Customer Reviews

Neuton CE 5.2 14-Inch 24-Volt Cordless Electric Discharge/Mulching/Bagging Lawn Mower With Removable Battery

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have owned this mower for over a year now. I have two large lawns including an area for my dog run which gets high sometimes because I don't mow every week. The major reason I considered buying an electric mower was that the gas rotary mowers I have owned always were hard to start after the Winter season. I saw an ad for the Neuton and a cordless electric seemed attractive. No cord to run over or move around.

RATING DETAILS
Here is where the Neuton earned points:

1) Its starts every time.
2) Its environmentally friendly. No exhaust and no noise.
3) Its lighter than my old steel gas mower (slightly).
4) No leaking fluids when you want to turn it over to clean or maintain the blade.
5) Not that I don't own and like many foreign produced items, but this is made in America (Vermont). It feels good to me to support our domestic market!

Here is where the Neuton lost a few points:

1) After the first year the battery seems to be losing some of its charging capacity. Where I used to get an hour and a half's life on a full charge, now I get maybe an hour. Note this is a lead/acid battery and not a more high tech variety.
2) The trimmer attachment works, but its not really that maneuverable. Keep your corded electric string trimmer and pass on the too expensive trimmer attachment.
3) It takes me two days to mow all my grass. Seriously consider buying the extra battery if you have a lot of lawn to cut.
4) If you expect this mower to be as robust as your gas rotary model, you will probably be disappointed. But since the gas mowers where I live no longer come with a variable throttle, you don't really lose that much power. I see Neuton has a newer, more powerful version now. I would probably have purchased that one if it were available at the time.

Over-all I am happy with the purchase.

Terrific product. I love it. Got two batteries with it, but have never had to use two in order to finish my lawn. I'm using it on mulching mode and feel very good about that rather than putting clippings into the city's garbage. I have good luck with it as long as I don't try to rush. I just push and pull and it works great. I agree that the edger isn't totally satisfactory, but it is very easy to put on, use, and remove. My dad has had one of these for many years and still uses it and loves it. (He is in his eighties.) I find mowing pure pleasure now. Before I hated all the hassle and especially yanking the cord to get the stinky things started. This is a good, well-established company, too. Oh, and it is quiet!!

I love this mower, it has been more than capable in mowing my lawn without losing a charge. When I first used this mower I had a very long neglected yard and this took care of the weeds and the tall grass with no problem. I did have to dump the bag quite a bit but no more often than I would have with any other mower. I will never go back to a gas mower or go to a corded electric mower again.

I purchased mine a year ago. When fully charged, the battery is now lasting ten minutes. When I first received it, I could mow my yard three times before it needed recharging. I like that it's light and is easy to push, plus no cord to pull repeatedly to start. However, at around $90 for a battery after a little over
one year is a bummer.

Summary: If you have a very small yard (Perhaps 1000-1500 square feet of lawn) this could be a decent compromise for you, otherwise I don't think the 14" path and limited battery capacity will "cut it"

My neighbor has this one from a couple of years ago and I tried it out. It's smaller, lighter and quieter than the two cordless mowers we've used but that 14" path would probably be a dealbreaker for most people. When you consider that you will overlap each pass by at least 2-3 inches, you're really only cutting 10-11 inches on each pass.


<LIKES>
+ Easy to maneuver
+ Quiet
+ Small
+ Super light compared to our B&D CM1100 or Toro, both of which weigh about twice as much

<DISLIKES>
- 14" path!?!?!
- Pricey for what you get
- Hard to cut near obstacles


<COMPARO>
I've put a quick guide of the most popular models on Amazon. All info reported by manufacturer. Amazon won't let me put prices in my review, sorry!
MOWER............Path/Volt/Watt-hr......WT............COMMENTS

Neuton CE5.3............14"/24V/240......48#....Plastic deck, Removable batt.
B&D CM1836..............18"/36V/NA.......64#....Plastic deck
Greenworks 25092......18"/24V/480......95#....Self Propel, Removable Batt
Worx ECO WG780.......19"/24V/408......80#....Removable Battery
Haussmann CLM46NU...19"/24V/NA........94#....Haussmann who?? Metal deck
B&D CMM1200.............19"/24V/432......76#....Update to our old CM1000
B&D CM1936...............19"/36V/360.......72#....Plastic deck, Removable Batt
Neuton CE6................19"/36V/360.......69#....Plastic deck, Removable Batt
Earthwise 60120..........20"/24V/480......92#....Metal deck, Removable Batt
Toro 20360.................20"/36V/432......77#....Metal deck

<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS>

>>Why SHOULD I get a cordless electric mower? They are super quiet, clean, and convenient. They aren't necessarily cheaper than a gas mower since they cost more up front but there is almost NO maintenance. (We spent $80 over 10 years for a set of replacement batteries.) Corded electric mowers are a lot cheaper but then you have a cord.

>>Why SHOULDN'T I get a cordless mower? They weigh a LOT more than gas mowers so if you have a hilly lot or have difficulty with physical exertion, forget it. They don't have as much power as gas and re-fueling means charging for a few hours so if your lot is over ˝ acre you may want to reconsider.

>>Why do they all come with mulching PLUS bagging? Electric powered mowers have come a long ways but mulching still takes a LOT more power than discharging, so bagging is pretty much a standard feature.

>>What is a watt-hour? It's basically how big your gas tank is - the more watt-hours, the longer you can mow before you have to recharge.

>>Is the cutting path a big deal? Yes - for two reasons. 1) The first thing manufacturers do when power is marginal is reduce the blade size, so I tend to see the smaller mowers as more likely to be underpowered. Second, when you consider that you have to overlap each pass by ~3", a 20" blade now effectively cuts 13% more on each pass. If you have a larger yard, you definitely do NOT want anything under 18" Also, my measurements show most mowers overstate their blade size by 1/2" (Our 20" measures 19-5/8, our 19 measures 18-1/2)

>>Why might I want a removable battery? If you have a large yard, this means you can have a second battery charging while you are using the first. A second battery typically costs $100-$150 but it can make the difference between going electric or not. Finally, if you keep the mower in a shed that doesn't have power, a removable battery will let you bring it in for charging.

>>How long will my batteries last? That depends on your climate and usage. We had a small lot for many years and were religious about recharging right after use. We also live in a cooler climate (Michigan) so the mowing season is shorter. Our batteries lasted about 7 years. Most people should get 3-4 years easily but if you're careless and live in Arizona, you could probably kill the batteries in a year or two.

>>Why should I care about higher voltage? Higher voltage = more power, PLUS you can recharge the mower faster. With the same chemistry and current, a 36V mower will charge 50% faster than a 24V mower.

>>Metal deck or plastic? Metal rusts but with minimal care it's not an issue. Plastic ends up giving you a more stuff to trim since you can't cut as close to fences, etc.

If you've found this review helpful or have questions/comments, please let me know!

My yard is small, and I mowed it with battery weed whackers for years. My good lead-acid Grass Hog died last year, and I picked up the Neuton 5.2 for a great price at a truck sale.

Battery management is a key issue with many battery-operated devices. With NiCad batteries, you need to drain them as much as possible before recharging, or they lose their capacity. It turns out that lead acid batteries (as in the Neuton) are the opposite: draining them completely can damage them, and you should try to keep them charged. (I have been told I killed my Grass Hog by letting the battery sit around drained in the basement over the winter.)

The Neuton is a nice quiet mower, and it handles my small yard easily. With a good charge on, last weekend I took an extra inch off my thick Zoysia grass, currently brown, in the front yard. I have not been able to do that well with weed whackers.

However, the blade is only 14 inches, and the mower length is way more than that, making it difficult to cut close to obstructions going forward. With most mowers, you re-mow the wheel line, when cutting. With this mower, you need to overlap the wheel span by about 50%, for a good cut. The practical cutting area is quite small.

I chose this mower over Black & Decker, because the battery is removable, and I was concerned about the battery freezing in the garage. I do remove it and charge it in the basement, but I gather this is not necessary. If I had it to do over again, I would give Black & Decker CM1936 19-Inch 36 Volt Cordless Electric Lawn Mower with Key Start and Removable Battery a good look, with it's higher ratings and wider wheel span. Ah, I see the new model 1936 has a removable battery - the older 1836 did not.

By the way, I always use the mulching plug and rake off excess as needed - I have never used the bag.

Ordered it from Amazon on Thursday within the time-frame for next day delivery. One clicked and waited. No show on Friday, ugh. Turns out Amazon says heavy items (never got the weight definition) don't go out next day, but that I'll get a "courtesy refund" of my Prime fee for next day ($3.99). Ok, fine. It certainly doesn't merit a bad rating for the product - but something you should know if you want this quickly.

I received it Monday and immediately took the battery out to charge it. No light. I insert it a few more times to make sure I'm doing it right (it's a simple mini-din on the battery that an AC adapter plugs into). No dice. I let it charge overnight, but the mower is as dead can be when I try to start it up. This is where it gets interesting.

I speak to Neuton (DW Power) tech support, and mention it to them. After asking the obvious quesitons, the rep asks me if I have a voltmeter. It's fairly presumptuous to expect a customer to have that skillset, but I just happen to. The adapter tests fine so it is obviously a bad battery. Shame, but stuff happens - right? So because my grass is taking over my backyard I practically beg to get it next day, and the rep says I can wait the 7-10 days from VT to CA, or I can PAY to expedite it. Wait a minute, didn't I pay for a functioning product? "But sir, I'm sending this to you for free?!". Wow. If I hadn't researched this mower to death to determine it would work best for me this would have been on the first truck back to VA.

I hope and pray that I'll never need to contact their customer "service" again.

I will update this once I actually get the battery and I can use the product.

** Update 4-23-10 **

I got a call two days after I wrote this review from DW Power explaining that they were overnighting a battery to me at their expense. Whether it was due to this review or not I can't say, but I was very impressed - but that was just the beginning.

After charging the battery for a half day, I set it in the mower and immediately the activity light on the front of the mower turned green. So far, so good. I set the blade height to the highest setting (3" I believe), put the bag catcher on, and away I went.

This mower is a dream. Not only is it quiet but it's easy to maneuver. It does a great job cutting, and after mowing both my front and back lawns (about 45 minutes) the battery still had plenty of juice (although you should slap it on the charger right away per the instructions). It's nice to know my yard will only need one battery. I also like the fact that the large handle breaks down and can be folded (and the mower uprighted) to conserve space in the garage. I'm glad I gave this mower a second chance.

This is a great little mower;light,quiet and mows like a row of goats!I mean thick grass too! I have two acres of yard alone and I can cut it on two charges! So far so good with this mower...

This is a nice little mower for our yard that is about .1 of acre. It is light weight and very quiet. I've had it for about 2 years now and everything works great. I got the string trimmer attachment which is a real time saver having two tools in one. I wish the mowing path was a bit wider. I did have a switch problem but, one call to customer service had a whole new handle bar assembly in the mail at no charge. These people stand behind their product!

We are VERY impressed with this Neuton mower. It holds a charge for an very adequate amount of time. It's lighter than our previous ones and is well built. We're so happy that we don't have to replace the mower when the battery needs replacement.