GreenWorks 40V 19-in cordless Lawn Mower
3.9
5
15
15
Electrics finally viable!
After having owned a Yardworks electric mower for 5 years, I was a bit apprehensive about getting another electric unit - the earlier machine had extremely poor battery life, a small cutting area, weighed a ton due to the lead-acid battery and was overall a disappointment. But after having bought this GreenWorks model last spring and having used it for over a year, I'm now convinced that electric mowers have come of age. It has the same cutting area as a gas mower, weighs MUCH less due to the lithium-ion battery, and can easily run over an hour with the dual batteries included in the box. What's more is that it shares identical batteries with several other Greenworks products, adding to the brand's versatility.
A week ago I chuckled as a neighbour of mine spent half an hour trying to get his (very) reluctant gas mower to start up, while I just wheeled out my electric and pushed a button. The only downside to the machine is that the release mechanism to remove the battery from the mower is a bit stiff and definitely a two-handed job.
PROS: Ease of use, reliability, quality of components, battery life, low noise
CONS: A bit fiddly to remove a battery once it's locked into position.
May 26, 2013
Great so far!
Just purchased a couple weeks ago, but have mowed my lawn twice now. Did my front and back separately first time and made sure both batteries worked. Second time, mowed the whole yard and battery lasted the whole time. Thrilled with the ease of use and job it does. I had used a reel mower for last ten years.
May 14, 2013
Good product but one glitch out of box
The cordless lawn mower wouldn't start till I pushed the handle lever forward about an inch before I pushed and held the button down, then pulled the lever back with a noticeable tug feeling, released the button and the lawn mower started up fine. After that it worked consistently well that way when emptied the bag and restarted several times. My yard front and back is about 35 ft by 50 ft combined, or 1750 sq ft. so a small yard and took about 30 mins on one of the two batteries. It would probably get quicker over time. The height was adjusted to 3 or medium, the grass about 5 or 6 inches but thick and plush, so slows down in heavy grass making you walk slower. To speed up, instead of cutting the full 19" blade over the heavy grass parts which was a lot, I did 15" or so and can pick up my walking speed again to normal. The summer heat grass height will be less thick and dense and shouldn't be any problems cutting the full 19" of grass all the time. Through Greenworks service number a representative told me to return the lawn mower over the starting problem or get it fixed free by a relatively nearby service shop 20/30 minutes away. The shop said they can fix it in a weeks time since it is still early in the season. I might do that since can use a friend's gas mower in the meantime if takes longer and since can't test another lawn mower at canadian tire before taking it home. Overall I am quite pleased with the unit. It is solid enough, lighter at 53 lbs, the noise is much quieter, a metal base, plastic top, easy to use, cuts well, though only used the bag and didn't test the mulcher which probably is slower in plush grass and have to use the 15" or so cutting width all the time till the weather heats and drys consistently and slows the grass height and plushness down. A much bigger lawn would probably be longer to cut than with a gas mower, and take 3 batteries during the plush season of May, but after the 2 batteries are used up they charge in 3 hours consecutively one after the other, and can be doing trimming, other chores, lunch or shopping in the meaning time. Another battery from another cordless greenworks product would help for much bigger lawns.
May 3, 2013
Green machine
I had grown very tired of corded mowers but I could not pull the trigger to go with a gas mower and their unique upkeep. I had thought about cordless mowers but I was not thrilled with lead-acid batteries for a number of reasons. I saw this mower and was immediately attracted by the lithium ion battery power and especially that this mower came with two of them. I was a bit hesitant of the price but it's not easy being green. I took the plunge and this has been a great purchase so far. I have had no problems with anything and I made it through the season in fine shape. The mower works very well. It is light and very maneuverable and it has good power. Depending on your mowing height, you may need to slow down to let it cut properly but all mowers work like that - I heard my neighbour's gas mower choking several times this year when it was being pushed too fast through long grass. I mulch my grass which makes the job that much easier overall and also makes for a very healthy lawn. I did use the catcher once in the fall to pick up leaves, which also worked very well. I also leave my grass longer so cut it at 5 usually once a week and a couple times at 4 to allow for some more time between cuts. The batteries both work great, charge quickly and last a long time, usually 2 cuts of my entire 50 foot lot. I was hesitant of the price and the make but this has been the best mower I've ever owned. I would, and have, recommended it to friends who have inquired about my experience.
October 31, 2012
do not buy!
A few things...
After its 4th use, the throttle on the machine no longer works..i.e. when you let go of the bar it continues to run....not to mention if you take the key out, it still continues to run! (malfunction # 1).
Also I went to charge my completely drained battery (again this is after 4th use!) the charger recognizes it as charged? we'll call it malfunction # 2.
when I called greenworks on this, their first question was "does it start"...apparently it's a known "glitch" the mower may not start on first use....apparently you have to "bend back" some bar to make the mower start....exactly what you want to do with your $500 mower! This was also the "technical" proposed solution for my issue.
So now has to go in for repairs (being i'm not about to go bending back bars) instead of getting a return for a mower that is actually worth their asking price.
Mind you, the throttle may be an isolated issue, so maybe you can ignore that as a potential buyer...though seems like others (from the reviews) have had issues with it not starting, so can't really ignore that!
Now on to performance....worked great the first couple of times, i'll give it that....sure the grass was half dead and sure it went through it pretty slow (fair given it's electric and you cannot expect gas like power) but all in all, ok...and batteries last as advertised (though don't forget malfunction # 2).
BUT when the grass got thicker and it got a little long (like normal grass) it just could not get through it...the mower cut out 15 plus times....your only hope is use the side discharge and even then it's no given to get through....and i'm sure you didn't pay $500 to rake up afterwards! my neighbor came out with his cheap bottom of the line gas mower to help me out.....absolutely brutal....though i was thankful being i was out there for the better part of the afternoon mowing my 50 x 100..
i could go on, but those are the main points..and to note, i would not complain if it didn't cost $500...this coming from someone who never has written a review before and was not registered on this site....but decided it was my duty to warn you, the potential buyer, from making a financially bad choice.
August 30, 2012
Awesome Mower
I purchased this 19" Green Works rechargeable mower 2 months ago. I did my homework and checked out all the other competitors and decided to give this one a try. Being my first cordless mower, I was skeptical, but was hoping for the best. I was extremely pleased with my purchase. We have a corner lot and when our home was built, we laid over 4000 square feet of sod. I can cut the front and 30% of the back before I need to change batteries(the second battery is great). My lawn is very dense and thick and was worried about not being able to handle it...NO PROBLEM! As was mentioned with others, it does slow down the motor when it is working hard thru thick long grass. I found the same to be true with my gas mower as well. I really enjoy the fact that it is so light weight and easy to push and lift. My favorite part is NOT having to buy gas and oil and having to worry about annual servicing, going green makes me feel better about my yard work as well.I have no regrets at all and thank the manufacturer for a very well built-environmentally friendly product that I hope will last me for years to come.
PS: This mower was the only one that I found that came with a secondary battery. The price of the replacement battery made this a very good deal as well.
July 15, 2012
Green.....works?
Green-DON'T-works unfortunately. I was excited to go "green" for a lawn mower, but excitement quickly turned to disappointment. After only 1 (yes 1!) successful mowing, this mower stopped working completely. I could not get the mower to start at all. I recharged both batteries, made sure the key was in place, etc, etc... but nothing worked. I purchased this mower when all the reviews were favorable, but I see now that more people are experiencing the same issue I had. For that 1 mow, it did work really well... and I was really happy with it, but there are obviously quality issues. I guess this new technology has a ways to go yet.
July 4, 2012
Worst Purchase Ever
Lawnmower was advertised on sale but no stock. Found one in a store an hour away, so drove down and picked one up. Got the charger and a battery out of the box when I got home and found the charger did not work. Called support line but not open Friday night - Monday to Friday till 5 pm only. Took the charger back to Canadian Tire and got another. Went home and charged the battery. Put it in the lawnmower and it would not work. Need quality control. Gave up, got a refund!!
June 30, 2012
Green "works"
Well I was more than a little skeptical buying this yesterday. A fair but of money on a brand I’m not familiar with, and we have a very large lawn...not the perfect match for a cordless lawn mower. We looked at other models including the Gardena but nothing came close to this model in terms of value in our mind. We’re very happy with the purchase…here are the details.
First, our lot and our lawn. We have a 10,500 sq ft lot with an approximate lawn area of 5000 sq ft. Our front yard lawn is very sparse and doesn’t grow very tall, as we don’t water it. Our back yard is pretty lush. We hadn’t cut the lawn in two ½ weeks, with the front approx. 4 inches, while in the back it was 6 inches and dense. It was quite dry, as we cut it at 4 pm and we haven’t had any rain in 24 hours, but a fair bit of rain in the last few weeks.
So what happened? We used a full battery and a quarter of the second battery (based on the battery indicator) to do the entire yard. I was very impressed. So the pros include:
- Very light and easily maneuverable – not feather light but very noticeable weight reduction compared to gas mowers and lead acid cordless mowers
- Key needs to be inserted next to the battery as well as a two stage starting system (hold button while pulling lever back) very safe, appreciated since we have an adventurous 2 yr old
- Excellent battery life (at least when they’re new), batteries are light and easy to exchange, with a nice positive locking system.
- Good rear seal around the bag and the handle has quick release bolts in the middle to ease storage woes.
- Quiet…so very quiet compared to our old gas mower
- Single point height adjustment is convenient and works well.
- Great for the environment, even in a coal centric electricity grid like Alberta. Lawn mowers are notoriously inefficient at combustion leading to relatively high air emissions…and gas spillage is common.
- Lower maintenance than a gas mower – no air filter, no oil, no gas to go and purchase.
- Warranty is above average.
The cons:
- Need to go a little slow in thick areas…our old gas mower could just plough through but with this mower you can hear the blade slow down.
- Expensive compared to a gasoline or electric mower (duh).
- Cuts okay – not as good as our gas mower but sufficient. A little concerned as the blade gets a little dull what that will mean.
- Expensive replacement batteries..$200 at Cdn tire or ~$170 ordering as a replacement part.
- Nuts on the handle vibrated loose – retightened and they seemed okay. Not sure if this will be a problem in the future. We’ve had this problem though with previous two mowers.
- Width is okay at 19 inch…nice to have it wider.
- Would be helpful having a higher rear wheel to pivot around corners.
- The battery takes 2.5 hours to charge…longer than I would like.
- Parts not currently carried by Cdn tire (blade, bag).
We’ve only used it once, which is a huge caution for a review, but our summers are short so I wanted to provide some thoughts for others sooner rather than later. Many thanks to the other reviewers here. And special thanks to Scott, the logistics manager in Cochrane. He put the lawn mower (which seemed to be the last one available in the Calgary area) on hold for me after hours…rare excellent customer service.
June 30, 2012
2 DEAD MOWERS RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX
Bought first mower, charged battery, installed, mower was dead.
Returned mower for replacement, second one same condition.
Had anticipated a great experience based on other reviews, but mine was not the case- twice.
June 4, 2012
- More GreenWorks 40V 19-in cordless Lawn Mower Reviews
- GreenWorks 40V 19-in cordless Lawn Mower reviews (page 2)
