Electric Lawn Tractors

[Ashful]

Just filled my truck, and hauled along three 5-gallon gas cans for the mower, and it reminded me of something I’ve pointed out before. I luse more gas mowing my lawn for half the year than I use in my cars, maybe almost as much as I use in all of my cars for the entire year in just 6 - 7 months of mowing, and I drive vehicles with some pretty horrendous MPG’s.

Where are the EM’s (Electric Mowers) of any real merit? By “any real merit”, I mean something rated above 4 acres per hour, and good for reliably running 2+ hours at full bore by end of life.

 

[begreen]

Lawnmowers are major emissions sources. Estimate from 10-40x worse than a car. The current electric riding mowers are too small. I've toyed with the idea of using a 48v battery bank section from a Volt for powering a mower. Seems like it would work well enough.
https://sites.psu.edu/math033fa17/2017/10/10/american-lawn-care-emissions/

The Ryobi zero-turn 42" (RY48ztr100) looks good for 2-3 acres, but not appropriate for our hilly property and somewhat pricey, but one would save a lot on gas. (ethanol free is >$5/gal here)
https://todaysmower.com/2019-electric-riding-mowers/

This site is interesting and helpful:
https://electriclawntractor.com/

Still, there are the emissions issues from all that turf too.
https://www.onlynaturalenergy.com/grass-lawns-are-an-ecological-catastrophe/

 

[Ashful]

I’ve reduced our turf by a half acre already, with more planned in the near future. Unfortunately, two new neighbors have cleared about 3 acres of lawn immediately adjacent to me, so it’s a net increase in turf.

 

[Where2]

(ethanol free is >$5/gal here)

Really? I bought 15 gallons of ethanol free last weekend for $2.99/gal. (planning ahead for hurricane season) On the same trip, I bought 32 gal of diesel for $2.65/gal. (Filled up the VW TDI wagon, and stocked up three 5 gal cans of diesel for hurricane season, so technically I have enough fuel to drive from my house in South FL to Cincinnati, OH).

If you feel the need to have an electric mower to park next to your EV (so you can stop making fuel runs to mow the lawn), take your credit card and find a Mean Green Mower dealer. Gravely's electric mower is still at prototype stage. (I live in the land of year round mowing). The Mean Green looks every bit as stout as my old Snapper 48" commercial walk behind.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, we're in a captive rural market. Regular gas is almost $4/gal. It's better in Seattle, but still around $3.25-3.45 for regular gas.

The Mean Green Machine looks cool, but a zero turn like that is not the best for our hilly rural cutting.

 

[Ashful]

I evaluated the Big Mow in 2011, electric autonomous mower (think Roomba for your lawn) when we bought our current lot with 4 acres of mowing. They wanted $15,000 for the machine, and they had doubts as to whether it could really keep up with 4 acres of mowing at that time. They were suggesting I consider purchasing at least two.

At the time, they were the only autonomous option for larger properties. I don’t recall looking for non-autonomous electric mowers at that time, but I don’t recall seeing any, either.

Mean Green looks interesting, but at $12k for a 500 lb. homeowner-grade machine with a 48” deck, they’re a long way from being a viable option for most. Competing machines are one quarter of that price, typically around $3k. They rate it at 2 acres per hour, which is just as absurd as Deere saying my 60” mower does 5 acres per hour. Their Nemesis will likely do around 1 acre per hour under most real-world yard conditions, which means you’re limited to < 2.5 acres per charge with a brandy-new battery, and less as it ages.

Not very useful, yet... but it’s a good step in the right direction. Improvement will come with time.

Edit: I just found pricing on the CXR52 commercial mower, which I had left out, since there was no pricing on the top of the page. This is a serious mower, more comparable to a commercial Deere or Exmark, but it’s $25k for a 52” mower! They do some back-of-the-envelope math to show the savings in a commercial application, given $5500 in Federal tax credits, but the financials just don’t work out for non-commercial users. I can buy a commercial Deere or Gravely with a 60” deck or $7k - $9k, from a dealer in my neighborhood, without driving to a different state to find a dealer.

 

[begreen]

Yes, there are 52 and 60" and 48" Mean Greens too.
https://meangreenproducts.com/cxr5260/
Looks like a dealer isn't too far, in NJ next door.
http://www.centraljerseyequipment.com/

Yes, it's pricey. Might be worth calling the dealer to see if there are other incentives and if they are selling below sticker price. The economics are different. There is a lot less to go wrong and service. That means a lot less time spent in maintenance. After 2000 hrs of duty one might be considering engine and tranny work on an ICE mower. The MGM should be still perking along.

Looks like it has a 3KW inverter option, so it could be a sweet portable power supply too.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah, for commercial customers, I can see the justification. But the usage scale makes the present cost unjustifiable for a homeowner. I put 65 - 70 hours on my machine every year... I’m not sure I’ll ever see 2000 hours. I also do all my own maintenance, at an average annual cost too insignificant to even consider.

Central Jersey Equipment is over an hour from my house, but I have three Deere dealers within ten or fifteen minutes drive. No way I’m making a 2+ hour round trip for parts, when something breaks and I need my mower every 4 - 5 days, when I can swing by the Deere dealer any day on my lunch break.

I am sure that will change over the next decade, but that’s where we are today.

 

[blades]

way back in the day there were a couple of battery run garden tractors, a guy a couple blocks away was into collecting them it was in the 80's when I met him , they looked to be from the early to mid 70's can't remember any brand name though. He was in the process of tying to get a permit for wind generator- primarily to be used to charge the tractors up.

 

[semipro]

I picked up one of these units and replaced the bad lead-acid batteries with Li-ion. Its good for a small yard or trim work but not nearly something I'd wanted to mow even an acre with. It feels really archaic and clumsy compared to my ZTR John Deere F525.

The Ryobi zero-turn 42" (RY48ztr100) looks good for 2-3 acres, but not appropriate for our hilly property and somewhat pricey, but one would save a lot on gas. (ethanol free is >$5/gal here)
https://todaysmower.com/2019-electric-riding-mowers/

I'm interested in one of these but plan to wait until the lead-acid batteries start dying off to find one used.

 

[Where2]

I put 65 - 70 hours on my machine every year... I’m not sure I’ll ever see 2000 hours. I also do all my own maintenance, at an average annual cost too insignificant to even consider.

Central Jersey Equipment is over an hour from my house, but I have three Deere dealers within ten or fifteen minutes drive. No way I’m making a 2+ hour round trip for parts, when something breaks and I need my mower every 4 - 5 days, when I can swing by the Deere dealer any day on my lunch break.

I grew up on the leading edge of suburbia, and grew quite accustomed to having parts for mower engines and equipment I was working on within a short radius drive. Going off to college was like taking a step back in time, because I moved from suburbia to a small city/predominantly college town. I used to think I'd never want to live in a city of less than 30,000 people, because getting parts for things was such a hassle. Fast forward a quarter century... With modern internet retail shops and two day delivery on many items, I find I can easily get along in the woods in northern Maine, 40 miles this side of Canada and 80 miles from the nearest "large city (33,000 residents)". The UPS driver easily finds my house, 2.5 miles off the interstate, and delivers anything from mower belts, to name brand car tires. (Things I cannot easily find in a rural community.) I'm all for supporting my local retailer, but much of small town rural America is not blessed with a dealer for everything.

The 60-70 hour per year comment is intriguing, the last "scrap" mower I picked up in FL has 265 hours on the 25hp Kohler engine. (engine and hydrostatic drive is fine, deck is rusted garbage) I never realized how quickly northern grasses grow in early spring, until I spent a summer in Maine and had to mow the 1.25 acres I considered "the yard" twice a week to keep up...

 

[Ashful]

The 60-70 hour per year comment is intriguing, the last "scrap" mower I picked up in FL has 265 hours on the 25hp Kohler engine. (engine and hydrostatic drive is fine, deck is rusted garbage) I never realized how quickly northern grasses grow in early spring, until I spent a summer in Maine and had to mow the 1.25 acres I considered "the yard" twice a week to keep up...

It takes me almost exactly 2 hours to mow this lawn on a Deere 757 ZTrak with 60" deck, so that 70 hours is about 35 mows per year. That's every 4th or 5th day from mid-April thru late-June, but I can sometimes go a month without a single mowing from early July to early August. Having zero weeds is key there, my lawn goes dormant in summer drought, while my neighbors weeds keep growing. Fall mowing is weekly, tapering to every second week at the end.

 

[peakbagger]

Sears had version of the old Electric Lawn Tractors. I think GE may have been the manufacturer. Home Power had a couple of articles on the history and restoring of these lawn tractors. If I remember there were not a lot of moving parts.

BTW there used to be an electric ATV called the Gorilla. I think it was golf part components with all terrain tires but something you would ride like an ATV. It was small manufacturer that built them mostly to order.

 

[SpaceBus]

A lawn mower seems like it would be the easiest candidate for electrification with the least return on investment for dealers. I think many people forget that tons of money is made on in service departments.

 

[Ashful]

A lawn mower seems like it would be the easiest candidate for electrification with the least return on investment for dealers. I think many people forget that tons of money is made on in service departments.

Seems like you skipped reading most of the last ten posts. Yes, an easy candidate, but cost is currently prohibitive. $24,590 for a mower with less capability than any $7500 commercial zero turn, is the current state of the art.

They show how it’s a cost savings, based on commercial utilization rates. Of course they’re ignoring battery depreciation and replacement, while inflating the real costs of ICE maintenance to worst case. Unfortunately, even with their skewed math, it just doesn’t work out for private owner utilization rates.

 

[spirilis]

Looked into this briefly the past week (looking at a 5 acre residence tho probably not going for it). Was also underwhelmed with what's out there.

 

[SpaceBus]

Seems like you skipped reading most of the last ten posts. Yes, an easy candidate, but cost is currently prohibitive. $24,590 for a mower with less capability than any $7500 commercial zero turn, is the current state of the art.

They show how it’s a cost savings, based on commercial utilization rates. Of course they’re ignoring battery depreciation and replacement, while inflating the real costs of ICE maintenance to worst case. Unfortunately, even with their skewed math, it just doesn’t work out for private owner utilization rates.

You have selected one small part of the market share. I'm just saying in the long run mowers will become less profitable due to less servicing. Think about labor rates, shipping, and entire fluid recycling infrastructures. Electrification will have a huge impact over time. Even at $23k the dealer will lose money even if every single commercial mower is replaced. Repeat business and service visits keep the lights on.

I read this whole thread before my previous comment. It's exciting to see Husqvarna is working on an electric rider. Maybe by the time I can afford a decent electric mower they will bring it to the US. Electric lawn equipment is definitely the future. I even feel like I'm old fashioned with my Stihl Kombi, but electric pruning and trimming equipment just isn't there yet, as Ashful has pointed out. I'm excited for the future, but like Ashful, I still like gas powered race cars and stuff. My wife's car comes from the factory without mufflers and I love it. I hope to have an EV and more electric equipment in the future, but I'm glad petrol stuff is still around.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Most mowers sit around between uses too much to make a big battery investment pay off. You have to keep a log of hours to see if it would ever pay off. I know it would NOT be a good choice for me. Those mowing large lots may benefit.

 

[peakbagger]

Here is some info on "new technology" for sale fifty years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elec-Trak

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Just filled my truck, and hauled along three 5-gallon gas cans for the mower, and it reminded me of something I’ve pointed out before. I luse more gas mowing my lawn for half the year than I use in my cars, maybe almost as much as I use in all of my cars for the entire year in just 6 - 7 months of mowing, and I drive vehicles with some pretty horrendous MPG’s.

Where are the EM’s (Electric Mowers) of any real merit? By “any real merit”, I mean something rated above 4 acres per hour, and good for reliably running 2+ hours at full bore by end of life.

Get a few small goats, some fence, and a small mobile shed. No more gas or electricity.

I'm only half "kid"ding, because I think having animals mow my lawn would be awesome, but in the spirit of your question, in 5 years or less, the electric mowers will be up to snuff and cost competitive with gas. This tech is moving fast, but if you transition now, you'll be at the bleeding edge, and it will $ting.

 

[semipro]

Most mowers sit around between uses too much to make a big battery investment pay off.

What if they were grid-tied? -- basically a self propelled PowerWall with grass cutting blades.
Come to think of it, I'm a bit surprised that Elon hasn't jumped into this market. It seems a lot more relevant than Tesla Tequila anyway.

 

[Ashful]

You have selected one small part of the market share.

This is true! But it's my small part of the market share.

I think we all see the direction this is headed, it won't be that long until we're telling our grand kids about how our mowers used to run on gasoline, speaking with the same fondness my own grandfather directed toward the LaSalle.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Get a few small goats, some fence, and a small mobile shed. No more gas or electricity.

.

Iv done exactly that. Fenced off a few acres and started raising beef cattle 2 at a time for personal use. Kept the grass and weeds mowed all summer, fed the family all year. Thats something no electric or gas mower can do.

 

[begreen]

And they fertilized the area while at it.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

And they fertilized the area while at it.

Organically!