Low Vs High Tech Lawn Mowers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 09:17:06 pm
content: 4-stroke mowers seem to have a short life span. I used to see them along the roadside for scrap pickup. Guessing owners did not change the oil or maintain them.From what I understand, California banned the sale of 2-stroke lawn mowers some time ago and are now banning all gas mowers. I inherited my parents Law Boy about the time my wife and I were married. I believe it was made in the late 70s when my parents purchased their last home. It has been in constant use up until recently when we purchased a new electric Toro.What a difference 45 years has made. Think the Toro will last as long?

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 09:20:28 pm
content: A couple of other old Lawn Boy videos.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 09:29:45 pm
content: Quote from: joeqsmith on June 28, 2025, 09:17:06 pmShorter than 2-stroke? I would have thought longer, but then, what do I know?(Both types definitely shorter if the owner neglects to top up the oil.)

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 09:55:56 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on June 28, 2025, 09:29:45 pmThis mower does not have an oil injection system. You add oil directly to the gasoline at a 32:1 ratio.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 11:25:17 pm
content: I got a robot lawn mower. I never have to mow the lawn as a result. I occasionally strim the edges as the robot can't do those. But otherwise, it's pretty good. I never liked mowing the lawn, and this does it every day.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 11:33:06 pm
content: If i ever have a lawn i'll get a sheep, 100 quid or so,automatic fertiliser built in, replace it every 3 years and put the old model in the freezer

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 11:35:16 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 28, 2025, 11:25:17 pmGotta love such a thing. Makes mincemeat out of hedgehogs. Who needs those pesky animals anyway?

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2025, 11:41:35 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on June 28, 2025, 11:33:06 pmWhere I live people use goats to trim down grass on hillsides.I think they're kinda cute.

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 12:53:45 am
content: With the small walk-behind mowers, the big problem is the carburetors get gummed up.My main mower is a 1968 Bolens Husky tractor with a 12 Hp Wisconsin one cylinder engine. I've made a ton of modifications on it. The original carb was updraft with gravity fed gas. It flooded on one side of a hill and starved out on the other side. I put a Honda motorcycle carb on it of the constant velocity style and mounted a little header tank made of 1" water pipe with a float sensor in it above the carb, and there's an electric fuel pump to keep the header tank filled. I replaced the tin can muffler with a retrofit auto speed shop "bullet" glass pack muffler. It gets the lawn maintenance job done a LOT faster.Jon

author: UnijunctionTransistor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 01:30:46 am
content: I have got an acquaintance that repairs small gasoline engines for a living.He tells me that the #1 failure mechanism is carburetor gum-up.Owners forget to fully drain the fuel after the season is over. As simple as allowing the engine to run until the fuel runs out.The problem is compounded in the US with the federally mandated 10% ethanol in the fuel. If no fuel stabilizer is used, the ethanol will grab moisture from the air and pretty soon the ethanol and the gasoline separate, with the ethanol-water mix settling at the bottom.One can of course purchase ethanol-free gasoline, although it is pricier.

author: brucehoult
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 02:09:52 am
content: Quote from: joeqsmith on June 28, 2025, 09:17:06 pmThose small Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh or Honda or similar small engines last forever, with basic maintenance. Those ones beside the road can usually be fixed with an hour or two's work and probably no new parts other than maybe a hose or two. What kills a mower dead is always going to be the chassis going brittle (if plastic) or rusting (if steel).When I saw this topic I assumed what was being discussed was the below, which are fine for a small lawn if you don't mind doing it twice a week in the growing season and sharpen the blades from time to time. -- I've used them.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 02:28:44 am
content: Quote from: brucehoult on June 29, 2025, 02:09:52 amYou can even get sharpening kits for these, which consist of nothing more than a small gear you put into the housing and some sharpening compound (silicon carbide paste). The gear runs the reel backwards, which sharpens it against the cutting bar.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 02:51:07 am
content: Quote from: joeqsmith on June 28, 2025, 09:17:06 pmLongevity in general is a lot more about the build quality than if its 2 vs 4 stroke or electric.The difference between a cheap engine vs a quality engine is night and day.The issue is that 'quality' is not rewarded in the market much any more. Sadly the vast majority of people want to get a good deal more than they want quality. So manufacturers are not making top quality stuff as much any more. Those that still are have to price it high because the sales are low which forms a feedback against making good quality stuff.A quality 4 stroke mower should still be going 20 years later. Maybe having had some parts replaced. but nothing crazy like a piston or anything. Maybe a new fuel line and starter cord etc..I do think that, assuming the same average build quality, the electric should win out due to having so many less parts to go wrong.The main thing i would worry about with electric is the quality and water sealing of the motor controller and and the motor itself.eg Is the motor controller electronics under-speced and running at 95degC. If it's made right, potted and not running hot it should last practically forever but finding that sort of quality can be hard. And the motor should last 20+ years as long as water does not get inside it.Of course there are other factors too, current electric is less suitable if you have large lawn due to battery size/run time.Unless you go down the robotic-mower route but that adds a huge amount more to go wrong.I don't think I'm ever going to buy a 2 or 4 stroke mower ever again personally.When the current 4 stroke Briggs and Stratton dies ill get electric. It's 20+ years old and has had a few repairs over the years.Last thing to fail was the aluminum locking shaft key holding the top cooling fan to the drive shaft. The driveshaft stopped when mower hit a rock and the cooling fan weight sheared the key in half.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 04:01:13 am
content: I would guess the problem with the 4-strokes is the lack of oil changes, or low oil. Not sure what they do for the bore in the cheap mowers. Last one a friend had that died put the rod through the side.The deck on the Law Boy is aluminum. Rust is not a problem. The carb, fuel lines, rings are all original. The plug has been changed, along with the wheels, blade, air filter.I used to drain the fuel in my bikes and small engines but anymore I use stabilizer towards the end of the season.

author: pqass
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 04:22:59 am
content: My 4-stroke Tecumseh, going on 40 years now, just won't die.I change the oil every 5 years whether it needs it or not. And spark plug maybe twice.Due to cracked welds, I've had to reinforce the pivot point where the handle meets the chassis.I've sheared a flywheel key, rotating it enough to affect the spark timing.Due to aggressive pull-starts, I've managed to break the pawl inside the recoil starter. Now I just wrap the cord around the flywheel hub old-school style. There's nothing like a permanent temporary solution.A fresh gas top-up at the beginning of the season and it turns over after a couple of pulls.I used to have an electric mower before the 4-stroke but it only lasted 15 years or so; was chewing up the brushes for some reason.My WeedEater literally let out the magic smoke last week. Unless the motors are brushless then they just won't last decades.

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 06:45:06 am
content: My 190cc B&S 4-stroke motor is going strong on 14'th year.Oil change every 2'nd year.And as mentioned above, it will prob be the steel shield that will give up first.I regret that i didn't spray it with some, "car anti corrosion" stuff , when it was new.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 07:11:17 am
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 28, 2025, 11:25:17 pmI got a robot lawn mower. Took one look at the kikuyu lawn and was on the phone to its union rep, something about a demarcation issue. Never did get it to do the lawn.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 08:25:15 am
content: I use a 10 year old 4-stroke Honda (not old by any means) but still runs as smoothly as when it was new. Of course I've changed the oil, spark plugs etc...My lawn is extremely thick and I think anything electric would struggle. Certainly anything self-driven would get stuck.

author: brucehoult
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 08:43:59 am
content: Quote from: 5U4GB on June 29, 2025, 07:11:17 amKikuyu is ok if you keep it down e.g. in the middle of the lawn. But my weed eater REALLY hates the thick stalks that grow up beside the fence / tree trunks / side of the garage.

author: NE666
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 09:29:37 am
content: Quote from: Benta on June 28, 2025, 11:35:16 pmExpectation vs reality issue, at least with the battery-powered units of size appropriate to a typical UK domestic lawn.Besides, hedgehogs are nocturnal. I rarely see one on my lawn during the hours of daylight. Those that are, are in more trouble already than my robot mower could deal out to them.It's the poor pollinators that I feel bad for, hence I generally don't mow at all for at least a month, around May/June.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 09:43:52 am
content: Quote from: Benta on June 28, 2025, 11:35:16 pmNo.Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal animals, the robot goes out from noon to 2pm.Also, it sits about 30mm above the ground, so it won't even run over a tennis ball left on the lawn. Let alone a hedgehog.Been running it for two years, not squished anything so far.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 11:33:50 am
content: The Toro is brushless, 60V.I have an old 2-stage snow blower that uses a 4-stroke Briggs. I run full synthetic in it. The motor has had no problems but it's doesn't get a lot of use.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 01:53:29 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 28, 2025, 11:25:17 pmDetails?.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 02:34:26 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on June 29, 2025, 01:53:29 pmI bought a Worx Landroid S400 but other products are available.https://eu.worx.com/en/landroid-s400-wr184e/A boundary wire tells it where the edges of the lawn are (fancier models can use GPS to provide this function).It simply bounces from one edge of the lawn to the next for about an hour, then goes back to charge, then goes out again for about another hour, and it does that every day. Once every few days it follows the wire and does some of the edge. Since it chops a tiny amount off the grass each time, it doesn't need to collect the clippings, they just compost on the lawn itself.The only work required:- Once every two months change the blades.- Now and then it gets in a rut or stuck on the lawn somewhere, so I pick it up and put it on the charging base (probably about once a week).- It has cut the boundary wire with its blades before, but once I buried the wire deep into the lawn and put far more posts to hold the wire into the lawn than the manual recommends, it didn't do this anymore.- In the winter I put it inside my garage, since cold weather isn't good even for weatherproof electronics and batteries, and the grass doesn't grow then.Edit: correction

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 03:53:04 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 29, 2025, 09:43:52 amWhere I live, people let them run in the night as well. Never understood why.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 04:05:55 pm
content: How does your automatic robot mower handle different parcels of lawn? Say for example a parcel on each side of the driveway, then those two separated by a sidewalk (4 total)? How does it handle trees and other fixed obstacles? How does it handle movable objects like small pets, children? Say you have an automatic watering system. Do you have to time it to avoid collision with the heads?Seems like it needs to have AI..

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 04:25:23 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on June 29, 2025, 02:28:44 amMany years ago, when my knees still worked, we moved from a condo to a proper house with small lawns (front and back). Naively, I went to Sears and bought a push reel mower for the exercise.The problem was that I didn’t want to mow several times a week, and the mower was useless for grass above a moderate height (determined by the horizontal bar in front).Giving up on that, but unwilling to store gasoline on the premises, I went to a corded (120 V) electric mower (much quieter than my neighbors’ units), which I have since replaced with a battery-powered (60 V) unit.When mowing the front yard, passers-by have actually complimented me on the low noise level.Of course, I refuse to use an abominable gas-powered leaf blower, which should be banned from outdoor work.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 04:42:32 pm
content: Quote from: joeqsmith on June 29, 2025, 04:05:55 pmI have a single back lawn. It needs the whole lawn to be connected as one continuous shape that it can navigate, which is fine for me. There are some robots that are clever enough to go over pathways to connect two lawns, turning off the blade as they cross concrete slabs etc. Or even smart enough to go between a front and back lawn automatically. Mine doesn't have that but it was £399 so not super expensive. The clever ones have cameras, GPS, AI etc., but cost a lot more. About £2,500 for some models. I'd have to be seriously into lawncare to justify that. I just want to not have to mow the lawn myself.I don't have an irrigation system for my lawn (generally not needed as our summers don't get very hot). I would guess you would want to keep these off the lawn or put them in an area it can't get to, like to the side of the lawn, if you did have one.Trees and fixed obstacles you can put the boundary wire around those. There is a technique where you place two boundary wires in opposite direction to each other and the field is cancelled so the robot ignores that part of the wire but then looks at the "island". Whilst I don't have a tree in the middle of my lawn I do have a stump where a tree was, and the wire is configured like this which means the robot doesn't get stuck on the stump. I include strimming the stump once every few months in my gardening duties because there's a 5cm or so area around it that doesn't get cut.Children, no idea, don't have any; pets, we have two cats and a small dog and both stay away from it. One cat is brave enough to go up to it whilst mowing, but never gets closer than a few feet. In any case if you stop it moving in one direction it quickly backs off and tries again. I'm sure the blades would cut you if you got under it, but I don't think they'd have enough energy to do anything more than a nasty cut. I've had twigs and small branches get under it and they just get scarred. So I'm not super worried about that. It also turns off the blades if it gets lifted or stuck. To give you an idea the blade is nothing like a real mower. It's more similar to a shaving razor and spins at a slower speed. It's cutting only a few mm at a time because it does it every day rather than a real mower which has to cut a lot more a lot faster.The way I look at it, I spent a few hours setting it up and a few hours more tweaking it, but I save 45-60 mins every two weeks, and a load of sweat and frustration, doing a chore I don't really want to do!

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 08:40:54 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on June 29, 2025, 04:25:23 pmThank you thank you thank you!Those things ought to just be banned altogether.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 08:53:10 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on June 29, 2025, 08:40:54 pmI've heard that California is banning petrol mowers and other landscaping equipment soon. Given the performance of batteries now, I think it's the right move. I was watching a professional gardener strim some grass outside a local pub and he had no ear protection on and was breathing the exhaust from the strimmer engine directly. Made a hell of a racket, cannot be healthy for the guy.Given an electric strimmer uses about 100W, you could easily get a backpack full of batteries powering that just fine for a day's work, and it wouldn't even weigh that much (1kWh LFP = ~10kg). A mower might be more difficult, but a couple of batteries on a rapid charger in the back of a van might be enough. The real difficult one is things like leafblowers and chainsaws, not sure how you electrify them just yet unless you have a big non portable battery powering electric tools on long cables, but certainly for chainsaws that sounds like it could be quite a safety risk to manage. Also, quite expensive.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 09:09:24 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 29, 2025, 08:53:10 pmhttps://uk.milwaukeetool.eu/en-gb/m18-fuel-chainsaw-with-40-cm-bar/m18-fchs/https://uk.milwaukeetool.eu/en-gb/m18-fuel-blower/m18-fblg3/https://www.makitauk.com/product/uc016g.htmlhttps://www.makitauk.com/product/ub001g.htmlAnd so forth. Been around for years.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 09:16:53 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on June 29, 2025, 08:53:10 pmWhen I worked at my last job in a hardware store we sold the "Ego" line of cordless yard-care tools. (Unfortunate name but there it is.) 56 volts. We had strimmers, blowers, mowers and chainsaws, all of which worked reasonably well. Expen$ive but not overly so.I recently used a small cordless chainsaw helping a friend trim trees; forget the make or voltage, but it worked surprisingly well.This was about 7 years ago, so I can only think that the technology has improved since then. Never heard this term before--"string trimmer"--but it's a good one.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2025, 09:33:15 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on June 29, 2025, 09:09:24 pmI'm thinking more for the folks who are taking down a tree, using something like a 1-2hp engine for a good few hours whilst high up on a tree, that's easily several kWh of energy. And they want to do that all day. Lots of batteries to carry and keep charging throughout. Just about doable, but certainly not as practical as ICE engines, which I think is where some of the resistance will come from to fully electrifying this stuff.Just as an example that first example has an 18V 12Ah battery, so that's 216Wh tops, so you might need to change it 3-4 times an hour to keep up with that kind of job assuming the saw is running at full power throughout. It's rated to recharge the batteries in 130 min, so you'd need to have 8-9 batteries in rotation to ensure you always had a full one available.I have an electric leaf blower/garden vacuum, it's mains powered which isn't an issue for me, but it uses around 1500W, so I'd see that as a small problem too for battery electrification. And to be honest 1500W isn't really enough for the job, it still struggles to pick up the larger waste. For leaf blowing it's fine.I do agree though that the vast majority of jobs can move to battery power tools without much difficulty, and whilst the tools will probably be more expensive upfront, I expect they will be more reliable and longer lasting. Batteries might be consumable though if they are run aggressively, it will depend upon the chemistry.

author: Geoff-AU
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2025, 01:49:43 am
content: I've got a Rover Suzuki 2-stroke that's around 30 years old I guess.. still working beautifully. I've only owned it for 4 of those years. They were a commercial model, very powerful.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2025, 04:40:58 am
content: One or 2 generations have seen low tech move to higher and on and on.....In another life, 5 years twisting spanners on small engines lets you see a lot, from downright neglect to 1st class ownership and generally the better one can read an owners manualandfollow it, the longer a mower engine will last.Cost of production always determined engine life generally but when Briggs and Stratton introduced the all aluminium engine block in the 1950's they captured a big chunk of the market and I saw those plain Ali blocks using a chrome piston give decades of service.They were novel at the time using a high Silicon alloy and chrome pistons which if well cared for gave great life but the quality of lubricants back then left a lot to be desired, let alone how the were specified to be used.SAE30 was the universal 4stoke oil and it worked okay at low stress levels, with good intake filtration and engine cooling but most important of all was the oil change period, typically 40-50hrs.Yet when multigrade oils became common and especially low detergent types along with regular oil changes engine life jumped to another level and when opening those crankcases it was obvious how much cleaner they were.But the old Briggs had no crankshaft bearings and in time they would get sloppy and the shaft oil seals were challenged with didn't matter much in later models after electronic ignition arrived in the early 80's yet anything with ignition points and oil vapors soon gave trouble.The late 70'S Briggs IC models were better but still initially points ignition but they had crankshaft bearings, a decent air filter and still the chrome piston but running in a cast iron liner in the aluminum block.Back in those days only a handful of engine brands were available and the service dealer I worked for was very particular which reliable brands/models he selected to stock to maintain his company's reputation.Briggs, Kohler and Honda were brands we trusted yet they were each to some degree application specific.As a teenager the 4hp vertical shaft Briggs IC series I selected a few years before having a lawn to mow is still going strong despite its carb Pulsajet diaphragm being well past best before date so it requires a tipping to fill the top bowl otherwise you need pull and pull before she fires.....I can live with that.It's on its 3rd chassis, a 20" side chute and used for the 15min today required to mow the areas the rider can't do and the few $/yr investment 45+ years ago was a darn good choice.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2025, 05:20:07 am
content: Quote from: Benta on June 29, 2025, 03:53:04 pmThat's likely a firmware thing - my cheap mower has only one starting time per day; more expensive manufacturers can be set to non-stop function or timeframes of operation.Btw. I don't think the mower saved myself a lot of time - considering all the times it got stuck on the ever growing bushes, growing across the boundary wire...