Kobalt 20v 21in self propelled lawn mower
Overview
I have thought about buying an electric lawn mower for some time. When I got the opportunity my only stipulation was it be self propelled. I was however skeptical about a self propelled electric lawn mower being good as a gas mower. My search brought me to the Kolbalt 80v 21 in self propelled lawn mower. I did some research and took the plunge. This is a well built lawn mower with the same craftsmanship as Kolbalt tools. This lawn mower far exceeded my expectations the large blade and power make a great combination. The 5 year warranty makes it a good investment to your yard arsenal. It’s not what you think an electric lawn mower would be. Video Review
Set up
The set up was straight forward and simple. Not a lot of parts to put together to get the lawn mower to run. The handle is truly the only real assembly and that is just installing two knobs. The other parts are options for how you want to cut the grass. If you’re mulching there is a plug insert for the bag feeder to keep all the trimmings in the cutting chamber. The bag goes on with ease using two hooks that clamp on to a tension bar. The side shoot is an easy install of a directional attachment to shoot clippings out the side. I will talk about the battery in the power and battery life section. Overall a very simple set up that will have you off getting your lawn in order in no time.
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Use
Surprise, surprise (there may be one or two people that get that reference) I was truly surprised by the use and operation of Kobalt 80v lawn mower. To be completely honest, I didn’t think it was going to be that good. It completely took me by surprise and far exceeded my expectations. One of the features I thought was pure genius was the wheel raise. One lever to raise all four wheels at the same time. No more running around to each wheel trying to adjust the height. Game changer, love this feature. The lawn mower was also surprising light and very easy to maneuver, with that large battery I thought it would be a little heavy not the case at all. One of the things I was most skeptical about was the self propelled feature. How good could it be on an electric? the answer fantastic. I don’t even have to set it to the fastest setting to feel the speed. Gives me a true one handed operation just amazing. The self propelled feature is triggered with your thumb, which was a little weird at first but I quickly adjusted. The power was great but I will test it out on some thicker lawns in the future. The vertical storage feature is a true space saver and a smart addition to the features.
Power/Battery Life
So I charged the battery over night, the manual states “if the battery has been stored with little to no charge for a long period of time, the charger will go into recovery mode, which will take 20 hours to fully charge the battery. Once fully charged the next charge will return to standard charging.” Standard charging time with the KRC 30-06 charger is about 90 minutes on a fully discharged battery. So be prepared to charge the battery overnight the first time. The charger has a fan due to the size of the battery so don’t be alarmed by the fan noise completely normal. Battery life was another concern I had going into purchasing an electric lawn mower. This too was a pleasant shock, going in I wondered if I would need two batteries. The answer has been no. I have a corner lot so a little larger than normal yard. I can cut my lawn twice on a single charge and that doesn’t’ fully discharge the battery. Battery life and power distribution has not been an issue whatsoever. Understand your battery has an indicator and the lawnmower has an indicator. The lawn mowers battery indicator is slightly different than battery (keep in mind you can use different amped batteries in mower) The only issue I have with the battery is at some point hopefully in the far and distant future you will have to replace the battery and the cost is half the cost of the lawn mower. I think that’s a bit much but perhaps those prices will come down by the time I need to even think about that. Overall really good battery life and power.
Summary
What a great purchase, I have no regrets on the lawn mower it’s fast, powerful and seems to be reliable. I can’t believe how light weight it is and its very simple to use. It took a second to get use to activating the self propelled because most lawn mowers use a lever actuator the Kobalt 80v uses a thumb button. Replacement battery cost could be a issue in the future but out of the box I’m getting great battery life and have had no issues with the battery. The blade cuts fantastic but I will cut some different types of grass for a comparison and performance check. From my perspective this is truly an awesome lawn mower that will not disappoint you. The Kolbalt 80v 21in self propelled lawn mower exceeded my expectations. I don’t think you will be disappointed with this purchase.
