Customer Reviews

Earthwise 60020 20-Inch 24 Volt Cordless Electric 3-in-1 Lawn Mower with Grass Bag

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

FYI, this item is identical to the Homelite mower sold at many Home Depot locations (I don't work for any of these outfits). The two are identical except for the the colors. I contacted Earthwise to be certain, and they confirmed it, so buy either one.

This product, to my surprise, is as good as the Ryobi Mulchinator I used to own-- and it was the best cordless mower made in the late 1990's by a large margin. Like that one, this one effectively mulches the grass, even if moist, so small that there is no reason to use the bag or side discharge features. The height adjust is easy, the pushing is easy (for an adult), and you don't have to do any real maintenance (just keep it clean underneath). For the average lawn (I have 3000 square feet), this product has enough charge to do the job, is not quite as loud as a gas mower, and is just as powerful as a typical 4-5 hp model. You can charge it for a few bucks per year. It requires no assembly or tuneups, and tipping it in any direction will not cause a problem. Unless you use it commercially or for a very large property, this product is superior to a gasoline model, and way cleaner! Try a cordless electric model, and you will never want anything else!

My Gas mower was having some issues this spring and I decided I did not want to hassle with piecemeal fixing the unit. While shopping I decided to explore a cordless electric mower. As another reviewer noted this mower branded as Earthwise is the same essential mower as the Homelite Cordless Mower (model# UT13122) sold exclusively at Home Depot. The only difference is the color scheme and branding.

I finally decided to go with this particular model and I have not been disappointed. This unit fits my needs perfectly. The power is adequate, the charge is enough and the weight is nice. With this all said it is important to note that a cordless mower is not for everyone. It has limited range until it needs to be charged and the charging process is really about 15 hours for a complete charge. I waited a full 2 months after buying before writing this review to ensure that I was fully capturing my experience thus far.

Here are the pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Extremely light. Very easy to push due to the sub 100 pound weight of the device.
2. 20 inch cutting path is as wide and in most cases wider then competing cordless mower models.
3. Very clean cut of grass.
4. Mulch plug works excellent. I have yet to have to use the bag.
5. Instant on. You can stop and start the engine with s single pull of a lever. (There is a safety key so you can make this inoperable while away). Awesome! Great for maneuvering around obstacles.
6. One lever height control. I use 2" height. My lawn looks great!
7. The battery seems to hold the charge well for at least a week or two between charges.
8. Mulching plug is a quick and easy process. No headache here!
9. Easy fold down of handle for storage. Handy in winter areas for indoor storage to save life of battery.

Cons:
1. Charge lasts about 60 minutes before recharge is needed. It is also notable that the last 20 minutes or so of the charge is not as powerful as the first 40 minutes. There is a noticeable degradation of the power although it is still usable.
2. Noise is lower then a standard mower but not as much as you might think with a pure electric mower.
3. Rattles a bit. I am not sure how to describe this one except it gets more pronounced the faster I push the unit while mowing.
4. There is no powered propulsion but with the unit as light as it is this is not a big deal. Also I ma not willing to give up more power to a propulsion system anyway.
5. It can bog down in very heavy grass versus a heavy duty gas mower. This isn't a big deal as you just back up again but you don't want to clean up foot long grass with this unit.
6. Battery is not user replaceable. I would really like to see the battery either hot swappable or at least user replaceable. The biggest con in my view.
7. The 15 hour time frame for fully charging the battery means there is some planning needed to mow the lawn.

Features:
1. 24 Volt Battery
2. Push (Not powered)
3. 20" cut width
4. Steel Deck
5. 3 in 1 design (Side discharge, Bagger and Mulcher)
6. Height Adjust from 1.5" to 3.75"
7. Front Wheel Diameter 7"
8. Rear Wheel Diameter 8"
9. Charge time (4 hours for 70% charge) 10-15 hours for full charge
10. Single lever height adjustment.
11. Fold down handle for storage.
12. Safety key for start.

This is really a great mower for the price. It is clean and efficient. I no longer smell like a refinery every time I mow the grass. I can mow on Ozone action days and it does get some stares from the neighborhood. This is a very useful piece of equipment if you do not have a lawn that would take more then 60 minutes to mow. Only the somewhat limited battery charge and the fact that the battery is not user changeable keep this at 4 rather then 5 stars for me.

Recently, I got tired of messing with the gasoline and oil, pull cord, etc. of my admittedly trusty, almost ten year-old Sears 6.0 HP Craftsman mower. So I went online and researched several models before settling on the EarthWise 20" 24 volt cordless rechargeable.
I ordered mine via Amazon on Tuesday, and it came today (Thursday), if you can believe that! Set up was instantaneous, no assembly required, and the battery was actually fully charged. I mowed both my front and back lawn with plenty of battery juice to spare. While there is no power to the wheels, the mower weighs sufficiently less (at around 90 lbs.) to be able to maneuver it with ease. In cutting and mulching, it is actually superior to my old Sears. In terms of noise, it is still pretty loud, but sounds more like a huge blow dryer rather than an engine. And - BIG plus - absolutely no noxious fumes! It never heats up like a gas-powered engine either, and one of the great things is that you can turn it off completely, maneuver it around obstacles, and simply turn it back on electronically - without yanking cords!
Needless to say, I am truly happy with this mower and I highly recommend it. I will NEVER go back to gas-powered!

This mower is pretty good. The obvious pros are that it doesn't use gas, it doesn't emit nasty fumes, and it's easy to start. It's not good in very tall or wet grass, but it works fine for dry grass that isn't terribly long.
The cons: The rubber handle grip thing tore to shreds after only a couple of uses. Also, the rubber cover you put on the back to mulch the grass got caught in the blade and got shredded. The cover shouldn't be long enough to catch in the blades, because you have to back up sometimes and you shouldn't have to shut off the mower every time you back up.
All in all it's a good mower.

I am really impressed with this mower. I like the fact that it feels solid, (no plastic feel to this baby,) also the 20" deck means I can mow much faster than I could with my Neuton mower. Another feature I like is the battery indicator that lets you know when the power is getting low. It maneuvers well, and has a real feeling of quality to it. It cut my grass evenly and I recommend it highly. Love the fact that there is no cord and no gasoline, and it starts instantly. Thank you for such a quality product.

Along with our first home came our first lawnmower. Our initial choice was the Homelite electric corded version of this model - it retailed for approximately $100 less at Home Depot - but after hassling with the cord we opted to get the cordless version.

Yes, this thing is heavy but to be honest, I don't notice that on a day-to-day mowing basis. I certainly felt it whilst moving the box and picking the unit straight up.

One of the big problems I had with the mower, initially, was that it really bogged down in thicker grass - particularly some on a slope in our backyard. It nearly slowed to a halt at times. However, I'm giving the mower the benefit of the doubt here, as I was using the side discharge unit and thus depositing big clumps of shredded grass here and there. I had a really, really hard time going over said clumps with the mower... it was struggling. Since then I've found that using the bag makes for less fighting with the mower, and it performs like a champ.

The other downside is that once the battery's gone, it's *gone*. And it takes about 17 hours (!) to fully recharge so, truthfully, I'm not sure if I can cut my front and back yards on the same day. That's disappointing to be sure.

Is it a fair trade-off though? I think so. No cords, no oil, no gas and a nicely-cut lawn. I'll take it.

I still use the B&D 875 corded mower and love it for its easy push and quietness for my straight lined backyard. I got tired of the cords for my multiple treed, sloped and weird angled larger front yard. I bought this model (since it was 103 cheaper than the B&D cordless) and had a metal base vs. plastic at Do It Best hardware w/ fs to my local store. Please note Ace Hardware (299.99 w/ fs to store) and HD (317.99) are both out of stock and it doesn't look like either will be in stock anytime soon. It does weigh barely under a 100# and on the upward slopes it does give a little work out. Like numerous others, I'm trying to go as green as possible and I think this really fits the bill. Also in regards to battery replacement, 2 other kind reviewers have suggested different battery brands (BP17-12 or 12v SLA) taping 2 of the 12 volt batteries together w/ the caution of making sure they are correctly wired together to obtain the 24v charge/discharge. It seems like a feasible option vs. trashing the entire mower in a landfill-just remember to properly dispose of the old batteries. I've heard either an auto parts store or in some cities a specific drop off will gladly take the used batteries.

Bought this product from the outdoor store on Amazon. Ordered it on Friday 4-9-08 and received it on Monday 4-12-08 at standard shipping rate. Easy to put together. Fully charged. Easy to start. Say goodbye to gas, oil, spark plugs, dirty air filters, priming the engine or pulling a cord. Solid does not feel cheep (which is good because it's not) cost around $370 after shipping but still cheaper than most rechargeables. A little heavy at just under 100lb, would be easier if it was a high wheel. But so far so good!

Several of the reviewers have complained about the charging system. Either the battery would not charge or charged slowly. The charging system arrives in two separate pieces that I will identify as the power cord, that part which plugs into your home receptacle, the charger, the small rectangular black box with two indicator lights with the permantently attached charge cord, the cord that plugs into the mower. I assembled the system and plugged everything into it's proper place and then watched it very closely for a few minutes. I fly electric RC planes and I have seen charging systems melt down before. In about two minutes the charger was too hot to hold in your hand. This can't be right, so I called the "Call me first" number. A very polite lady listens to my problem, then says that she has not heard of that before and must ask the tech people. Foolish me, I believed that she was the tech. The answer that she relayed from "tech" was to take the mower to a service center over fifty miles away from my home in Nashville, TN. I declined her advice saying that it would be much easier and cheaper for me to return it to Amazon than to make one, or most likely two, round trips to the distant service center. Internet shopping is not about driving. While begining to disassemble the charging system it occurred to me that turning the power cord connection to the charger 180 degrees (polarity?) might have some effect. Sure enough, the system began to charge. I won't call it properly because I believe that the charger is to small for it's intended task and continues to get hotter than I would like but that is pure speculation and should be taken as such.

A bit over two months of steady use and other than a wheel cover falling off the mower continues to cut well. I called the "tech/receptionst" back and explained just what that I had done to resolve the problem and after a long pause I asked if she was still there, "Yes, she answered, just writing all this down in case it happens again". At least one person there could be counted on.....

Cutting it fine in Nashville, Lynn...

I have the differently-branded Homelite UT-13122; basically the same mower. Works great for my small, standard city plot. Only reason I didn't give 5 stars: living in Chicago, I wish the batteries were more easily removeable for winter storage. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty darn easy! But they could've made it even easier.

And speaking of batteries...

They're *very* easily user-replacable. Undo 4 screws that secure the black cover to the base to access the battery compartment. Undo the leads from the battery terminals using a screwdriver and wrench. Loosen the straps that hold the batteries in place. Pull out old batteries. Drop in new batteries. Re-secure straps, leads, and cover. Done!

Don't bother with the Homelite / Earthwise battery replacements. Last I checked, they ran ~$94 (!) each + shipping. This battery is a drop-in replacement at almost 1/3 the price: http://www.batterymart.com/p-12v-18ah-sealed-lead-acid-battery-1.html. You can probably even find a local store that carries a comparable battery and save on shipping.

I found a wiring diagram online earlier, but now I can't find it. At any rate, if you're worried about screwing up re-attaching the leads, take a digital picture before swapping batteries. I'm all thumbs, and I replaced the batteries just fine.