ladies and gentlemen it's that time of year the time when I enjoy heading
outside to enjoy a cool summer beverage on a warm bay whilst of other people
room that experience because they refuse to upgrade their lawn care equipment to
something not powered by an internal combustion engine for a while now I've
been running a corded electric mower a really cheap Ryobi unit I purchased
for less than $100 it worked fine but that cord was just the most annoying
thing to deal with enter the factory reconditioned EGO 21 inch 56 volt
cordless mower purchased from Home Depot I got this mower for $299 plus tax at
the time of filming this means it's $100 less than brand-new the biggest thing we
forego when purchasing reconditioned is that nice five-year mower three year
battery warranty by purchasing factory certified we only get one year on each
so it's up to you to decide if a twenty five percent discount is worth the lack
of peace of mind one gets from the better warranty on the new product for
me it was I'm a big fan of factory reconditioned products over the years
I've bought a bunch of them and have never had a problem at least not one
that stands out so much that I actually remember it because this isn't actually
sold in stores one will have to purchase online I'll provide a link below if
shipped to one's house Home Depot charges something like 40 dollars in
shipping consequently I went with the in-store pickup option
that's free and by the way if anyone has watched some of my other videos you know
that I also like to play the points and miles game when purchasing from Home
Depot online don't forget to go through the Chase shopping portal you'll earn an
extra one Ultimate Reward per dollar considering they're worth at least two
sets each that's like an extra six bucks in your pocket not a ton but considering
it only takes an extra thirty seconds why not as is often the case I'll go
ahead and start with an unboxing run-over built quality perform some
sound level tests and then finally give her a go on my lawn so let's get to it
let's pause right here for a second the very first thing we notice is that the
refurbished unit comes in a not so flashy brown box compared to what we see
in store for the brand-new one you can tell they saved a buck or two on
packaging this doesn't bother me one bit but on the off chance this was a gift
it might make presentation a little less fun side no complete let's get back to
it the first thing out is the decently
heavy gauge frame for the two bushel bag setting that aside and we next arrived
at the uber beefy battery charger this happens to be the rapid charging version
not the cheaper one included on some of their other refurbished tools taking a
look at this thing and one can't help but think we're definitely in the future
when it comes to lawn mowers but then I overhear my weirdo neighbor speaking
strangely sensual sweet nothings to their pet chickens words normally
reserved for members of one's own species and then I realized we still
have a long way to go the girthy battery is out next this is
the five amp hour one and at 56 volts means it has a capacity of approximately
280 watt hours in other words enough power to move a Tesla Model 3
approximately one mile that's just crazy to me the side discharge chute is kind
of sloppily thrown in there next up is the bag it feels just okay honestly the
one on my cheap Ryobi feels nicer but oh well the oddly thick instruction manual
is the final piece to emerge before the big unit itself either there's a lot to
learn about this mower in there or we've got a little just a little bit of info
but in a lot of languages finally the mower itself comes out the first thing I
noticed was just how heavy it was I hadn't really considered the
self-propelled version mainly on account of how light my corded mower is but this
is something else entirely on one hand I like the
weight because it means you know they didn't scrimp on materials on the other
you realize that pushing it around might be a little tougher than its little
brother from another mother getting it out of the box and giving it a little
walk-around reveals what appears to be a very well-put-together kit I once heard
someone say that many cordless mowers are like Toyota Camry hybrids in the
fact that they feel like a gas mower with an electric powertrain meanwhile
the EGO Power+ 21 inch mower feels like a Tesla like it was designed from
the ground up as an electric mower so far I'm blown away by the apparent
quality of this unit before getting going any further let's take a moment to
look at this thing's beast of a battery and get it on the charger and I don't
use the term beast lightly to demonstrate what I'm going on about here
is a Milwaukee M18 1.5 amp hour battery a size anyone who's used a cordless
drill should be familiar with and here is the EGO Power+ Arc Lithium 56
volt battery from EGO my copy came 25% charged now I know coolness is not a
reason to buy a mower but dang this thing just looks awesome
between all the flashing status lights the on battery indicator and the cooling
fan it makes my Milwaukee charger looks straight out of the 80s for anyone
wondering that is not a sketchy looking extension cord plugged into the outlet
behind the charger that is a line splitter that I'm about to use now in
orde r to test the current drawn by the EGO Power+ rapid charger while under
way we're pulling about three point four four amps because my line voltage is 123
this means 423 watts so no worries about this thing tripping a 15 amp breaker on
its own now that we're charging let's get back outside and continue assembly
unfolding the handle is very simple a weighty lever depresses to release and
then two clamps control the telescoping
action though it's not necessarily clear on the video
each of these clamps has a pin that lines up with the hole inside the handle
tubes if I'm being nitpicky which I usually am I would have preferred a
friction system that would allow the handle length to be infinitely variable
but considering this is world's better than just about any gas mower I'm not
complaining this unit has a six position single
handle height adjustment system that works very well unfortunately the
positions are only numbered one through six it would have been nice to see ago
also marked the corresponding height for anyone wondering that information is
available in the manual under specifications we start at one which
corresponds to 1.5 inches all the way up to number six or four inches
turning the unit on its side reveals the deccan blade here we see the first real
signs this unit isn't brand new there is some dry dirt and grass debris embedded
in the bolt recesses and panel gaps furthermore we see a few scuff marks on
the inside of the deck speaking of that it's extremely rigid I was a little
concerned that a body made of plastic would flex when bumping up against curbs
or trees and thus resulting in blade strikes however I don't think we have to
worry here I'm pressing down pretty hard and it's barely budging bag assembly is
completed by inserting the metal frame into the fabric and then snapping on
several plastic retainers as mentioned earlier the bag itself feels a little on
the flimsy side but the frame feels very sturdy installation is then performed
exactly how one would perform it on just about any other mower on the planet by
hanging it on the back of the unit the handles angle of attack has three
positions of adjustability at five foot eight
I found the middle position to be the most comfortable it's just awesome to
see EGO acknowledge that not every person buying this product is the same
height after about a half hour of charging the battery was now at
100% and ready to penetrate the mower it slides right in the middle with a hearty
click and were ready to give the power lever a pole
oh yeah that sounds nice this unit also has LED headlights
although it's a bit tough to tell in the daylight that I'm turning them on
they're switched via a simple on/off button near the motor I think it would
have been a nice touch for EGO to provide this functionality on the handle
but again I'm nitpicking now one final test before heading out back let's take
a moment to compare sound pressure levels between the EGO 56 volt Power+
cordless mower and my Ryobi corded unit
that peaked around 87 point 6 decibels at a distance of 4 feet roughly about as
far as one would be standing during operation next up is the Ryobi
it peaks at 93 decibels even worse it's higher-pitched so just the sound is more
grating for those without a frame of reference here's a clip of a vacuum
cleaner test I did a while back
my Dyson Ball Animal Peaks around 85 decibels this should give anyone a
relatively good idea of approximately how loud the EGO cordless mower is by
comparison finally getting it out back and mowing and it handles very nicely
the fact that I can set the handles at a comfortable height and hold with both
hands without worrying about moving a cord feels like a massive upgrade I live
outside of Seattle where ryegrass and fescue are the predominant species none
of that st. Augustine stuff that looks like ankle level cornfields up here
instead we've got wispy blades that grow tall and thin I went ahead and let my
lawn over grow a bit as I knew this mower was on its way and I wanted to
give it something other than a recently mowed lawn to digest after I completed
the yard and as much as I had to say I was a bit disappointed by the cut
quality in fact I'd almost go so far as to say the cheaper Ryobi corded mower
does a better job there were a number of matted areas that really weren't cut
properly it's almost as if the blade wasn't spinning fast enough to really
pull the grass into the cut path here's my theory as to why the less expensive
mower appears to cut better the Ryobi doesn't have any type of intelligent
speed control 100% of the time it was mowing that 11 amp motor was spinning
that little 16 inch blade as quickly as it could by comparison the EGO is smart
it throttles the blade based on the resistance that's encountering because
of the comparatively delicate grass blades one encounters when mowing rye it
never got bogged down and thus never really throttled up but again this is
just a working hypothesis after my small yard was mowed I went ahead and threw
the battery pack back on the charger and would you believe it was still a 100% so
I might have bought too much mower from my lot but I really do believe in the
buy ones cry once mantra when it comes to tools and honestly at 299
dollars refurbished you really can't get a whole lot cheaper even the 40 volt
cordless Ryobi unit also at Home Depot currently retails for $279 for just $20
more this feels like a no-brainer ultimately I'm just going to live with
what I perceive to be slightly inferior cut quality the absolutely fantastic
build and ergonomics convenience of cordless and egos commitment to a single
battery voltage which I appreciate means that for me there's really only
one thing left to do