Coxy is coming up to two years old / on the job. A few ups and downs,
but that's to be expected with most any new machinery.
It's Autumn and quite a few leaves are falling. Although it's Coxy's
second autumn, I do wonder how well he'll cope with so many leaves,
now that the trees are so much bigger and dropping so many more
leaves? Then there are those that have big, thick stalks.
I just put a
power meter on his mains supply plug. I'll check it in
a week, to see how close my power usage guesstimates were. Mind
you, he is no longer on overtime, as the cooler autumn weather
has slowed grass growth. I suppose I could then divide the week's
consumption by the hours worked. That would give me a per-hour
running cost average.
The dealer has re-located and I called in to view the new premises,
a week or two back. While there, I made some observations about
the selling points. As I but dimly recall the sales literature, it was
the lack of noise that was promoted prominently.
From my perspective, that's only a minor consideration. Although
I have yet to rank them in order, here's my take on the advantages
that have impressed themselves on me, in the last two years.
Running Costs (energy)
Compared to any petrol-driven mower, (until the power meter results
are available), the economy of running is a huge advantage. Based
on figures in the owner manual and my present (New Zealand) per
unit electricity costs, my best guess is $NZ10 a month. And that's
energy alone, of course.
Owners Manual said:
10. Technical data
Mean energy consumption at maximum use 54 kWh/month with
a working area of 6000 M square
I presume maximum use is running 24/7.
My lawn area is around 3500 M square.
Maximum hours daily in summer: 17.
Running Costs (blades)
I bought in bulk, getting double sided AND reversible blades. That
cost was about 70c per blade. A blade reversal every three weeks
(in summer) and new blades fitted every six weeks costs $NZ3.50
each six weeks. That's just under 60 cents a week for blades. In
winter, with substantially reduced mowing hours, that's halved.
Running Costs (batteries)
That's a big unknown. They are supposed to be good for 3-4 years.
And changing them is a dealer-only task, given the electronics in-
volved. What that will cost - I have no idea. But it will certainly
be a factor in the running cost average figures.
All Weather
Coxy cost around the same as an average ride-on. But Coxy mows
rain or shine. (Doesn't like it when frost has not been thawed off
the grass - it loses traction). Frost aside, I would not be enthus-
iastic about being out on a ride-on when it's raining.
Always On (the job)
If I'm away, be that in town for the day, or in a distant place for
several days, Coxy is still at home, keeping the lawns down. There
is always the risk of a stoppage from a dropped branch jamming
the blade disc, or the like, but that's just one of those things.
Those are the big advantages I see, after nearly two years.
However, I still have a (hand) motor mower for going around the
edges, every couple of weeks or so.
