Consensus on battery powered OPE

[SHOZ]

Spent the winter clearing snowmobile trails of blow down with Milwaukee E saws. Good for small stuff, limbing but don't be in a hurry.
Since the E saw has no clutch to slip like a gas saw they kick off the chain really easy if you're in a hurry, even with a sharp chain trying to cut up 6+ in. frozen stuff.
No where near the power of gas but as said handy for quick small stuff especially in cold weather.
More dangerous for homeowners / casual users though, they will cut through safety chaps as no clutch to slip like a gas saw has when chain gets caught in the chap's fibers. Learnt that in a chainsaw safety class.

My first battery chainsaw was a Lowes Kolbalt 18". No clutch and no brake, took forever to coast down. Dangerous and it only lasted about 6 months before just quitting electrically. They quit making them at the time so I got the EGO for the same money on warranty. And the battery ones have a lot more starting torque that easily will kick the chain off. It seems to me the bars are awful flexy anymore? I down sized my 18" to 16" and that's bigger than what I really need.

The 18" EGO one does have a very easy to work, tool free chain tightening and removal. And seems to have somewhat of a drag or brake to slow the chain down when you let up on the switch. Variable speed of course.

 

[2heeldrive]

Been running a Makita 36 volt trimmer and blower for about 5 years now. Very happy with both, and they get used a lot. I will easily go through four sets of batteries a session. The blower sucks down the batteries quickly. For big jobs I still use the gas blower. The trimmer lasts a long time and has more power than gas. I love it. The batteries have held up very well. I'm still using the same ones that came with the equipment.

I also have a Ryobi 20" electric mower that I use for trimming. I've had it for about 4 years. It works pretty well, but I still prefer gas for mowing and leaf pickup.

Batteries are crazy expensive. I bought a brand new Stihl gas blower for what two Makita 18 volt (6 Ah) batteries cost.

 

[jeepman3071]

For battery powered equipment I recommend going with a brand that you either already have their battery powered tools (DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc) or one that has a decent line of OPE tools to choose from (Toro) for further upgrades. It's best when you can have one set of batteries/chargers used across multiple pieces of equipment.

As far as battery vs. gas it is completely dependent on your use case. I have both, but I also have a wide range of uses for my equipment, and have some requirements where only commercial grade gas powered equipment fits the bill.

 

[wpod]

It depends on the use.

 

[Whimsey]

I know I've committed multiple Mortal Sins by BITOG standards but for me Ryobi battery tools and OPE have been more than satisfactory. They have their 18V batteries that work with their battery tools and their OPE. I have quite a few of the battery tools and a battery string trimmer, 10" chain saw, pole chain saw, and a string trimmer that I use to cut my 40 X 40 front yard due to all the roots and rocks. With the Ryobi battery trimmer I'm able to cut the front yard surprisingly at an even height despite the roots and rocks. The battery chain saws are for trimming which is a lot easier and safer than using a 16" gas chain saw. I still have 2 cycle OPE, a leaf blower, a brush cutter trimmer, a hedge trimmer and 16" chain saw. I thought about a battery blower but read that run time is real limited. Even though I have lots of 18V batteries I don't want to be changing batteries constantly. Besides, I use the blower in the winter to help clear snow. There is a place for both battery and gas OPE, just do what you feel is best for you.

 

[SHOZ]

For battery powered equipment I recommend going with a brand that you either already have their battery powered tools (DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc) or one that has a decent line of OPE tools to choose from (Toro) for further upgrades. It's best when you can have one set of batteries/chargers used across multiple pieces of equipment.

As far as battery vs. gas it is completely dependent on your use case. I have both, but I also have a wide range of uses for my equipment, and have some requirements where only commercial grade gas powered equipment fits the bill.

I'm kind of stuck with Greenworks 40v stuff. Not the best warranty or customer service.

 

[Exhaustgases]

It can be handy to grab the under powered slow battery chain saw at times. To me the big hold up on this battery powered stuff is, the need for special battery storage and charging bunkers that are outside of any building you own or live in. I'm surprised no one has marketed such thing yet. You never want to store or charge those batterys in your home or shop, unless they are NMH and not Li ion.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

ryobi 40v mower 6ah battery gets me around 2-2.5 mows. Small property .17 acre. I have a spare battery and use the 18v ryobi trimmer edger combo unit. Still running 2 cycle for a blower it’s a poulan backup when it bites the dust I’ll go full battery. When it comes to power my lands flat.. the mower just purrs along when it detects a heavy or dense patch of grass it will bring the rpm’s higher

 

[Snagglefoot]

NMH is grandpa’s batteries. Honestly!

 

[jkasch]

Bonus use for a battery leaf blower: I use the 650cfm Ego to blow the lint out of the clothes dryer vent tube once a year. Wouldn't want to do that indoors with gas powered blower.

 

[repairman54]

I use the cheaper alternative, plug in electric leaf blower for the dryer vent.

 

[ssspencerjr]

Bonus use for a battery leaf blower: I use the 650cfm Ego to blow the lint out of the clothes dryer vent tube once a year. Wouldn't want to do that indoors with gas powered blower.

I forgot that I also used it for that. Came in handy.

 

[WA1DH]

I have a 40V Ryobi brushless string trimmer that works awesome and has the power to knock down 2 foot tall weeds. For small 2 stroke OPE it is nice to not have fumes in your face anymore.

When I was mower shopping last year I went gas. I had a hard time comparing actual power output between gas and electric mowers as most manufacturers don't publish the numbers to make a clean comparison, but rather state, "Torque of gas," or some other marketing statement. Based on run time X battery power my rough estimate was that most battery push mowers were about half the power output of gas, for more cost. Some brands tried to compensate with lighter blades, multiple blade schemes, etc, but the overall power output was still significantly lower than the comparable gas model.

 

[ARB1977]

Bought ryobi AWD mower last year. Whata piece of turd. Kept dying on both batteries. My 15 year old Honda had to finish. Took it back and bought a super recycler 163cc.

 

[WA1DH]

Bought ryobi AWD mower last year. Whata piece of turd. Kept dying on both batteries. My 15 year old Honda had to finish. Took it back and bought a super recycler 163cc.

Ryobi 40V Brushless AWD 21"
Up to 70 min runtime with 2 40V 6 Ah batteries
So that works out to 40V X 12 Ah = 480 Wh
(480 Wh / 70 min) X 60 min = 411 watts/hr
411 Wh = 0.55 HP

Am I calculating this properly as a comparison to gas HP?

 

[Snagglefoot]

Ryobi 40V Brushless AWD 21"
Up to 70 min runtime with 2 40V 6 Ah batteries
So that works out to 40V X 12 Ah = 480 Wh
(480 Wh / 70 min) X 60 min = 411 watts/hr
411 Wh = 0.55 HP

Am I calculating this properly as a comparison to gas HP?

Sort of. 480 Wh is the energy available. If it can put out full power for 70 min, then the power is 480 Wh / ( 70 min / 60 min / hr) = 411 watts ( not watts per hr)

There are 746 watts in 1 HP, so 411 Watts is 411/746 = .55 HP

 

[97prizm]

Sort of. 480 Wh is the energy available. If it can put out full power for 70 min, then the power is 480 Wh / ( 70 min / 60 min / hr) = 411 watts ( not watts per hr)

There are 746 watts in 1 HP, so 411 Watts is 411/746 = .55 HP

Wow with most Briggs&Stratton gas push mowers coming in at 6.5-7 horsepower battery powered mowers have a long way to go.

 

[Warstud]

I've never been one to use the leaf blower to clear the entire yard,

I used to rake until I bought a mulching mower . Alot easier and have Zero yard waste going to the Landfill

 

[SHOZ]

I used to rake until I bought a mulching mower . Alot easier and have Zero yard waste going to the Landfill

I rake a lot but it's mostly for hickory hulls and sweetgum foot killers. I have one spot that has both trees side by side. Hulls in the fall, sweetgum balls in the spring. Also for any grass grooming if it's sparse and needs to thicken up. I've found decomposing hard wood twigs and bark really inhibit grass.
I use a mulcher mower 100% but the blades are usually set up near 4"

 

[Cujet]

Wow with most Briggs&Stratton gas push mowers coming in at 6.5-7 horsepower battery powered mowers have a long way to go.

The Toro 60V mower I use is capable and has plenty of power. Clearly, the electric motor is not at full output power all the time. In much the same way as a gas mower. The gas engine is probably running at 3600 or less RPM, and about 1/2 HP to spin the blade. A little more to mow. Peak engine HP only happens at full throttle opening and 3600RPM, which if you watch the throttle on a mower, almost never happens, unless one is mowing 18 inch high jungle grass.

The Toro mower has 360 watt hours worth of battery, or about 1HP for 30 minutes and will run long enough to mow about 1/4 acre of thick grass. It will, power-up to somewhere around 5HP to mulch tall grass, no problem and is roughly equivalent to a Honda GC160 powered mower in peak power.

As I mentioned before, the downsides are the 1/4 acre limit per battery, and the battery charge time. The advantages are that it is very quiet, lightweight and well made, along with using conventional mower blades and drive.