A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family

MowerMike

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
I picked up this lawn mower recently on Amazon for $199.99. It's sold by a company named Greyson Products that apparently is the reincarnation of Turbo Garden, which disappeared some time ago after promising to introduce some Li-Ion battery powered lawn mowers that never materialized. This mower has a 15" blade with an all plastic deck, and is supplied with a single 40 volt 5 Ah battery. There is also a larger model that sells for $299.99 with a 19" blade and a metal deck that is supplied with two batteries. Both mowers claim to have brushless motors.

The mower batteries are made by LG Chem, which is a reputable manufacturer of Li-Ion batteries based in Korea. It's anybody's guess where the lawn mower and battery charger are made, since there are no labels or markings whatsoever on any of the parts to indicate country of manufacture. There are just labels with the letters "GP", which presumably stand for Greysen Products.

The product arrived in a plain brown box and the only documentation is a double sided printed sheet and two single sided addenda. Although the product description says it includes a "mulcher", this is incorrect, since there is no mulch plug and what is referred to as a mulcher is simply the rear door that covers the discharge port into the grass box and that has a gap at the bottom to redirect the clippings into the ground. So, what we have here is a mower that can bag or rear discharge the clippings, but definitely not a mulcher.

The grass box is made entirely of rigid plastic and arrived disassembled in 3 pieces, 2 bottom halves split vertically down the middle that snap together, and a third top piece with tabs that are snapped into slots in the bottom section that was a total bear to assemble. It was like playing whack-a-mole, where I'd get one set of tabs lined up and another set would pop out of place. After a 20 minute struggle, I managed to get the danged thing assembled, but not before one of the tabs at the front had slipped out of its slot and broken off when it got bent over. Once assembled it can't be disassembled, so I threw out the box, since even if I wanted to return it, a much larger box would be needed and the cost of shipping would be astronomical.

I charged the battery for about one hour until the four green lights on the battery were lit and started up the mower to test it out on my back yard. I hadn't gone more than 50 feet before both rear wheels fell off. At first I thought that maybe the wheels had not been properly bolted to the axles, but upon closer inspection it became apparent that the wheels themselves had fallen apart. The wheels consist of two plastic pieces with an inner hub that is attached to the axle and an outer part press fit on the hub that had separated. I attempted in vain to glue them back together with contact cement and Super Glue, and finally settled on a combination of fender washers and smaller nut washers to secure the wheels although they are now very sloppy and the left wheel sags inward to the point of rubbing lightly on a plastic strut that is part of the wheel height adjustment mechanism.

On my second outing the mower developed an intermittent shutdown problem, where it would suddenly shut down for no reason and then restart after about a second delay. One time it shut down completely with the same audible and tactile click that occurs when the bail bar is released, and it would not restart for a few minutes. I then tightened all the screws that hold the two halves of the start switch / bail housing together, and the problem has not recurred since then so perhaps it's just a loose connection or a flaky switch.

I've been using this mower as a leaf vacuum, and in this capacity it does a great job. It completely fills the box, which has a full indicator flap and a comfortable handle. The box is also very easy to empty, since the front opening is as just as large as the rear of the box. The mower also has an incredibly low minimum height setting of about 3/4", which makes it a great hard surface vacuum.

The mower weighs under 30 lbs w/o the grass box installed, and the box adds another 3.8 lbs. Run time on a full battery charge is easily more than 30 minutes and Greysen Products claims an average of 40 minutes, which seems credible based on my experience.

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de dee

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
I picked up this lawn mower recently on Amazon for $199.99. It's sold by a company named Greyson Products that apparently is the reincarnation of Turbo Garden, which disappeared some time ago after promising to introduce some Li-Ion battery powered lawn mowers that never materialized. This mower has a 15" blade with an all plastic deck, and is supplied with a single 40 volt 5 Ah battery. There is also a larger model that sells for $299.99 with a 19" blade and a metal deck that is supplied with two batteries. Both mowers claim to have brushless motors.

The mower batteries are made by LG Chem, which is a reputable manufacturer of Li-Ion batteries based in Korea. It's anybody's guess where the lawn mower and battery charger are made, since there are no labels or markings whatsoever on any of the parts to indicate country of manufacture. There are just labels with the letters "GP", which presumably stand for Greysen Products.

The product arrived in a plain brown box and the only documentation is a double sided printed sheet and two single sided addenda. Although the product description says it includes a "mulcher", this is incorrect, since there is no mulch plug and what is referred to as a mulcher is simply the rear door that covers the discharge port into the grass box and that has a gap at the bottom to redirect the clippings into the ground. So, what we have here is a mower that can bag or rear discharge the clippings, but definitely not a mulcher.

The grass box is made entirely of rigid plastic and arrived disassembled in 3 pieces, 2 bottom halves split vertically down the middle that snap together, and a third top piece with tabs that are snapped into slots in the bottom section that was a total bear to assemble. It was like playing whack-a-mole, where I'd get one set of tabs lined up and another set would pop out of place. After a 20 minute struggle, I managed to get the danged thing assembled, but not before one of the tabs at the front had slipped out of its slot and broken off when it got bent over. Once assembled it can't be disassembled, so I threw out the box, since even if I wanted to return it, a much larger box would be needed and the cost of shipping would be astronomical.

I charged the battery for about one hour until the four green lights on the battery were lit and started up the mower to test it out on my back yard. I hadn't gone more than 50 feet before both rear wheels fell off. At first I thought that maybe the wheels had not been properly bolted to the axles, but upon closer inspection it became apparent that the wheels themselves had fallen apart. The wheels consist of two plastic pieces with an inner hub that is attached to the axle and an outer part press fit on the hub that had separated. I attempted in vain to glue them back together with contact cement and Super Glue, and finally settled on a combination of fender washers and smaller nut washers to secure the wheels although they are now very sloppy and the left wheel sags inward to the point of rubbing lightly on a plastic strut that is part of the wheel height adjustment mechanism.

On my second outing the mower developed an intermittent shutdown problem, where it would suddenly shut down for no reason and then restart after about a second delay. One time it shut down completely with the same audible and tactile click that occurs when the bail bar is released, and it would not restart for a few minutes. I then tightened all the screws that hold the two halves of the start switch / bail housing together, and the problem has not recurred since then so perhaps it's just a loose connection or a flaky switch.

I've been using this mower as a leaf vacuum, and in this capacity it does a great job. It completely fills the box, which has a full indicator flap and a comfortable handle. The box is also very easy to empty, since the front opening is as just as large as the rear of the box. The mower also has an incredibly low minimum height setting of about 3/4", which makes it a great hard surface vacuum.

The mower weighs under 30 lbs w/o the grass box installed, and the box adds another 3.8 lbs. Run time on a full battery charge is easily more than 30 minutes and Greysen Products claims an average of 40 minutes, which seems credible based on my experience
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from my ion battery they said to charge the battery for 12 hours or more to balance the cells in the battery, I left mine for 24 hours ,. befor I used it ,. and when not in use I leave it plugged in, they do not have a charging memory ,. the charger cuts off when fully charged,.
 

lawnmowingdude

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
Good lawn mower. But I would prefer GreenWorks 25302 than that of yours. As I see its proven track record and amazing user rating on Amazon. By the way I have used, Greenworks 250222 and still loving it.
 

Lawnaholic

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
Hey MowerMike!

I'm Nick and I'm new to the forum. I came across this review and found it helpful.

Thanks for the information about this mower. I'm leaning towards purchasing an electric mower for my next push and it sounds like I need to stay away from this one.

Are you still using it?

I picked up this lawn mower recently on Amazon for $199.99. It's sold by a company named Greyson Products that apparently is the reincarnation of Turbo Garden, which disappeared some time ago after promising to introduce some Li-Ion battery powered lawn mowers that never materialized. This mower has a 15" blade with an all plastic deck, and is supplied with a single 40 volt 5 Ah battery. There is also a larger model that sells for $299.99 with a 19" blade and a metal deck that is supplied with two batteries. Both mowers claim to have brushless motors.
 

MowerMike

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
Hey MowerMike!

I'm Nick and I'm new to the forum. I came across this review and found it helpful.

Thanks for the information about this mower. I'm leaning towards purchasing an electric mower for my next push and it sounds like I need to stay away from this one.

Are you still using it?

Hi Nick. Welcome to the forum. Yes, I'm still using it, although there have been problems with the power switch. This mower and its company have disappeared from the universe, so you won't find one for sale anyway. There are now numerous choices in cordless electric lawn mowers, and my only advice is to buy a brand that is available in a brick and mortar store (Lowe's (Kobalt), Home Depot (Ego, Ryobi, Echo), Sears (Craftsman), Walmart (Snapper), etc.). Also, make sure that it uses a lithium-ion battery, and not a lead acid battery.
 

Lawnaholic

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
Hi Nick. Welcome to the forum. Yes, I'm still using it, although there have been problems with the power switch. This mower and its company have disappeared from the universe, so you won't find one for sale anyway. There are now numerous choices in cordless electric lawn mowers, and my only advice is to buy a brand that is available in a brick and mortar store (Lowe's (Kobalt), Home Depot (Ego, Ryobi, Echo), Sears (Craftsman), Walmart (Snapper), etc.). Also, make sure that it uses a lithium-ion battery, and not a lead acid battery.

I'll take those into consideration. If you could sum it up briefly, how would you compare an electric mower to one that uses gas?
 

MowerMike

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
I'll take those into consideration. If you could sum it up briefly, how would you compare an electric mower to one that uses gas?

Well, there are two types of electric mower, corded and cordless. A corded mower costs less, has plenty of power and runs as long as it is plugged into a live outlet, but can only go as far as the cord is long. A cordless (battery) mower costs more, has less power, and runs only until the battery becomes discharged. When choosing a cordless mower you should find out what the predicted run time is for the battery, and make sure it is long enough to complete mowing your yard. My personal experience is that cordless mowers provide the same quality cut as gas mowers without all the maintenance and noise. Also, you can tip them on their side to clean the deck, but you can't hose them off the way you can with gas mowers.
 

1 Lucky Texan

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
^^^ good post

I'll add some probably obvious features; cordless electric are usually lighter than gas, easier to maneuver and quieter as well. They can be stored with less concern for smell/fumes and even hung on a wall.
 

Lawnaholic

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
^^^ good post

I'll add some probably obvious features; cordless electric are usually lighter than gas, easier to maneuver and quieter as well. They can be stored with less concern for smell/fumes and even hung on a wall.

Makes sense. I never enjoy spilling gas while dumping into a weed eater, so it's helpful to just eliminate that possibility!
 

Lawnaholic

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  • / A new member of my Li-Ion battery cordless lawn mower family
To anyone that's still on this thread --

I was talking about investing in an electric mower a while back and I finally pulled the trigger. I was constantly having trouble starting my gas mower and decided that I would try to move over to the electric society. For the money, I think that it was well worth it.

Here are some of my concerns:
  • Batteries are not inexpensive
  • 2 year warranty on the batteries
  • Mower has an auto adjustment for power

I did an in-depth review and even made a video to showcase some of the features. It's a Greenworks 40V Twin Blade (meaning both blades move with opposite rotation). You can find the mower review here on my Lawnaholic blog to see what you think. If you're interested in the video, it's embedded in the post.

We'll see how the next couple of years pan out with the mower, but I'm confident it was worth the move.

By the way, I picked it up at Menards for $283. It was on sale for some unknown reason. As of December 2016, it's running about $280-$350 from different retailers.

Hope this helps someone!

--Nick
 
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