Battery Power for Lawn equipment -- is it time?

whoops, it showed 4 and the price on the search page

 

The original charge port is protected by an embedded 30 amp green micro fuse that can't be replaced without replacing the whole charging port assembly at about $70 plus labor.

My replacement uses two 15 amp ATC automotive fuses on both the positive and negative legs of the charging circuit.

I've seen conversions done by others that have no protection. Should the charging circuit be short circuited, the amount of current passing through the wires would definitely melt the insulation and likely cause a fire.

Safety is very important.

 

A complete detail thread has been started on the Ryobi lead-acid to LiFePO battery conversion.

The simplest and easiest LiFePO battery conversion for all Ryobi 48 volt lead-acid battery mowers | PriusChat

 

I sent my brother a refurbished Ryobi 40 volt 21 inch push lawn mower five years ago. It cost me a total of $125 tax Included from my local Home Depot. UPS charged me $90 to ship it to him.

The battery died two years ago. The Ryobi Direct Tools Outlet charged him $115 to send him a brand new 40 volt 5 amp hour battery.

He has three derelict broken gas powered lawn mowers in his shed waiting for the local free neighborhood recycling day.

No gas, no oil changes, no spark plug replacement, no filter replacement.

And, the mower will last for many more years requiring maybe only a $25 and another battery a few years from now.

Like cars, the simplest basic low optioned model lasts the longest.

The base model is so light weight and easy to push that it needs no power drive.

 

Looked up the info on our corded-electric Craftsman mower, purchased from (long gone) Sears in June of 2010, for $280 CDN, still going strong.

 

My corded Black & Decker is still running strong since I got it in 1997. in 2010 or so I needed to replace the on/off lever since the plastic cam that keeps it on was worn down.
Mike
edit: I think it cost about $125 and $12 for the replacement lever

 

I ran my Greenworks 40V walk-behind mower a little bit today to fix some small spots.

This is the one I bought secondhand in 2017, still going strong.

 

well, after all this information above, our Ryobi died after 4 years of use.
I just purchased the eco worthy 48v 50ah battery Georgina recommended above. it was on sale for $320. + tax, compared to $640. for 4 new lead acid 12v replacements.
it's amazing how much lithium has dropped in price since I originally looked back in 2022.

 

OR how much people have adopted battery lawn care equipment.
The Ecoworthy should be good for 4,000 cycles before significant battery degradation sets in - depending on your use.
BE SURE you get the right charger!
The BMS in the battery pack will keep you from straying too far from the path but I know a lot of people (HOA Golf cart drivers, credit card HAMs, etc) who try to stuff amps in the can as fast as possible, or who feel that they have to over-pay for the charger - and this isn't strictly necessary - especially if you can mow on one charge.
A $35 Amazon charger rated for 5 ampres (at the required 58.4vdc) should recharge the battery overnight and both the charger and the onboard battery management system will keep you inside the guard-rails.

Just like good ribs......LOW and SLOW.......

Gee.
This thread has been around for a while.....
I made my first post in this thread in 2019....
Ah....
Those were innocent times- 'eh?

Some battery lawn care equipment now makes economic sense - but I still have the Greenwerks corded mower that I rescued from the trash heap back then and I still mow my yards(*) with a gasser.
My 2006 Exmark is still in weekly service, as is the 2013 Murray ($899) that I replaced with my JD in '22 ($2200.)
Judging by what my neighbors pay to have the "Whammo Lawn Care Company" hack up their yards on a mandatory weekly contract????
I could probably afford to go electric.

THEY haven't yet though.....

(*) Yards plural because we still own property out in the county that I let a family member use in return for maintenance and upkeep.
I was going to be my hobby farm when I retire - but working is still too much fun to walk away from for now....

Humans plan.
GOD laughs.

 

The issue I have with the $35 charger is its all or none LED light to show a 100% char f e when the battery is fully charged.

Spend a little more and get the P3648 charger,

Just connecting it the battery, it will start changing and show current voltage of the battery which reflects the percentage of charge.

There are charge status meters available, but they are complicated to install and monitor.

This photos gives insight on the voltage relationship to percentage with LiFePO4 batteries.

The same P3648 charger will also charge 36volt LiFePO4 batteries that can be used to convert 40volt walk behind lawn mowers to 10 ah batteries that cost about half of a replacement Ryobi battery with nearly twice the capacity.

Ryobi 40volt batteries are actually 36volt. Here's where the basic mower without special LED screens have an advantage.

 

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..--..

 

saw my first robomower the other day, pretty cool. it was on a part of the lawn that was hidden from view of the house. I'm surprised they are not worried about theft.

 

Maybe it can defend itself?

 

most of those robo mowers have imbedded gps that sends a signal to a phone if they are removed/stray from the assigned area/ they also will not work when they are no longer in range with their "homebase".. and then to top it all off the manufacturer when contacted by the owner can do a "search" by using some features to pinpoint the devices exact location and then give the owner/police the exact coordinates of the location.

..if you are interested in that sort of thing look at this _ i was tempted to get it on Amazon Prime Day the thought of a robot doing our snow removal was very appealing ...but chickened out in the end

 

Yikes! Over $5,000? That'd buy a lot of lawn & snow clearing by a neighbor kid if/when it comes to not being able to do it one's self.

 

The Amazon Prime Day Discount was significantly lower than that price point ....
the cost of the top end riding mowers I saw at Lowes easily exceeds the cost of the robot set up...

 

neighbor kids don't do yard work around here anymore, and 5 grand wouldn't last long paying someone to mow and shovel.
our riding mower was $2,700. and snowblower was $1,500. 20 years ago.

I have to wonder about a robot blower with heavy wet snow/slush