Electric lawn tractor

[dguzzi]

Has anyone had experience with electric lawn tractors? I think I might buy one if I find one that has good reviews and meets my variable standards.

[Piwoslaw]

I have seen a few threads here on electric tractors, or converting to EV.
A quick search brought these 2 up, but there is more:
Electric Garden Tractor
Ugly electric tractor.

You may also search on ER's sister site: EcoModder.

[dguzzi]

Yes, I've seen those but I wondered about newer retail versions. (those are quite older threads)

[Elcam84]

I would like one too but the only one on the market that will do what I want is the Cub Cadet as I not only mow but I move my trailer with it and other towables which you can't do even with a gas powered ZTR because they use high speed transmissions that can't handle any load on them.

That said... The Cub Cadet is $4600... Course a gas powered one is now $2200 which is $900 more than they were last year. My issue is batterys and controllers motors and warranty.
The warranty is super short for an item of that price.

In 5 years with no warranty and if the battery needs replacing what will it cost and will it still be in production to even buy as you can't use old stock batteries.

What about replacement electronics as they are under high loads and are going to be running in extremely hot temps which are tough on them and the battery. And replacements?

Same goes with motors.

Now if they were using off the shelf generic parts I'd be more optimistic.


Lots of things to think about on the cost of ownership of them as repairs are going to be allot more expensive and harder to get parts. They also have had allot of problems with the previous mower and the current one so it's not ready for prime time IMO.


If you go back a few years Raven had a Hybrid mower with a removable deck that had electric spindle motors. I really wanted one as it also doubled as a 7K watt generator.

I will say for now I'd like to convert mine to propane for a few reasons but there is nowhere to put the tank and converting Kohler engines is more expensive than others due to their odd carb they use. So you have to use a generic kit.

[dguzzi]

I agree with all that. The cost and service has to be realistic. Using the unit for a wider group of tasks would be awesome...like using the power base for a tiller, power washer, snow blower or back up power.

[dguzzi]

I have a propane powered engine but the cost of propane has kept me from using it...it would be cool to have it more useful but right now its just taking up space.

[creeky]

I wouldn't worry too much about the batteries. They have come a long way and Lifepo4 in a cubcadet is easy a 10 year battery. Just don't charge them frozen unless the battery has a heater. Which I doubt. You could add a battery blanket of course.

You're going to save a lot of money on two things: gas. repairs. As everyone here probably already realizes, its a great joy in the spring to grab the over wintered mowers and whipper snippers etc and just go. I store my batteries overwinter at 70% dod and always charge warm.

You know last spring I brought the electric mower out at the same time as my neighbor across the street. His "h#nda" nice mower, gave him fits. In the time it took him to turn the mower upside down (draining oil I suspect) I was done my front yard. He got his mower going later that afternoon. Personally, I have better things to do than fight with a recalcitrant motor. And let's not even talk about those stupid priming bulbs.

The silence is also golden.

[Elcam84]

No priming bulbs... Just turn the key and it starts... Looking at more of the reviews and talking to the repair place here that does their stuff it's a don't walk but run as far away as you can from them. They are so bad that he said easily half of them are bought back by Cub Cadet or returned to Home Depot.
They are having lots of motor and controller failures basically DOA or within 30 minutes of first use.

Parts are just too pricey and the failure rate is super high. It'll be a while before they are reliable and parts are reasonably priced. For a product that bad they really need a longer warranty so they can work out the bugs instead of being stuck with a $4600 mower that needs a constant diet of $200 motors and $400 controllers.

So the battery is the least of the worries on them. Freezing isn't the issue it's the battery being stored in 100*+ temps for months on end.

Originally Posted by creeky

I wouldn't worry too much about the batteries. They have come a long way and Lifepo4 in a cubcadet is easy a 10 year battery. Just don't charge them frozen unless the battery has a heater. Which I doubt. You could add a battery blanket of course.

You're going to save a lot of money on two things: gas. repairs. As everyone here probably already realizes, its a great joy in the spring to grab the over wintered mowers and whipper snippers etc and just go. I store my batteries overwinter at 70% dod and always charge warm.

You know last spring I brought the electric mower out at the same time as my neighbor across the street. His "h#nda" nice mower, gave him fits. In the time it took him to turn the mower upside down (draining oil I suspect) I was done my front yard. He got his mower going later that afternoon. Personally, I have better things to do than fight with a recalcitrant motor. And let's not even talk about those stupid priming bulbs.

The silence is also golden.