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anyone got the new REMINGTON 'hybrid' lawnmower

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by cnschult, May 4, 2008.

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  1. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    okay if you havn't seen the tv commercial on the remington mower go to their website, its amazing, I tried a demo at a home improvement discount chain store in the midwest called 'Menards' and it was great, not to mention quiet.

    It can work on battery alone for 60 minutes, if your lawn is too large you have 2 options: first, you can mow the front lawn one day and the back lawn the next day. or second, you can start by mowing the area farthest from your house and then hook up an a/c cord to do the parts close to your home when your battery dies.

    the corded option is also great for 'heavy-duty' work like mowing up all the leaves into the bag. With 2 functions, its kind of like a hybrid. With no catalytic converter, your average push mower puts out more pollution than any truck of SUV.

    so has anyone bought 1 yet, and how do you like it? I'd really like to buy one but it seems my 13 year old honda HR214 mower will just last forever, I can't remember the last time I actually wished something I owned would break down.
     
    #1 cnschult, May 4, 2008
  2. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    This sounds like a neat product.

    I wonder how slow it is not plugged in. they say that you need to plug it in in order to match gas mower performance... no figures of any sort listed.

    How many watts does this thing pull? is it possible to run it off of a inverter?.. i wonder...

    Definitely for for the home owner with small lawns... most of the buyers, right?

    Maybe i could build a better battery pack...
     
    #2 V8Cobrakid, May 4, 2008
  3. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    the remington is 60w(that's the beauty of lithium-ion) and I just saw a commercial for a black & decker cordless mower that is only 24w (probably nickel-halide) so the remington is 2.5x more powerful.

    & if you've ever mowed your own lawn you should know that you don't need all the power a gas mower generates because most of the time you are just cutting grass. You only need to plug it in if your yard is too large or if you need heavy duty mowing like sucking up leaves in the fall.

    the ANSI or some other government agency limits the rpm of all mower blades, that's why the remington can match a gas powered mower.

    It would be like the DOT putting speed limiters so no car can go over 90mph. then the prius would technically have the same top speed as a porsche or ferrari, but we all know if those electronic limiters were removed the prius would not have near the top speed as those sports cars.

    I'm not telling anybody to throw your perfectly working lawn mower in the trash. But if you are in the market, you should definitely put it at the top of your shopping list (check the website for other retailers in your area)
    , I'm still waiting for any priuschat members who have bought & used one to give us their opinion on the mower.
     
    #3 cnschult, May 4, 2008
  4. biff_debris

    biff_debris WOOF!

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    I use a people-powered mower, myself. No fuel, no batteries, no pollution... it works great and it's cheap to boot!

    Perhaps I'm a bit extreme...
    :rolleyes:
     
    #4 biff_debris, May 4, 2008
  5. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    you're not extreme, you probably just have a tiny lawn.

    I use a reel lawn mower at my restaurant, it takes less than 10 minutes.

    But it takes me 45 minutes with a gas mower to cut the lawn at my house, no way I'm gonna do that with a reel lawn mower, there's plenty of better ways to get exercise. It would probably take 2 hours with a reel mower, as the cutting swath is much smaller, and there's TVs & hot babes at my gym.
     
    #5 cnschult, May 4, 2008
  6. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    My mum and dad have an old Black & Decker rechargeable cordless mower and I love the thing.
    Like the electric motor in the Prius, the slower the shaft speed the more torque the motor has. It goes through long grass pretty well and does her modest size front and back lawns on a charge easy.

    I have replaced the battery once, a lead acid sealed battery only available from B&D, but if it needs another battery change I'll try to get a lithium-ion or nickel metal hydride battery pack built. I might go the dewalt cordless drill battery pack route. I should be able to build a 12 volt pack with plenty of available amps. If I go this route I'll put a fan and snorkel to keep the battery pack cool with clean air. The lead acid battery is very heavy although not that big and costs around the $250 mark.

    Shame on me, I have a Victa 2 stroke mulch and catch mower which is 15 years old and still going very well. I can't use a 4 stroke mower because they don't cope well with uneven ground and steep slopes. I think mums mower would do my lawns well.
    BTW, I use less than 10 litres of fuel a year in my mower and hedge trimmer combined each year.
     
    #6 patsparks, May 4, 2008
  7. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Most of my neighbours have reel mowers and bowling green lawns, not me, I'm a jungle gardener. Guy over the road has a reel mower with a 20 inch cut, it is a commercial mower and he gets his lawns done in no time with it.
     
    #7 patsparks, May 4, 2008
  8. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    Yeah I know those old green lawnboy 2-strokes are popular with people with steep lawns. But with no oil reservoir or gas tank to feed in fuel, I'm sure an electric lawn mower has absolutely no problems cutting lawns on steep hills. So let's see what these rechargeable mowers got going for them so far:
    1: quiet
    2: no gas or oil to spill and smell your clothes or car
    3: no pollution (yes yes I know, if you get power from a coal power plant, there's a little bit of pollution, but I bet the pollution generated to produce the 10 cents worth of electricity to recharge the mower is less than one percent the amount of pollution a gas mower produces in 60 minutes)
    4: handles steep hills easily
    5: envy from your neighbors

    So the downside is it needs to be charged every 60 minutes. Even if I had a giant lawn that took 2 or 3 hours to mow, I'd still buy the remington, you can either spread the mowing out over 2 or 3 days or just buy a spare battery.
    quick . . . Someone come steal my gas mower so I can have an excuse to buy this new remington mower:cool:
     
    #8 cnschult, May 4, 2008
  9. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Well there in lies my problem. Is it better to wear out the mower I have & then replace it with electric or scrap my current petrol mower and replace it with cordless electric now?
    [​IMG] << This is my mower. Well not actually ...

    Oh, before I moved to this house I had an electric reel mower but it isn't suited to my yard. I gave it to my brother.
     
    #9 patsparks, May 4, 2008
  10. brick

    brick Active Member

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    Not to get too far OT, but...

    What brand/model of reel mower do you have? I got mine at Lowe's and the quality only seems so-so after a couple of months of use. (Lots of things shaking loose, doesn't cut anything that's more than an inch or so above the blade.) Just curious.
     
    #10 brick, May 4, 2008
  11. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

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    If your mom's B&D rechargeable mower is like mine, a CMM1000, buying the batteries from B&D is going to be very expensive as you have found out.

    The batteries in mine are two (connected in series) Yuasa YLM1812 12v 18ah valve regulated (sealed) lead acid thingies.
    These batteries aren't some "B&D only" super special design. They can be replaced with any number of identical batteries at a much better price . . . such as this one . . .

    12V 18Ah Battery

    [the second to last item at the bottom of the "replacement for the following models or batteries" list is the Yuasa YLM1812 . . . RIGHT NEXT TO THE Zap EV WARRIOR :eek: . . . No wonder I get such good mileage from my lawn mower! :) ]

    Most battery stores will have compatible replacement in stock.
     
    #11 Sufferin' Prius Envy, May 4, 2008
  12. Broomall

    Broomall New Member

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    I purchased the Remington on April 11, on April 13 I brought it back to where purchased because it did not charge or work with the cord. Was told there was a recall because of a bad knob. They replaced knob(after a week) used it for three weeks and it was great. (I have a quarter acre lot and it did the job well. It takes about 50 minutes to cut.)
    The fourth week made two passes and battery drained, the cord worked but kept tripping Ckt.breaker, took 4 hrs to cut lawn due to plug vibrating off mower and resetting breaker.

    Called customer service and they said they will send me a new knob, or return where I purchased it.

    I am opting to return where purchased and hoping they will let me choose another mower( Gas) I'm sorry I gave my old mower away it had a lot of years left.
     
    #12 Broomall, May 8, 2008
  13. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Thanks Patrick, I did try 2 speciality battery shops and neither had batteries that were small enough and with adequate power capacity. I'm not sure the mower you name is the same model, although I don't think they made a lot of different ones. Mums only has 1 x 12 volt battery which from memory was almost a perfect cube. The original battery had a long life, I think 10 years, so the new one should last as long.
     
    #13 patsparks, May 8, 2008
  14. bac

    bac Active Member

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    The downside to me would be dealing with the cord after the initial hour of battery life.

    My family had an electric (corded only) lawnmower WAY back ... it had to be in the late 70's. It had plenty of power, and worked just as well as a gasoline powered mowever, however, the long cord was ALWAYS a problem. You'd have to have 2 people - one to mow and one to tend to the cord. Needless to say, my brother and I were not that amused as we watched every other house in America using non-corded mowers!

    Having said all that ..... given some more battery life and perhaps some more power, this would be a great option for the lawn.

    ... Brad
     
    #14 bac, May 8, 2008
  15. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    One to tend the cord? Nahh, it just takes a little planning and practice.

    The Remington website:
    Remington Power Mower - Power Select

    This looks sweet! I'm tempted to run out now and replace my 12 year old Sears corded.
     
    #15 richard schumacher, May 8, 2008
  16. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    I have a corded B&D mower, and I don't have much trouble with the cord. The main thing is to start nearest the outlet, and work away from it so the cord is behind you.

    If you have a lot of trees or other obstructions, I can see how that would be a problem.
     
    #16 alanh, May 8, 2008
  17. M. Oiseau

    M. Oiseau 6sigma this

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    My gas mower bit the dust last week with half the lawn done. Bought a B&D CMM1200 at Lowe's for $400 with a mail-in rebate for a $40 Lowe's gift card, net $360.

    At home, I lifted the new 'lektrik mower out of the box and finished the lawn (6 inch high grass) with no issues. I'll be doing the whole lawn, approximately 1/3 acre, with it for the first time this weekend. Wifey has serious doubts that it can do the whole lawn on one charge. We'll just see.:caked:
     
    #17 M. Oiseau, May 8, 2008
  18. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    +1
     
    #18 patsparks, May 8, 2008
  19. Qlara

    Qlara New Member

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    When you mention 'Hybrid', even for a mower, I thought it's the same tech with a gas motor charging the battery (a lithium-ion one) on demand. ;)

    Maybe this kind of gas/electric setup is better for 'riding' mowers, than the push-type.
     
    #19 Qlara, May 8, 2008
  20. Prius 07

    Prius 07 Member

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    #20 Prius 07, Jun 23, 2008
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