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ElectricTundra
P85D AP1
Update on Echo Cordless. Thus far 3 of 5 batteries have had to be replaced. On the plus side Echo/Gardner have been good about the replacements. It's an irritating pain to deal with though; the time taken to call and give them all of the information and having to go some period short a battery. Also, when you call their service line they give you a different number to call which is kind of a pain until you remember to save that number.
Interestingly they've not wanted any of the defective batteries returned which suggests they've a known problem and have no need to do any analysis. On my last two replacements I've also suggested that perhaps our charger is bad but they've not seemed interested in pursuing that.
At this rate I'm figuring they'll have to replace 27 batteries before the warranty runs out.
Overall I like Echo's line (we've a mower, blower, and trimmer/powerhead) and being able to use the electric powerhead with several attachments but they've clearly a serious battery or BMS issue.
Interestingly they've not wanted any of the defective batteries returned which suggests they've a known problem and have no need to do any analysis. On my last two replacements I've also suggested that perhaps our charger is bad but they've not seemed interested in pursuing that.
At this rate I'm figuring they'll have to replace 27 batteries before the warranty runs out.
Overall I like Echo's line (we've a mower, blower, and trimmer/powerhead) and being able to use the electric powerhead with several attachments but they've clearly a serious battery or BMS issue.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Since you have to old batteries did you try any diagnostics or disassembly of them? Would be interesting to test each cell individually and see if one is bad, or if it's a bad connection or something.
strider
Active Member
$11,164 with freight was the initial cost. The mower is $8,995, Solar canopy is $1,599, Monster Mode is $80, and freight to NE Oklahoma is $490. The price for the battery and solar canopy (only those parts qualify for the tax credit) is $7,199 x 30%. So the tax credit would be $2,159 for a grand total of $9,005 delivered. Assuming this unit holds up as well as a commercial grade ICE ZTR the price is identical plus has lower operating and maintenance costs.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
Has this one been mentioned before? Just ran across it when searching for electric riding mowers again. Looks like a good candidate to me. It's not Lithium Ion, and the deck is a little small, but otherwise it's looking pretty attractive to me. Biggest complaint in reviews is rough ride, but that doesn't scare me; my butt can take it.
Ryobi 38 in. Battery Electric Riding Lawn Mower-RY48110 - The Home Depot
Ryobi 38 in. Battery Electric Riding Lawn Mower-RY48110 - The Home Depot
ElectricTundra
P85D AP1
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Likely sealed lead acid. Should actually be fine if you can do all your cutting using 50% of capacity or less.
bmanke
Member
There is a much easier solution- full automation.
iMow Robot Lawn Mower | Robotic Mower | STIHL USA Mobile
iMow - You Tesla.
iMow Robot Lawn Mower | Robotic Mower | STIHL USA Mobile
iMow - You Tesla.
strider
Active Member
I was going to go down the Husqvarna robot mower route but we have a (large) dog. I was concerned about how it would handle the poop.There is a much easier solution- full automation.
iMow Robot Lawn Mower | Robotic Mower | STIHL USA Mobile
iMow - You Tesla.
bmanke
Member
Like any lawnmower - if it runs over poop - it will smell like poop! There are some differences between iMow and Automower..... I can explain if you like.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
I'd like to get a Mean Green, but those are around $10K, and that's pretty extreme. I might be willing to pony up the dough for it, but I don't think I can get the green light from my wife on that one. However, $2500 for the Ryobi should pass full committee approval. :-D
I don't think the automated ones would work too well for me. I've got trees, sticks, walnuts, hedge apples, a fenced yard with areas inside and outside the fence that need to be mowed, children who leave toys out in the yard occasionally, sprinkler heads to be careful around, lots of things for a mower bot to choke on.
I don't think the automated ones would work too well for me. I've got trees, sticks, walnuts, hedge apples, a fenced yard with areas inside and outside the fence that need to be mowed, children who leave toys out in the yard occasionally, sprinkler heads to be careful around, lots of things for a mower bot to choke on.
bmanke
Member
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
I just ordered the Ryobi RM480ex electric riding mower. Should have it by mid-March. I will provide some feedback on it after I've had it for awhile.
Direct ship to home is an added $55, which isn't bad. I don't have a trailer of my own to use, and this is cheaper than anything I could probably arrange myself.
Direct ship to home is an added $55, which isn't bad. I don't have a trailer of my own to use, and this is cheaper than anything I could probably arrange myself.
SpiceWare
Member
Stopped in at Lowes yesterday and see they now have a self-propelled model for $549. The one I bought in 2016 is now $449 (was 499).
DFibRL8R
Active Member
Hadn't seen this one yet:
In stock at my local Home Despot for $2499 or 200 more for 100Ah battery. Looks like the battery is lead acid though
RYOBI Tools
In stock at my local Home Despot for $2499 or 200 more for 100Ah battery. Looks like the battery is lead acid though
RYOBI Tools
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Barklikeadog
Active Member
Since I moved from enormous yards to an acre.... have used a
Kobalt 80V mower (Need all 4 batteries to complete job)
80V String Trimmer
80V Hedge trimmer
Going on 5 years old, still going strong.
Kobalt 80V mower (Need all 4 batteries to complete job)
80V String Trimmer
80V Hedge trimmer
Going on 5 years old, still going strong.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
A quick update on my Ryobi RM480ex electric riding mower.
In line with some of the reviews, I can confirm a couple of minor issues with this mower.
1) The drive system, compared with shall we say a Tesla, kind of sucks. It definitely doesn't seem smooth, which is unfortunate, since that is usually one of the big bonuses of electric drive. Also, the drive motor is noisier than some might expect. It's still fairly quiet, far quieter than a gas mower engine mind you, but it would probably annoy those of you who are nitpicky about Tesla drive unit sound. Also, it beeps like a dump truck when driven in reverse. I am debating tracking down the speaker and amputating it (the only reason it's even a debate is because it sounds at useful times like when getting off tractor and it's still on and the brake is off -- still, the sound during backup is obnoxious enough that I'm probably still going to disable it).
2) Having accelerator on right and brake on left takes some getting used to. Wish they would just have both on the right like a typical gas riding lawn mower.
3) Sure enough (as I read in another review before buying), it's hard to get off of it without knocking the deck height lever out of it's slot, causing the deck to drop when trying to get off of it.
4) Rough ride. Probably due to the small rear wheels and tires.
5) The power display seems to only show hours of operation on it's numeric readout, despite having indicators like it can also show voltage and battery percentage (however, there is a bar readout to show battery level). Personally, I find an hours of operation readout to be entirely pointless on a residential lawn tractor. Ok, put it there if you want, but don't give false hope of additional functionality with unused labeling on the display.
Despite these issues, I'm still very happy with this mower at the moment. It is far past time someone built a good electric riding mower that wasn't priced like a supercar. I wish it could have been a name brand company like John Deere, but the name brand companies are still stuck in the past and unwilling to evolve. So it was up to Ryobi, and so far it is pretty good. Hopefully they can improve on the small issues in the next version.
In line with some of the reviews, I can confirm a couple of minor issues with this mower.
1) The drive system, compared with shall we say a Tesla, kind of sucks. It definitely doesn't seem smooth, which is unfortunate, since that is usually one of the big bonuses of electric drive. Also, the drive motor is noisier than some might expect. It's still fairly quiet, far quieter than a gas mower engine mind you, but it would probably annoy those of you who are nitpicky about Tesla drive unit sound. Also, it beeps like a dump truck when driven in reverse. I am debating tracking down the speaker and amputating it (the only reason it's even a debate is because it sounds at useful times like when getting off tractor and it's still on and the brake is off -- still, the sound during backup is obnoxious enough that I'm probably still going to disable it).
2) Having accelerator on right and brake on left takes some getting used to. Wish they would just have both on the right like a typical gas riding lawn mower.
3) Sure enough (as I read in another review before buying), it's hard to get off of it without knocking the deck height lever out of it's slot, causing the deck to drop when trying to get off of it.
4) Rough ride. Probably due to the small rear wheels and tires.
5) The power display seems to only show hours of operation on it's numeric readout, despite having indicators like it can also show voltage and battery percentage (however, there is a bar readout to show battery level). Personally, I find an hours of operation readout to be entirely pointless on a residential lawn tractor. Ok, put it there if you want, but don't give false hope of additional functionality with unused labeling on the display.
Despite these issues, I'm still very happy with this mower at the moment. It is far past time someone built a good electric riding mower that wasn't priced like a supercar. I wish it could have been a name brand company like John Deere, but the name brand companies are still stuck in the past and unwilling to evolve. So it was up to Ryobi, and so far it is pretty good. Hopefully they can improve on the small issues in the next version.
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