mulch by leaving the only provided attachment off, not by putting it on. And of course it would be even better if cordless lawnmowers used NiCad batteries rather than lead acid (longer life, less pollution, much less heavy), but no manufacturer’s doing that yet.

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Pros:

Cuts really well on a mostly level lot

No stinky smell (gas, oil) or oil changes, etc., I used to get sick from the smell of a gas mower, now I can enjoy yard work!

Environmentally friendly

No cord to be constantly be adjusting

Bags great

Relatively quiet (noisier than our old corded, but quieter than gas mowers)

Battery is easily removed for charging indoors, or keeping at reasonable temperature during the winter (battery doesn’t have to be removed for charging)

Mowing with the old plug-in electric (13″ cutting path, doing the cord dance) used to take me 1.5 hours, the cordless only takes half an hour!

Battery indicator lets you know the charge level

Single adjustment for mowing height

Easy to turn on, easy off – no pull cord

20 inch cutting path

Cons:

Heavy . . . especially compared to a plug-in cordless

That’s it!

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Personally, I’m a big fan of electric motors and other battery run items for the home (as opposed to gas), not for any green environmental reason, but because they tend to be much easier to maintain, and can be better for a given application than a gas driven motor. Since I have a relatively small lawn, this seemed like a good purchase.

I received the mower, unpacked it, and charged it up per the directions with no problems. Tried out all the accessories, and they were easy enough to put on and take off. Went out and mowed the lawn. My impressions were that the motor generated more than enough torque to do the job. It was a little heavy for moving around, and I personally did not like the start lever — it felt cheap and loose to me. I would have preferred that the start level be a bit more solid. Compared to the old mower (even with the old mower having a sharpened blade) it did a fairly nice job with the lawn.

After finishing, I cleaned the unit off, and plugged the unit in to recharge, initially, it seemed to be working correctly. I went out to do some trimming, and when I returned, I noticed the charger flashing a red light at me (which I assume means there was a problem, it wasn’t detailed in the manual as to what exactly it means). Overnight, it failed to charge the battery, so I called the provided number, talked to some people who didn’t really seem to know what they were doing, and eventually was told to bring it to location x for service.

I bring it over there and drop it off. During the next three weeks, nothing can get accomplished. Essentially, the people at location x have to call the Earthwise people to get the parts to perform warrantee work, except the Earthwise people never seem to respond. I talked with the owner of location x, and he said that it was always like that with Earthwise. I called another location from the Earthwise web site (nearby) and they essentially said the same thing.

Fortunately, I was lucky and still had the old mower to do mowing with. I ended up returning this to Amazon as defective, as, even if it could be fixed, I wouldn’t want to be relying on this product as my sole mower, based on the repair experience. Heck, even I can take apart a lawn mower gas engine and repair most things in a day (assuming I can find any part I might need.) Grass doesn’t stop growing while your mower is in the shop, and three weeks+ would have been a debacle if this were my only mower!

Again, my issues aren’t with the mower itself, just that if it should break, you will probably have difficulty getting it repaired quickly, and I can’t recommend the mower (or any Earthwise product) based on that.

If you do get the mower, one thing that I did discover was that if you remove the battery pack, it makes the rest of the mower much easier to handle (such as for unpacking, or lifing into the back of a vehicle for transport, or lifting back into the box to send back ). I did like the design where the battery was self enclosed, and simply plugs into the mower.

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4/29/09 The other rear wheel fell off. I decided I had a bad unit and sent it back. Printed a return lable from Amazon.com, dropped it off at UPS and received the replacement the next day! It works fine. I’ve used it twice now and all the wheels are OK! Used less than half the battery to mow for about 30 to 40 mins. I ran through some pretty heavy stuff too…it was dry, but it handled it quite well. The height adjustment is excellent. I may up my review if all the wheels stay on this summer.

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OPERATION:

- Push and turn around when necessary. Any problem is behind the mower.

PROS:

- Strong and powerful motor (it cut down 12″+ moist-grass! Haha, it’s May 17 and I just did my first mowing of the season here in Virginia)

- Plenty of juice in one charge,

- 1-click removable battery makes it easy to charge the battery off-board/indoor with the included adapter cable and charger — the same charger works for on-board and off-board charging,

- LED display for battery level is on deck at the rear, very easy to see while pushing the mower,

- Easy on and off; the safety key is secured to the control unit with a lanyard (no need to kneel down and get to the key like the Neuton),

- Dust/water cap for charging plug is included and secured with a lanyard,

- Wide cutting path,

- One-lever height adjustment,

- Maximum cut height is taller than most (haha, I like my lawn taller),

- Complete with bag, side discharger and mulch plug

CONS:

- Battery maintenance is not that simple. Per the manual, the charger is NOT a smart, trickle charger and MUST NOT CHARGE MORE THAN A MAXIMUM OF 24-HR. Yet, the manual and the yellow warning tag also warn that you MUST CHARGE THE BATTERY EVERY 30-DAYS during the off-seasons. Who’s going to remember to do this religiously? The 1-click removable battery makes it possible to do charge it indoor, however, the owner must still remember to plug and unplug the the charger to heed the recommendation of no-more than 24-hour and at least once every 30 days. I have a programmable wall timer to take care of this (UPDATE: I am using a third party smart charger instead), but it would be so much nicer if the charger was a smart, trickle charger that can manage on its own. A smart charger circuitry is so easy to manufacture and it would add only a few dollars to the final price (and it would pay off in the long run given not too many owners would heed the warning, and many would end up with dead batteries, giving the product a bad rep).

- The handle is not foldable for quick storage. It’s removable with the knob screws, but a foldable handle would make it much easier.

MAINTENANCE TIP:

- Get a programmable timer to help the dumb charger maintain the battery better (see cons above) — UPDATE: I am using a 24v smart charger)

- Spray the blade and the bottom of the deck (well, all over) with Jigaloo or other similar spray lubricant. It will make it slicker and less grass will stick, keeping it cleaner and easier to blow after every use.

- UPDATE #2: store the battery at a cool place to minimize discharge, and don’t let it discharge fully too often and don’t leave it discharged too long. Sealed lead acid batteries are happier when they’re fully charged (but they’re not happy if they’re overcharged with bad chargers either).

UPDATE: I opened the battery pack (8 screws) and saw two green, sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries with this printed on them:

6-DZM-20 (12V20AH)

3-Step Charge Method

Step 1: Constant Current Charge: 2.4 – 3.0A

Step 2: Constant Voltage Charge: 14.7 – 14.9V

Step 3: Floating – Constant Floating Voltage is 13.7 – 13.9V. Converting current: 550-600mA.

Note: if you are looking for an aftermarket smart charger, make sure you look for a 24v charger, because the batteries are placed in series (so double the voltage). The charging current can be lower than the spec above; it’ll just take a longer to charge. I found mine from batteryspec dot com.

UPDATE #2: I’m still doing some work on perfecting the charger setup. As it is right now, I’m charging the battery pack off-board because it’s more convenient and the battery stays cooler in the basement. I’m thinking of either upgrading the charger to either a: 1) 24v Soneil Charger (a reliable deep-cycle charger used for scooters/wheel chair, much more expensive though!), or 2) install a DPDT switch so that, at the flick of a switch, the battery assembly goes from series (24v) to parallel (12v), allowing me to use much cheaper 12v smart chargers (like the touted Battery Minder or Battery Tender Plus, available here at Amazon). With the DPDT switch, I’ll set the pack to 12v for charging, and 24v for operation. It will only need a length of wire and a DPDT switch from Radio Shack ($3.99 plus tax, catalog #275-691).

It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s a hobby to me and from the negative reviews, the battery (but actually the charger) is the achiles heel of this otherwise excellent mower. I’ll post an update.

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I was all ready to purchase a corded model when I came across the Earthwise 20″ 24 volt cordless rechargeable. I must admit that I was very apprehensive about cordless, I’ve owned many gutless cordless power tools. During my research of the Earthwise I ran across a video that showed the lawnmower in action – I was sold. I purchased immediately and have been extremely pleased.

This mower has all the power that I could ever need to take care of my yard (approx. 1/4 acre of grass, with some on a slope). The battery came fully charged and I had the mower out of the box, fully assembled (very easy), and out mowing withing 20 minutes. Used the grass catcher just to see how it worked (did a great job), then took it off and have mulched ever since (this machine turns your grass into the minutest particles).

It is very well constructed (the deck is metal – this is good), the height adjustment could not be easier (one lever adjusts all wheels – again, very good), it pushes very easily (thanks to the ball-bearing wheels), and the handle folds to make for very compact storage.

My yard and I am happy again!