I had been researching non-gas lawn mowers. Found a couple that I'd be interested in. Was checking out CraigsList & someone had a Kobalt, 80-volt rechargeable battery lawn mower for sale for $300. It was the exact model I was interested in.

Story is his neighbor bought & used it once & decided he didn't like it. Waited too long to return it. Didn't want the hassle of selling it online so offered it to his neighbor. Neighbor already has a mower, just bought it to resell it since he's not working. Literally looks brand new, guy had it charged up so we could try it before buying. We got the mower, battery, & charger. I used it as soon as I got home. This is the first time this season our yard has been done so it really needed it. I did one pass on the front yard on highest setting, then a second pass on 4. Honestly don't think I needed to do the highest setting first. Definitely not the power of a gas but very quiet & convenient. My husband came out to tell me he couldn't even hear it from inside the house.

I started on the large back yard, battery ran out of juice about a third into it. I have no idea if it was fully charged to begin with. Put it on the charger while I used the weed whacker, took my dog for some exercise. Took about an hour & 15 min for battery to completely recharge. Then finished the back yard. We're only suppose to have 1 day here this week with no rain so I was on a mission.

One thing to note that I didn't expect. Even without it "running" if you push the self propel button, it still works. I accidentally pushed it when taking it back to the garage & it scared me.
All in all, happy so far. Anything that needs industrial will just have to be done with the weed whacker, it's a heavy-duty industrial unit.

I have the same mower - like you said, it isn't as powerful as a gas mower, but it gets the job done. Ours came with 2 batteries though, which definitely helps. Our batteries take about 40 minutes to fully charge.
We've had ours for over a year - its been great - and same with us, you can't hear it if your in the house.

From OP: "My husband came out to tell me he couldn't even hear it from inside the house."

So...is this a good idea for a Mother's Day gift?

Seems like a fair price don't those sell for $500 new? If it turns out the battery was fully charged will you invest in a second battery or just run the weed eater like you did while recharging the battery?

Neighbor is looking at buying one, he's under the paralysis by analysis problem but may be down to the Kobalt.

They have a 3 year warranty on the battery, replacements on the 80v are not inexpensive, $299 each

What ah battery, the 6.0 should give you 80 minutes of run time.

Battery Link

If the original owner didn't register it, you may want to try and do that to get the warranty in your name. The warranty includes the batteries replacement in the first 3 years I believe. They also have a warranty plan for $129 that gives you a discount of 50% on parts and believe it includes batteries.

Sounds like you got a nice deal and they sure are quiet...

For $300 you got a very good deal. I bought the blower, weed whip & mower last year and liked them so much I bought the snow blower before winter as well. Its nice having 4 batteries now, but the only one that uses much juice is the blower. I can usually get 2 - 3 cuts out of my mower & 1 - 2 from my weed whip. The blower, however, I have to use 2 full batteries to clean up after mowing.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, I only had to use the blower 2x this winter and even that was very good. All in all, I am very happy with my Kobata equipment.

I started a similar thread recently.

Pretty happy with mine after a few weeks. Even my 17 year old kid can make it work.

fwbulldog: your thread is what got this mower on my radar. Thank you.

We got the bagger attachment too & I used it with the mower. I figure I will use it more often seeing as I don't have to fiddle with gas (which I always spill) & fumes.

I have to kill my gas Toro first

quote:

Originally posted by MagicHorse:
I don't have to fiddle with gas (which I always spill) & fumes.

My Stihl trimmer is still going strong, so I keep filling it with gas. Seems almost impossible to fill a small engine tank without spilling a little, or dripping it somewhere. Maybe I just need a better delivery system.

It may outlive me, who knows? Having had the Kobalt, I don't think I'd hesitate to buy the string trimmer, or blower.

I also like the fact that it doesn't vibrate nearly as much as our ancient gas mower (that no longer runs). I have been having a lot of issues with my hand that I had broken as a teenager & multiple surgeries on. That hand bothers me too much using the weed whacker.

Maybe a great "Mother-In-Law" Gift

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I have to kill my gas Toro first

Yep. I have a Commercial Snapper walk behind I really like (and spent a ton of cash on several years ago) that will have to die before I shell out any more cash for a lawnmower.

Get an extra battery or two. Heard Lowe’s is killing the Kobalt line.

What size yards do you guys have?

I recently bought a Stihl blower because it wasn't made in China. It's working well so far.