Lawnmower that runs on Renewable Energy

[ChrisOlson]

Our 20 year old MTD push mower with a Briggs engine was getting in pretty rough shape. Our lawn is slightly over 2 acres so we mow most of it with our John Deere 455 Diesel. But we still need a push mower to trim under trees with low hanging branches in our apple orchard where the big mower can't get, and is too much to trim with the little string trimmer.

So we bought a 24V Earthwise electric mower. It said on the box that it runs on Renewable Energy. For most people I suspect it would run on coal. But for us, with our off-grid home, it really does run on Renewable Energy. I used it for the first time a couple days ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much power it has.  It's easily on par with a gas mower.

This is some photos of it:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110979388690716770927/albums/5883203901607747009?banner=pwa

The battery is a 24V unit and not two 12V batteries in series like some have.  The battery is roughly 6" x 10" x 13" tall, and weighs 31 lbs.  The charger output is 30V, 2A and it takes about 17 hours to charge it up if it's been fully discharged.  For best battery life the instructions say to not discharge it below 50% (three lights), to charge it immediately after use, and to unplug the charger once the lights on it turn green.

It has a battery capacity indicator on the back of the mower that shows how much battery power is remaining and it operated for close to 2 hours on a full charge the first time I used it to trim around apple trees and my wife's flower beds.  I discharged it to below 50% (recommended for the first three charge/discharge cycles), but normal running time to 50% SOC is about an hour.

It has noticeably more torque than a gas mower in tall grass.  The total weight of the mower is about 65 lbs, so it's a little heavier than a comparable gas mower.  But most of the weight is in the battery.

The motor appears to be a quite powerful neodymium permanent magnet unit similar to what is used in model airplanes, except on a larger scale and it runs at 3,500 rpm.  The mower is manufactured by American Lawnmower Company in Shelbyville, Indiana, and while they have been building lawnmowers for over 100 years, the unit is made in China.
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Chris

[dnix71]

What does the cutting unit look like? There are/were 3 types. 1. polymer line, like a weed whacker. 2. a large disk with small triangle cutting tips bolted around the edge of the disk. 3. regular straight blade.

[Simen]

I've got a similar mower (for the same purpose as you), but from Bosch, with a 36V Li-Ion battery, and the weight are only around 31lbs. The motor are a permanent magnet motor with an integrated controller. The cutting unit are a regular blade. Charged with solar energy, ofcourse...

For the rest of the lawn (only 1/2 acre here), i use a 13hp Jonsered riding mower.
Those riding mowers are also starting to come with batteries now... (i want one of those... )

[Frank S]

Chris I bought a lawn boy 16" electric mower what seems a 100 years ago now it was one of the first gen electric rotary mowers I think. I wasn't all that impressed with it though, I guess I was trying to compare it with my grandpa's old converted reel mower that my Uncle mounted a 2 Hp 110v motor on back in the early 60's. Now that thing would slice through a lush lawn as fast as you could walk behind it. He had even made it self propelled with larger wheels and a friction drive system

[ChrisOlson]

What does the cutting unit look like? There are/were 3 types. 1. polymer line, like a weed whacker. 2. a large disk with small triangle cutting tips bolted around the edge of the disk. 3. regular straight blade.

The Earthwise mower has a regular straight mulching blade just like any gas mower.
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Chris

[ChrisOlson]

Chris I bought a lawn boy 16" electric mower what seems a 100 years ago now it was one of the first gen electric rotary mowers I think.

I've seen the older Lawnboy 120V electric mowers where you had to drag a cord around.  I've never seen a battery powered one but some research on it reveals that they may have built a 24V model and possibly a 36V model for golf courses and country clubs back in the early 90's.

Actually, Husqvarna makes the ultimate electric mower.  My wife and I seen these Husky AutoMowers going in Stockholm a couple years ago.  They come with a solar charging station and the whole works.
http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-mowers/automower-265-acx/

There's several manufacturers now that make robotic mowers, but Husqvarna AB invented it.  The Husqvarna Group (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈhʉːskvɑːrna]) is the world's largest producer of outdoor power products including robotic mowers, garden tractors, chainsaws and trimmers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husqvarna_AB
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Chris

[Frank S]

Yea the old lawnboy had a cord of course so did the reel mower conversion of my grandpa's
 

[Harold in CR]

 Back in the mid 70's, after the wife chewed me out twice, because our gas mower would not start, even though she filled the tank BOTH times, with Diesel fuel  , I bought a 24V motor from Surplus center, in Nebraska, and converted that mower to battery power. All she had to do then, was flip a switch. I used 2 Diehard marine batteries I bought at the local Sears outlet in town.

 That stopped all THAT crap.