Greenworks24V 13" Brushless Cordless (Push) Lawn Mower, 4.0Ah Battery and Charger Included

Edit 8/15/2017 - I'm updating this to 5 stars because even given the issues below, I would buy this product again over any competitors I could find in this product category. I've used this for 4 years now and it still works the same as it did new. I remarked below on poor cut quality in some scenarios where blade speed can fall too low which is still a problem, but this really only occurs when mulching. Cutting thick or tall grass with the discharge open improves the pace and cut quality in this scenario but there are limitations, mowing fields is still going to produce a crappy cut no matter what you use.Let's get a few things out of the way, these do not impact the product score, as they are common to all products in this category:1. This is a corded mower. Dealing with the cord is sometimes a pain. If you have a lot of trees or obstacles you may want to consider something else.2. Maximum power is limited to a 120V outlet and what can safely make it out an extension cord (about 1650W, for reference 1HP is ~745W).3. With no batteries to wear out or engines to refuel/re oil, this is very cheap to operate. Running this mower at peak output generally costs 8-25c/hour. You also hit an advantage in purchase price as gas or cordless units with the same features generally cost 50-100% more.4. Short of hitting something, bogging down an electric motor generally allows it to produce more power and speed back up again (unlike a gasoline engine).So, what's good about this? Well:1. 21" Steel deck. The actual blade is 19.5" leaving you a little less than an inch on either side of the deck that won't be cut. You can get a much closer cut with this than the B&D plastic models that have a very thick plastic housing. It's also going to survive rocks/sticks much better than the plastic ones. Both the discharge cover and bag seem to attach easily and solidly. It also makes it look more like a lawn mower and less like a big kid's toy.2. Light (<55lbs). Since you're not carrying your power source onboard it will be lighter than any other mower in this size class (compare to 75-90lb for gas or battery electric). Larger rear wheels give easy maneuverability. Single lever height adjust works well and is spring loaded so you can raise or lower it with one hand.3. 3 in one operation - A lot of electric mowers whether they're cordless or corded are limited on power, most get around this by using more efficient blade designs that generate less lift but mulching can be slower. With a reasonably well manicured lawn it doesn't matter much, but cut quality and performance drop off a lot if mulching tall or really thick grass. Since this model has a side discharge that remains an option for thick grass and improves cut speed significantly without wasting your clippings, quite a few electrics don't have a discharge option.The bad?1. Wheels/axles could be shielded a little bit so the cord doesn't tend to wrap around it and go under.2. Mulching anything thick is slow, mowing through thick grass can take quite a bit of time (and tends to clump the output.) I think this is more related to the blade design, when you move fast through thick patches it will cut but leave a few standing, if it had more lift I think it would draw these up (and also help propel the discharge better). Unfortunately the blade seems to have proprietary mounting holes so that's hard to do.Now, into the nitty-gritty:This mower is powered by a brushed DC electric motor (Globe 7080). Brushed DC motors are lighter and cheaper than AC synchronous motors or induction motors. However they're generally less durable or efficient.The Globe 7080 has a peak efficiency (their spec) of 68%. Peak efficiency at 3500RPM (590W output at 7.3A), Peak power at 2245RPM (860W output at 13A). Here's why that's a problem:Mowers are generally limited (by agreement) to a maximum blade tip speed of 19000 feet per minute (for safety of items that may be thrown from the mower). Higher blade speeds give more lift helping the grass get lifted into the cutting path and making cleaner cuts. At max efficiency RPM the blade is moving about 17,800FPM on this mower. If you start cutting too fast you'll bog it down. Because it's electric it picks up torque so it will keep spinning but you don't hit peak power until about 11,600FPM. This is far too slow and you'll start seeing missed cuts and ragged lines (I noticed this in actual usage).So since you can't really cut that slow, maximum usable power is closer to 600-650W, or less than 1HP. By comparison, a Honda GCV160 engine at 3600RPM (a common governer setting for push mowers) outputs about 3425W, falling to around 2800W at 3000RPM.Obviously there are electrical supply limitations to a mower like this. It's perfectly serviceable but nothing amazing, if they ran a brushless motor in here it would undoubtedly cost more but the efficiency could be much higher (>85%) and could be designed for peak power much closer to the ideal blade speed.Here's the specs on the motor, some were given others were hand calculated.Globe 7080 series (120VDC)Voltage 120VDCNo-Load RPM 4490 RPMNo-Load Current 2.0A (provided) 1.16A (measured)Stall Torque 7.316nmStall Current 26.0ATorque Const 0.305nm/ASpeed Const 37.4 RPM/VoltMax Efficiency 68%Torque 1.61 nmSpeed 3500 RPMCurrent 7.3 APower Output 590 WBlade Tip Speed 17868 FPMMaximum Power (assume 50% full stall torque)Torque 3.658 nmSpeed 2245 RPMCurrent 11.99 A (+2A no load) - 14APower In 1680 WPower Out 860 WCalc Eff 51.2%Blade Tip Speed 11460 FPM

I was skeptical that this would cut through the sudden 8 inch growth of wet grass that had recently popped up, but I had had enough of trying to start and and maneuver my tank of a gas mower that I've had for over a decade. So, I decided on this very reasonably priced and apparently very light mower. AND IT WORKED!It cut through my lawn just as well as my old mower did, it got into tight spaces, I could easily pick it up, and the charge lasted through both my back and front yard (and there was a lot of grass!)It does feel like a toy, so I'm not sure how long it will last (but that's not horrible, considering the price), and the grass catcher is small so you have to empty it more frequently.It was easy to put together and charge the battery- which is included and can also be used to charge things like phones for some reason.I'm glad I bought it, it's perfect for my small yards (maybe each are about 50' x 60' in size.)I'm so happy about it that I had to leave a review! If it breaks, I'll add an update!

Um wow! Okaaaaaaaaay!Used it once so far but very impressed!We bought it because our front yard is much, much smaller than the back yard and moving the big gas mower front to back was cumbersome. This little machine handles the business and cuts nicely! 4 instead of 5 stars because while assembly was pretty straight forward, if you put the wing nut on backwards like my wife did, you'll regret it! Also, turning it around isn't as easy as the larger mowers, but that's ok.While waiting a few days for it to arrive, our grass grew to nearly 6 inches long. Cut it great, no problem! Even passed over some pine cones but probably wouldn't like that long term.

One of these days, perhaps someone will make a good, fully-functional lawn mower that does not require setting fire to small amounts of dinosaur remains over and over, very quickly, and only *rarely* suffering major injuries when a few too many dinosaur remains burn a touch too quickly in a space that's just a shade too small.However, that glorious day when dinosaurs no longer help crop our lawns to length remains far in the future, I suspect--and I question whether GreenWorks will be around to join in the celebrations.In fairness, the mower is not completely lacking in merit. For instance, it is a very lovely shade of green. The monotone dark grey offsets the green very nicely, and the overall effect is that of a small race car. Well, a race car with a gigantic handle. And I suppose the wheels and the bag would look very out of place on a--All right, it may not have much in common with a race car.However, for all its green-and-greyness, there is a darker side to the GreenWorks 25112 13-amp mower. For instance, it is insanely underpowered. I'm not sure just how much torque 13 amps normally gets you, but the torque the 25112 develops is perhaps best measured in the number of voles you could tip over with it. Put in those terms, I would say the 25112 measures approximately oh-point-four-three voles.(If the voles resisted, the number would be much lower. For the purposes of this metaphor, assume that the voles are heavily drugged.)If you've read this far out of amusement or perhaps boredom, you probably find yourself asking "The voles are all well and good, but how much actual /grass/ can it cut, and how fast can it cut it?" Fair enough. Given a slovenly-enough walking pace, the 25112 can cut approximately no grass at all per second unless you're quite patient indeed.Once maneuvered onto a patch of un-mowed grass of a height ranging from four inches to as little as un-sprouted grass seed, this Greenworks product requires approximately five to ten seconds to reduce blade speed from... well, whatever its maximum rotational speed is... to almost failing to turn at all. Given another ten seconds or so, the flywheel--given the mower's impressive weight, I assume it contains a flywheel--will finish dragging the blade along via sheer momentum for a few full turns, severing just enough grass to allow the blade to begin to build speed again.As the blade begins to pick up speed, it will helpfully fling largely intact grass out the side of the mower, where it will block sunlight, kill the surviving grass--no more mowing!--and eventually turn into thatch requiring specialized tools or sheer bloody-mindedness and hysterical strength to remove from the lawn. The default configuration should be enough for most folks, but If you feel that the mower is not generating enough sunlight-blocking, turf-choking pre-thatch for you, you can remove a couple of plugs to take it out of "mulching mode".Now, I think we all agree that frequently it's the small details that really make the difference, and this mower is no exception. For instance, most potential buyers are unlikely to think too much about the cleverly-designed cord retention clip that helps keep the mandatory extension cord (some assembly required, batteries not included) from being yanked out of the mower every time the cord catches on some darn thing. This is a tiny thing that doesn't deserve any real consideration, you may feel.You would be right, and clearly GreenWorks agree with you; no thought at all was given to the retention clip or the notion that it should be designed to retain a quite heavy and thick cord indeed. I have my doubts, but it's frequently claimed that 100ft extension cords for devices needing 13 amps really are best rated for a minimum of 13 amps--perhaps as much as 15 amps, to be certain! It's a sad truth that one is not allowed to claim that an extension cord is rated to convey 13 (or, again, 15) amps without using enormous masses of heavy, joy-killing copper--quite a lot of PVC, too, and perhaps even other completely unnecessary materials.I, for one, refuse to believe that so much copper (also PVC!) is really necessary simply to carry a little harmless electricity and perhaps prevent it from coming into contact with the grass, the body of the mower, your body, etc. You know who doesn't get invited to parties? Underwriters Laboratories, that's who. Fortunately for us, GreenWorks is a "fun company", and they have anticipated your desire for a cord retention clip designed for those of us who eschew clunky, unnecessary copper wiring in favor of second-hand, aluminum-substitute speaker wire; coat hangers twisted together; or even Laffy Taffy.Unfortunately, it's Underwriters Laboratories that lawmakers and rulemakers are inclined to kowtow to, and if you're caught using Laffy Taffy to power your GreenWorks mower (pineapple works best, I find), you may be required to use a real extension cord, Should that happen, you will be happy to know that I performed extensive research before purchasing my GreenWorks 25112, as well as acceptance testing, and I can confirm that it's compatible with virtually every major brand of cable tie and twist-tie on the market today.Before wrapping up my review, I'd like to assure potential purchasers of this product that, if they--like I--opted for an electric rather than dinosaur-fueled mower only because they felt that they could no longer deal with the fumes and nausea of the more common models, the GreenWorks mower delivers virtually every other feature you're accustomed to--and then some. Not only is the manual replete with must-have advice, such as not mowing the extension cord; but the wheels are suspiciously flimsy and are frozen completely perpendicular to the axle, by longstanding tradition. When you're making the big jump to electric, let's face it: the last thing you need is a mower that's confusingly maneuverable.Finally, if you were worried that an electric mower might produce too little noise, failing to irritate neighbors should you choose to mow bizarrely early in the morning, GreenWorks has you covered. Every aspect of the motor and drive system have been carefully designed and tuned by their engineers to make very nearly as much noise as non-electric motors of the same or sometimes even larger sizes!You won't miss a thing!