Husqy battery mowers....anyone?

[HumBurner]

Has anyone here tried the husqy battery push mowers?

I am not finding a whole lot of actual-use reviews, just stupid advertisement/e-news reviews.

I have a couple acres I'm responsible for maintaining at home, and much of it is on slopes, but nothing a gas mower couldn't handle. I weedwhacked it all last year, but weedwhacking kills my body and takes valuable time away from work and gardening.

The landlords and I have thought about splitting a small, 4-wheeler bush-hog, but most of the ground may be too uneven for the hog, with little sinks- and gopher/mole-holes everywhere.

Some of our grasses get 5-6' tall, so this won't be a direct replacement for the 525's.

There's also the run-time factor. Considering the newest ones take two batteries, I'm also wary of how quickly I'll kill the lifespan of the batteries I already use for work.


Thanks

 

[OM617YOTA]

The idea of using a battery push mower on stuff that a bush hog may also be an option gave me pause, that's like Honda Ridgeline vs. F550.

Curious to see what you come up with.

 

[HumBurner]

The idea of using a battery push mower on stuff that a bush hog may also be an option gave me pause, that's like Honda Ridgeline vs. F550.

Curious to see what you come up with.

Yea, I know it sounds ridiculous. Downsides of the quad/hog are it doesn't belong to us, and I'd still have to be here to set it up and adjust it (my lady is disabled and can't use one of her arms for much, but she can drive the quad), plus gasoline (not really an issue.)

I could also just buy a gas push mower for far less, but I'm liking steering away from gas.


The 86lb weight of the w520i is also a huge drawback.

It's a fine line of overall cost vs. time and energy saved.

 

[SS396driver]

Several acres ? With a weed wacker? You need a good zero turn mower I have two acres of grass and I use a small tractor with a 48” deck and it still a long process

 

[OM617YOTA]

Sounds like the quad/hog isn't an option if your lady isn't able to use it.

I have the Kobalt 80v push mower, and absolutely love it. For the average homeowner stuff, the gas push mower is dead. If you were local, I'd let you give it a shot and see if battery electric push mower would handle what you need. I'd expect the Husky mower to do better than my Kobalt.

 

[HumBurner]

Several acres ? With a weed wacker? You need a good zero turn mower I have two acres of grass and I use a small tractor with a 48” deck and it still a long process

I wouldn't trust a riding mower on some of the slopes, but a quad could do it safely if not dewey. Riding mower is way too expensive, as well. If it was all flat ground, maybe.

The garden area is spread out over 3/4 - 1ac, and lots of edging that is required. 36-48" deck wouldn't work, hence the appeal of the smaller deck of a push mower.

It's one of those situations where the cost:benefit is going to be slim, especially as the mower won't be making any money for me. But the cost of reducing hours and stress on my body is hard to quantify, as I can make more money and be less sore.

 

[SS396driver]

Small commercial self propelled would be a good option

 

[SS396driver]

My son has an ego push mower works well for his situation. He’s got a 1/4 acre plot with a 4br raised ranch house with a deck so not much grass to mow

 

[HumBurner]

My son has an ego push mower works well for his situation. He’s got a 1/4 acre plot with a 4br raised ranch house with a deck so not much grass to mow

Good to know!

I'm looking at the lighter model Husqy over the heavier. Have to go pickup my crewboss's saw, so I'm going to see if the shop has any on display. I don't need the bagger or extra 20lbs of mower unless the "displacement" difference is significant enough.

 

[HumBurner]

Well, I did some reading this morning while having my truck looked at.

It doesn't really seem like the Husqy mower is going to do well with really tall grass or bunch-grasses, so it may not be worth the money. I may just have to make a beer-dispenser setup for my hard hat instead!


Most of the mowers, aside from Toro pricey ones aren't suggested for tall grass. The Husqy rec is 6"

 

[DirtyHippo]

the husqvarna battery mowers are more geared towards smaller lawns. we have a customer who bought one and complained that he had to recharge his batteries after 25 minutes of run time. he has a smal-ish yard. the mowers take 2 batteries and unless you want to spend the $1000 to upgrade to the higher capacity batteries you won't get much run time on them. i wouldn't recommend them for anyone with anything over 1/4 acre property

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Have no experience with husky battery stuff but we do sell Stihl battery products at my shop. They (mowers) work good if you have a small well manicured lawn and your only looking to take a little off the top. They struggle with larger rough yards. Gas mowers are more economical when you factor in the cost of the batteries for a “cordless” unit. If your already invested in the husky cordless stuff and have several batteries it’s not so much of a hit financially.

 

[HumBurner]

Have no experience with husky battery stuff but we do sell Stihl battery products at my shop. They (mowers) work good if you have a small well manicured lawn and your only looking to take a little off the top. They struggle with larger rough yards. Gas mowers are more economical when you factor in the cost of the batteries for a “cordless” unit. If your already invested in the husky cordless stuff and have several batteries it’s not so much of a hit financially.

I'm in on the BLi batteries, but I think the drain on the batteries + cost of equipment is not going to give me equal or greater returns on my time and energy.

If I didn't use the batteries for work with the saws, it might be a different story. Or if there wasn't so much logical doubt that the mower could handle 2-4'+ tall grass/thistles/etc...

But if anyone has any experience with the mowers on tall/thick grass, I'd love to hear it.

 

[SCMtnHaul]

A good walk-behind brush mower sounds like what you need. I have used the heck out of my Stihl battery powered mower. I have the model without the power assist so just pushing it along and I really like it. I have mowed some taller weeds in the 16"-24" range but they were not very fibrous and not extremely dense, basically tall grass. Smaller mowers will do a lot but it will be slow and the blade needs to be maintained well.
But as an aside I am very impressed with the Stihl mower's durability and good runtime with AP300, maybe 45 minutes. I do not baby it and it lives outside, covered but still outside.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I've used my Kobalt 80v to mow 3ft grass, lifting the front of the deck and dropping it down on top of the tall stuff, like we've all done with gas mowers when needed. Not ideal, not what the mower is meant for, not conducive to long lifespan, but it worked fine and doubtless I'll use it that way again in the future. Plenty of power. I try to do that in side discharge mode, but not always.

If that kind of thing is only occasional and most of what you do is standard push mower stuff, you'll be fine. If 3ft grass is all you'll be doing, not a good fit.

 

[Seachaser]

Several acres ? With a weed wacker? You need a good zero turn mower I have two acres of grass and I use a small tractor with a 48” deck and it still a long process

This. My time is more valuable. Get a zero turn and you’ll never regret it. A big one will zip that in less than 30 minutes.

 

[HumBurner]

This. My time is more valuable. Get a zero turn and you’ll never regret it. A big one will zip that in less than 30 minutes.

Riding mower is absolutely not an option due to the incline of much of the ground, as well as holes from varmints and water.

We've had some warmer weather on top of another 6" of rain. So far, the grass hasn't come back to full height as it was last year. I'm thinking the degree to which I cut the grass down last year stunted this year's growth some. The thistles also haven't come back as thick as they were, since I got many before spreading seed. That being said, degree days are just going to ramp up in 2-3 weeks, which may make the grass go crazy.

I fondled the 322 today. I like the feel of it and am tempted. Even if it can't get through the first round, it can definitely take care of the maintenance until we dry out.

For the time it will save me, I can work 2-3 days and recoup the cost, days not lost weedwhacking or recovering from.

I'll update if I do pull the trigger.

 

[HumBurner]

I ended up buying a W520i. Haven't had a chance to play with it yet, as I was away from home working the last seven days, but MAYBE I'll have a chance to get it out today, if the pile of other chores before work tomorrow allows it.

I saw some videos of it successfully cutting thick, tall yard-grass and figured worst case is I have to re-sell it. Much of our grass, although tall, is nowhere near as thick as some of the city-lawn types of grass. I'll spare it the 2' diameter bunch-grasses!

 

[NJ1911]

No experience with the Husqy version but I bought an Echo electric push mower last year when my gas Troy-Bilt finally quit. The Echo is an ok mower but one thing I don't like about it and not sure if this applies to all of them, but it does not like to bag cut grass. What I mean is if you have an area that got a little long on you and you mow it then go back over it to bag, it leaves most of the clippings on the ground. It just does not seem to have the ability to move/pick up the grass like my gas one did.

 

[OM617YOTA]

No experience with the Husqy version but I bought an Echo electric push mower last year when my gas Troy-Bilt finally quit. The Echo is an ok mower but one thing I don't like about it and not sure if this applies to all of them, but it does not like to bag cut grass. What I mean is if you have an area that got a little long on you and you mow it then go back over it to bag, it leaves most of the clippings on the ground. It just does not seem to have the ability to move/pick up the grass like my gas one did.

My Kobalt is similar. Moving air takes power, and with a battery mower, power is limited. Battery mowers use a blade that moves less air as a power conservation method, and thus don't bag as well.

I mulch 99.9% of the time and don't notice.