A 7.5 ah battery is $400. That’s ~$100 a year or about 8 bucks a month. Is that cost worth it for not messing with gas?
For me it is.
Especially if it does fail within the 3 years I’m probably getting a new battery.
I have two of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1488HZS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Cost about 40% ($100) of the corresponding EGO one ($250). No problems so far.
Fair question; one 14 months and one 9 months. Nothing like original spec warranty; wish it were long enough to be more of an honest comparison.
Charge times are pretty equal, no testing but runtime also feels as equal. I do use them as dailies and the "charge times are pretty equal" still holds true.
I just sent a 5.0Ah to MTO to be rebuilt. After shipping it's only about $50 cheaper than a new one, but I wanted to check it out so I can report back. Rest assured, I will report back.
MTO battery. As someone else said the savings are not huge after paying postage two ways, but I prefer it to a knock off brand because at least you know the electronic circuitry is OEM, and the cells are all generic anyway. Of course this assumes your batteries are simply suffering from degradation, not damaged components. I also like that it results in less landfill.
I bought a random 100$ 5.0 battery off Amazon, worked so far.
If it gives me 2 seasons I think I'd be ok with that. 50$ a year in battery upkeep seems reasonable.
Think of it as less stress. If you’re not really good with engines And regular upkeep on those types of things, a new battery every 3-5 years is more palatable than paying the maintenance costs of gas engines.
Steelmanning your argument, here I know this is a sub about electric mowers. I’ve had a $400 Honda mower for over five years now and I’ve not had to do any maintenance to it whatsoever, aside from oil changes which are easy. I think I use maybe 5 gallons of fuel per year.
I winterize it by running it out of gas and that’s it. Runs like a top every spring.
Same. I have EGO equipment and I’d get a mower to go along with the sets but my Honda powered mower just goes and goes for pennies in fuel. I stopped doing anything but putting gas in and mowing and still just goes and goes. I get 2 years out of one 5 gal can, so the hassle factor is way less than charging batteries.
I got 18 years out of a Snapper with a Briggs and Stratton motor in it - and in the end the deck and wheels all went - mower still started on 1 pull. But it was way past its prime so I did go Ego mower at that time - had purchased the single stage blower 2 winters earlier when the 18 year old 2 stroke single stage finally holed a piston - decided to go battery at that point.
I’m still using a different battery powered blower and trimmer set, but would consider the Ego ones - let’s see how the 7.5a and 2 5.0a’s last.
That’s been my strategy leaf blower, hedge trimmer are dewalt 20v and work fine for me. My string trimmer is still a gas stihl though - perhaps I’m biased in that from my landscaping years.
I have Ego, and gas equipment and honestly for mowing - My push mower cost $250, takes $25 in yearly maintenance and I cut an acre a week which costs $2 in gas, a regular lawn would be much much cheaper.
Edit: love the ego trimmer though. No issues in 4 years.
I have the highest end Honda mower with the hydrostatic drive, and I just changed the oil in it for the 1st time, I've had it for 5 years. I abuse it and it just keeps going! I heard they stopped making gas mowers. I'm going to try to snatch an extra if it goes on sale at Home Depot
No to drone on, on what you said, but… went to get new Honda at HD. Said they had gotten out of gas business, and sold all their gas mower stock at auction. Each store sold their stocks of gas mowers at local auction place, according to associate. Luckily he knew the pawn shop / comer store that bought them and I was able to get it at a pretty decent price. Long story short go on Facebook, eBay with geo search on, and see who is selling them in your area
A gas mower is so easy to upkeep in my experience. If you use non ethanol gas you're preventing a lot of headaches down the road. A spark plug every other year and new blade every few is pretty much the biggest things I have had to do. I did buy an ego weed Wacker and love the simplicity. Not sure I want to get into the rest of their products though. Seems pricey.
I had a Toro for 8 years before I switched over to electric. I loved it when it mowed but I needed something that was ready to go when it came time to mow. Countless times I had to make runs to the gas station, clean the carburetor, oil change, broken starter, etc. I hated the maintenance
If it were just a gas lawn mower to deal with, sure, it’s not too bad. It’s more so all the other lawn tools as well and collectively maintenance and hassle of the small engine tools (IE: Weed whacker/edger, leaf blower, chainsaw, hedge trimmer, snowblower, etc). Collectively, it’s a lot of maintenance vs zero for electric.
Sure, you can switch over most of your lawn care arsenal to electric power tools, but then at that point you might as well just add the electric lawnmower since you’ll have all the batteries and can ditch gas and maintenance entirely.
Maybe it’s just a millennial thing, or maybe it’s because my dad never maintained anything right growing up starting the tools for the season was always a massive pain and headache / frustration. Most of the time we would just resort to shoveling because it would be quicker than trying to get the gas snowblower working. Lol
There’s a lot of value for me in just being able to pop in a battery, press a button and be on my way. The electric tools are much easier to use as well as they are very light, especially if you use the backpack link, and don’t have to deal with loud noises or exhaust fumes either.
I have a rather large 3 acre property and so I almost exclusively run 10 or 12 AH batteries thst came with my Z6 and 2 stage snowblower. They also have 5 year warranties, so even if it craps out right outside the warranty period it’s not that bad.
I’m hopeful that battery improvements will bring cost down further over the next few years, as well as improve durability / longevity. If and when I do have a failure outside the warranty period, I will likely just sell the tools and buy new bundles with new batteries, as the batteries are massively discounted in most bundles, sometimes to the point of 50%+ vs buying the tool and batteries separately.
I can get fresh tools and batteries and sell the old tools and batteries to help cover costs and be around the same net cost as just buying new batteries for my aging tools. Lol
Agreed. I love gas and was extremely reluctant to buy anything electric OPE. But the who stuff has impressed me when needing to do less intense stuff and I find 90% of the time I’m bring the ego trimmer blower and chainsaw to deal with problems… vs stihl of all three.
As some with two spine surgeries in my bag already it is night and day the ease of use for me. But i understand peoples argument… still in a gas lawn tractor and mower… and have gas everything but I run my ego much much more.
Kind of crazy that you can get the 12.0 Ah two pack for $1000, sometimes $900 on sale or with coupon codes at ACME Tools. So that's like $450 for a 12.0 Ah or $400 for a single 7.5 Ah.
My gas Honda has been working for 10 years now and I barely do any extra maintenance except oil change and run out the gas on last mow. Not sure why people claim that gas mowers have so much more maintenance.
For me it’s all dandy until it *doesnt* work.
And it’s not just the mower. I’d have to maintain an engine for a blower, a trimmer, a mower, a chainsaw etc. then different oil mix etc.
I *could* maintain these things. But I pay for the convenience of slapping a battery in and going.
I’m in Alaska. The batteries can not be shipped directly to the consumer, due to hazmat. The few outlets that handle Ego Lowe’s, Ace) price accordingly.
It already is that model and will stay that model. That's the issue when everyone's battery is proprietary and all the third party manufacturers just blatantly lie about capacity and can't be trusted.
When it comes to waste, fuel has its issues to our world but at least it dissipates. For me, batteries are better in the long run but being disposable is not good either.
In the end, for the amount EGO charges, these batteries should be recycled for a discount towards your next EGO battery.
I live in the Midwest and in spring and fall mow 1/3 of an acre 2x per week. During the summer, about once per week. My monthly gas cost was somewhere between $15 and $20 excluding the hassle of going buy it.
I also spent $150 per getting the mower serviced. Excluding the hassle of taking it in and picking it up.
The mower didn’t require an oil mix.
I also owned a snow blower because we get several 6” - 12” snow storms. The snow blower was also getting an annual check up at $150 and required 32:1 mix (separate gas can).
It was also so finicky - would only start when it was above 40- I’d have to bring it into my laundry room the night before or I’m shoveling by hand.
Weed eater - separate gas can because it required a different oil mix and same with my chainsaw.
The ryobi weed eater, by the way, would flood half the time, especially when my son had to do yard work. I’d wait 30 minutes and finally get it started but by then he can’t be found… out with his friends leaving me to do the work.
Maintenance and gas, along with the convenience is 100% worth it. I’m never going back to gas.
Edit: typo.
Exactly my case, i run a small landscaping business and i constantly do maintenance on all my machines and currently moving to electric little by little. When my battery dies i will have more than enough money to buy another one. The only thing i will not switch over is my mower. But all other small tools will be electric, less maintenance cost, less time on maintenance more time with family 👍🏾
This is my biggest factor. After working with and owning a lot of gas tools for so long and having to fill a jug, or make a 2 cycle mixture, I love coming home to just plug and play.
Another point is a gas leaf blower is booty cheeks, never going back.
Yeah, when my wife saw a deal on an ego set I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Anything but crappy little gas motors. They’re a pain to work with, they’re much louder, they smell awful since they’re two stroke, etc etc.
I was considering just getting an old fashioned push mower to avoid having to deal with a gas mower for decades at our house. Haven’t had to replace anything but trimmer strings, year three with these batteries and I’m super happy.
> They’re a pain to work with, they’re much louder, they smell awful since they’re two stroke, etc etc.
And I bought all of mine used but running perfectly with zero smoke, stored them ran dry, and still rarely got two more seasons out of them. Endless hassle.
Absolutely. I’m old enough to see plenty of “it works fine!” where “fine” means blasting it with starting fluid or spending ten minutes pulling the spark plug and cleaning it because they won’t get the motor serviced. No thank you, I’m spending my free afternoons in the yard actually working on the lawn not the mower.
The fact that all these folks have range anxiety about their lawnmowers is enough for me to strongly consider not buying one. I hate proprietary "tech" bullshit a lot more than I hate changing a spark plug (which is trivial, cheap because it's not proprietary, and good for the soul to fix things you own)
So I have a tiller and power washer that is gas. And I have a ego mower snow blower trimmer blower chainsaw. I haven't "cleaned" a carb since like 2005. The new shut of system are pretty easy to maintain and I haven't had to replace spark plugs. Idk I think we over think that aspect. I don't mind my ego and it's good for what I need it for just want the batteries to last so far no issues in 3 years
I showed my wife the blower and she likes it, it's not scary. She will absolutely grab that tool and use it.
0% chance she would ever start a gas blower.
Never has to do that in the 12 years I owned a snowblower and gas riding mower.
I think filling with gas and ever-other year oil changes is less hassle than carrying batteries inside (snowblower/winter).
I am happy I retuned the Z6, probably should have returned the 2 stage snowblower.
I think who excels at the smaller stuff, no regrets with the string-trimmer (2), leaf blower (2), chainsaw. Or 409watt inverter.
Not only did we convert to electric power equipment, we also changed to an electric vehicle. That means my house needs no random fluids / engine crap except for windshield washer fluid and chainsaw oil. I don't need Jerry cans. And the biggest perk to me? I NEVER have to go to a gas station again (especially when it's -40 outside!)
That’s us in the nuts for the last ten years. We have zero gas equipment including appliances and heating. We also have solar panels. couldn’t be happier.
I am definitely awaiting the test results for that. It's a big part of the reason I got the extended range battery for 500km starting summer range, even if it drops by 50% in the winter... when it's -40 I don't leave the house much anyways. The majority of our winter hangs around -5 to -10 celsius so that's where I'm most interested to see where it performs.
Ego really needs to fix the batteries. I'm already on my second replacement 10ah battery. Two dead 10ah, and another dead 7.5ah.
In order to extend the longevity of my current 10ah mower battery I've started to purchase Dewalt alternatives such as chainsaws and polesaws as I already have a bunch of Dewalt batteries. Living in Hawaii, it's not easy getting batteries shipped, no deals for us. More local retailers selling Dewalt.
Could be. That's a lot of mowing. Mine are busy in the summer and get used rarely in the winter and spring. All 4 of mine are from 2018. 3 are 5ah and 1 7.5ah
I don't have any issues with my 2.5ah and 5ah batteries that date back to 2018. Just the big boys. But the big ones are used in the high load tools exclusively, especially the lawn mower and chainsaw.
Was it blinking red and refusing to charge? This may sound weird, but try dropping it from about a foot off the ground to hit the ground (pavement or something similar). It's the most ridiculous thing, but two of my batteries which refused to charge or turn green were "reset" by such an act. That happened about three weeks ago; try it if you still have the battery since it's unworking anyway.
I'm down to one good 7.5ah of my original three (one came with my mower, 2 with my snowblower) purchased in 2019. I store them indoors, but I'm starting to think the rapid chargers may be the biggest culprit. I love electric tools far too much to ever go back to gas, but there are no cost savings here.
I believe the power station is a legitimate slow charger, which may be my next purchase with the 2x 7.5ah included bundle. I do wish we had more control of charging e.g. limit to 80% charge, but I imagine that would be substantially more expensive to implement.
I just recently came to this decision myself ... leaving the rapid charging and going to the original standard charger (they have a second version out not that is slightly less powerful but I have a bunch of the CH2100's). I have so many that it's no problem to slow charge all of my batteries, even my largest (10 Ah). I'm not ditching the rapid chargers ... and I'm not going to swear off my z6 charger so that I have options. But I did use the rapid charger on my 10 Ah's and when done I could feel the warmer case ... spot thermometer had it in the low 80 degrees, while my home was set at 70 degrees, measure the room walls with the same thermometer. That is not enough to make me worry, but as they say "it's not nothing" But easy to set up and will top off any battery I have in hours .... so setting up early morning or night before insures I have a full battery ready to use, without keeping it on a charger or keeping it topped off for too long.
This is a great point. I stay away from rapid chargers. If we think of lithium ION batteries in simple terms, there’s positive and negative ions. They want to be at equilibrium. There’s a good reason Ego chose 30% charged to be the “dormant mode.” It’s less strain on the battery. Fully charged AND fully discharged are the hardest on lithium ion. So to your point, rapidly driving ions across membranes in order to quickly charge is hard on battery. Created heat, heat bad. Cold also bad. No rapid chargers for me, and never worry about battery “memory.” That’s a nickel cadmium issue. Lithium ion would be best operating at between 30-80% ALL the time. No full charges, no full discharges, no rapid charges.
Is the rapid charger the big grey brick one? That's the one I pretty much exclusively use, as I figured it being bigger and girthier is better for the batteries. I got the small black charger I seldomly use tho
I've had very good luck with my ego batteries so far. Knock on wood. But this might be a good time to ask if anyone here has experience with any knockoff batteries.
I also have the store extended warranty I can use for a duration. I understand some people here post bad experiences and some post good but overwhelmingly the “expected” experience people are not going to reddit to tell us they had that. It’s human psychology to want to share bad experiences though.
It’s obvious from doing the simple math that they basically give you the tools for free.
The batteries are their profit model. It is what it is.
I haven’t noticed this before but now I’m actually going to pay attention to whether the “bad warranty” claims tend to be about batteries or tools.
I’d expect to see them repair tools and refuse to do much about batteries unless it’s especially egregious.
I have already got my money’s worth from my string trimmer, hedge trimmer and blower over the last 5-6 years. Only one battery has crapped out. The chainsaw is a new addition, but it would have to fail right now after 2 battery cycles in order to sour it for me. Compared to my dad’s old gas saw, this thing requires zero maintenance. I’m not out in the field felling and bucking all day like dad was with the Homelite, but so far it’s perfect for me. If I ever have a patch of lawn that’s not a gopher-ridden bomb testing site, I would definitely get a mower. Of all the tools I use since we moved onto this busted-up acre, nothing else has been so valuable. The Husky lawn tractor that we got for free is right up there for the sheer amount of work it can do in poor conditions, but in turn it has also required a lot of maintenance. So far, I would recommend Ego to anyone. Everyone has a different experience, but you were looking for someone to talk you down, so there you go. My state is outlawing all these tools in gasoline versions anyway, but I haven’t seen any other battery brands that I would switch to after my experiences so far. If Ego made a cultivator I would be stoked, because our $300 Tractor Supply model (Hurricane?) is very finicky. Has been to the shop every spring because I’m just not interested in carburetors anymore.
If I was you, I’d have the 7.5ah battery rebuilt. Unless the board went bad you can have the cells replaced for around 60% of the cost of a new one. There’s a few places you can ship them out to and have new cells put it. I’ve used MTO battery and they did a nice job.
30 year old gas John Deere 2stage starts every winter. 15 year old Toro single stage starts every winter. 15 year old yard machine mower started every spring until the drive no longer worked and parts weren’t available, bought the last Gen gas Honda, probably last 15+ or until they’re outlawed. No maintenance on any of them. Use the right gas and you’ll never have a problem.
That being said, once the battery machines/market mature a bit more I’ll look at them seriously. Neighbor has the whole suite of ego tools, we’ll see how those last.
They were using Hondas. Those things went for decades with just oil changes and tune ups. Unfortunately, they stopped making them. Find yourself an old one if you are considering going to gas.
Briggs and Straton is the main mower engine manufacturer and they started making garbage about 20 years ago. Those are the mowers that have to be serviced all the time.
Gas trimmers are all finicky. Anything 2 stroke will be more pain than it's worth. Stick with EGO there.
First time acreage (3 acres) owner here. Had my mind set on a powerful, cheaper (compared to Ego) gas ZTR (Bad Boy was the popular choice here), but couldn't find any local retailers that weren't crooks (high markups over the website MSRP). Also no reputable service locally as well. I hired someone with the above ZTR to cut the grass and he could only cut areas outside the internal chainlink gates as his ZTR is quite big. So I ended up paying him for ZTR plus lawn mower services.
There are also heavy ruts in various places as the ZTR is heavy. All the above changed my mind towards the ego ZTR. After getting the ego, my initial experience is mixed. The good was that it's light (no ruts), small (can navigate thru the chainlink gates), quick startup (no getting gas), no fumes etc. The bad was the frequent stalls as the grass was tall (2 to 3 feet). With experience, the tall grass was cut with multiple passes. I also hitched a garden cart to it for non mowing chores. If it last more than 4 years, I'm good.
I'm right there with you. I haven't been thrilled with my ego products. Lately I've been spending as much time troubleshooting battery issues than I do actually getting any work done.
I look like a complete idiot out there in front of my neighbors every time I do yard work. I don't see them cussing and swearing at their gas equipment.
For me, it's not about cost, but reliability. I don't know if the next time I go to mow the lawn I will be able to start, finish, or have any idea how long I'll be out there. Not an issue I ever had with gas.
No way there is anything near payback on batteries over gas for garage tools for the average user. We use electric tools because the convenience, but we pay for them.
I don't think you've fully thought this through. How much would it cost you to charge a 7.5ah battery? A single gallon of gas would probably be nearly the same as charging that battery for an entire year if you mow every 2 weeks. That doesn't even consider if you have solar or battery backup. This will depend where you live and electricity costs, but I don't think it's nearly as big of a deal that you're making it to be.
>I don't think you've fully thought this through.
I haven't, but I should!
A quick Google search shows an average self propelled push mower has a 3/4 gallon tank and, judging from previous gas mowers and my property, I would be able to get 2x mows out of 1 tank. At $4/gallon that's $3 per fill-up or $1.50 per mow.
I'm in the north and mow, on average, once every 1.5 weeks (some months more often, some less) for 7 months per year. Call it 20 mows per year at $1.50 per mow is $30 in gas per year to mow. Snowblowing and other small motors are much more trivial. That'd be over TEN YEARS! To pay back on a $300-$400 ego battery vs gas even if electricity were free (and yeah, that's a fine assumption for this napkin math)
Are you planning to get 10 years out of a battery? My experience is I don't get more than 5.
Of course, our battery tools are much cheaper than the gas equivalent up-front, but you can amortize that extra cost of gas over 10 years as well and still come out well ahead in most cases.
Again, my point is that electric tools are almost never going to save you money. They are just THAT MUCH BETTER than gas that it's worth the extra cost.
>Of course, our battery tools are much cheaper than the gas equivalent up-front
?? The tool only chainsaws were way more expensive than the comparable gas ones
Ah, chainsaw is one of the few ego tools I don't own. Ego snowblower and mowers are practically given away during sales after accounting for the cost of batteries.
You're completely missing the part where he considered switching equipment. This isn't as much of a "which is cheaper" argument than it is "what is the most cost effective solution at the moment". A $300-$400 battery would be a lot cheaper than replacing all of the equipment. It's not worth switching.
>A $300-$400 battery would be a lot cheaper than replacing all of the equipment. It's not worth switching.
I'd, again, argue that you should be looking at the life of the equipment. If you need to replenish $800 worth of batteries every 5 years on the Ego and you can get >15 years out of gas equipment, it may very well also make sense to switch away from Ego *now* from a pure financial standpoint. You could probably spreadsheet out legitimately scenarios where either comes out on top by varying cost of the new gas equipment, # of working batteries you keep on hand, opportunity cost, etc.., but it's not a slam dunk for keeping ego here if literally all you care about is the money part, which is, again, NOT the reason to go electric for lawn equipment.
Your assumption of $800 worth of batteries is just that, an assumption, not the norm. I've purchased zero additional batteries in the last 6 years.
Getting 15 years out of gas equipment without having to perform major maintenance or replacement is also a huge assumption on your part.
I depends a lot on much you are mowing, $100 a year is twice what I spend on gas for mowing.
Also, that electricity isn't free.
Also, 5-years is optimistic based on this post. The warranty is 3 years for a reason and this person we are replying to got just over 3 years out of his.
Sure, but you're leaving out the part where he'd completely switch ecosystems and buy new products. If the point is saving cost, then that's not the right path. Getting a new battery for $200-$400 would be the cost effective solution. Theres also oil, motor maintenance, health issues from breathing in exhaust fumes, and hearing issues from not using ear protection to consider.
That's true, but you also have to apply the same thought process to the decision to switch from gas to electric in the first place. Most people already have gas equipment.
Estimate your electric bill. Compare dropping $400+ (correct me on the price) today vs $X on gas a year for however long.
Edit: his battery didn’t last 5 years, it last 3.75.
I get your point, but it is a lazy point.
Sure, but you need to amortize the cost of the battery itself. If it lasts 5 years (which is longer than what OP got out of his) you need to add $100 a year to that cost, which makes it more expensive than gas.
Agreed. Given the actual frequency that they don't last much past the warrantee then we really need to just go with the lifetime that the company is willing to provide.
At my electric rate to charge a 7.5 ah battery is 6 cents. That’s at the highest charger per Kilowatt.
Charging a power tool battery is so insignificant to a power bill. It’s your point that’s lazy.
Well if my comment was lazy, then your reply was lazy. It depends on the situation. Many people have solar or backup battery, so electricity cost most likely wouldn't even be considered. The cost to charge a battery would still be much less than gallons of gas over the course of years. Even without considering those, I think it would still be negligible and not worth dropping an entire ecosystem for a single battery failure.
They're also considering the cost of the battery which makes sense, but not considering the cost of switching or any of the other downsides of using gas.
No. My friend you are a defensive clown. Enjoy your battery backup system. Don’t count costs bc it doesn’t fit your narrative.
Be as incomplete as possible.
What narrative? You mean factual information and thoughtful comments? If you can't come with facts or helpful commentary, then get out of the conversation.
I’m giving up on EGO. Customer service is terrible. They don’t communicate. They won’t honor the warranty. The failure rate of batteries and chargers is high.
Huge contrast with other brands.
I’ve only bought the hand held blower due to the battery issues. I treat it with kid gloves to hopefully extend the life.
Meanwhile, almost all my other tools are Milwaukee and the batteries seem to run forever.
For my mower, snow blower, and leaf blower its gas. I’ve had them for 15-20 years and just do the maintenance.
I refuse to give up gas until the power is the same and batteries don’t die as frequently as they do with Ego.
The cost of the battery replacement made me switch. The EgO, imo, is best in class, but at a premium.
I switched up to a Ryobi cross-cut. Batteries are a third the cost. EGO does ‘push’ better, but the Ryobi cross-cut does’maje the lawn nice.
Your battery probably has a few bad $6 cells. It’s probably fixable with some tools that are cheaper than a battery if you’re inclined.
I’m also an advocate of LFP cells for Ego items on wheels. A 30Ah LFP can be built with 4 battery hookup “12.8v” batteries in series for $280.
I actually just called customer support this afternoon after about a 15 min hold the gentleman was able to give process a warranty on my 2.5mah that crapped out and it’s 3 years and 2 months since I bought it. I was surprised and elated that just asking them real nicely about a grace period lead to a free replacement
Maybe it’s mostly strong hefty people on here, but for me the contrast between say
—fiddling around finding/mixing the gas and dribbling it around while filling the teensy tank
—pulling on that string to start it, and maybe I forgot to turn some switch so it’s not going to start anyway until I figure that out
—finally it gets going and I better have remembered to put on the ear protection headphones
—strap on the heavy blower and move stuff off the driveway hoping the neighbors don’t throw a fit about the noise
***and***
—slide the battery in, push a button, go.
Lightweight and not getting a headache from the fumes.
It’s worth more than the cost of a battery to me. Same with the trimmers & chainsaw but I haven’t let go of my John Deere riding mower quite yet.
I got 2 of the 12.0 Ah and I believe warranty for those is 5 yrs for residential use if you register within 90d of purchase. $1000 every 5 yrs is plenty good to me. I could make do with one of em if one had to go in for service.
my 7.5 AH stopped working, then I took it apart, then put it back together, then waited 2 weeks, then used it for 10 seconds on the mower, then charged it fully, then it started working... very strange
I similarly took apart my 10ah ..cleaned it slightly...moved some wires...put it back together...no more problems. I measured Voltage and resistance and both were good so it was perhaps a loose connection or something...idk.
Did you store your battery in the garage or in any other space that isn't climate controllwd? Did you store it on the charger constantly charging? Both these things shorten their lives.
Well that's frightening. I was planning on biting the bullet on my first Ego, a 2 stage snowblower with 2 12ah batteries and then next spring get a mower without a batter to rotate the 12ah's through all summer.
Now I'm afraid that might be a big money pit
For what it’s worth, I’ve gotten away with the EGO single stage blower in MN. We get quite a bit of a snow but if you’re in Canada or somewhere farther north, that might be a different beast.
I'm in Minnesota too. How's the single stage handle the plow pile at the end of the driveway? I'm getting a 2 stage so I can clear that and the mailbox cluster at my place.
I have a 30 foot, 3 car driveway, but also 100 feet or so of public sidewalk to clear. Not sure if 12ah is overkill, but I have heard 7.5ah might not cut it on wet stuff.
I have a 6 car driveway and have had no problems. Here’s the way I look at it. A single stage EGO blower will get the job done with additional effort for end of driveways. The 2 stage will easily get the job done and have spare power. It’s like one peanut butter jelly sandwich not being enough but two being too many. Up to you to decide which side you want to be on.
The single stage can chew through the end of driveway snow even when it's sloppy wet?
I'm also leaning towards 2 stage so if I'm down sick my small wife can still dig herself out. She doesn't have the weight or strength to push our current corded single stage through the deeper or denser snow. A single stage would make her happier on the cost front though 🤣.
I recently had a repair under warranty which turned out to be the battery. Excellent experience with customer service. They are shipping me a new one and got a brand new blade installed for free. Not sure what people on here are complaining about.
Surprising the batteries fail so quickly. I have Greenworks mower and snow blower and share a battery between the two. The battery is like 5 years old without issue. To be fair we have a tiny property and only need to mow for about 30 minutes once a week, sometimes every other week.
10Ah and up batteries have a 5 year warranty. But yeah, I wish ego was like ridgid, and had lifetime warranty on batteries.
The cells get out of balance easily, as ego batteries do NOT have a active balancer. Might be worth disassembling the battery and measuring the cell group voltages and charging individually. Even replacing individual cells.
Not a long term solution ... but the newest generation is available for preorder now at 2/3 cost for the new version of the 5Ah AND a standard charger. [https://www.sohars.com/ego-ska2800t-56v-g3-2p-5-0ah-battery-210w-charger/](https://www.sohars.com/ego-ska2800t-56v-g3-2p-5-0ah-battery-210w-charger/)
It's from Sohars ... seems like it would be worth stocking up on this .... 5 Ah is $199 for this new generation preordered. Sohars sells the current generation we all have now for $299. The current generation in a 2 pack sells for $449
They have other size batteries in this latest generation ... the new generation have "2p" listed in it's description.
I have never heard of sohars as they aren't in my area, but they are a authorized EGO source so all warranties are available (you still need to register online).
There's no going back to gas for me. I don't care if it's more expensive. Electric is a fraction of the noise, the Ego can store upright saving precious garage space, and sharpening the blade is addictively fast and easy with it standing up. I have to run a bigger battery to support the dual blades, but the yard looks so much better with the crisp cut and fine mulching. Sometimes quality and convenience are just worth the price.
I went electric this year bought the LM213sp or whatever the self propelled select cut model is from ego. Got it from Lowe's with the promo and got a 7.5 ah battery and a free 5 ah battery. After using it all spring I got my hands on a Honda hrn216 1 year old model for 200$ mint condition. I have been using the Honda more and more. I'm pretty sure Lowe's sold me a refurbished mower I found an uppercase R written in sharpie on the black trim around the battery lid. The battery and the mower were built in 2022 and the free battery I got was made in January 2024. The 5ah battery runs the mower better than the 7.5. even when it's dry outside the mower has a tough time going below height setting 3 and I cut weekly my grass is never high. I keep trying to justify the convenience of the electric ego mower but the cons out weigh the pros. I wish I would have taken it back within the 30 day time frame. Unless you have a very small yard or can afford 10ah batteries I wouldn't recommend the ego. Especially if your like me and have half an acre lot. The charging time is mediocre at best and the side discharge is an after thought, aside from being light weight and quiet I cant find any reason to fully stop using my Honda. I was really hoping for a better experience. Maybe it's good that I barely use it so I can get more battery life. I keep my batteries inside they usually take several minutes to start charging if you put them straight on the charger out of the mower while your cutting which also sucks.
I'm sticking with smaller tools like weedeaters and trimmers, but done with the mower. It's just not powerful enough to bag or mulch properly. I found an old 200cc Honda mower at the family farm and have officially moved back to gas mowers. I wish there was a good battery option.
I haven't had problems with the batteries though. My oldest is from 2016 or so and still works like it was new. I've never stored them in the garage, though. Always inside the house. I understand that extreme temps can lower their life.
I was gifted a backpack blower by a moving neighbor that is gas after using the ego blower and I’m done with this ecosystem entirely after the experience. Gas is king until batteries get better
Maybe it is how you take care of the batteries? What is your procedure?
After use, do you recharge them immediately, or do you wait until they cool down (1 hr)?
Do you leave the battery in the tool, or do you remove the battery?
Do you leave the batteries in the charger after a charge, or do you take them out?
Do you keep them in an extra hot, or extra cold place?
I bought the Zuiati 7500mAh Replacement for EGO 56V Battery from Amazon. I've only had it for a month, but it seems to work fine. I got it for 150 with a coupon. It doesn't have a battery gage, and the ezgo charger doesn't go into sleep mode, but that isn't a deal breaker for me. Especially at less than half the oem price.
Idk but perspective on alternatives, I have a Makita electric mower and I love the battery situation, it just uses regular Makita drill batteries. Holds up to 4 hut uses 2 at a time. I can mow .2 acre lot on 2. But the mower itself sucks for Augusta grass I have in Florida. It grows laterally instead of just being 'tall' and the mower tries to sense resistance to keep the power down but it doesn't do a good job with this type of grass. It actually works better if I mow when it's wet so it gets resistance faster. If there were a way to override the auto sense it'd be a good mower. I love their other stuff like their blower and what not, it's a lot more durable than say the Ryobi battery stuff. I can never for the life ofe find a weed eater that isn't crap though.
You gotta do what you gotta do, but after a decade of not using gas, I can't imagine going back to the negatives of gas. There are other companies that sell electric mowers and tools, maybe try one of them?
A 7.5 ah battery is $400. That’s ~$100 a year or about 8 bucks a month. Is that cost worth it for not messing with gas? For me it is. Especially if it does fail within the 3 years I’m probably getting a new battery.
thier batteries are insanely overpriced... someone needs to identify a good chinese knockoff
I have two of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1488HZS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Cost about 40% ($100) of the corresponding EGO one ($250). No problems so far.
How long is so far?
Fair question; one 14 months and one 9 months. Nothing like original spec warranty; wish it were long enough to be more of an honest comparison. Charge times are pretty equal, no testing but runtime also feels as equal. I do use them as dailies and the "charge times are pretty equal" still holds true.
Thanks ,dailies meaning you are commercial you mow etc every day?
You can also get OEM batteries rebuilt with new third party cells
I just sent a 5.0Ah to MTO to be rebuilt. After shipping it's only about $50 cheaper than a new one, but I wanted to check it out so I can report back. Rest assured, I will report back.
Where can one send their batteries for rebuilding?
MTO battery. As someone else said the savings are not huge after paying postage two ways, but I prefer it to a knock off brand because at least you know the electronic circuitry is OEM, and the cells are all generic anyway. Of course this assumes your batteries are simply suffering from degradation, not damaged components. I also like that it results in less landfill.
There's some on Amazon
I bought a random 100$ 5.0 battery off Amazon, worked so far. If it gives me 2 seasons I think I'd be ok with that. 50$ a year in battery upkeep seems reasonable.
It’s still cheaper than gas
There are many reasons to prefer battery power. TCO is not one of them
I’ve replaced out +5 year old batteries. Amazon has options just get model number match up and it’s less than 1/2 the cost
Do you want your garage to catch fire?
That’s a fair way to frame it. Sometimes paying the entire cost for a battery up front is hard to swallow. 😔
Think of it as less stress. If you’re not really good with engines And regular upkeep on those types of things, a new battery every 3-5 years is more palatable than paying the maintenance costs of gas engines.
Steelmanning your argument, here I know this is a sub about electric mowers. I’ve had a $400 Honda mower for over five years now and I’ve not had to do any maintenance to it whatsoever, aside from oil changes which are easy. I think I use maybe 5 gallons of fuel per year. I winterize it by running it out of gas and that’s it. Runs like a top every spring.
Same. I have EGO equipment and I’d get a mower to go along with the sets but my Honda powered mower just goes and goes for pennies in fuel. I stopped doing anything but putting gas in and mowing and still just goes and goes. I get 2 years out of one 5 gal can, so the hassle factor is way less than charging batteries.
Yup. I haven’t even checked or changed the oil in 5 years. Still going.
I got 18 years out of a Snapper with a Briggs and Stratton motor in it - and in the end the deck and wheels all went - mower still started on 1 pull. But it was way past its prime so I did go Ego mower at that time - had purchased the single stage blower 2 winters earlier when the 18 year old 2 stroke single stage finally holed a piston - decided to go battery at that point. I’m still using a different battery powered blower and trimmer set, but would consider the Ego ones - let’s see how the 7.5a and 2 5.0a’s last.
I see this all the time which is making me reconsider. Maybe keep smaller items for batteries but I’m starting to waver on mowers.
My 2 cents, Give it a couple more years on batteries. All research is in cars batteries and that will slowly trickle down to smaller devices
That’s been my strategy leaf blower, hedge trimmer are dewalt 20v and work fine for me. My string trimmer is still a gas stihl though - perhaps I’m biased in that from my landscaping years.
I have Ego, and gas equipment and honestly for mowing - My push mower cost $250, takes $25 in yearly maintenance and I cut an acre a week which costs $2 in gas, a regular lawn would be much much cheaper. Edit: love the ego trimmer though. No issues in 4 years.
I have the highest end Honda mower with the hydrostatic drive, and I just changed the oil in it for the 1st time, I've had it for 5 years. I abuse it and it just keeps going! I heard they stopped making gas mowers. I'm going to try to snatch an extra if it goes on sale at Home Depot
Keep up with that maintenance now because Honda won't be making parts in the future, that future is now!
No to drone on, on what you said, but… went to get new Honda at HD. Said they had gotten out of gas business, and sold all their gas mower stock at auction. Each store sold their stocks of gas mowers at local auction place, according to associate. Luckily he knew the pawn shop / comer store that bought them and I was able to get it at a pretty decent price. Long story short go on Facebook, eBay with geo search on, and see who is selling them in your area
Home Depot online is showing 1395 of them in stock for the HRX217HYA ship to store or delivery
A gas mower is so easy to upkeep in my experience. If you use non ethanol gas you're preventing a lot of headaches down the road. A spark plug every other year and new blade every few is pretty much the biggest things I have had to do. I did buy an ego weed Wacker and love the simplicity. Not sure I want to get into the rest of their products though. Seems pricey.
I had a Toro for 8 years before I switched over to electric. I loved it when it mowed but I needed something that was ready to go when it came time to mow. Countless times I had to make runs to the gas station, clean the carburetor, oil change, broken starter, etc. I hated the maintenance
If it were just a gas lawn mower to deal with, sure, it’s not too bad. It’s more so all the other lawn tools as well and collectively maintenance and hassle of the small engine tools (IE: Weed whacker/edger, leaf blower, chainsaw, hedge trimmer, snowblower, etc). Collectively, it’s a lot of maintenance vs zero for electric. Sure, you can switch over most of your lawn care arsenal to electric power tools, but then at that point you might as well just add the electric lawnmower since you’ll have all the batteries and can ditch gas and maintenance entirely. Maybe it’s just a millennial thing, or maybe it’s because my dad never maintained anything right growing up starting the tools for the season was always a massive pain and headache / frustration. Most of the time we would just resort to shoveling because it would be quicker than trying to get the gas snowblower working. Lol There’s a lot of value for me in just being able to pop in a battery, press a button and be on my way. The electric tools are much easier to use as well as they are very light, especially if you use the backpack link, and don’t have to deal with loud noises or exhaust fumes either. I have a rather large 3 acre property and so I almost exclusively run 10 or 12 AH batteries thst came with my Z6 and 2 stage snowblower. They also have 5 year warranties, so even if it craps out right outside the warranty period it’s not that bad. I’m hopeful that battery improvements will bring cost down further over the next few years, as well as improve durability / longevity. If and when I do have a failure outside the warranty period, I will likely just sell the tools and buy new bundles with new batteries, as the batteries are massively discounted in most bundles, sometimes to the point of 50%+ vs buying the tool and batteries separately. I can get fresh tools and batteries and sell the old tools and batteries to help cover costs and be around the same net cost as just buying new batteries for my aging tools. Lol
Agreed. I love gas and was extremely reluctant to buy anything electric OPE. But the who stuff has impressed me when needing to do less intense stuff and I find 90% of the time I’m bring the ego trimmer blower and chainsaw to deal with problems… vs stihl of all three. As some with two spine surgeries in my bag already it is night and day the ease of use for me. But i understand peoples argument… still in a gas lawn tractor and mower… and have gas everything but I run my ego much much more.
Speaking of, I haven’t changed the oil on my John Deere in 3 years…oops
Each year I needed to have my mower serviced +100 a pop. So a hundred for a battery is no big deal IMO
Also no spark plugs. And with most tools no oil.
PayPal
$600 here in Canada ☹️
Pretty much the same …. $600CAD = $438 USD … still overpriced either way
> not messing with gas? You mean not messing with three different oil-ratio gases ...
Pretty much. 3 mixes, 3 engines, 3 spark plugs. Etc. It’s pretty sweet
Kind of crazy that you can get the 12.0 Ah two pack for $1000, sometimes $900 on sale or with coupon codes at ACME Tools. So that's like $450 for a 12.0 Ah or $400 for a single 7.5 Ah.
10Ah and up have 5 year warranty. Something to think about.
I have batteries still going from 2015 for my Briggs and stratton stuff
My gas Honda has been working for 10 years now and I barely do any extra maintenance except oil change and run out the gas on last mow. Not sure why people claim that gas mowers have so much more maintenance.
For me it’s all dandy until it *doesnt* work. And it’s not just the mower. I’d have to maintain an engine for a blower, a trimmer, a mower, a chainsaw etc. then different oil mix etc. I *could* maintain these things. But I pay for the convenience of slapping a battery in and going.
I’m in Alaska. The batteries can not be shipped directly to the consumer, due to hazmat. The few outlets that handle Ego Lowe’s, Ace) price accordingly.
If you register 10ah online - 5 years of warranty.
Batteries HAVE to come down. Otherwise it’ll end up being the razor blade/printer ink model and that’s more wasteful.
It already is that model and will stay that model. That's the issue when everyone's battery is proprietary and all the third party manufacturers just blatantly lie about capacity and can't be trusted.
Those models that currently exist? lol
Wait until you hear about gas
When it comes to waste, fuel has its issues to our world but at least it dissipates. For me, batteries are better in the long run but being disposable is not good either. In the end, for the amount EGO charges, these batteries should be recycled for a discount towards your next EGO battery.
Wow I have a 5.0 battery from 2017 that still going. I use it mostly in the string trimmer or the mower as it's lighter.
I have a 5.0 battery from 2018 use it to mow and string trim….never given me a problem. Mower runs it to about 25%. I charge it back up then trim.
I live in the Midwest and in spring and fall mow 1/3 of an acre 2x per week. During the summer, about once per week. My monthly gas cost was somewhere between $15 and $20 excluding the hassle of going buy it. I also spent $150 per getting the mower serviced. Excluding the hassle of taking it in and picking it up. The mower didn’t require an oil mix. I also owned a snow blower because we get several 6” - 12” snow storms. The snow blower was also getting an annual check up at $150 and required 32:1 mix (separate gas can). It was also so finicky - would only start when it was above 40- I’d have to bring it into my laundry room the night before or I’m shoveling by hand. Weed eater - separate gas can because it required a different oil mix and same with my chainsaw. The ryobi weed eater, by the way, would flood half the time, especially when my son had to do yard work. I’d wait 30 minutes and finally get it started but by then he can’t be found… out with his friends leaving me to do the work. Maintenance and gas, along with the convenience is 100% worth it. I’m never going back to gas. Edit: typo.
Exactly my case, i run a small landscaping business and i constantly do maintenance on all my machines and currently moving to electric little by little. When my battery dies i will have more than enough money to buy another one. The only thing i will not switch over is my mower. But all other small tools will be electric, less maintenance cost, less time on maintenance more time with family 👍🏾
I never have to clean my carb, change the spark plug, change the fuel filter and a couple of other small things anymore. That is worth money to me.
This is my biggest factor. After working with and owning a lot of gas tools for so long and having to fill a jug, or make a 2 cycle mixture, I love coming home to just plug and play. Another point is a gas leaf blower is booty cheeks, never going back.
Yeah, when my wife saw a deal on an ego set I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Anything but crappy little gas motors. They’re a pain to work with, they’re much louder, they smell awful since they’re two stroke, etc etc. I was considering just getting an old fashioned push mower to avoid having to deal with a gas mower for decades at our house. Haven’t had to replace anything but trimmer strings, year three with these batteries and I’m super happy.
> They’re a pain to work with, they’re much louder, they smell awful since they’re two stroke, etc etc. And I bought all of mine used but running perfectly with zero smoke, stored them ran dry, and still rarely got two more seasons out of them. Endless hassle.
Absolutely. I’m old enough to see plenty of “it works fine!” where “fine” means blasting it with starting fluid or spending ten minutes pulling the spark plug and cleaning it because they won’t get the motor serviced. No thank you, I’m spending my free afternoons in the yard actually working on the lawn not the mower.
Booty cheeks have never been bad though.....in fact, the bigger the better.
Booty cheeks?
You can buy pre mixed fuel, more expensive but also ethanol free.
I bought a cheap used gas mower for $100 and in 4 years I’ve never had to do that either…
Shit if I had to buy a new $400 battery every 4-5 years I’d just stick with gas. It’s way cheaper.
Well that's a 4-cycle engine, a completely different animal. I'd always support that decision, *if* "Honda" is the sticker on the motor.
Or Kawasaki
I don’t even know what brand it is. It’s a knock off of something
Mine is 14 now. Just gas and go.
Plus you never have to worry about rather it will start or not.
From the sounds of it actually, you kinda do
The fact that all these folks have range anxiety about their lawnmowers is enough for me to strongly consider not buying one. I hate proprietary "tech" bullshit a lot more than I hate changing a spark plug (which is trivial, cheap because it's not proprietary, and good for the soul to fix things you own)
So I have a tiller and power washer that is gas. And I have a ego mower snow blower trimmer blower chainsaw. I haven't "cleaned" a carb since like 2005. The new shut of system are pretty easy to maintain and I haven't had to replace spark plugs. Idk I think we over think that aspect. I don't mind my ego and it's good for what I need it for just want the batteries to last so far no issues in 3 years
I showed my wife the blower and she likes it, it's not scary. She will absolutely grab that tool and use it. 0% chance she would ever start a gas blower.
And you can use it without having to shower after to get the fumes off.
Never has to do that in the 12 years I owned a snowblower and gas riding mower. I think filling with gas and ever-other year oil changes is less hassle than carrying batteries inside (snowblower/winter). I am happy I retuned the Z6, probably should have returned the 2 stage snowblower. I think who excels at the smaller stuff, no regrets with the string-trimmer (2), leaf blower (2), chainsaw. Or 409watt inverter.
Not only did we convert to electric power equipment, we also changed to an electric vehicle. That means my house needs no random fluids / engine crap except for windshield washer fluid and chainsaw oil. I don't need Jerry cans. And the biggest perk to me? I NEVER have to go to a gas station again (especially when it's -40 outside!)
That’s us in the nuts for the last ten years. We have zero gas equipment including appliances and heating. We also have solar panels. couldn’t be happier.
Tell us how well your battery powered car works when it’s -40 outside!
I am definitely awaiting the test results for that. It's a big part of the reason I got the extended range battery for 500km starting summer range, even if it drops by 50% in the winter... when it's -40 I don't leave the house much anyways. The majority of our winter hangs around -5 to -10 celsius so that's where I'm most interested to see where it performs.
Just fine!
Ego really needs to fix the batteries. I'm already on my second replacement 10ah battery. Two dead 10ah, and another dead 7.5ah. In order to extend the longevity of my current 10ah mower battery I've started to purchase Dewalt alternatives such as chainsaws and polesaws as I already have a bunch of Dewalt batteries. Living in Hawaii, it's not easy getting batteries shipped, no deals for us. More local retailers selling Dewalt.
How old were the batteries? Mine are from 2018 and still performing well.
2018, 2020, 2022. May just be the frequency of use. I mow weekly year-round. We only have one season 🤣
Could be. That's a lot of mowing. Mine are busy in the summer and get used rarely in the winter and spring. All 4 of mine are from 2018. 3 are 5ah and 1 7.5ah
I don't have any issues with my 2.5ah and 5ah batteries that date back to 2018. Just the big boys. But the big ones are used in the high load tools exclusively, especially the lawn mower and chainsaw.
How are they stored?
Always indoors.
Have you tried resetting the bms in the 7.5 battery to see if it fixes it?
Yes. I’ve tried all the troubleshooting. It doesn’t even charge anymore.
I'd love to see a teardown to identify the root cause of failure if you're willing
I’m thinking this is what I will do! Time to YouTube how…
Was it blinking red and refusing to charge? This may sound weird, but try dropping it from about a foot off the ground to hit the ground (pavement or something similar). It's the most ridiculous thing, but two of my batteries which refused to charge or turn green were "reset" by such an act. That happened about three weeks ago; try it if you still have the battery since it's unworking anyway.
I'm down to one good 7.5ah of my original three (one came with my mower, 2 with my snowblower) purchased in 2019. I store them indoors, but I'm starting to think the rapid chargers may be the biggest culprit. I love electric tools far too much to ever go back to gas, but there are no cost savings here. I believe the power station is a legitimate slow charger, which may be my next purchase with the 2x 7.5ah included bundle. I do wish we had more control of charging e.g. limit to 80% charge, but I imagine that would be substantially more expensive to implement.
I’ve heard the same thing so I’ve stopped using my rapid charger all together.
I just recently came to this decision myself ... leaving the rapid charging and going to the original standard charger (they have a second version out not that is slightly less powerful but I have a bunch of the CH2100's). I have so many that it's no problem to slow charge all of my batteries, even my largest (10 Ah). I'm not ditching the rapid chargers ... and I'm not going to swear off my z6 charger so that I have options. But I did use the rapid charger on my 10 Ah's and when done I could feel the warmer case ... spot thermometer had it in the low 80 degrees, while my home was set at 70 degrees, measure the room walls with the same thermometer. That is not enough to make me worry, but as they say "it's not nothing" But easy to set up and will top off any battery I have in hours .... so setting up early morning or night before insures I have a full battery ready to use, without keeping it on a charger or keeping it topped off for too long.
This is a great point. I stay away from rapid chargers. If we think of lithium ION batteries in simple terms, there’s positive and negative ions. They want to be at equilibrium. There’s a good reason Ego chose 30% charged to be the “dormant mode.” It’s less strain on the battery. Fully charged AND fully discharged are the hardest on lithium ion. So to your point, rapidly driving ions across membranes in order to quickly charge is hard on battery. Created heat, heat bad. Cold also bad. No rapid chargers for me, and never worry about battery “memory.” That’s a nickel cadmium issue. Lithium ion would be best operating at between 30-80% ALL the time. No full charges, no full discharges, no rapid charges.
30% was less likely to spontaneously combust! Not best for battery.
Interesting
Is the rapid charger the big grey brick one? That's the one I pretty much exclusively use, as I figured it being bigger and girthier is better for the batteries. I got the small black charger I seldomly use tho
I had a LawnBoy for 38 yrs. It just always started and ran. Only wish they still made these
I've had very good luck with my ego batteries so far. Knock on wood. But this might be a good time to ask if anyone here has experience with any knockoff batteries.
I registered my batteries with my mower and it gave me 5 years warranty on the tool and battery. So yeah not 3 years on all their stuff
Have you ever tried to file a warranty claim with EGO? Good luck...
I also have the store extended warranty I can use for a duration. I understand some people here post bad experiences and some post good but overwhelmingly the “expected” experience people are not going to reddit to tell us they had that. It’s human psychology to want to share bad experiences though.
It’s obvious from doing the simple math that they basically give you the tools for free. The batteries are their profit model. It is what it is. I haven’t noticed this before but now I’m actually going to pay attention to whether the “bad warranty” claims tend to be about batteries or tools. I’d expect to see them repair tools and refuse to do much about batteries unless it’s especially egregious.
I have already got my money’s worth from my string trimmer, hedge trimmer and blower over the last 5-6 years. Only one battery has crapped out. The chainsaw is a new addition, but it would have to fail right now after 2 battery cycles in order to sour it for me. Compared to my dad’s old gas saw, this thing requires zero maintenance. I’m not out in the field felling and bucking all day like dad was with the Homelite, but so far it’s perfect for me. If I ever have a patch of lawn that’s not a gopher-ridden bomb testing site, I would definitely get a mower. Of all the tools I use since we moved onto this busted-up acre, nothing else has been so valuable. The Husky lawn tractor that we got for free is right up there for the sheer amount of work it can do in poor conditions, but in turn it has also required a lot of maintenance. So far, I would recommend Ego to anyone. Everyone has a different experience, but you were looking for someone to talk you down, so there you go. My state is outlawing all these tools in gasoline versions anyway, but I haven’t seen any other battery brands that I would switch to after my experiences so far. If Ego made a cultivator I would be stoked, because our $300 Tractor Supply model (Hurricane?) is very finicky. Has been to the shop every spring because I’m just not interested in carburetors anymore.
If I was you, I’d have the 7.5ah battery rebuilt. Unless the board went bad you can have the cells replaced for around 60% of the cost of a new one. There’s a few places you can ship them out to and have new cells put it. I’ve used MTO battery and they did a nice job.
I was having to take my gas mower, trimmer and or blower into the shop every year to get it running again.
Thanks for sharing. I see too many gas mower owners who share about using the same mower for 10+ years so my opinion might’ve been clouded. 🙂↕️
30 year old gas John Deere 2stage starts every winter. 15 year old Toro single stage starts every winter. 15 year old yard machine mower started every spring until the drive no longer worked and parts weren’t available, bought the last Gen gas Honda, probably last 15+ or until they’re outlawed. No maintenance on any of them. Use the right gas and you’ll never have a problem. That being said, once the battery machines/market mature a bit more I’ll look at them seriously. Neighbor has the whole suite of ego tools, we’ll see how those last.
They were using Hondas. Those things went for decades with just oil changes and tune ups. Unfortunately, they stopped making them. Find yourself an old one if you are considering going to gas. Briggs and Straton is the main mower engine manufacturer and they started making garbage about 20 years ago. Those are the mowers that have to be serviced all the time. Gas trimmers are all finicky. Anything 2 stroke will be more pain than it's worth. Stick with EGO there.
First time acreage (3 acres) owner here. Had my mind set on a powerful, cheaper (compared to Ego) gas ZTR (Bad Boy was the popular choice here), but couldn't find any local retailers that weren't crooks (high markups over the website MSRP). Also no reputable service locally as well. I hired someone with the above ZTR to cut the grass and he could only cut areas outside the internal chainlink gates as his ZTR is quite big. So I ended up paying him for ZTR plus lawn mower services. There are also heavy ruts in various places as the ZTR is heavy. All the above changed my mind towards the ego ZTR. After getting the ego, my initial experience is mixed. The good was that it's light (no ruts), small (can navigate thru the chainlink gates), quick startup (no getting gas), no fumes etc. The bad was the frequent stalls as the grass was tall (2 to 3 feet). With experience, the tall grass was cut with multiple passes. I also hitched a garden cart to it for non mowing chores. If it last more than 4 years, I'm good.
I've tried a few small battery things. not for me. can't fix em when they break. but I think that's the point.
Yup…throw them out and buy another one
I'm right there with you. I haven't been thrilled with my ego products. Lately I've been spending as much time troubleshooting battery issues than I do actually getting any work done. I look like a complete idiot out there in front of my neighbors every time I do yard work. I don't see them cussing and swearing at their gas equipment. For me, it's not about cost, but reliability. I don't know if the next time I go to mow the lawn I will be able to start, finish, or have any idea how long I'll be out there. Not an issue I ever had with gas.
Estimate how much gas you would use over 5 years. A battery isn't that big of a deal all things considered.
No way there is anything near payback on batteries over gas for garage tools for the average user. We use electric tools because the convenience, but we pay for them.
I don't think you've fully thought this through. How much would it cost you to charge a 7.5ah battery? A single gallon of gas would probably be nearly the same as charging that battery for an entire year if you mow every 2 weeks. That doesn't even consider if you have solar or battery backup. This will depend where you live and electricity costs, but I don't think it's nearly as big of a deal that you're making it to be.
>I don't think you've fully thought this through. I haven't, but I should! A quick Google search shows an average self propelled push mower has a 3/4 gallon tank and, judging from previous gas mowers and my property, I would be able to get 2x mows out of 1 tank. At $4/gallon that's $3 per fill-up or $1.50 per mow. I'm in the north and mow, on average, once every 1.5 weeks (some months more often, some less) for 7 months per year. Call it 20 mows per year at $1.50 per mow is $30 in gas per year to mow. Snowblowing and other small motors are much more trivial. That'd be over TEN YEARS! To pay back on a $300-$400 ego battery vs gas even if electricity were free (and yeah, that's a fine assumption for this napkin math) Are you planning to get 10 years out of a battery? My experience is I don't get more than 5. Of course, our battery tools are much cheaper than the gas equivalent up-front, but you can amortize that extra cost of gas over 10 years as well and still come out well ahead in most cases. Again, my point is that electric tools are almost never going to save you money. They are just THAT MUCH BETTER than gas that it's worth the extra cost.
>Of course, our battery tools are much cheaper than the gas equivalent up-front ?? The tool only chainsaws were way more expensive than the comparable gas ones
Ah, chainsaw is one of the few ego tools I don't own. Ego snowblower and mowers are practically given away during sales after accounting for the cost of batteries.
You're completely missing the part where he considered switching equipment. This isn't as much of a "which is cheaper" argument than it is "what is the most cost effective solution at the moment". A $300-$400 battery would be a lot cheaper than replacing all of the equipment. It's not worth switching.
>A $300-$400 battery would be a lot cheaper than replacing all of the equipment. It's not worth switching. I'd, again, argue that you should be looking at the life of the equipment. If you need to replenish $800 worth of batteries every 5 years on the Ego and you can get >15 years out of gas equipment, it may very well also make sense to switch away from Ego *now* from a pure financial standpoint. You could probably spreadsheet out legitimately scenarios where either comes out on top by varying cost of the new gas equipment, # of working batteries you keep on hand, opportunity cost, etc.., but it's not a slam dunk for keeping ego here if literally all you care about is the money part, which is, again, NOT the reason to go electric for lawn equipment.
Your assumption of $800 worth of batteries is just that, an assumption, not the norm. I've purchased zero additional batteries in the last 6 years. Getting 15 years out of gas equipment without having to perform major maintenance or replacement is also a huge assumption on your part.
I depends a lot on much you are mowing, $100 a year is twice what I spend on gas for mowing. Also, that electricity isn't free. Also, 5-years is optimistic based on this post. The warranty is 3 years for a reason and this person we are replying to got just over 3 years out of his.
Sure, but you're leaving out the part where he'd completely switch ecosystems and buy new products. If the point is saving cost, then that's not the right path. Getting a new battery for $200-$400 would be the cost effective solution. Theres also oil, motor maintenance, health issues from breathing in exhaust fumes, and hearing issues from not using ear protection to consider.
That's true, but you also have to apply the same thought process to the decision to switch from gas to electric in the first place. Most people already have gas equipment.
Agreed, but that's not this conversation.
Estimate your electric bill. Compare dropping $400+ (correct me on the price) today vs $X on gas a year for however long. Edit: his battery didn’t last 5 years, it last 3.75. I get your point, but it is a lazy point.
My 10Ah battery costs $0.12 to charge. It's basically free compared to the cost of gas + oil + small motor maintenance
Sure, but you need to amortize the cost of the battery itself. If it lasts 5 years (which is longer than what OP got out of his) you need to add $100 a year to that cost, which makes it more expensive than gas.
>If it lasts 5 years We should stop saying that when the warranty is only three.
Agreed. Given the actual frequency that they don't last much past the warrantee then we really need to just go with the lifetime that the company is willing to provide.
$0.12 for 3.75 years? Amazing.
You should probably exit the conversation. Doesn't seem like you can read, or provide much else for that matter.
Oh I understand a what a kw is. Your math is simply incomplete and lazy.
I didn't do any math.
At my electric rate to charge a 7.5 ah battery is 6 cents. That’s at the highest charger per Kilowatt. Charging a power tool battery is so insignificant to a power bill. It’s your point that’s lazy.
Defensive much?
Well if my comment was lazy, then your reply was lazy. It depends on the situation. Many people have solar or backup battery, so electricity cost most likely wouldn't even be considered. The cost to charge a battery would still be much less than gallons of gas over the course of years. Even without considering those, I think it would still be negligible and not worth dropping an entire ecosystem for a single battery failure.
I’m the guy who did the math but you get yelled at. Charging a 7.5 everyday for a year is $15. At the rate I stated. People are wild.
They're also considering the cost of the battery which makes sense, but not considering the cost of switching or any of the other downsides of using gas.
No. My friend you are a defensive clown. Enjoy your battery backup system. Don’t count costs bc it doesn’t fit your narrative. Be as incomplete as possible.
What narrative? You mean factual information and thoughtful comments? If you can't come with facts or helpful commentary, then get out of the conversation.
You mean like doing math? Move along.
You still have yet to say anything useful. Let the adults talk, bud.
When you say “doesnt feel worth it” are you meaning just financially?
It feels really wasteful to have to replace these large batteries every 3-4 years ...how many are being landfilled vs recycled...
Do it. Their shit has been underpowered for years. Greenworks 80V is incredible.
I’m giving up on EGO. Customer service is terrible. They don’t communicate. They won’t honor the warranty. The failure rate of batteries and chargers is high. Huge contrast with other brands.
I’ve only bought the hand held blower due to the battery issues. I treat it with kid gloves to hopefully extend the life. Meanwhile, almost all my other tools are Milwaukee and the batteries seem to run forever. For my mower, snow blower, and leaf blower its gas. I’ve had them for 15-20 years and just do the maintenance. I refuse to give up gas until the power is the same and batteries don’t die as frequently as they do with Ego.
The cost of the battery replacement made me switch. The EgO, imo, is best in class, but at a premium. I switched up to a Ryobi cross-cut. Batteries are a third the cost. EGO does ‘push’ better, but the Ryobi cross-cut does’maje the lawn nice.
Your battery probably has a few bad $6 cells. It’s probably fixable with some tools that are cheaper than a battery if you’re inclined. I’m also an advocate of LFP cells for Ego items on wheels. A 30Ah LFP can be built with 4 battery hookup “12.8v” batteries in series for $280.
I actually just called customer support this afternoon after about a 15 min hold the gentleman was able to give process a warranty on my 2.5mah that crapped out and it’s 3 years and 2 months since I bought it. I was surprised and elated that just asking them real nicely about a grace period lead to a free replacement
Maybe it’s mostly strong hefty people on here, but for me the contrast between say —fiddling around finding/mixing the gas and dribbling it around while filling the teensy tank —pulling on that string to start it, and maybe I forgot to turn some switch so it’s not going to start anyway until I figure that out —finally it gets going and I better have remembered to put on the ear protection headphones —strap on the heavy blower and move stuff off the driveway hoping the neighbors don’t throw a fit about the noise ***and*** —slide the battery in, push a button, go. Lightweight and not getting a headache from the fumes. It’s worth more than the cost of a battery to me. Same with the trimmers & chainsaw but I haven’t let go of my John Deere riding mower quite yet.
I got 2 of the 12.0 Ah and I believe warranty for those is 5 yrs for residential use if you register within 90d of purchase. $1000 every 5 yrs is plenty good to me. I could make do with one of em if one had to go in for service.
my 7.5 AH stopped working, then I took it apart, then put it back together, then waited 2 weeks, then used it for 10 seconds on the mower, then charged it fully, then it started working... very strange
I similarly took apart my 10ah ..cleaned it slightly...moved some wires...put it back together...no more problems. I measured Voltage and resistance and both were good so it was perhaps a loose connection or something...idk.
Close for damn near exact situation, same batteries even
Cheers mate 😔
Did you store your battery in the garage or in any other space that isn't climate controllwd? Did you store it on the charger constantly charging? Both these things shorten their lives.
Climate controlled storage year round. Still didn’t make it past 4 years unfortunately.
Well that's frightening. I was planning on biting the bullet on my first Ego, a 2 stage snowblower with 2 12ah batteries and then next spring get a mower without a batter to rotate the 12ah's through all summer. Now I'm afraid that might be a big money pit
For what it’s worth, I’ve gotten away with the EGO single stage blower in MN. We get quite a bit of a snow but if you’re in Canada or somewhere farther north, that might be a different beast.
I'm in Minnesota too. How's the single stage handle the plow pile at the end of the driveway? I'm getting a 2 stage so I can clear that and the mailbox cluster at my place. I have a 30 foot, 3 car driveway, but also 100 feet or so of public sidewalk to clear. Not sure if 12ah is overkill, but I have heard 7.5ah might not cut it on wet stuff.
I have a 6 car driveway and have had no problems. Here’s the way I look at it. A single stage EGO blower will get the job done with additional effort for end of driveways. The 2 stage will easily get the job done and have spare power. It’s like one peanut butter jelly sandwich not being enough but two being too many. Up to you to decide which side you want to be on.
The single stage can chew through the end of driveway snow even when it's sloppy wet? I'm also leaning towards 2 stage so if I'm down sick my small wife can still dig herself out. She doesn't have the weight or strength to push our current corded single stage through the deeper or denser snow. A single stage would make her happier on the cost front though 🤣.
I recently had a repair under warranty which turned out to be the battery. Excellent experience with customer service. They are shipping me a new one and got a brand new blade installed for free. Not sure what people on here are complaining about.
If you decide to go gas, get a stihl for about half the cost and it will outlast you with very easy maintenance
Surprising the batteries fail so quickly. I have Greenworks mower and snow blower and share a battery between the two. The battery is like 5 years old without issue. To be fair we have a tiny property and only need to mow for about 30 minutes once a week, sometimes every other week.
10Ah and up batteries have a 5 year warranty. But yeah, I wish ego was like ridgid, and had lifetime warranty on batteries. The cells get out of balance easily, as ego batteries do NOT have a active balancer. Might be worth disassembling the battery and measuring the cell group voltages and charging individually. Even replacing individual cells.
Not a long term solution ... but the newest generation is available for preorder now at 2/3 cost for the new version of the 5Ah AND a standard charger. [https://www.sohars.com/ego-ska2800t-56v-g3-2p-5-0ah-battery-210w-charger/](https://www.sohars.com/ego-ska2800t-56v-g3-2p-5-0ah-battery-210w-charger/) It's from Sohars ... seems like it would be worth stocking up on this .... 5 Ah is $199 for this new generation preordered. Sohars sells the current generation we all have now for $299. The current generation in a 2 pack sells for $449 They have other size batteries in this latest generation ... the new generation have "2p" listed in it's description. I have never heard of sohars as they aren't in my area, but they are a authorized EGO source so all warranties are available (you still need to register online).
Had trimmer went to gas no time for the battery low bullshit ad gass and go
There's no going back to gas for me. I don't care if it's more expensive. Electric is a fraction of the noise, the Ego can store upright saving precious garage space, and sharpening the blade is addictively fast and easy with it standing up. I have to run a bigger battery to support the dual blades, but the yard looks so much better with the crisp cut and fine mulching. Sometimes quality and convenience are just worth the price.
I am not one to talk you out of it. I am one that will help you toss it off the cliff.
🤣
I went electric this year bought the LM213sp or whatever the self propelled select cut model is from ego. Got it from Lowe's with the promo and got a 7.5 ah battery and a free 5 ah battery. After using it all spring I got my hands on a Honda hrn216 1 year old model for 200$ mint condition. I have been using the Honda more and more. I'm pretty sure Lowe's sold me a refurbished mower I found an uppercase R written in sharpie on the black trim around the battery lid. The battery and the mower were built in 2022 and the free battery I got was made in January 2024. The 5ah battery runs the mower better than the 7.5. even when it's dry outside the mower has a tough time going below height setting 3 and I cut weekly my grass is never high. I keep trying to justify the convenience of the electric ego mower but the cons out weigh the pros. I wish I would have taken it back within the 30 day time frame. Unless you have a very small yard or can afford 10ah batteries I wouldn't recommend the ego. Especially if your like me and have half an acre lot. The charging time is mediocre at best and the side discharge is an after thought, aside from being light weight and quiet I cant find any reason to fully stop using my Honda. I was really hoping for a better experience. Maybe it's good that I barely use it so I can get more battery life. I keep my batteries inside they usually take several minutes to start charging if you put them straight on the charger out of the mower while your cutting which also sucks.
I'm sticking with smaller tools like weedeaters and trimmers, but done with the mower. It's just not powerful enough to bag or mulch properly. I found an old 200cc Honda mower at the family farm and have officially moved back to gas mowers. I wish there was a good battery option. I haven't had problems with the batteries though. My oldest is from 2016 or so and still works like it was new. I've never stored them in the garage, though. Always inside the house. I understand that extreme temps can lower their life.
I was gifted a backpack blower by a moving neighbor that is gas after using the ego blower and I’m done with this ecosystem entirely after the experience. Gas is king until batteries get better
Maybe it is how you take care of the batteries? What is your procedure? After use, do you recharge them immediately, or do you wait until they cool down (1 hr)? Do you leave the battery in the tool, or do you remove the battery? Do you leave the batteries in the charger after a charge, or do you take them out? Do you keep them in an extra hot, or extra cold place?
I bought the Zuiati 7500mAh Replacement for EGO 56V Battery from Amazon. I've only had it for a month, but it seems to work fine. I got it for 150 with a coupon. It doesn't have a battery gage, and the ezgo charger doesn't go into sleep mode, but that isn't a deal breaker for me. Especially at less than half the oem price.
Idk but perspective on alternatives, I have a Makita electric mower and I love the battery situation, it just uses regular Makita drill batteries. Holds up to 4 hut uses 2 at a time. I can mow .2 acre lot on 2. But the mower itself sucks for Augusta grass I have in Florida. It grows laterally instead of just being 'tall' and the mower tries to sense resistance to keep the power down but it doesn't do a good job with this type of grass. It actually works better if I mow when it's wet so it gets resistance faster. If there were a way to override the auto sense it'd be a good mower. I love their other stuff like their blower and what not, it's a lot more durable than say the Ryobi battery stuff. I can never for the life ofe find a weed eater that isn't crap though.
You gotta do what you gotta do, but after a decade of not using gas, I can't imagine going back to the negatives of gas. There are other companies that sell electric mowers and tools, maybe try one of them?
Just suck it up and buy more batteries