I’ve been exclusively using a Greenworks Pro 60-Volt Brushless Lithium Ion lawn mower on my beast of a rural lawn for a month, and I’ve not been tempted to use my gas-fueled mower once.
I’m not typically an advocate of battery-powered yard tools for my lawn. I’ve tried them in the past only to have them under-perform and to feel led astray by decent marketing and my environmental conscience. The last of these stings had dulled enough for me to try the Greenworks line. They make a variety of consistently well-reviewed Li-ion yard tools, and at $400, their mower + battery and charger combo is less than I spent on my current Honda-powered gasser.
My lawn is a savagely sloped half-acre of mostly grass-like weeds and rocks that has ravaged and eventually destroyed four mowers over the last decade. Greenworks advises caution using the 60V Pro lawn mower in my situation, but I knew if it could survive my yard, it would command almost any suburban lawn.
After unpacking and assembling the mower, I charged all three 60V batteries I had. Their capacity measured in amp-hours, I now had 5.0, 4.0, and 2.0 batteries at my disposal. I grabbed the 4.0 that came with the mower and dropped it into the battery cavity with a satisfying click. My hands did not smell like gasoline.
Starting the mower is truly simple - press a large button and lower the handlebar lever to bring the machine to life. I pushed my earbuds in, pressed play, and walked behind the mower just long enough to realize that my usual mowing audio volume was way too loud. Volume adjusted, I set off again to tackle my hour and half chore while enjoying music instead of just masking engine noise with it.
The mower did everything I asked of it, taking on the random rocks and branches that my yard offered without complaint. As my heart rate climbed, I noticed something different about my heavy breathing. I was filling my lungs with air instead of exhaust. It felt amazing.
A little more than halfway through the yard, the first battery was done. The box advertised up to 60 minutes of run-time, so the 50 minutes I got felt acceptable. I swapped the five amp-hour battery into the machine. This process took seconds instead of a couple messy minutes with a gas can. I finished the job with battery to spare, and a twinge of disappointment that my music listening time was over.
With my other mower still in the storage shed, I didn’t have room for this one as well. Turns out that another benefit of being gas-less is that I can store the mower in any orientation I prefer. Greenworks designed it to be stored vertically by folding down the handle and parking the mower on its rear wheels. This was a brilliant solution to my lack of storage space.
After a couple mows each, my wife and I were hooked on the Greenworks Pro cordless mower. Concern about how long the batteries would last and other long-term pitfalls started creeping into my mind. I couldn’t test these in a few mowing sessions, so I reached out to the Greenworks engineers for answers.
What should I expect for longevity out of these 60V batteries? How many charge cycles are they each expected to last at advertised runtime / capacity?
Your average homeowner will get 4 to 5 years of use out of a battery. Each battery has 500 cycles (complete charge/discharge) before it experiences any capacity loss. Even at 500 cycles the battery will still have ~80% capacity.
How many years is GreenWorks committed to have replacement battery availability in the future?
The 60-volt line is backed by a 4-year tool, and 2-year battery warranty. Regarding replacement battery availability, since the launch of the Greenworks brand in 2009, we have yet to discontinue availability of a battery, and are committed to supporting our complete line-up with replacement parts into the future.
The benefits of a battery-powered mower with a brushless motor are too numerous to ignore. It is lighter than similar form-factors, healthier for you, better for the environment, starts with zero effort, and your hands won’t smell like gas for the rest of the day. Above all, I was consistently surprised by how well the Pro 60V cut my lawn.