light easy to manoeuvre lawnmower

angeldaisy

can anyone help with this. my elderly mother still insists on cutting her own lawn.
she needs a lightweight easy to use lawnmower, it's only a small area, but has a slight incline so needs to be easy to turn around.

Discodog

angeldaisy wrote: »

can anyone help with this. my elderly mother still insists on cutting her own lawn.
she needs a lightweight easy to use lawnmower, it's only a small area, but has a slight incline so needs to be easy to turn around.

A Bosch battery mower would be ideal.

angeldaisy

Discodog wrote: »

A Bosch battery mower would be ideal.

thanks for that, I'll take a look at those

_Brian

Would it be small enough for one of the flymo type mowers.

https://m.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7304606/Trail/searchtext%3EMower.htm

Discodog

angeldaisy wrote: »

thanks for that, I'll take a look at those

Aldi have a battery mower from Monday

https://www.aldi.ie/gardenline-cordless-lawnmower-36v/p/082915202820000

phormium

I am on my second battery mower, have had them for over 20 yrs, best thing ever! No messing with petrol or leads around the place, never had them serviced, don't even know if you can, never needed it. Great yokes and that's a very good price in Aldi, my last one was well over 300 but reduced to half in B&Q because they couldn't sell them. In general I think they are not great sellers here but that might change! Great for a small garden and trouble free in my experience.

My present one is a Bosch Rotak, looks very similar to that Aldi one. My first one was a Flymo, it looked like Fisher Price toy but was very handy little thing, smaller than the Bosch but I don't think you can get them anymore.

angeldaisy

she wants to 'try before she gets one, so I guess trips to garden centres etc to see how they handle first.
at least now we have an idea of what to look at
thanks everyone

DavyD_83

Honestly didn't know battery/cordless lawnmowers were a thing.
I now really want one.
Only have small enough gardens, and cables are a pain to be keeping out of the way, and moving from front garden to back

jomalone14

Lots of suggestions for light manoeuvrable mowers here.

Another idea to consider......try to get a mulcher added to whatever machine you go for...no more emptying a potentially heavy grass bag.

copacetic

I have a 36V Bosch and it’s really good so far, light and quite powerful, can get a mulch attachment, but I just don’t use the grass box and give a light trim once a week or so without a grass box. Works well for the lawn. Saw battery can go in a strimmer, chainsaw, hedge trimmer etc..

Knine

I have the flymo & while it is great for the small amount of grass I have. I hate the cord. Is there a small battery one that anyone can recommend?

phormium

The one in Aldi is the smallest I would say, as I mentioned I have a battery one for years. Initially I had an electric Flymo and discovered by accident that they made a battery model, it was very small, I had to get it from UK and it was expensive but worth every penny to me. I'd say I bought that in mid 90s, it lasted a long time with one battery replacement but then it bit the dust.

My new research showed that the smallest affordable on the market then was Bosch Rotak, very same as the electric model of same name but with a battery. I luckily picked this up in end of season sale in B&Q for half price as it's expensive enough new. I have this one now a good few years and still going fine on same battery.

They are not easy got I find as not popular here, probably more of a UK city thing for small gardens which is why B&Q had them in their stock but weren't selling here hence the cheap sell off!

Knine, if I was in the market for one right now I'd buy that Aldi one, it's very reasonable and looks practically the same as what I have in the branded model and they are not readily available with big choice as I'd say the average Irish garden is too big for a battery one.

Angeldaisy - I'd buy that Aldi one just in case, you can always return it if she goes with something else, I haven't googled but doubt there is anything available as reasonable as that in a battery model anyway based on my previous experience of them. I doubt you will get battery one in any garden centre to have a try of, the Aldi ones looks very similar to Bosch Rotak that I have so maybe a trip to a big Woodies or similar to have a look at that model might be an idea.

Discodog

The one negative about the Aldi one is it only has one battery. No idea if you can get spare batteries.

phormium

True but I have never replaced the battery in my Bosch one and it's as good as the day I got it which is many years ago. I have never much problem with battery life, I suppose in general they are not used that much over the years and I do not leave it on constant charge, it just needs charging for half hour or so before use.

magicbastarder

copacetic wrote: »

I have a 36V Bosch and it’s really good so far, light and quite powerful, can get a mulch attachment, but I just don’t use the grass box and give a light trim once a week or so without a grass box. Works well for the lawn. Saw battery can go in a strimmer, chainsaw, hedge trimmer etc..

how long does the battery last per charge?

copacetic

magicbastarder wrote: »

how long does the battery last per charge?

I bought the ‘bare tool’ rotak 43 as I already had 36V batteries from power tools, they are 4.0AH batteries, not sure if that is what comes standard. They last about an 1hr, maybe a little less depending on how hard you are working it. Charge in about same time.

I’ve a big enough garden for the city, maybe 200-250m2 or so of grass. takes about 20 mins, I charge the battery every 2 cuts or so as I use it for strimming also. I might get 3 cuts, but only light ones.

Personally I wouldn’t get the Aldi one, can get the smallest Rotak 32 for €250 or so from Amazon and then you have no issues with battery compatibility etc.

I have the scarifier from Aldi and it’s great, but it’s plug in. I personally don’t really trust their more complex stuff.

Discodog

I couldn't rely on one battery especially as the duration is dependent on a lot of factors. Nothing worse than it running out before the end of the job.

The Bosch Rotaks are very expensive. I might consider a Stihl/Viking

magicbastarder

copacetic wrote: »

Personally I wouldn’t get the Aldi one, can get the smallest Rotak 32 for €250 or so from Amazon and then you have no issues with battery compatibility etc.

an idea what's the difference between the 32 and the 34R? 34R available for €160 from woodies:
https://www.woodies.ie/bosch-rotak-34-r-lawnmower-315180?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuN-yrMqj2gIV6rztCh3OUwQaEAQYBSABEgIdffD_BwE

Discodog

magicbastarder wrote: »

an idea what's the difference between the 32 and the 34R? 34R available for €160 from woodies:
https://www.woodies.ie/bosch-rotak-34-r-lawnmower-315180?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuN-yrMqj2gIV6rztCh3OUwQaEAQYBSABEgIdffD_BwE

That's a mains powered mower.

magicbastarder

doh!

Joseph SEE

I purchased the 36V Aldi mower. I highly recommend it. I got another one for my mother.

It takes me 23 minutes - all-in - between opening and closing the shed door to mow the 2 lawns. It used to take me 50 to 55 minutes to mow the lawns with the corded mower. The area is about 200 square metres in total and it leaves a 70% to 75% charge. I have made 3 cuts so far.

I believe it should cut a 500 to 600 square metre lawn without issue on one charge, if you are cutting it weekly.

The mower uses Samsung cells for the battery. I strongly suspect it uses high power 20R cells. The charger is set to 40V - which means it will only charge the cells to 85%. Likewise, the charger takes 2 hours to charge from full. This means that everything is maximised towards a long battery life. The recommended charge rate for most lithium-ion cells is 0.5C - which is what this charger is set to deliver.

The mower is quite powerful and has no issue with long grass. But of course, moss should be avoided, like with most mowers.

The wheels are large and it is much easier to push compared to the corded mower.

I have contacted the company that is responsible for spares about a second battery. They haven't gotten the prices in yet. But I suspect 90 to 100 Euro for a second battery - which is fair enough given what appears to be the heavily discounted price of the mower. Gforce charge 150 AUD for a battery and the mower itself costs 399 AUD on their website.

Sumec is the manufacturer from what I can tell and they're branded as Gforce in Australia. Gforce have a whole range of garden equipment using the same battery pack design.

If you are sitting on the fence, I'd say go for it. It has a 3 year warranty and only costs 170 Euro. The running costs are negligible - I have worked it out that it is costing less than 1 cent per cut for electricity, even conservatively factoring in charger inefficiency. The mower has a fairly large 40cm blade (most blades are smaller for cordless mowers with Ego being among the exceptions), a 45 litre grass box, quick-release handles and a clever indicator that let's you know if the bag is full based on airflow. Most importantly the most expensive part the battery - uses high quality cells and everything is geared towards maximising the battery's life. You could even help it out by storing it at a 50% charge, or a little less, during the winter months.

recedite

copacetic wrote: »

I have a 36V Bosch and it’s really good so far, light and quite powerful, can get a mulch attachment, but I just don’t use the grass box and give a light trim once a week or so without a grass box. Works well for the lawn. Saw battery can go in a strimmer, chainsaw, hedge trimmer etc..

That "mulcher" is just a thin piece of rubbishy plastic that blocks the back end of the mower and forces the clipping downwards through a tiny slit. Mower then clogs up.

Its a great mower, but for mulching I leave the collector box off, suspending the back flap up in the air slightly with a piece of string, so the clippings spray out to the rear at one side, just at the level of my feet.

The chainsaw is great too, especially when doing a lot of start/stop work with smaller branches.

Joseph SEE

A year has passed and the mower is still going strong.

I see Aldi have greatly improved their cordless offering this year. They have de-bundled the battery and the charger with them now being sold separately across their "Ferrex" range of cordless tools.

You can purchase the lawnmower, strimmer, chainsaw, hedgecutter, drill, impact drill, angle grinder and multitool separately along with a dual voltage battery and a normal 18V battery. 3 year warranty on the tools - 2 year warranty on the batteries.

I've purchased their power tools and hedgecutters (the strimmer was sold out) along with 2 batteries.

If you opt for the mower this year, I strongly recommend that 2 battery packs are also purchased unless you have quite a small lawn. That brings the total price to 190 Euro, if I'm not mistaken for mower, charger and batteries. It is more expensive than last years 170 Euro price but you're getting 25% more capacity/run-time with 2 batteries in return.

I stuck the multimeter on the charger for last years mower and I see it is charging the battery to about 90% - not as low as I previously thought - I just initially went by the voltage number on the charger without testing it.

In terms of the new battery, I'd say they are very likely Samsung 25R cells. These are proven cells which have been around a while and are high power cells rated at 8C continuous discharge current - I'd rate them at 2.45Ah per cell not 2.5Ah.

The dual voltage batteries are interesting. They are 2x 5S 1P battery packs that can be either run in series for 10S (36V) and 2.5Ah (nameplate capacity) or 5S (18V) and 5Ah capacity (again nameplate capacity). I think deWalt may have been early to market with dual voltage batteries - but they all apparently work in the same manner.

For comparison - the larger battery is 90Whr compared to last years 144Whr battery. For this reason 2 battery packs would be recommended giving you 180Whrs. The previous battery in last years mower had twice the number of cells, but they were likely 20R cells which meant a nominal capacity of about 1.95Ah per cell (2Ah nameplate).

The nominal voltage of the batteries is 18V or 36V - the 20V/40V is misleading, but many seem to do this and now you're in a situation that if your product is correctly labelled then the ill-informed customer will opt for the product with the higher voltage figure even though they are the same voltage. Ego (now gone from Ireland but remaining in the UK) is also another that is fond of marketing their 50.4V nominal batteries as 56V.

Edit:


I'd also recommend the larger battery over the smaller 18V battery for all the power tools as the charger is rated for 4A. I don't know if it modulates this according to the battery's BMS - but I suspect not. If it doesn't, it is much better to charge a battery at 0.8C then it is to charge it at 1.6C for the longevity of the battery.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^

so you recommend this one over this one??

Discodog

My Aldi Gardenline 36volt mower is still excellent & I am using it more than most.

Joseph SEE

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^

so you recommend this one over this one??

The only advantage of the smaller battery is weight. The larger battery is still quite small. The drill is the only tool I tried. I was surprised at how heavy it was on its own. The battery didn't appear to have much impact on its weight. But it did feel extremely solid.

If weight is an absolute priority and you're only interested in the 18V tools go with the smaller battery.

However, the battery is already very light. It's much lighter than a typical lawnmower battery - probably at least half the weight.

You're getting a 100% increase in capacity with the larger battery at only a 67% increase in cost.

The dual voltage battery works with all tools too. The smaller battery does not.

recedite

Joseph SEE wrote: »

For comparison - the larger battery is 90Whr compared to last years 144Whr battery. For this reason 2 battery packs would be recommended giving you 180Whrs....

In terms of the new battery, I'd say they are very likely Samsung 25R cells. These are proven cells which have been around a while and are high power cells rated at 8C continuous discharge current - I'd rate them at 2.45Ah per cell not 2.5Ah.

Just by way of comparison the Bosch large batteries from previous years are 4Ah at the 36V, giving 144Whr of charge. But its about twice the physical size of these new Aldi batteries.


Basically for those who are confused, multiply the Ah by the V to see how much total electricity your battery holds eg

Bosch 4 x 36 = 144 total

Aldi 2.5 x 36 = 90 total (or switch voltage and 5 x 18 = 90 total)


But the voltage is what determines how powerful the tool feels, so the 18V tool will go for twice as long as the 36V tool using the same battery, but it will only be half as powerful while it is running.

Joseph SEE

recedite wrote: »

Just by way of comparison the Bosch large batteries from previous years are 4Ah at the 36V, giving 144Whr of charge. But its about twice the physical size of these new Aldi batteries.


Basically for those who are confused, multiply the Ah by the V to see how much total electricity your battery holds eg

Bosch 4 x 36 = 144 total

Aldi 2.5 x 36 = 90 total (or switch voltage and 5 x 18 = 90 total)


But the voltage is what determines how powerful the tool feels, so the 18V tool will go for twice as long as the 36V tool using the same battery, but it will only be half as powerful while it is running.

Yes, the Bosch battery has the same capacity as Aldi's mower from last year. This year's battery is smaller but with higher energy density in terms of weight.

A higher voltage can result in a more powerful tool. But it would be a mistake to think this way generally.

Wattage is what determines power. It doesn't matter if 1,000W is derived from 10V at 100A or 100V at 10A. The power is the same in either case.

The higher the voltage the faster the motor RPM, but in most cases the motor windings (KV rating) will be specced for a specific voltage.

The real disadvantage of low voltage is that the wiring needs to be thicker for the greater current levels.

recedite

Joseph SEE wrote: »

Yes, the Bosch battery has the same capacity as Aldi's mower from last year. This year's battery is smaller but with higher energy density in terms of weight.

A higher voltage can result in a more powerful tool. But it would be a mistake to think this way generally.

Wattage is what determines power. It doesn't matter if 1,000W is derived from 10V at 100A or 100V at 10A. The power is the same in either case.

The higher the voltage the faster the motor RPM, but in most cases the motor windings (KV rating) will be specced for a specific voltage.

The real disadvantage of low voltage is that the wiring needs to be thicker for the greater current levels.

What you're saying is true in a general physics or electrical engineering sense. The watt is the basic unit of power.



But in terms of cordless tools, a higher voltage is what tends to deliver more power. This because the tool and the motor size is restricted to a small and cheap size, so amps are restricted.


For car batteries, people always used to think in terms of Ah (amp per hour) to determine "the battery power", but that only worked because voltage was fixed/restricted at 12V.
Now that we have a plethora of different battery voltages doing the rounds in various tools and vehicles, the Ah unit becomes meaningless or confusing (as in the example above where the one Aldi battery has 2 different Ah ratings) so its better to go back to using the basic unit of storage capacity which is the WHr or kWhr.

fryup

^^^^^^^^

wah?

keep it light lads, we're not all scientists (;))

recedite

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^

wah?

keep it light lads, we're not all scientists (;))

Fart around with 18V or have big banging boom time with 36V. You choose

iamtony

Just to make life easy for anyone looking at the above, I cut my back garden which is 60 foot long 30 wide full of grass and my front garden which is 20 X 20 and the the grass verge outside and one battery lasted the whole job and the battery indicator still showed 2 bars our of 3. I seemed to get more cutting time than advertised.

To summarize it's very good stuff.

Discodog

I would be very concerned about the new Aldi cordless range. The idea is excellent, one battery for several tools but will Aldi keep this range running in the future ?

I bought the previous Li ion Mower last years & it's excellent but the company that make the batteries have literally disappeared.

recedite

I suppose the question is whether these are generic type batteries with the same fitting as (at least one other) manufacturers.

Its not that the inside of different batteries are vastly different, its just that different ranges and manufacturers deliberately make it impossible to fit other batteries into their charger, just to force you to buy other tools from their range. Like the old mobile phone chargers - deliberate annoyance built-in.

iamtony

I can confirm these batteries are not interchangeable with DeWalt batteries despite looking similar.

This range is only starting. If you Google ferrex tools a few hits down you will see the patent list and it's huge, it looks like they will have everything compatible over the next few years. I think they will be doing this stuff for a long time.

P.s the mower is great. Not as light as my previous Lidl(corded) one. But that was a 60 quid job.

Joseph SEE

Discodog wrote: »

I would be very concerned about the new Aldi cordless range. The idea is excellent, one battery for several tools but will Aldi keep this range running in the future ?

I bought the previous Li ion Mower last years & it's excellent but the company that make the batteries have literally disappeared.

Yes, you can get a replacement battery for 70 GBP for the Gardenline mower.

phormium

Anyone buy the latest Ferrex cordless lawnmower in Aldi? Impossible to get the 40v battery but I got one anyway and plugged it into the charger today, within minutes there was a loud bang and the lights weren't lighting anymore. Plugged it out and nasty smell from charger, something went wrong in there!

I'll have to return it obviously but if the battery bit is shagged too then the whole mower has to back as there isn't a 40v battery for them to be got for love or money in the country! Shame cos I really wanted that mower

Joseph SEE

phormium wrote: »

Anyone buy the latest Ferrex cordless lawnmower in Aldi? Impossible to get the 40v battery but I got one anyway and plugged it into the charger today, within minutes there was a loud bang and the lights weren't lighting anymore. Plugged it out and nasty smell from charger, something went wrong in there!

I'll have to return it obviously but if the battery bit is shagged too then the whole mower has to back as there isn't a 40v battery for them to be got for love or money in the country! Shame cos I really wanted that mower

Yes, they badly screwed up by having too many 18V batteries but not enough 36V dual voltage batteries. They should have had the ratio the other way round. Poor decision-making.

There were a whole load of lawn-mowers left over in the local shop, chiefly because there were no 36V batteries left.

I'd say the polarity was wired incorrectly on the charger and it blew due to the dead short. The battery should be okay with a bit of luck. Generally it's the chargers that the damage is restricted to, but it can damage the BMS.

fryup

is there a danger of electric shock from those faulty chargers?

iamtony

fryup wrote: »

is there a danger of electric shock from those faulty chargers?

Once it's unplugged it should be fine then bring it back.

iamtony

phormium wrote: »

Anyone buy the latest Ferrex cordless lawnmower in Aldi? Impossible to get the 40v battery but I got one anyway and plugged it into the charger today, within minutes there was a loud bang and the lights weren't lighting anymore. Plugged it out and nasty smell from charger, something went wrong in there!

I'll have to return it obviously but if the battery bit is shagged too then the whole mower has to back as there isn't a 40v battery for them to be got for love or money in the country! Shame cos I really wanted that mower

Shane this happened to you. I've used the mower every week and it's great. The grass has never looked better.
I use the batteries in all the tools almost daily and no issues at all.

disposableFish

Just go corded,
There's lots of good ones out there and even the cheap ones are basically fine.


Battery ones?
The bosch ones look good and you should be able to get their batteries into the future - very expensive though.
Makita do a cordless one but it doesn't look that great but uses their standard batteries (looks like it's farmed out rather than made by makita). Quality looks similar to what I've seen from lidl/aldi, but maybe I'm wrong.

phormium

I'm using battery mowers 25 yrs or so, originally a Flymo which was like a fisher price toy but did a great job, lasted about 15 yrs with one battery change in that time. Recent one is a Bosch, bought for half price in B&Q sale and still flying. Was buying the Aldi one for my daughter, managed to order a battery in UK from Aldi and delivered to family coming home shortly

Can't beat a battery one for a small lawn, no cords, no petrol, no servicing, no messing, great job!

Joseph SEE

Looks like Aldi are selling the chargers and the same batteries again this Sunday. They look identical to the batteries and chargers sold with the lawnmower earlier this year.

iamtony

Joseph SEE wrote: »

Looks like Aldi are selling the chargers and the same batteries again this Sunday. They look identical to the batteries and chargers sold with the lawnmower earlier this year.

Yes that's them alright and a few body only tools I've been waiting for since the first batch dropped. Didn't notice any 40v batteries when I looked a week ago but hopefully that's changed.