At the Dewalt Experience 2017 media event, they quietly introduced the new 2 x 20V Max brushless lawn mower. When I say quietly, I mean it was there one minute and gone the next with no trace or mention. Between the press release and added details we asked Dewalt about, we now have a better picture of this mower.
The press release says the new mower uses 2 batteries which work simultaneously to deliver power to the high-efficiency brushless motor. Dewalt clarified this by saying that the batteries are in series, which would effectively make this a 40V mower. They didn’t want people to confuse this mower with their 40v Max line — thus the 2 x 20V Max labeling.
The mower has three options for dealing with grass clippings: it can mulch, discharge, or bag the grass in the included 50 L rear bag. We don’t have a photo of it, but Dewalt says that if you want to discharge the grass, “the rear door props up slightly to allow the grass to be spewed out in rear.”
Advertisement
The mower has a 20″ metal deck and a folding handle which allows it to be stored upright. It also features front and back carrying handles.
The mower is not self-propelled, but Dewalt says that its ball bearing wheels, 60 pound weight, and large rear tires will make it easy to push and maneuver.
An LED display shows you the state of your batteries and will let you know when you need to recharge them. In the photo above, I believe those white rectangles on the top rear of the “engine” are the battery charge level indicators.
Dewalt expects to start shipping the mower in early 2018. For $399 you’ll get the mower (DCMW220), 50 L rear bag, a single battery port charger (DCB115), and two 5 Ah batteries (DCB205). It has been confirmed that FlexVolt batteries are compatible with the mower.
Advertisement
ETA: Early 2018
Price: $399
First Thoughts
I was puzzled by the plastic area on the front of the mower, where there’s a two-position slide switch, I though maybe this was the discharge. When I asked Dewalt, they said that the photographs show a prototype, with the final version missing the switch in the front. Furthermore, the mower will discharge out the back by propping up the door slightly.
I’m a little hesitant when Dewalt says the grass spews out in the rear, for two reasons. First, do you want to be walking though the grass clippings? Second, I worry about other things shooting out the rear. My Toro mower has a flap that gets stuck in the up position and not only does grass come out the rear, but rocks, acorns, walnuts, and other projectiles shoot out at your legs at high speed.
They say that the rear door props up slightly though, so hopefully this mean the grass bounces off the rear door and shoots off to the side of the mower. But if so, I can see how this may cause a different problem, where wet grass might stick and block the discharge.
The rear grass discharge is something that I’m going to have to see in person before I can be comfortable with it.
Still, I am very curious about this mower for my own personal use. I have been seriously looking at an Ego mower, and I’ve been putting off buying one for a while. I’m looking forward to see how this mower competes.
The yeti
Judging from past comments on tool guyd many people are waiting for this to come out . Hope it lives up to the hype . I would think 2 x 40v would make more sense but I’m not an engineer
jtr165
I mentioned it after the event; it was my worst prediction in a long time haha. I never would’ve guessed they make a 2x 20v mower…would’ve put money on a 40v or Flexvolt (in 2x arrangement even) way before anything related to 20v.
Price though, that is surprisingly good for the kit. I’d consider one if the bare tool is around $100 less eventually. The only gas thing I have left is a Honda mower from the early 90’s, and it remains bullet proof (bought it from a retired pilot neighbor who took better care of it than most people do their cars/homes)…so i’m in no need of it, but i’d love to have zero gas cans in my garage, and my father is approaching the need for a decent small mower (i.e. that honda)
Agree with the ‘flap’ thing, though. That Honda has the same rear door arrangement it seems like, but has a removable funnel that points debris off to the side of the walking path. It works fine most of the time. I’m hoping if there isn’t a ‘shoot’ or whatever on this, that at least the rear flap is contoured or something to angle debris away from where you step. I’m in town and bagged grass is annoying to deal with for pick up, but in central pa where grass can need to be cut twice a week…the mulching function of every mower i’ve ever used can’t keep up with the forests after a day of heavy rain and then 2 days of 90 degree sunshine. No chance any electric mower would fair better. Great at times, but won’t work for every situation that I’m free to mow the yard.
Philip
It’s 2x 20 = 40 meaning you now do not double the amp hours. So even though you have to have two 5 amp hour bat’s. The total amp hours is still 5 amp hours.
If it was a plain 20 v mower then it would be 10 amp hours. But with higher brushless motor and voltage you get more power and efficiency and less current draw and heat.
JMG
Was there any mention of what type of metal the deck is made of?
Benjamen
Magnesium :>)
I doubt it’s aluminum, it’s more than likely steel. I could be wrong.
Nathan
I would have said it’s probably AL – many commercial mowers of this size are AL decked. There are some that are high tensile steel also. Could go either way.
Raoul
Why does one suppose they aren’t making the decks out of some kind of plastic yet? Everything else they do is plastic and the one thing that seems to rot easily is a metal mower deck.
Casey
I have an older honda mower with a plastic deck with SO many holes in it now from stray rocks. wont get that again.
Jon
Benjamen, I think this is a missed opportunity for Dewalt to think outside the box a bit more. This really looks like they slapped an electric motor in a traditional mower. I picked up an EGO mower this spring and it’s been great. I got the non-self-propelled version and it’s so light that you don’t miss that feature. My 5’1″ wife has zero trouble with it and has become the primary lawnmower of the two of us now.
Mike
Agree with Jon. Have had the non-propelled EGO mower for about a year. Have had no issues with the plastic deck – durable, fairly lightweight, easy to maneuver. Plus much less noise and vibration compared to our gas mower. My wife is 4’10” and she says it is very easy to use. The only time I use the gas mower now is if the grass gets too high for the EGO to handle (very seldom)
firefly
I second this. I have converted a few of my friend to the EGO mower since they first came out. All of them are very happy with their mowers. None have had any problem with them after a few year of use.
As far as this Dewalt mower go the only thing I like about it is the X2 x 20v battery system.
Big Dan
Any of you fellers in florida? Don’t trust a mower unless it’s been reviewed against st Augustine grass.
Joe
I have all Dewalt tools ,mostly,but I use the ego line of ope …can’t beat tit
Blythe
My parents had a push mower that didn’t have a side discharge. If you wanted to do that instead of bag you lifted up the back flap and inserted a big plastic “long sweep” 90 that was included with the mower. It was held in by tabs on the bottom and tension of the flap spring. I can’t remember the brand since it’s been so long, but maybe dewalt could come up with something similar
Steve
I hope Milwaukee comes out with something similar, their leaf blower and trimmer are fantastic but I don’t know how deep into the outdoor market they want to go. There are a lot of Dewalt offerings I’d buy and happily use, but investing in multiple battery platforms just isn’t practical.
Harrolldean
I’m in the same boat. Holding out for a Milwaukee version. My throttle cable on my mower is about done, so hopefully they will announce one soon.
Steven
Yeah milwaukee, get your crap together. Everyones pushing there cordless mowers across there lawns.
Cordless is great for small lawns, my neighbor loves his. And the ability to fold it up and hang it on the wall makes me drool a little bit
Nathan
I’m intrigued mostly as I have dewalt batteries and other tools. I like the idea but I was sort of hoping for a flexvolt based machine. I see the appeal and when my 21 inch husqvarna dies this will be on the test list.
as will the Echo 58V system. There is a Echo Mower also that is a 21 or such inch deck, it’s metal I think, and it runs very well. I have tested one that a neighbor has. Since I already have that battery and I know the other Echo equipment works well this is going to be my benchmark.
I looked at the ego stuff before buying my echo cordless trimmer – and I like the echo design better and the fact that it will run the other attachments like their other equipment. It had a better spool and etc. I see the ego stuff get good reviews – I’m sure it works fine. But I see some pros using the Echo version and it does have a commercial warranty.
Joseph Kirkland
Keep in mind, any 20v DeWalt tool will accept the flexvolt batteries.
Toolfreak
Rear discharge? Fantastic.
Probably a lot safer to have rocks and debris shooting directly at you when walking behind the mower rather than out to the side.
This definitely won’t result in any lawsuits when someone gets hit in the leg with a big enough chunk of something. either.
Farid
But it helps keep your feet cool while you mow!!
(;D
JD
Do you honestly think that this unit wasn’t thoroughly engineered and tested?
They just somehow how snuck this out the side door while the high priced legal team was out to lunch.
In the words of the Monday Night Football crew, “C’MON MAN.”
Toolfreak
Plenty of stuff that was engineered and tested made it past the legal team.
I’ve seen the design before, it’s just a dumb, lazy way of making a bagging/mulching only deck have a way to say it does discharge too.
Jason
Do people really use rear/side discharge? I would think it would be mulching and bagging 99.9% of the time.
Curtis
When you’ve got really high grass side discharge is the way to go. Mulching will bog down the motor and a bagger will just get clogged.
Toolfreak
Mulching is really only for light/thin grass that won’t bog down a mower, and bagging is generally for those who are so anal about their lawn they mow on a schedule and know when the bag is full they need to empty it.
Side discharge is what you want for most lawns with thick grass, so you can mow at a walking pace without bogging down the mower, and not use the blade to cut the same grass more than once.
I’ve got a dual-use mulcher/side-discharge that works great, it semi-mulches the grass, and anything extra just gets discharged. Best of both worlds.
John
I think the comments about being concerned about being covered in grass, acorns, rocks and whatever else you mow over in the rear-discharge configuration are overblown.
I have a Honda HRX mower that uses a similar system for rear discharge and it isn’t a problem at all. To discharge, I set the lever to the bag position and remove the bag. Grass is blown out the chute down toward the ground just above the rear guard. I don’t discharge very often – usually mulch and occasionally bag but I am by no means covered or pelted with junk while I cut my half acre in discharge mode. The string trimmer (with full factory guard) throws more at me than the mower even thinks about.
I am interested to see what this mower is like. My father in law is in the market for an electric mower that will replace his current POS Toro Recycler that only trims places their tractor can’t fit into and mows a ditch that is too steep to safely use the tractor on.
firefly
I think it’s a legitimate concern. If anything it clearly show a poor thought out product. You might have mow 100 of time without any incident but it only take 1 time to leave you with foul experience.
JoeM
Isn’t every 20 Volt tool a FlexVolt tool now? Putting a FlexVolt pair on this would just extend runtime, yes?
And… at this point in Lawn Mower technology… iRobot is already building auto-mowers and recharge systems… so… honestly, are we still that worried about how badly built traditional mowers are? Can’t we call this a kind of… last hurrah before it gets replaced with a programmable mower drone of some sort within the next 5-10 years?
I fully admit I don’t do a lot of lawn mowing, living in an apartment building… but still… I have to admit… This is a DeWALT tool I WOULD NEVER want at this point… I like that they’re working, along with other tool companies, to perfect the energy efficiency of the “Lawn Mower”… but I think it’s probably futile to think that the handle and push/self driven styles of mowers are going to continue to exist for much longer. Their siblings with the super efficient battery system, and automated programming will probably be taking their place very, very soon. With this particular model being in the $400 range, I would imagine a $500 iRobot/DeWALT/EGO/Etc. branded drone is far more preferable for all of us.
Except for riding mowers… I don’t think there’s anyone here that can say the world will get tired of those, both the industrial sized AND the home owner sized ones. Even if the engines get replaced with electric, and super high-efficiency technology scaled up from these early prototypes replaces fuel-propelled versions… I think the world will still love its Riding Lawn Mowers… I’m just saying… I think the days of these push/self propelled deck mowers are numbered in the world.
Stuart
In theory, yes. But when enclosed battery compartments are involved, it’s best to eliminate any doubt.
firefly
While a robotic mower would be nice theft would be a major concern while the mower is mowing unattended. I wouldn’t want to take that chance with a $500+ piece of equipment. Now if I have the time to mow my own lawn then I would want to be out there huffing and puffing to get a workout. I consider yard work to be a luxury that I love to do when I can afford the time. Beside mowing isn’t the tedious part, it’s the trimming and edging that get ya…
JoeM
The current models already don’t operate without their home base and guide system. You can’t steal it without hours, and hours, and hours of pulling up the entire enclosure system they operate on. Theft of a Mowerbot (Lack of a better term) would be pretty much useless. Especially with things like DeWALT and Milwaukee’s Bluetooth tracking systems involved. Gets too far from home? Disable it. Useless to anyone trying to steal it. Problem solved.
But I get what you’re saying. It makes you feel paranoid to leave it alone. I don’t blame you. I would feel the same, if I didn’t know they already have these anti-theft features in the iRobot models.
firefly
Just because it can be disable doesn’t mean it won’t get stolen. The average thief doesn’t know or care. Beside it all depending on the cost of the mower. The brain cost a lot of develop but very cheap to produce so after market brain unit will be available. Or perhaps they can be reflash with a different firmware. Beside all the basic mechanic is there as far as mowing go. So anyone that’s half decent with electronic can rip out the brain and turn it into an RC mower.
Toolfreak
Like automobiles, I think the next step is going to be semi-autonomous mowers, that have a handle and you can use for manual operation, but that you can also “program”, by mowing the lawn so it can learn the layout and how you mow it, then copy you once the tech catches up and the mowers can be fully autonomous.
Also like automobiles, they’ll be sure to drag out the advancements so you pay for a slightly more intelligent and capable mower every few years.
JoeM
I’ve already looked up iRobot prototype mowers. You put a kind of radio-fence around your yard, and everywhere you want the robot to go. It then plots the course based on the distance and charge required from its charging station base. No need to train it, just put these stakes in the ground that tell the Mower “Out of Bounds, Don’t Mow Here” and the Base Station and the Mower work out the path themselves.
Don’t know if the iRobot one is on the market yet, all I’ve seen is prototypes, and iRobot (makers of the Roomba) are not the only ones making one like this. So, if a company like DeWALT/SBD or Milwaukee come out with their own, using their own tool batteries, I think that would push the price and release dates much closer to the consumer market than we see now.
Jeremiah
Currently most legitimate autonomous mowers cost about $2000-$3500. With the cheapest being about $1000. I believe they also require a one time setup and I imagine with them being more complex the maintenance costs are higher over their lifespan than a manual mower. By the time they can sell them for 500 the better version of this will be 250 and still have a cheaper lifespan. People are cheap.
I actually foresee a lot of takeover of the small riding mower market by robomowers for maintenance of commercial and high-end properties where people or companies are currently Being paid hourly to mow lawns. It’s a fairly quick ROI. Probably a season. The $3500 robomower is rated for 1.25 acres. The biggest concern is theft
Chris
I probably wouldn’t mow wet grass with an electric mower anyway, it’s hard enough with a gas mower. It doesn’t seem like it would be good for the battery drawing all that current.
Jeremiah
sorry if this was mentione already. im guessing dewalt is making this 2x20v rather than 40v to attract all their current users that won’t get a separate platform for OPE with a new product which most homeowners need some version of. Also to encourage new people to buy into their primary power tool platform, namely 20v. I would encourage them to make an adapter to plug into 40v tools that takes two 20v batteries(in series). I haven’t looked at the configuration of their 40v ope tools to see if this is practical and I know There are electronic and battery output issues. I think overall this would be very appreciated by and a service to their current customers and would encourage brand loyalty and adoption by new customers.
Personally, I’m currently a primarily milwaukee and ryobi user but have considered getting some dewalt tools just can’t justify it for my current uses.
I do foresee Buying some gas comparable ope within the next 7 years and something like this would likely tip the scales toward dewalt. If it were tomorrow id probably get ego. Although I found recently that Greenworks makes a cordless compressor. I’ll hold off as long as practical because of the rapid advances with cordless tools.
Tim
I’m going to wait for the version that uses the 40v batteries.
Tegian
The market for “oldstyle” mowers are ending here in Sweden, Husqvarna was the first brand to offer a robo-mower but now all brands have them, Honda , Bosch etc
http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/
neil
Super excited for this, I have a smaller front and back lawn so I’m not worried about run time as much as others, as I have 11 batteries. I bought the 20V trimmer a couple summers ago and love it, zero complaints. Now I’m excited to be gas free completely, and I charge my batteries at the job site!!! haha
I’m sure a 40v or 60v version would be more powerful, or longer run time, but I’m more interested in using the batteries I already have. I’m glad to hear it will accept flex volt batteries, that’s a plus.
Philip
Hi. We have to bother dewalt about selling this mower as bare tool. According to there site they aren’t.
There are many of us who already bought flex batteries.
Brien
Bare tool version? Please?
Casey
not sure how I missed this when posted in OCT but saw dewalt just posted a photo to their instagram and I love the idea, I have so many 20v tools and batteries so its a shoe in. I have been holding off buying a new mower for awhile now and this will seal the deal. my big concern with many of the lead acid powered ones is leaving the battery sit in the cold all winter and not going totally dead and useless. The 20v packs on the other hand I cycle through year round so they will be fine and can have spares ready to go if the grass gets too tall for one set to do the job.
Randy
– 40v or 2x20v, that is the question. Apparently it is the same mower either way, but I don’t know that for a fact!
FACTS:
– I have tons of 20v tools. I have no 40v tools.
– 40v is not flexible, so a 40v battery will only work in 40v applications.
– Flexvolt will not work in the 40v I am told, only 20v, 60v, and 120v applications.
– 2x20v 5ah apparently do not cycle as long as the 40v 6ah per use with the mower.
– 2x20v can run on 2xFlexvolt 6ah and last longer. Currently available for $16/pr
– 40v on sale at Lowes for $278 for Labor Day 2018 weekend. I can buy another battery that I can’t use elsewhere with that savings.
-40v needs 40v charger. 20v and Flexvolt can both be charged off normal charger.
I guess 20v makes more sense?
Discuss….
Benjamen
After using the 2x20V mower and having less than spectacular performance with the included pair of 5Ah 20V batteries, I think that there’s probably a place for 40V.
It’s easier to manage one 40V battery than two 20V batteries… say you want an extra, that’s two batteries vs four.
One 40V battery is easier to charge — unless you have a dual charger (which they DO NOT provide)
The 40V platform is more suited to other OPE where you want more power like trimmers and blowers. One battery makes those tools lighter and smaller than sticking two 20V batteries.
I’ve had much better results with the two 9Ah Flexvolt batteries — almost equal to that of the Ego with the one 5Ah battery — but that’s expensive, heavy, and takes quite a while to charge.