Author Topic: Thoughts on LawnMower? (Read 11767 times)

VisualMonster · « **on:** April 28, 2007, 07:42:07 PM »

So we finally bought a house and now I need to find something to mow the lawn. I definately don't want a gas mower even though they're much cheaper. I'd feel guilty about the emissions generated.

I thought about getting this battery powered mower:

Black & Decker

19 In. 24 Volt Cordless Mulching Mower

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fs

earchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0172617307.1177788184@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdaddkkkhllhgcgelc

effdfgidgmk.0&MID=9876

I'm thinking I can charge this with my 150 watts of solar panels and have a 0 emissions lawn. I have a 400watt inverter that I could use to charge it using the regular wall charger it comes with (I'm hoping it doesn't draw more current than that). Otherwise I suppose I could find a way to charge the 24v battery in this thing directly from my panels. If I did that, I would temporarily have to wire my panels in series to up my voltage (my batteries for solar panel are wired for 12v). I would also need a new charge controller too, since the one i have now is meant for 12v batteries.

I'm guessing a corded electric mower would draw too much current for my 400watt inverter, so I doubt that would work for me.

Another much cheaper option would be to get a traditional real mower.

Scotts

20 In. Green Classic Reel Mower

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fs

earchResults.jsp&

I'm kinda hesitant on that though because I doubt it will cut as nicely as a powered lawn mower would.

thoughts?

Mary B · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2007, 01:53:21 PM »

sheep :-)

vawtman · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2007, 02:14:08 PM »

Mary, they have emissions.

wdyasq · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2007, 02:57:41 PM »

The reel type mower will do a BETTER job of cutting grass if kept sharp. There are too many "IF"s to advise on your battery charging due to unknown battery chemistry and such.

MaryAlana, and you can have the sheep over for dinner...

Ron

Mary B · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2007, 05:38:23 PM »

yeah but the emissions make good garden fertilizer :-)

vawtman · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2007, 05:46:08 PM »

But you still have to pick the chunks up and put them in the garden.

Just kiddin ya Mary.Carry on your doing great with your turbine.:>)

elvin1949 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2007, 07:16:07 PM »

Vman

If you get tired of picking up chunk's well.

You can make one of NTL's handy dandy charcoal

maker's and have a BBQ.

later

elvin

elvin1949 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2007, 07:19:04 PM »

The reel mower needs a SMOOTH lawn to work

it's best.

later

elvin

ghurd · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2007, 07:36:24 PM »

A reel mower is a Wonderful machine. If you can keep it maintained.

Like keeping the blades sharp isn't such a problem, but keeping them Straight to the other 'thing' (the bar they get close to) is a real trick after they have been sharpened a few times. .

If one blade is sharpened a bit more and deeper than the others...? So Do Not hit rocks, pipes, etc

This is Amish country and reel mowers are common. I passed up 3 working units for $1 at an auction. Yes, 33.33 cents each. Less than a postage stamp. (they threw in a big box of bolts and sold it all for $2)

Why? Because it is hard to find someone who can repair a reel mower after it has been "Owner Maintained".

I can not imagine a 24V cordless mower could take 400W from an inverter.

"Battery Recharges to 60-70% in 4 Hours and to 100% in 16 Hours" means it can't be a lot of charger power.

I'd guess the batteries are 2 at 12V SLA. I bet a (Big & HD) DPDT switch could be added to charge the batteries at 12V straight from the solar, with the same controller. Could be a minor issue with the voltage set point, but I don't think it'll be a problem if the charging isn't daily.

"Lighter than a gas mower" (from the reviews) means they can't be very large batteries, and it better to a small yard. Mow in the morning, recharge directly after, and then charge it for an hour the day before the next use?

Bagging or mulching must take a lot more power than a side discharge? Cutting when it's dry would take a lot less power, saving the batteries a bit?

That $500 price tag would stop me cold. 80W more PV? A lot of reel mowers?

G-

willib · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2007, 09:05:21 PM »

my first thought was a goat <

wiredwrong · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2007, 09:47:02 PM »

I took an old gas mower, took the motor off and converted it to electric, I used 2 17Ahr SLA's and ran it 24v it does a wonderful job at cutting the grass, depending on your yard size, an electric can be a good thing, its quite, lighter, and Im not as tired after mowing, and I can still talk to the people around me while Im mowing, they work much better if you cut the grass more often, if the grass gets very tall the battery's dont seem to hold up, but if you mow before it really needs it, than you can mow the whole yard on one charge, mine is on its 3rd year and I replaced the battery's this year with a set that is way too heavy and will be going to get a couple of the smaller 17Ahr's to put back on it, I have a neighbor that has a store bought electric and it only had 12Ahr batts in it, he has to mow the front one day and the back the next. Ill try and post pics of my frankinmower later this week.

Norm · « **Reply #11 on:** April 28, 2007, 10:14:00 PM »

A flywheel powered lawnmower dock it under a

VAWT step on a pedal raises it up ...engages

flywheel charges it up.

( :>) Norm

VisualMonster · « **Reply #12 on:** April 28, 2007, 10:24:52 PM »

lol, yea.. i think i might pass on the sheeps and goats. There's actually a policy that states "no farm animals", ie horses, cows, sheeps, goats, etc.

Plus, our dog would probably end up eating the poop... gross.

VisualMonster · « **Reply #13 on:** April 28, 2007, 10:27:08 PM »

How many watts do you think an electric corded mower would use? I looked up prices, and they seem A LOT cheaper than cordless ones.

hydrosun · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2007, 09:15:34 AM »

The Black and Decker electric mower had bridge diode,and brushed PM 120 volt DC motor on it. I think it only used about 400 watts. I eventually burned it out on too heavy grass. I replaced it with a bigger slower motor that takes 200 watts. I usually mow as high as I can to miss rocks, sticks, hoses and other things lurking in the grass. After all I live out in the sticks and don't have a manicured suburban lawn. I'm mainly trying to keep the brush at bay. I use up to 150 feet electric cord and have electric outlets scattered about. So my experience is the mower doesn't use that much power. (if it can be done on batteries it usually isn't large amounts of power if the motor is efficient).

Chris

Phil Timmons · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2007, 12:11:24 PM »

I think I had / have the same model, w/ bridge rectifier and all. Got it for $35 at a pawn shop, and it lasted three years. And I have very nearly the same yard conditions

. I would smack rocks, etc., from time and it would knock the wiring apart and I would patch it together and keep going. I did like that it would stall on a hard hit (rather than bend the shaft like a gas mower). I think the cord is much easier than messing with batteries, as well.

Can you give any details about the replacement motor you used? Size, type, source, etc.? I have considered simple 120 VAC 1800 RPM types -- but that is just pondering.

Thanks.

commanda · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2007, 04:39:51 PM »

A flywheel on wheels is otherwise known as a gyroscope. Mows great in a straight line.

Amamda.

wiredwrong · « **Reply #17 on:** April 29, 2007, 07:56:10 PM »

I have a corded one also and altho Im not sure about the watts I can say that it will not run off my 600 watt inverter but it will run off my 1200, but does not run at full speed, both inverters are modified sine wave, I'll take pics of it too sometime this week. I found this one on "BIG JUNK DAY" and it works but I prefer the cordless because the cord is a pain in the yard.

Old F · « **Reply #18 on:** April 29, 2007, 09:01:27 PM »

Here is what I have been useig for brush clearing

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/7/25/163944/344

Old F

Norm · « **Reply #19 on:** April 30, 2007, 06:15:02 AM »

That would be a horizontal flywheel ....

parallel to the mower blade.

wind pirate · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2007, 06:15:24 AM »

I use an industrial strength weedeater as shown - great for clearing brush and keeps grass well groomed.

GaryGary · « **Reply #21 on:** April 30, 2007, 09:01:47 AM »

Hi,

Some gas to solar electric conversions here:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Vehicles/vhehicles.htm#Tractor

Gary

Brian H · « **Reply #22 on:** April 30, 2007, 05:58:08 PM »

My mother-in-law just received delivery of that exact model, I went over and un-boxed it for her, and showed her how to plug in the battery charger and so forth. To my knowledge, she hasn't mowed with it yet.

We were pretty disappointed to find out that it has no side-discharge, only bagging or mulching.

I tried to talk her into a corded mower, but she wouldn't have it. It was cordless or nothing for her.

I think she'll be happier with the B&D than any of the other models, it seems to be the best one on the market right now, IMHO.

It was US$399.95 with free shipping from Amazon.com. I'll let you know how it works out.

Cheers!

BrianH

hydrosun · « **Reply #23 on:** April 30, 2007, 10:42:24 PM »

On the Black and Decker electric lawn mower I replaced the original motor with a 1800 rpm 1/2 HP 120 volt dc motor. I got it years ago from Jim Forgette as an efficient motor replacement on a washing machine. It has heavy duty replaceble brushes. It's a $200 motor on a free old electric mower. It will probably outlast this machine and get a new life again on something else. Chris

offgirdonhydro · « **Reply #24 on:** July 02, 2007, 06:28:11 PM »

I killed about 5 acres of my back yard and planted clover. It needs a lot of water for the first few weeks but then it's good to go. As far as mowing I am doing it about every 8 times I mow the rest of the grass. So far it's not too bad with the bees but I'm giving it a year to see how that goes.

coldspot · « **Reply #25 on:** July 04, 2007, 07:05:56 PM »

After reading this-

My $0.02

We all know that a treadmill motor makes a bad windmill gen. And more than a few of us have one hidden back under the shelf.

It could be maybe used on an old gas mower?

JamesJackson · « **Reply #26 on:** July 29, 2007, 08:35:07 AM »

I have been using this model lawn mower now for over 3 years (maybe 4).

IF I keep it recharged - it works the best. The key is to plug it into the charger right after a lawn-mowing session.

I have a smallish lawn to mow - as I live in a mobile home park right now. I have found that I have enough battery 'power' to mow my lawn and the neighbors lawn before the battery gets too weak.

The lawn mower does best set to cut at its' highest setting - which is not what a lot of folks like. Around here, my neighbors set their mowers to cut the grass down to the dirt. This means that I am cutting the grass more frequently, but it also looks nicer.

I am able to mow for about an hour... maybe an hour and a half - before the battery gets too weak for doing any decent mowing.

The mower has a built-in thermal switch that triggers if the motor or battery gets too over-heated. You then need to take a break for a couple of minutes until it cools down, then continue your mowing.

The mower does not like tall grass, and will bog down quickly. I have found that a two-stage approach works best on tall grass. I tilt the mower up and do a first pass over the tall grass, cutting off the top of it, pull the mower back, and then roll it over the grass again - and the mower likes this better.

I am very happy with the Black and Decker CMM 1000 mower. I try to keep the battery charged by leaving it plugged in. I am not 100% sure, but have popped lid on the mower once to peek inside, and I think that the battery inside is a SLA rated at 24 volts and 9Ah.

Good Luck with yours.

Regards,

James Jackson

Oztronics

feral air · « **Reply #27 on:** August 29, 2007, 10:44:40 AM »

That's a smart idea.

If I was going electric I think I would use a weedeater head instead of mower blades though. They should spin up easier and cut the grass just as well.

Run an ad in the paper; "Wanted: Your Dead Weed Whacker."

And then it's just a matter of attaching the weedeater head to your treadmill motor and mounting it onto a rolling base. If you've already got the motor I bet you could put it all together for pennies.

I have sheep, goats and llamas for grounds keepers. They aren't exactly cheap but sure are effective.

freeEnergy4me · « **Reply #28 on:** February 01, 2008, 08:50:24 PM »

Or why not just get an extension cord and used the mower that has a cord? And power it from a battery bank or pack or a single battery?

Hmmm. I should try it.

I have the Black And Decker model below. Just $200

http://store.all-cordless.com/blandde18elm1.html

It is really great. I have a decent lawn, so I haven't had to mow anything terribly harsh with it. But it's like vacuuming your lawn. And it does a great job if you just keep the blades sharpened.

Here's a 6.5 amp version for $145 at the devil's store.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=1170609&sourceid=150000
0000000003260350

VisualMonster · « **Reply #29 on:** March 25, 2008, 11:00:33 PM »

That's actually the exact mower I ended up getting last year (bought it online from amazon.com). I also tried the running it from my solar setup thinking my battery bank/inverter could support it... nope. I ended up quickly frying my 400watt HF inverter.

Since then I added many new solar panels, brand new batteries, and now have a 1000 watt xantrex inverter. This upgraded system should easily run the mower, I think I'll try it this weekend... =)

News:

Author Topic: Thoughts on LawnMower? (Read 11767 times)