EGO Tools

Well sports fans, there we have it.

 

I love the cvk40 carb on my motorcycle. The rest can jump off a cliff.

 

I've been a small engine/industrial equipment parts and service tech for most all of my adult life so bare with me while I data dump a bunch of (possibly) too-much-detail information.

I dont have enough experience with the EGO equipment to give you any insight on longevity. The Ace Hardware attached to my small engine shop sold em so i had to set em up for customers. Got one in for warranty that had a burnt board... the build quality is meh. Not the worst chinesium ive ever seen but definitely not the best. If you're wanting to buy battery equipment amongst what you've listed, hands down the Stihl is the best IMO ... I was a service guy at a honda/stihl dealer when they first introduced the battery stuff and it's only gotten better over the years. I'm assuming the 533.99 price includes a battery? It's been a few years since I sold any stihl stuff but when they first came out the batteries were all sold separately. If you have a small yard (1/2 acre max) the rma 460 will handle that with one charge on an AK30 battery. Deck and blade design work very well for mulching if you don't try to take more than 1/2" length off at a time.

If you have more than a 1/2 acre. Or be lazy and like to leave your grass growing longer between cuts, gas is going to be the way. But the issues with ALL modern gas mowers is a combination of; stricter emissions standards(smaller ports in carbs fuel circuit), humidity levels where you live, and leaving fuel in the tank when stored off season(because of the ethanol in the gas). Independently those concerns arent much, but combined, it created a sickening amount of work during spring where 90%+ of my shop work was fuel flushes and carb cleanings. (NOT honda) alot of engine manufacturers are using plastic carbs on their engines now so there were numerous instances where the carb couldn't be cleaned and I had to replace em. Having to explain to customers why it's their fault and not warranty that I had to replace a carb on a 2 year old piece of equipment was never a fun time.

The best value, longest lasting gas mower from my time was the Honda HRR216. I stopped dealing with lawn equipment and moved back into industrial stuff when they replaced the HRR216 with its current version the HRN216. The HRN uses a slightly larger engine and has an autochoke feature on the carb that they tested out on the last generation of the HRR. I had to deal with a couple of warranty claims on that autochoke feature and I'm not a fan, but knowing honda, there's a good chance they've worked those bugs out and it's not as a big of an issue it was 5 or so years ago.

If convenience is paramount and the space is small enough, go battery. It's improving every year and I had a number of commercial customers converting their entire work fleet from gas to battery around 5yrs ago. The Stihl stuff will absolutely hold up to years of 8hr a day use and abuse (but they've got to use battery bank backpacks to last all day lol) however if you're a weirdo like me and enjoy pull starting a small engine combined with the smell of fumes, gas will do wonders so long as you DO NOT leave fuel in the system for longer than 30 days.

 

Using tru fuel in my two cycles has mostly done away with the carbureted f'ry (well said), but recent back issues over the last couple years has my wife pull starting anything for me and have lightly been browsing the electrics.

 

I sold a shit of tru fuel to my customers because it's convenient as fuck. But it's too damn expensive in my book. Much cheaper and better alternative is buying an 2 stroke oil called "Opti-2" it will make ethanolated fuel have a shelf life of at least 1 yr. In my testing and experimenting it was almost 2yrs before my test tank starting absorbing moisture

 

expensive for sure, but as a homeowner i dont use too much so i pay the $20/gallon

 

That's where I am, leaning towards the STIHL and it does include the mentioned AK30 battery. I have a few more days to make a final decision but it looks like the STIHL is the best choice for me. I have as much as 1 acre to mow or as little as 700sqft depending on how much I want to push mow vs zero turn, neither allow me to drink a beer so...

 

What you need is a mowermate, sold a bunch of those

 

I use the 18" chainsaw.. nice and quiet. not as powerful as a gas but for moderate trail trimming it is awesome. I have the 400 anytime mod so I can charge one of the batteries as I drive and rotate out as needed.

 

Snappers been putting cup holders on their ninja & hivac push mowers for awhile...

 

I have a whole suite of ego products and this is the only one that's ever given me issues. Specifically, the chain bunches up and falls off like every 5 minutes. I've spent hours taking it apart and adjusting the tension and by some miracle I think I found the sweet spot... but only by dumb luck. What's the method here?

Love all my other ego tools and will never go back to gas. I have the mower, hedge trimmer, weed whacker, and edger. They're just so damn convenient and I'll never miss stinking of gas fumes after a day of yard work.

 

I originally had the 14" and had a bunch of issues with it. Chains falling off, bunching up, poor performance ETC. When I moved to the 18 I haven't experienced any more issues.

 

Do you have the current one with the light or the older model without the light? If it's the older model, mine popped an oil fill hose, and puked bar oil all over the inside of the case. Make sure to check for oil coming out of the body. Ego wanted me to take it into Home Depo during high Covid season, and then they switched over to Lowes. I ended up tossing it, but I saved the bar and chain, and eventually purchased the new 18" saw with the light.

I also have the backpack blower, powerload string trimmer, and 110-volt inverter. Make sure to register their products, and call-in if the battery ever acts up. Don't let the warranty/free replacement time period pass you up.

 

I have the 18in and bought it 4 months ago. Actually not sure if it has a light or not

 

Any of you guys help me out here.
Are you guys still happy with the Electric Mowers?

I am looking to purchase a new mower for my sooner to be new home. (New to me)
It is on less than .25 acres of land. Maybe less.

My main questions here are.

1. Does the Ego (or any other) have enough power to cut thick(er) grass?

2. Will leaving the mower in an outside storage shed cause the mower Amy damage?
I will keep the batteries inside the garage, but the mower itself will be outside in a shed.
The shed can get pretty hot inside in the summer. Would this cause any problems with the mower?
I’ve heard most are plastic, so I don’t want to damage the mower or electrical components.

3. What battery size is recommended?
I don’t really need a self propelled mower, but I’m not against having it either.
Does this feature drain the battery faster.
Can you still push the mower forward/backwards if not using the self propelled feature?

And also, I have been in the lawn care and landscaping filed most of my life.
I have made the switch to battery hedge trimmers and polesaws.
But how much “worse” are the electric mowers than a gas mower?

I mean, most of my experience is with 48” - 60” commercial mowers.

 

I have pushed mine through 12 inches of weeds and it did about as good as my old Honda gas mower. Not great, not terrible, about as expected. You can hear it throttle up when it encounters that higher load.

I keep my batteries in a climate controlled room, lithium batteries hate getting hot. Hard to tell on the mower itself, too hot and plastic usually goes brittle. Electronics should be fine being stored in a warm place, so long as they can stay cool when running

I expect self propelled will eat batteries faster.

I have the 5AH for my mower and a 2.5 for the trimmer. The mower can do my whole lawn on 1 charge with a little to spare, maybe a quarter of an acre?

 

Thanks for the reply.
I was looking at the 5.0ah and the 7.5ah one.


As for the heat. The batteries would never see anything other than outside temps.
But the mower would probably see much warmer. The house has a small shed in the back and I noticed it got pretty dang hot in there when I opened it up to have a look. (I don’t own the house yet, will Tuesday is the home inspection is good)

 

I just went through this whole thing. The amount of money you spend on an electric mower is really up to you. To get good quality cut and length of time mowing you need to spend more. In the $450+ range. For the gas comparison you can get a nice quality gas self propelled that will last for years.

The electric commercial mowers are nice but in the $700+ range and require a battery inventory.

All and all I’m going back to a gas mower. *edited

 

Back to electric? Or Gas?