Q: I realize that summer is a ways away, but this is when many of us do our armchair gardening. After reading your columns last year about the Ryobi 18V ONE+ cordless power tools, I bought a couple and am very happy with them. Now I am thinking about making the switch to a battery-operated lawn mower. Do you have any experience with cordless electric mowers?
A. This market is about to explode, and I saw a lot of interesting lawn and garden products at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in January, including several innovative robot lawn mowers. If you wait to make a purchase, you will have many more options to choose from, but for now I do know of one standout that is an excellent value.
After doing a lot of research, last summer I bought the Kobalt KPM 1040A-03, listed as the Kobalt Gen4 40-volt Max 20-inch Push Cordless Lawn Mower 6 Ah. It is sold exclusively at Lowe's (lowes.com) for $329 including a battery and charger. It has been satisfying in all respects. Setup out of the box was very easy, with very little assembly required. The 20-inch deck is similar to the traditional walk-behind gasoline mowers people are used to, and it is light and easy to push even without power assist.
I have a fairly large yard, but I never depleted a fully charged battery. The finished cut in mulching mode looks excellent, and when you realize that tune-ups, oil and air filter changes, as well as trips to buy gas are a thing of a past, it all makes so much sense. If you have tall grass or need something self-propelled, it probably is not a good fit, but otherwise it is a great buy, and the overwhelmingly positive owner reviews reinforce my positive impression.
Because you mentioned Ryobi 18V ONE+ power tools, you might like to know that Home Depot has a low-priced lawnmower that works with this system, despite the comparatively low voltage. It has a small 13-inch deck and is sold for $249 on its own, or in a package with a string trimmer, battery and charger for $287. (I think the package is the way to go here.) If you can get around the low power and small deck size, it could work for you.
Now you'll need a handy place to organize your growing electric tool collection, so check out the PLOSIF 2 in 1 power tool organizer, sold on Amazon starting at $35. I just tested one and was pleased with the clever layout, which holds a lot of manual and power tools in a small space. My grandfather always told me, "Take care of your tools and they will take care of you." I have never forgotten that advice, although I admit I have not always followed it. Keeping everything organized and in one place is a good start.
Send questions to Don Lindich at donlindich@gmail.com. Get recommendations and read past columns at soundadvicenews.com.
