Today only, 6/3/2016, Amazon is holding a Deal of the Day sale on select Greenworks corded electric outdoor power tools.
There are 5 tools included in the sale:
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- 20-inch 12A lawn mower
- 10A 18-inch string trimmer
- 8A 10-inch tiller
- 7A air blower
- 10A 14″ dethatcher
While I’m much more a fan of cordless outdoor power tools these days, all of these tools are discounted to well below their regular street prices. If you don’t quite need the work-without-a-cord convenience and freedom of cordless tools, a corded electric model might be worth consideration.
Although corded tools are not quite as convenient to use as cordless tools, they still require less maintenance than gas-engine tools. These tools look to be highly regarded, going by Amazon reviews, and might be worth a look.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Deal ends at 3am 6/4/2016, unless supplies run out sooner.
My guess is that Amazon is trying to move more of these out, now that we’re a little past the peak lawn & garden tool buying season. Or maybe they timed it to appeal to Father’s Day gift givers.
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Chris
A corded mower, no way! I guess for a really small lawn without many obstacles it might be ok.
Toolfreak
Corded lawn tools are great for cutting the cord that powers the lawn tools.
Tesla had working wireless power transfer before the year 1900, it’s now 116 years later and we’re still plugging things in and using batteries rather than just sending the electricity over the air to the stuff that needs it.
Jon
I have more than half an acre. I used my Greenworks 21″ 13A plug-in electric mower for the whole thing for a year. I would still be using it that way if my wife’s grandparents hadn’t given us their no-longer-needed riding mower. Now the electric is used for the front yard and trimming in the back where the large riding mower doesn’t quite reach.
It’s excellent, and using a cord for a mower is far less troublesome than I had imagined. Here’s the thing: if you’ve ever managed a cord while vacuuming (and without running over the cord) then you can manage a cord while mowing. It’s precisely the same concept, with similarly shaped and positioned obstacles (just on a little bit larger scale). You start on the side of your yard closest to where it plugs in and work away from there. I don’t even have to think about the cord.
There are so many advantages!
* No batteries to charge (or purchase)
* No downtime when the batteries are drained
* No need to have a battery charger (particularly the bulky type for cordless mower batteries) taking up space in my home or shop
* No need to buy gas
* No oil
* No oil changes
* No air filter cleaning or replacing
* No winterizing
* No spring tune-up
* Less noise (still plenty of blade noise, obviously)
* I can store the mower vertically, with the handle collapsed, since there are no fluids to worry about
* Plenty of power
* So lightweight that I haven’t even noticed the lack of powered drive wheels
* No pull-start
* No choke
* No tricky startup procedures whatsoever
* Mulches, side-discharges, and bags for the price of a discharge-only gas mower
Honestly I was skeptical of electrics in general, and especially a plug-in, but I picked it up at Lowe’s when it went on clearance (they replaced them with Kobalt-branded mowers that appeared to be identical other than the plastics), and it was so cheap that it was absolutely worth trying, and not only do I not regret it, but I don’t expect I will ever buy another gas mower. And I seriously doubt I’ll ever pay for a battery-powered electric. I would be happy at 3x what I paid.
The ONLY issue I’ve had is when we came back from a couple weeks without mowing this spring and the grass was particularly long and my wife (who loves to mow for some reason; sometimes gets irritated when I do it for her) didn’t realize she should raise the blade height for that first pass with grass taller than the mower, and the motor got overloaded and tripped the breaker. And then it kept tripping it as soon as we tried to turn it on again. Same on another circuit. I was ready to be really frustrated with the manufacturer. Except they have an EXCELLENT warranty – FOUR YEARS, parts AND labor.
But six torx screws and I had the cover off and saw how incredibly simple the design is. Direct drive DC motor (no pulleys or gears whatsoever), bridge rectifier, and safety switch on the handle. That’s it. That’s the entire circuit and, along with the wheels, the only moving parts as well. No wonder the warranty can be so generous! The bridge rectifier had clearly burned up (there was a crack in the resin surface and residue from its magic smoke on the motor mount). It’s a standard part. You can get one on Amazon for $9 with prime shipping, or FOUR for $12. Same deal on eBay. Or five for $7 if you want to wait for shipping from China. No sense waiting for warranty service then.
While I had it apart I added a heat sink in the form of a large piece of thick angle aluminum between the rectifier and its steel mounting plate, plus a small finned heat sink from an old amplifier on the other leg of the aluminum angle, with thermal compound between each mating surface. Now it should actually be even better than new, and I have 3 spare rectifiers. And it’s the only part likely to ever need to be replaced!
This is a great product, and there is absolutely no reason to be concerned about a plug-in electric mower if you are on even a relatively large suburban lot. If you have 8 acres in the countryside that’s another matter. That’s what cows are for. 😉