Customer Reviews

Solaris SP21HB 21-Inch 24-Volt Cordless Self-Propelled FWD Bag/Mulch/Side Discharge Cordless Lawn Mower

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

 

 

Having read the two previous reviews and also the reviews on Home Depot's site I thought I should add my two cents worth.

I purchased this mower a little over a month ago from Home Depot. I bought from them mainly because they were cheaper, $469 vs $499, and because the tax money would stay in our town.

First I've got to say this was one of the easiest power tools I've had to set up. Basically pull it out of the box and move the handle into position and it's ready to move. I am in agreement about the manual needing some work. I've written better procedures/manuals for work so I know it can be done.

The previous reviewer stated that they heard a popping noise upon installing the batteries. This is most likely due to having the green "key" (basically a piece of metal that bridges the circuit so the batteries will work) installed when putting the batteries in...they will electrically arc. It works best to put the batteries in BEFORE you put the key in...still arcs, but at the key contacts not the battery contacts. It also sounds like the previous reviewer charged the batteries in the mower. This can be done as an option, but I prefered to charge mine with the supplied charger outside of the mower. I charged the batteries for a full 24 hours before use (most people make the mistake in not charging batteries completely, then blame the device if it doesn't work correctly).

The week before, I had used our gas mower to do the lawn and noted any places were it bogged down. The Solaris bogged in the same places, so I didn't think power was an issue. Our yard is about 1/3 acre and if the grass isn't too long I can get the whole yard done in one charge and still have a little juice left on the batteries. I did purchase a second set of batteries so when the lawn gets longer I won't have to worry about having to stop cutting and recharge overnight. I wouldn't suggest getting the solar panel to charge the batteries unless you really want to be off the grid...but at $200 bucks a pop, you'd better REALLY want to be off the grid...that and it takes 3 to 5 days for the batteries to charge with it.

I was surprised at how well the self propelled feature worked. I had been using a Honda self propelled mower for at least 10-12 years now and had a good standard for comparison. I even took a crack at mowing without the self propelled drive working and it was easier to move the mower due to the larger rear wheels, unlike our Honda which is a beast to mow with out the drive. Is the mower itself heavy? No. It's when you add the lead acid batteries in that the mower gets some weight to it...but it's still on par weight-wise with a standard gas mower...and may be lighter than some.

The previous complaint about a high pitched noise when you stop the mower is unfounded. When you plug the "key" in it starts beeping to let you know it's active. If you don't start the mower up in say 15-30 seconds it goes to a continuous beep...this is to let you know you've left the circuit active and will most likely drain the batteries...I also believe this is a safety feature as well, so children won't be able to start the mower if you remember to take the key out...and you will remember with that high pitched beep going.

I haven't noticed any problems with the wheels like the previous reviewer and the mower has done the lawn quite well for the past month. I use the mulching feature as I have done with the Honda for years. No bagging and the lawn looks as good or better than with the Honda. Nice clean cutting. Solaris recommends not sharpening the blade, which bothered me at first, but after seeing how well it cut the lawn, this isn't an issue.

Setting the wheels has to be done individually, but I don't consider this an issue as the Honda required all four wheels to be set individually as well.

I find it hard to rate something like this with just one rating, but let me sum up how I see it:

Mower quietness: 5 stars
Quality of cut: 5 stars
Blade engage & self propel levers: 2 stars
Overall mower quality: 4 stars
Ease of use: 5 stars

As much as I'd like to give the Solaris a five star rating I can't due to the Blade engage and self propel levers. I have no problem working them, but the thinness of them and the amount of effort required to engage them I have to drop the overall rating to four.

I actually got this item from Home Depot because it was not yet available on Amazon. Let me start off to say that I was real excited buying this product because I would be doing my part for the environment.

The first thing I should mention is that the manual is kind of useless. It has pictures of all different models and shows how each part is put together but in that vague diagram way.

Assembly was easy. The only thing you really have to do is put the batteries into the engine and tighten the handle. When I put the batteries in their location, I heard a popping noise (almost like the sound of a spark) when I put them in. This kind of alarmed me at first, but it didn't cause any problems.

After charging it for a day and raking my lawn to remove all debris, I started the lawn mower. It started immediately and the first thing you notice is how quiet it is. You could hold a conversation with someone without yelling while using this. I thought this was nice. But as I continued, things were not as good. I noticed that the self-propelled feature does not really provide all that much power. I then decided to try mowing without using the self-propelled featured, but the mower is very heavy. After doing several rows, the right front wheel stopped moving and made a clicking noise. Also, I noticed that the rear right wheel started to wobble. I stopped the lawn mower and noticed that wheel had cracked near the center. When I turned the mower off, the mower made an annoying high pitched sound until I removed the lock on the batteries.

This lawn mower does not have a lot of power. I am sure this is due to battery life vs. horsepower issues with battery operated lawn mowers.

I had to finish the lawn with my gas mower. I noticed that the gas mower was much easier to use (but much more noisier). My gas mower is FWD self-propelled, as well, and it moved effortlessly across my lawn.

I decided two give two stars for the quiet factor and the ease of starting it (I hate having to pull to start). The wheel on the lawn mower may have been defective and that may be what caused the problems I experienced. I will say that the wheels did look cheap compared to the plastic on my Craftsman gas lawn mower which do look very sturdy (and have served me well for the last four years). Also, the handle on the lawn mower was very cheap as well. They put foam over the two metal parts and you can feel both of them when you hold them. This might hurt after awhile. On my Craftsmen, the metal pieces were molded into each other to feel like one piece.

Another thing I didn't like about the lawn mower were the level settings. Although I did not experience an issue with the settings, they did not look they could stand up to extensive use as they looked like small bumps rather that prongs. It looked like if I hit a bump that the settings might slip. Again, this was just a feeling and not based on any issue I had.

Another issue I had is that I called Linamar that night and they never returned my call. I got a recorded message (it was past their hours of business) that asked me to leave a message. I briefly described the two issues I had and left my phone number. Unfortunately, they never called me back. You would think if they asked you to leave a message, someone would have listened to it and returned your call. Four days later, I decided to take the lawn mower back to Home Depot.

Home Depot gave me the option of repairing the lawn mower, but I decided to return it since I paid over $500 (including tax) for the lawn mower and I expected better quality for that money. I was also worried that if they took a long time to repair it that I would not be able to get a refund if I had further issues. Home Depot refunded my money (but I could tell they didn't really like it when they saw for how much).

I really hope that future models of this product would use higher quality parts.

I've owned a Black & Decker CM-1000 for several years, but we moved into a rental house with a big lawn that would have cost $45 a mow to have done by the landlord's service. While I've been mainly happy with the B&D, it doesn't have a swappable battery. I bought the Solaris because of the wider mowing deck (hopefully would save some time), swappable battery, and self-propelled feature. It arrived fine, was easy to get set up although I thought it odd that the blade is meant to be dull. The fit & finish is mixed. The wheels are attached a bit flimsily. The battery compartment usually needs several tries to get it to close, and the wheel adjustments were a bit awkward.

OK, on to the mowing. It is a heavy mower, and needed the self-propelled just to make it about the same effort as the B&D which doesn't have a self-propelled feature. The mower also wants to slide toward the downside of even a very modest grade when mowing across it. It is also more difficult to maneuver around than the B&D, and not as easy to use in dealing with areas that were a bit tight. The B&D's cut was slightly better even though my B&D's blade was in need of a sharpening. The B&D was also substantially easier to use over divots and bumps in the lawn. The Solaris would have difficulty with heavy, weedy areas, such as an abandoned vegetable garden that I don't mow every time, and was less able to deal with running over the occasional small stick. The B&D handled these with relative ease. Mowing times were approximately even, although, of course, the Solaris allowed me to swap in an extra set of batteries.

During the third mow, the Solaris experienced a major fault warning and stopped working. The manual says to contact the manufacturer, which I did. They told me to contact Amazon to arrange for an exchange. Amazon was surprised at this, as they had no arrangement with the manufacturer to handle warranty claims outside the 30-day return period. Fortunately, the Amazon CS rep. made good on a full refund, tracking the item back and making sure I was not given a partial refund as would normally be the case. Cudos to Amazon for going the extra step.

Ultimately, I decided that getting a second B&D and having to mow on multiple days was preferable to exchanging for the Solaris. I bought a B&D CM-1200 (the 1000's replacement model), and am glad I did. While the option of swapping batteries would make the B&D the clearly best option, it is definitely more solidly put together, mows better, and is significantly less expensive than the Solaris.

I did a lot of research before choosing this mower. I have a medium to small lawn and thought it was just the ticket. When it arrived, I popped up the handles, inserted the batteries, checked the charge, and they appeared ready to go. I mowed my lawn with no problems. I have had it a couple of months, and just love it. The only thing I did not care for was the lack of suction to pick up leaves etc. They do not use a real high lift blade in order to save batteries.

I changed the blade to a high lift, mulching blade, and it performs perfectly. still plenty of battery, good suction, and although not as quiet with the new blade, still way more quiet that a gas job.

I have the optional solar panel and love the idea that my mower contributes zero impact.

I have had no problems, it does a great job, batteries last well.

I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Good mower if you don't mind spending money to be green. Easy to assemble out of the box, fold up handle and charge batteries. I debated about rear wheel or front wheel assist drive. It is nice to have the auto wheel traction however it can be difficult to push and control. It really depends on your yard and the topography you mow. While it works fine be warned it is heavy to maneuver. The rechargeable batteries are very heavy and heavy to push around in the mower. While the drive assist helps with this it is also cumbersome to pull the mower backwards or to turn in tight spots. I find the batteries charge easily and last 3 cuts of my yard before charging again.

Pros- Green, cordless, no gas. Cons- Heavy, expensive, can be challenging to maneuver. It's a good workout.

I actually purchased this at Home Depot, but they don't post negative reviews...I tried there first.

I was excited to get another cordless electric mower. My last one was a Ryobi and lasted seven years when the motor brushes finally wore down. I chose this one since it was self-propelled and had a brushless motor.

When I opened it, I realized that it was nothing but a modified gas mower with a steel body. The only difference is the motor. It's extremely heavy and difficult to handle. There is no "picking it up to store against a wall". The back wheels became wobbly after about a month.

According to the literature, my yard should be cut on one charge, I quickly discovered that I needed a second set of batteries.($100)
After about 12 weeks (about 10 cuts), the performance tanked and it took the span of two days to cut a 100x160 foot yard. The batteries lasted about 15 minutes.

After several calls, Linimar did send another motor assembly at no cost, but the cut time never improved. They have had since last September to resolve, but they stopped responding. I can only assume that both sets of batteries are bad.

While I was excited about the motor technology, I was disappointed that any innovation stopped there and the batteries ($100/set) are inadequate. I'm in the process of trying to get some sort of refund and looking for another cordless mower.

Solaris SP21HB 21-Inch 24 Volt Cordless Self Propelled FWD Bag/Mulch/Side Discharge Cordless Lawn Mower
Very excited when I received the mower. Did not last very long. After a 24 hr. charge, tried for an hour to make it go. Disgusted I called the manufactuer and get some input. After a rep had to read a list of "TRY THIS", and 2hours of frustration and taking off components, I decided if the factory doesn't check to see if it runs before they send it to me, they could have it back to do their own trouble shooting. "REAL LEMON"!

I've used three different cordless mowers and based on that experience I have to say I'm skeptical that 24 volts will work well with a 21" blade. I Have the 20" Toro with 36 volts which works very well and a 19"/24V B&D, which I found to be adequate 80% of the time - with only 24V it struggled with tall grass. The Greenworks 24v/18" self propelled mower may be a better bet.

<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.......88#....Plastic deck, Removable Batt
Earthwise 60120..........20"/24V/480......92#....Metal deck, Removable Batt
Toro 20360.................20"/36V/432......77#....Metal deck
Solaris/Epic EP21H........21"/24V/NA......106#....Rmvble batt, self propel, steel

<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS>

>>Why SHOULD I get a cordless electric mower? They are super quiet, clean, and convenient. No fumes or exhaust- because gas mowers don't have catalytic converters, they can pollute as much in a year as 43 cars!!!!. They aren't necessarily cheaper than a gas mower since they cost more up front but there is basically NO maintenance. (We spent $80 over 10 years for a set of replacement batteries.) Corded electric mowers are a cheaper but having a cord is a pain.

>>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 it's cooler and the mowing season is shorter. Our batteries lasted ~7 years. Most people should get 3-4 years easily but if you're careless and live in Arizona, you might be able to 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!

Recently purchased model sp21HB. Mower was defective and Amazon sent me another. It was also defective. So I ordered the Solaris Epic which I so far like very much. It may have taken 30 days to get a great mower but I'm satisfied with both Soralis and Amazon.

I was a little skeptical at first. My yard is as uneven as you can get. Charged up the batteries for 24 hours the first night and mowed a thick lawn the next. I use two sets of batteries since my yard is about 3/4 acre and very hilly...but the FWD self-propelled lawn mower took to it like any gas mower I've ever used....and it's like taking 11 modern day cars off the road if you like going GREEN......It pops when you put in the safety key but well worth anything like that.....had to call customer service and they were very easy to talk to and very polite....