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Are you struggling to know what to buy for your homeowner on your Christmas list? The answer, almost always, is power tools, we know we can’t have enough. But what kind? Many of us in Automatic log owns and uses electric lawn mowers combined with gas powered lawn mowers in the aisles of large stores. And when we compared the notes, we found out that we all liked it very much. Here are some recommendations.
RYOBI ONE+ 100 MPH 280 CFM Variable Speed 18V – $134.98
I picked this one about a year ago. It’s a solid value ($99 at Home Depot) and I use 18 volts the battery among other things, such as my Ryobi drill. The leaf blower is light, cordless and quiet. I get about 15-20 minutes of use at full capacity, which is fine. I can clear the grass and get the patio in good shape, that’s why I got it. It’s great for moving leaves on the sidewalk, but for a full fall cleanup in the upper West West of England or New England, you’ll need something more robust. If you already have a Ryobi battery, you can buy a leaf blower even cheaper. – Greg Migliore, editor-in-chief
CRAFTSMAN Power Saw, 16-inch, 12-Amp – $79.00
This is my electric saw. It’s wired, and I haven’t seen through the wiring yet. In front of my house, there are many old trees that have lost many branches due to storms. This lightweight saw does the job quickly, relatively quietly, providing me with tons of free firewood. I like that I don’t breathe smoke other than sawdust, but I still have to refill the stick and chain oil reservoir (many of those oils are plant-based). It’s easy for a fool like me to adjust the chain tension and clean up when the cut of the day is complete. – John Beltz Snyder, senior editor at Autoblog Green
Greenworks 16 Inch Reel Reel Mower with Lawn Catcher – $89.99 (31% off)
I don’t live in California so the ban on gasoline lawn mowers doesn’t affect me directly, but when I entered the lawn mower market recently, I still didn’t want to deal with having to buy and stock up on gas. , so I chose a push lawn mower. I also love the idea of turning lawn mowing into exercise. I should point out that I have a small piece of yard, so if you have serious acreage to maintain, you’ll want to look elsewhere, like This battery powered lawn mower from Greenworks. But I’ve been using this roll cutter for three seasons now and it’s still working fine.
At some point I’ll need to watch a YouTube tutorial on how to sharpen the blades, but for now it’s still cutting the lawn mower blades like they came out of the box. It’s not a silent experience, but I love the metallic sound it makes. Watch out for sticks, as they will stop the blade and it can be quite jarring, but only for a moment as it is an easy cutter to crack. It goes without saying, but keep pets and children away when using this tool. – Eddie Sabatini, executive producer
Four years ago, I bought a house on an acre, with a low roof and frequent clearing of tree debris. So I bought a ego leaf blower and Trimmer Trimmer to keep the place looking sharp. NS 530 Cubic-foot-per-minute blowers clear yards and driveways, while moving a mountain of maple leaves. The cord slitter can shrink almost an entire acre on a single battery, and it automatically windes the new wire – the cord is a pain in the ass of previous trimmers.
Recently, a small tree needed to be brought down. I dug up my cranky old gas-powered chain saw, then spent over an hour getting it running, for a cutting job that took just a few minutes. During those few minutes, the saw produced a cloud of blue smoke. Makes me appreciate power tools even more.
You can still buy the basic trimmer / blower starter pack I bought, but Ego’s store on Amazon now has over 50 products – the entire line blowing machine, saw machine, hedge trimmer, cut rope, multi-head tool, snow blower, lawn mower, and battery system with packages up to 10 amp hours. (I have two 2.5Ah batteries.) There is also a line of sturdier commercial-grade tools. And while it looks like Amazon doesn’t carry it, Ego’s own website shows 42″ lawn mower without turning that’s fine for up to two acres.
Two years ago, Consumer Reports made a comparison between the lawn mower that follows the Ego and the lawn mower Honda’s motobike gas-powered model. The ego has taken hold of itself.
Amazon offers battery-powered tools from a variety of other manufacturers: Greenworks, Sun Joe, Makita, Black and tiered, and Red snapper, to name a few. I can’t speak to those people, but many of them are probably fine. – Greg Rasa, managing editor
Greenworks Pro 80V 21 Inch Push Lawn Mower – $399.00 (20% off)
It’s an open secret that one manufacturer actually makes several different versions of the basic design for electric lawn mowers under multiple brands. I happen to own a blue lawn mower sold by Lowes under the brand Kobalt. It’s an 80 volt lawn mower, and it works exceptionally well. I picked it because it’s on sale at Lowes, but if I were to buy it now, I’d pick this model from Greenworks. It’s basically the same lawn mower I own – except colourand I actually prefer green – so I’m confident it will work out well.
The 80 volt platform provides more than enough power for my lawn, which is quite typical for a suburban area, and even a 2Ah battery should last about three full mows. Amazon is providing two configurations for this Greenworks lawn mower, one with two 2Ah batteries and one with one 4Ah battery. Those add up to the same capacity, so you can simply choose whichever is cheaper. Batteries can also be purchased separately and will work in any 80 volt tool of that brand. – Jeremy Korzeniewski, consumer editor
BLACK + DECKER 20V Max String Trimmer / Edger Kit – $97.99
I picked up this Black + Decker cord cutter (when people stop calling them weed whackers?) About 2 years ago, and it’s the only one I’ve used since. This particular listing is the exact one I took advantage of and it’s a starter kit, which is great because it includes not only the tool itself, but an extra coil, battery charger and 2 batteries. The battery has enough power for me to complete the highest maintenance pruning of its two power settings without even draining a single battery. However, in the rare cases where I need a second one, I just quickly take it out of the charger and immediately get back to work.
The power is quite enough to cut all standard Midwest weeds, and when I recently picked up a competing brand’s string trimmer owned by my father, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this version of Black + Decker is amazingly light, making it easy for me to use it with one hand to get rid of the lowest weeds in my front yard drain.
I’m perfectly happy with this being my only weeding solution, however, I would say its lacing capabilities should probably only be used for maintenance type situations. If you’re really looking to hit an overgrown lawn, you’ll probably need something heavier. – Erik Maier, multimedia producer
RYOBI 20 inch lawn mower. 40V Brushless Cordless Walk – $378.35
I picked up this older equivalent lawn mower about a year and a half ago after moving into a house with a relatively small lawn (~6,500 square feet). Property is relatively flat, so I don’t need self-propelled equipment, and even with a relatively small battery, it works my entire lawn on a single charge. Plus, the battery is replaceable for another Ryobi 40V device, so when I pick up a leaf blower (same thing that Greg marked, when it happened), I’ve doubled my available juice.
It’s so much quieter than any lawn mower I’ve ever used, to the point where I didn’t even bother with ear protection; it’s like pushing a medium-sized box fan around the yard. This is a great bonus for me because one of my neighbors works at night and I don’t have to worry about waking him up if I decide to mow the lawn in the middle of the day. It’s lightweight and easily folds to the size of a deck of cards when not in use, plus it’s virtually maintenance-free. Couldn’t be happier. – Byron Hurd, deputy editor
After a blizzard this spring, a 10-inch-diameter section of my favorite ash tree snapped and fell onto my fence. The local pruner quoted me $500 to treat it and take it away. I bought this Ryobi chainsaw instead for $100 and my neighbor and I got the job done in less than a day. Is it as powerful as the Stihls those people use to cut down trees in my neighborhood? What the hell. Those will cut through anything like butter. Is pruning back branches and cutting down smaller crab apple trees enough? Yes, it has. It may not be the biggest and best, but it gets the job done for a lot less money. – Christopher McGraw, Senior Producer
I have quite a few plants in my yard, and although I like to mulch in the fall to leave some organic matter for next year’s lawn, the sheer number of leaves can be overwhelming, for both me and the mower. my Honda grass. My slightly cheap solution this year is to buy this Toro blower/vacuum. I already have a Ryobi blower that I like and use, but this Toro is great value for money just for the vacuum function. It shreds the leaves and spits them out into a connected bag, making it easy to close the bag and place them on the curb or use them as mulch like I do. – Christopher McGraw, Senior Producer
