Batteries
With one exception, all of the mowers in the test ran on 24-volt, lead-acid batteries. One machine ran on 48-volt current. The batteries are sealed, so there is no danger of acid spillage if the mower or battery is tipped over. One of the trade-offs for cordless convenience in a northern climate is paying attention to cold-weather storage. It’s best to follow the recommendations listed by each manufacturer. Some recommend you store your mower indoors, plugged in all winter long, but there are other options. Some allow for storing your fully charged battery in an unheated shed for up to six months, and others suggest recharging a stored battery every two weeks. The charge times for the batteries ranged from nine to 15 hours. Because the lead-acid cells don’t develop a memory, they can be recharged at any point. There’s no harm in plugging the mower back in if it hasn’t run completely out of juice, although several manufacturers suggest that longevity will suffer if you run their batteries completely out of power.
Each mower had some sort of a system for indicating whether the charging cycle was complete, typically an LED or two on the charger that feeds household current into the batteries. Other mowers also featured a state-of-charge indicator on the machine itself, so that when it was running, you could gauge how much charge was left in the battery. This type of system adds convenience, and we all preferred it. Some have brighter LEDs located in a more convenient position than others, and we noticed that it made a difference, in terms of ease of use.
Multifunction machines
All of the mowers we tested were capable of mulching the grass clippings or collecting them in a rear-mounted bag. In order to convert the mowers for mulching, they all required the removal of the collection bag and the insertion of a plastic mulching plug into the opening. A few of the machines could also be converted to side-discharge if desired. None of us thought we were likely to use the side-discharge function, but the bagging and mulching modes worked well. Some designs work better than others, though. A wide opening between the mower and the bag—to prevent jamming during mowing—is something to look for.
Adjusting cutting height
While switching the cutting height of a mower may not be one of the most onerous parts of the job, it is a minor inconvenience that can be overcome with clever design. All the mowers in our test could be adjusted using just one hand. (My old gas mower requires each wheel to be adjusted separately, so this feature was a plus for me.) This function worked reasonably well in all of the mowers. Ergonomics played a role here as well: easy-to-grip handles, good indicator markings and powerful springs made height changes a breeze.
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