With the winter months looming on the horizon, maintenance for your lawnmower battery is key. Now, not every lawnmower is going to use batteries. That said, the ones that do can suffer from undue wear and tear thanks to some key factors. You don’t want to be stuck in a lurch when the spring and summer arrive and your lawn is overgrown.
As such, you need to know just how long your lawnmower battery lasts. This guide will go over the effective charging practices, storage, for winter, and how to maximize both operational time and the lifespan of your lawnmower battery. The cold might mean you’re avoiding mowing, but you’ll still have to take care of your tools for future seasons.
Understanding Lawnmower Batteries
As you can imagine, there are multiple different types of lawnmowers, all with different battery types. Before discussing the care and maintenance of your lawnmower battery, it is important to at least understand how they work. The care and maintenance for a riding mower’s battery are going to be far different than a robotic or fully electric mower.
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Different Types of Mowers
There are multiple different types of lawnmowers you can purchase commercially. These range from simple reel mowers to zero-point turn mowers intended for massive areas. However, not all of these mowers are going to have batteries. A simple gas-powered push mower, for example, is going to rely on its mower, carburetor, and spark plug to function.
A reel mower has zero power, relying instead on your overall strength to accomplish its goal. That does leave a few different selections. Fully electric mowers operate a bit like EVs, using a central battery pack to deliver power reliably. Riding mowers operate a bit like a traditional combustion engine car, with a battery and gasoline to drive its components.
Robotic mowers are fully electric, meaning you also have to keep an eye on those batteries. As such, there are quite a few different lawnmower batteries in play.
Charging Method
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Zero-turn and riding lawnmowers typically aren’t going to charge their batteries. These function more like a car battery, with a set number of power cycles before the entire unit needs to be replaced. This sort of lawnmower battery isn’t going to be concerned with charging, which can be a plus for users with limited power outlets in their storage space.
That leaves fully electric mowers and robotic mowers. Now, typically fully-electric mowers will require you to remove the battery pack and place it in a dedicated charger. There are a variety of different battery types and compatible chargers, given that no manufacturer is using the same standard.
Robotic mowers also require charging, and most kits will come with a standalone charging base. When in operation, the robotic mower typically will return to its charging station after depleting its battery. Robotic mowers are typically stored outside, so this can make the care for its battery more complicated as a whole.
What Affects How Long a Lawnmower Battery Lasts?
So, with identifying the lawnmower battery type out of the way, you can look at how long it effectively lasts. Typically speaking, a lawnmower battery for a gas-powered vehicle can last anywhere between three to five years of regular use. You aren’t charging them, but they are needed to drive certain components.
Electric mower batteries can run between 40 minutes to 60 minutes of run-time on a single charge. The typical lifespan is also around five or so years, depending on storage and charging habits. Robotic mowers use a similar sort of lawnmower battery, with operational times in line with an electric mower. You can also expect around five years or so out of these for the effective lifespan.
Batteries aren’t an infinite source of power. Eventually, the wear and tear will show itself in reduced capacity, shorter operational times, and more worryingly heat under load.
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Use
Using your lawnmower regularly is going to affect how long the battery lasts. Lithium-ion packs like those seen with fully electric and robotic mowers have a break-in period, which can be unusual for a lawnmower battery. However, if you’re running these batteries to full depletion, this can cause undue wear and tear that will effectively reduce the lifespan.
We get it, mowing a lawn isn’t the same as taking care of a smartphone, laptop, or tablet. You don’t have a lot of options when it comes to checking the battery under use. However, similar principles apply even under use. You’ll want to make sure you’re not depleting the lawnmower battery below 20%.
This isn’t really a consideration for gas-powered mowers. This type of lawnmower battery is going to have regular use, certainly. That said, these have a set effective lifespan before you start seeing trouble arise. You can use these fairly regularly, provided the mower itself is fueled and primed to go.
Charging Habits
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Caring for a rechargeable lawnmower battery is going to be the same as any other you’ll find. The ideal range is no less than 20% depletion and an effective maximum of 80% for the battery to remain in top operational capacity.
You won’t have to worry so much about gas-powered mowers, which charge their batteries under different means. Robotic and electric mowers are something to keep in mind, however. You can likely set the effective charging policy on your robotic mower through the smartphone app most will have.
Good charging habits will go a long way in maximizing the lifespan of any potential battery. You could see that the average five years of use extend well into six or seven with the right sort of care and regular maintenance.
Winter Storage
When it comes to looking after smartphone and laptop batteries, the elements aren’t generally a consideration. However, lawnmowers are tools meant to be used outside. As such, if you’re in a colder climate this can affect the overall lifespan of a battery. Cold weather makes battery performance drop significantly, especially if you’re running a robotic mower.
Honestly, you really shouldn’t be running a robotic mower during the winter months. Frozen grass blades can severely damage the entire unit. That said, you’ll want to make sure you store your batteries and mowers in an insulated indoor location. This keeps the battery cells from being exposed to the cold.
The same will also apply to gas-powered mowers employing a battery. You should take this sort of lawnmower battery and also store it in an insulated location away from the cold. While you can’t control the weather, you can control where your batteries are being stored.
Battery Type
The battery type goes a long way in determining your use, lifespan, and overall method of care. Gas-powered mowers have very different needs when compared to the likes of electric mowers. However, the overall care of a lawnmower battery does have some universal aspects to keep in mind.
You don’t want to store it in extreme heat or cold, as this can damage a battery. You’ll want to check the voltage regularly with a multimeter or some other utility. This helps to make sure they’re operating at their nominal output and can also show any drops in performance.
There is no shortage of different lawnmower battery types. However, with proper care, you can expect years and years of use before you have to go searching for replacements.
Choosing the Right Lawnmower Batteries for Longevity
Caring for your lawnmower battery means you’ll spend more time mowing and less time fixing problems as they arise. You might not have a wealth of choices when it comes to battery selection, but there are some things to keep in mind.
With gas-powered mowers, you’ll want to pick a lawnmower battery from a reputable manufacturer. These are usually vetted to perform as expected, which can’t always be said for no-name brands you might readily find online.
If you’re using a fully electric mower, sticking with the manufacturer’s original battery selection is going to do wonders. There are plenty of third-party solutions on the market, but these rarely are up to the same level of performance that you’ll find with the OEM choice for your mower.
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- 13-inch poly deck
- Brushless motor
- 7-position height adjustment
- 2-in-1 design so you can mulch or bag grass clippings
- Up to 30 minutes of runtime on the fully charged 4.0Ah battery
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11/26/2023 09:05 am GMT - $617.49Buy on Amazon
- Ideal for small lawns
- Boundary wire included
- Run time of up to 65 minutes
- Controlled via Bluetooth App
- Quietest in its class
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11/26/2023 09:10 am GMT
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